Many of those growing up in the 50s and 60s have that same memory, and none of us could ever figure out where the heck that "permanent record" was kept and who was in charge of it. I mean, maybe we could somehow get a hold of it and do a little creative editing or something. In the end, we kinda figured out that in the same way Santa didn't really know if you were bad or good, it was all nonsense.
But now the sickening realization comes that it's actually true in some ways. In the information/internet age, everything you say (or blog about) is impossible to hide from. It's a bad thing if you write or say something really stupid, but it's a two sided sword. It's good when it allows us to hold the politicians accountable. (Even if the most arrogant among them really don't care if we do.) It also allows us to see that, when someone warned us that the behavior we were engaging in was dangerous, we should have listened.
This brings us to the economic meltdown and the resulting gooey mess of many careers and retirement plans. In upcoming posts, with the help of Thomas Sowell, I plan on doing my small part to help shed some light on the actual reasons for the implosion, but for now we can skip the finger pointing in favor of a look back at what some prescient people thought might happen, before it happened.
So, who Knew? Some did, that's for sure.
While slogging through the blogs recently, I tripped over one with the most amazing U-Tube video I've seen in some time. Which is actually saying a lot considering the volume of amazing video clips found on the web. The blog I'm referring to is called Freedom Keeper, and it has several good videos on it although it doesn't seem to have been updated in a while.
One of those "who knew" was a guy named Peter Schiff. The video below features him while appearing on different occasions on TV before the events he foretold unfolded. There are some others featured in it, some of whom I respect greatly, like Ben Stein, who unfortunately were wrong, particularly if you followed their investment advice. But there are others who literally laughed in the face of Schiff, and in my mind, they deserve the scorn which should be heaped on them for their rude method of disagreement.
I don't know if Schiff goes around telling people "I told you so", but those who ridiculed him owe him an apology. I rather doubt they will do so. If you enjoy the clip below, you might check out what this man has been saying lately, this time on the Daily Show in June.
It would be great fun to joke about the stock price predictions toward the end of the video if so many people didn't act upon those predictions and lose huge sums of money in the process. Less fun is the realization that the politicians currently in power not only have refused to admit they erred, but continue to advocate more of the same policies as they attempt to keep the music playing.
In that regard, the band on the Titanic had nothing on them.
3 comments:
Schiff must have had a pal on the Merrill mortgage desk. Great call. Imagine an 8 year old business bringing a 96 year old company all the way down.
If not for Thane, Merrill would be just a memory.
Meanwhile O'Neil is on the Board of Directors at AA!!! MER, LEH, & BSC directors are set to have a very Merry Christmas and the US Congress has done absolutely nothing with regard to these derivative products. The CME tried to create a new commoditized product for risk transfer (CDS) but the DC elites said No Go CME. You cannot handle it. What a complete joke. Schiff was not only correct. He was precisely correct.
I agree, he was precisely correct. But he wasn't alone. Just for instance, how about you and I? Just to name two.
Think back to all the times we were chatting with friends over the last few years and made the comment; "where the heck is all the money coming from to build all these "ginormous" houses by the tens of thousands everywhere I look? All the corn fields around here are gone and replaced by McMansions. I have nothing against big houses, but how the heck can all these people afford this?" Not to mention seeing the credit card debt pile up in the statistics and seeing the floor clerks driving BMWs that they leased with the income they weren't spending because of the low interest rates on their mortgages. We both knew it couldn't last when people were checking Zillo twice a week to see what the "value" of their home was up to. And I said so to whoever would listen, and I'm sure you did too. So hats off to us too, but where did it get us? Right where we are, well on the way to the socialist workers paradise.
The derivative products were merely developed to respond to the situation the government idiots of both parties created with Fannie and Freddie and CRA. They should have raised the red flag on the whole situation. But the music is still playing,,for a while longer.....
Finally just watching this now. Mr. Schiff, take comfort - Jesus himself tells us that "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown...he was amazed at their unbelief" (Mark 6: 4-6)
Despite the lousiness of the guests who were also on with Peter, and my disgust with the entitlement society we've become (myself included here- I don't live in a vacuum and I have some debt from drinking the Kool-Aid), I think these are amazing clips and actually fill me with HOPE. Not everyone out there is an idiot - Peter, and others like him, need to keep on with their insightful analysis.
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