Conspiracy theory? No.

[aciel]

The other day, I said that lobbying was having a very strong effect on the bailout legislation. Someone called this conspiracy theory.

From Politico, According to the center, House members who supported the bailout received 51 percent more in campaign contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate sectors since the 1990 election than

Comments

[austingoof]

You're not talking about me, I trust? I never claimed that lobbying was not a problem. It's not a problem limited to the financial world. Every corporate interest has more influence over our government than is healthy. It's not really a Republican vs Democrat issue either. The seeds of the current problem were sown under the Clinton presidency. I can remember quite well the start of eTrade and AmeriTrade and how it was finally going to bring Wall Street to the common man. I can remember getting the first "cash this check for instant loan" mails that are pretty common now. I can remember seeing a secured credit card ad with a girlfriend who turned to me and said "I don't think I'd want to borrow money from someone that would loan money to anyone." But banks and credit card companies did. Not because they are evil, but because they want the interest and the penalties. They want you in debt, so that you can pay them dearly for it. After the dot-com bubble burst, people were commenting about the level of the debt in America

[austingoof]

Sorry the wiki link is not coming through correctly. Let me TinyUrl it:

http://tinyurl.com/65xlhl

[aciel]

Look, that's absurd. It's guilt by association. Just because conspiracy theorists happen to agree that modern economic theory is bunk doesn't mean we're all wrong that modern economic theory is bunk.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[austingoof]

Yes, they are different. That's why I made two different paragraphs in my response. When I said you were buying into conspiracy theory it was because of two specific things that you freaking out about even after I had pointed out that they were flawed

[austingoof]

Sorry, I mean to add that 60 Minutes had a great report this last Sunday. Non dramatic and to the point. They had one of the legal documents for a mortgage tranch. I've seen thinner textbooks. So it's amazing that people thought that they understood them enough to buy off on the risks, but of course at the same time they're being offered "insurance" that against defaults. Still I'd wonder why someone was offering me "insurance" on a great deal instead of keeping the deal for themselves. I put "insurance" in quotes because it was really swaps that were being sold. Swaps aren't insurance so they aren't regulated as such.

Bottom line is focus on your life. You're in a good spot. You can ride this out at UT, and hopefully about the same time you are graduating with a better degree things will be better.

[aciel]

But there's only one economy and billions of cars. We can afford a broken car or two. We literally can't afford a broken economy.