Laissez-Faire

I just finished reading a commentary on CNN by a CEO named Carl Schramm. Carl, bless his heart, is lamenting the threat of a wave of government intervention in our economy. He wrings his hands and seems to say that since there is a danger of bad things happening the government should keep its hands off of the economy. Laissez Faire is the holy grail of economic prosperity.

Well Mr. Schramm, Laissez-Faire is what caused this melt down in the first place; following the buck isn’t always what’s best for society.

I wrote in an earlier post (Banks- or- I wish Adam Smith’s invisible hand would stop touching me there.) about the banking industry charging fees everywhere they can.

Health insurance companies are giving minimum services for whatever the market will bear and cutting off whoever they can who need their services.

We are bailing out the financial industry, all the while being berated for being too greedy, using too much credit, and not being careful about our investment. I must have been hit in the head because I don’t remember all that.

Politicians are telling us how we are going to have to sacrifice. Why? Because we have had so much benefit from this boom? What are the beneficiaries of this recent financial boom going to sacrifice?

I don’t know if anyone has noticed but wages have been stagnant since 2002. Our free market choices have degraded to a game of pick your rapist in banking, health insurance, and retirement. Our political system has long been a system of voting against the most odious candidate but now it has moved onto other parts of our life.

The most frustrating part is, there is no one to pressure for change. Faceless Corporate America is a tough target with no one responsible for its decisions. Not that I would expect a 40 or 60 million dollar a year CEO to take any responsibility.

I could push for change if only I could find a place to push. I feel like Archimedes, I could move the world if only I could fine a place for the lever. Well maybe it’s more like Sisyphus and his rock.

Here’s your sound Bite

I received a bullshit survey from one of the political parties the other day. Which one doesn’t really matter since they are both cut from the same cloth. It was designed for sound bites, not to find out what difficulties I and my family are experiencing. If you really want to find out what I think, hire yourself someone who can write a survey and not leading questions for numbers in your next speech.

You people are out of touch with what is going on out here. Pull your head out of wherever it is and stop worrying about winning, that will take care of itself if you can really address the needs of the people.

I’m only one person, but here’s what I think you would see if you lived in the real world.

I see double digit inflation right around the corner and no salary increases to counter it, assuming you keep your job.

I see my insurance rates last year rising %13 and even though my company is self insured, the insurance company that administers the plan raised their rates 9% so only %4 was due to medical expenses.

I see us becoming huge raw materials exporter, that used to be one of the measures of a third world country, but here we are. Our engineers are in India, our manufacturing is in China, who is going to be able to buy anything here.

So there you are. There’s some of my answers. Call me and I’ll give you more if you like.