I think he's on crack. FDR's policies (New Deal) didn't make the Great Depression worse.. When he took the steps that Schiff is recommending, the economy stalled again and made the depression longer.
The problem is that Schiff is a non-interventionist.. And he's right. The easiest and best way to fix the economy is to do nothing. Let the mega-banks fail and the chips fall where they may. The problem is that we've let the banks grow too large thanks to Phil Gramm. BoA, Citigroup, and I can't remember the third, control basically 25% of the US banking market. That's 28% of the economy that'll freeze while bankruptcy proceedings are done, calling in people's loans to raise cash, etc.
The optimal way to fix this, IMHO, is to nationalize the failing banks. Wipe out the shareholders, guarantee the bad debt to a reasonable amount, then sell the working parts off in an IPO. Of course, this is politically impossible.
The other thing that needs to happen, is to reverse Phil's de-regulation laws. Split banks into Investment, Insurance, and Depository banks. Depository banks take deposits and make loans. Investment plays the markets. Insurance, well, insures. :) It's only when these are combined do you get into situations like this, with crap mortgages being bundled and sold as solid-gold investments. Besides, it worked just fine from the 1930's until Phil screwed us in 2000.
1) Yes, he made it illegal to own gold. This was to stop the hording of it which was causing economic problems. He devalued the dollar vs international currency.. At that time, there was very little international trade that would hurt consumers, so there was no effect in real terms. Note that the price remained the same until Nixon in 1971.
2) He did create Social Security. At the time, it was the only way to save the millions of American elderly who's savings were wiped out in the market crash. You mistake the creation of it with the mismanagement of the fund since the creation. It's not FDR's fault that 70 years later it's not fully-funded, is it? Meanwhile, the Social Security Trustees say that it's solvent until 2041, at which point it'll be able to pay out 78% until 2081, when it drops to.. wait for it... 75%.
4) Yes, he created Fannie Mae. A brilliant idea whereby banks were able to sell their mortgages instead of having to hold onto them. This allowed them to put out more money as loans and increasing the US economic growth. Again, though, you're not complaining about structural flaws in the design, you're complaining about how well it's been run in the last few years.
5) No comment.
6) Yes, he created the FDIC, which allowed customers to have faith in their banks instead of hiding their money under the mattress. The ratio of cash vs deposits (it's $5 trillion, FYI) is irrelevant. In order for the $5 trillion to come due, every single bank and financial institution would have to fail. I don't view that as very likely.
7) He implemented income tax withholding in 1943. You may remember we were in a war at the time. He died about two years later, so it's hard to say if he would have repealed it or not.
10) As early as 1936 it was blatantly obvious that a war was coming, and a big one. Roosevelt implemented deficit spending in peacetime to prepare for that war. If he hadn't, we'd be speaking German right now.
The thing that gets me is that all of these things that you mention are still (semi-) working after 70 years. Sure, they've been mismanaged, but the original concepts and structures remain sound. It's only when we start screwing around with it that things go to hell.. Like Phil Gramm's removing banking oversight, or trying to transfer the Social Security trust fund to the stock market.
What I'm trying to say is, if these things are so incredibly horrible, why haven't the Democratic and Republican Presidents and the Supreme Court deleted them?
Also, whatever else you may think of him, he was a great communicator and a good war president.. We won, after all.
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The problem is that Schiff is a non-interventionist.. And he's right. The easiest and best way to fix the economy is to do nothing. Let the mega-banks fail and the chips fall where they may. The problem is that we've let the banks grow too large thanks to Phil Gramm. BoA, Citigroup, and I can't remember the third, control basically 25% of the US banking market. That's 28% of the economy that'll freeze while bankruptcy proceedings are done, calling in people's loans to raise cash, etc.
The optimal way to fix this, IMHO, is to nationalize the failing banks. Wipe out the shareholders, guarantee the bad debt to a reasonable amount, then sell the working parts off in an IPO. Of course, this is politically impossible.
The other thing that needs to happen, is to reverse Phil's de-regulation laws. Split banks into Investment, Insurance, and Depository banks. Depository banks take deposits and make loans. Investment plays the markets. Insurance, well, insures. :) It's only when these are combined do you get into situations like this, with crap mortgages being bundled and sold as solid-gold investments. Besides, it worked just fine from the 1930's until Phil screwed us in 2000.
Anyway. :)
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1) Yes, he made it illegal to own gold. This was to stop the hording of it which was causing economic problems. He devalued the dollar vs international currency.. At that time, there was very little international trade that would hurt consumers, so there was no effect in real terms. Note that the price remained the same until Nixon in 1971.
2) He did create Social Security. At the time, it was the only way to save the millions of American elderly who's savings were wiped out in the market crash. You mistake the creation of it with the mismanagement of the fund since the creation. It's not FDR's fault that 70 years later it's not fully-funded, is it? Meanwhile, the Social Security Trustees say that it's solvent until 2041, at which point it'll be able to pay out 78% until 2081, when it drops to.. wait for it... 75%.
3) FDR had nothing to do with Medicare. That was part of President Johnson's "Great Society". I'll grant that it has major funding problems, but I view that as being partially fixed by fixing the overall healthcare system.
4) Yes, he created Fannie Mae. A brilliant idea whereby banks were able to sell their mortgages instead of having to hold onto them. This allowed them to put out more money as loans and increasing the US economic growth. Again, though, you're not complaining about structural flaws in the design, you're complaining about how well it's been run in the last few years.
5) No comment.
6) Yes, he created the FDIC, which allowed customers to have faith in their banks instead of hiding their money under the mattress. The ratio of cash vs deposits (it's $5 trillion, FYI) is irrelevant. In order for the $5 trillion to come due, every single bank and financial institution would have to fail. I don't view that as very likely.
7) He implemented income tax withholding in 1943. You may remember we were in a war at the time. He died about two years later, so it's hard to say if he would have repealed it or not.
8) Yes, he raised the maximum tax bracket to 88%, again, during WWII. During WWI it was 73%. During Eisenhower's term, a Republican you may recall, it was 91%.
9) Yeah, he fucked up with the Court.
10) As early as 1936 it was blatantly obvious that a war was coming, and a big one. Roosevelt implemented deficit spending in peacetime to prepare for that war. If he hadn't, we'd be speaking German right now.
The thing that gets me is that all of these things that you mention are still (semi-) working after 70 years. Sure, they've been mismanaged, but the original concepts and structures remain sound. It's only when we start screwing around with it that things go to hell.. Like Phil Gramm's removing banking oversight, or trying to transfer the Social Security trust fund to the stock market.
What I'm trying to say is, if these things are so incredibly horrible, why haven't the Democratic and Republican Presidents and the Supreme Court deleted them?
Also, whatever else you may think of him, he was a great communicator and a good war president.. We won, after all.
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