Forum Post: Wall St and Capitalism are NOT the problem; End the Fed, Occupy D.C.
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 9, 2011, 8:35 p.m. EST by gekko
(75)
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The truth is we have not had true capitalism or free markets for almost 100 years; since the inception of the Federal Reserve System. There just cannot be a free market when there is a private organization that controls the money supply by artificially setting interest rates, operating without any transparency or congressional oversight, or making secret deals with Wall Street, foreign central banks, and other politically-connected insiders. That is the very antithesis of a free market. In a free market, interest rates and the money supply would just be determined by supply and demand like anything else. The Fed is actually quite inefficient in determining true interest rates and thus creates massive disequilibrium in the market. Bubbles blow up and pop when they create artificial supply and demand for money, leaving millions ruined when the damage is done.
In addition to this fundamentally flawed credit market, we have a Federal Government that has gotten so huge and so invasive, anyone still saying we live in a free market world should be thrown in an insane asylum. We have never seen such an expansion of Federal government than we have in these past few decades. Since 1971, when the Bretton Woods agreement was revoked, we saw the last remnants of sound money thrown out the window. We have seen multitudes of socialistic human resource programs, mass expansion of reckless spending that crowds out the private sector, vast increases of government jobs, guaranteeing of predatory loans with GSEs such as Fannie and Freddie, uncompetitive and unfair tax structure, salaries being capped and minimum wages imposed, corrupt officials who pass laws to the highest bidder, bailouts, and increases of regulation and petty laws on small business that are choking out the private sector. How can any these things be associated with free markets?
THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBURG IN RELATION TO HOW MUCH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND FEDERAL RESERVE DESTROY FREE MARKETS AND CAPITALISM.
I would argue that the Federal Reserve and the Federal Government are responsible for almost ALL of our economic shortcomings. To see the Wall St. protestors demanding more socialistic policies, more taxing, and more spending is ALARMING, and their cause is very susceptible to a socialist hijacking. Please, look around the world and ask yourself if socialism is working out for other countries. It is the very covert practice of socialism and central planning that has ruined America and we need to do what our founders intended for us. It is what made America great in the first place and we have strayed away. We NEED free markets again, we need a sound monetary system, and we need to limit government as much as possible. Wall Street is not to blame; they were simply enabled by these asinine programs and policies of the Fed and Government.
If you are protesting about things such as an unfair tax system, then why are you on Wall St? That is the fault of the Federal Government. If you are upset about the “predatory lending” of the big Wall St. banks, then you should be upset at the Federal Reserve and Federal Government for guaranteeing these ridiculous loans and artificially lowering interest rates that enabled Wall St. to make these loans in the first place. The list goes on. Though Wall St. was involved in some criminal practices, IT IS NOT ALL OF THEIR FAULT.
GET OUT OF WALL STREET!! MARCH TO THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS AND TO WASHINGTON D.C!!! PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THESE SOCIALIST IDEALOGIES; FREE MARKETS, LIMITED GOVERNMENT, AND SOUND MONEY WAS, IS, AND WILL ALWAYS BE THE ONLY WAY TO PROSPERITY!!!!
Stop the Fed and we stop the wars.
Any good hedge fund beats inflation by a big margin. It is more than just. The fed.
This should be the at the core of the movement. End the Fed. Halt the Oligarchy. Restore personal Liberty.
OccupyTheFed.org.
First off, I have real problems with the current structure of the Fed. However, it is a mistake to think of the Fed as the only problem facing the US economic system. The privilege the Fed has to create money out of think air is an enormous privilege-and one that deserves direct control by the American people. Steve Zarlenga at www.monetary.org talks more about this and is a good resource.
That said, in recent years, the most very wealthy Americans(net worths of over $5-10 Million per family) have monopolized virtually all increases of wealth we've seen in the US. www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_589.pdf
Simply reforming the Fed can do little to change that.
The fed has acted as a mouthpiece for the very wealthy. That does need to change.
I personally favor lifting all payroll and income taxes on incomes under $100,000 per year and substituting a direct tax on assets above $5 Million per family. www.theamericanconservative.com/2004_06_21/cover.html
oh yeah higher taxes for the producers of this country will fix everything..lol...and by the way those families increase their wealth because they have assets that go up with inflation because of the Fed's monetary policies. Not something to frown upon by the way that is just the nature of the game, in ANY social system btw.
The upper 1% have gotten all increases in weather the last 30years(see ed Wolff at nyu ). The upper 1% did not do all the production.
The Federal Reserve building in NYC is in the same hood as Wall st. Like 5 minutes walking time.