Comments on: How Banks Are "Crowding Out" the U.S. Rebound

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:11:50 +0000

I have one disagreement with the article, and it is a major one, but otherwise I think the article is spot on. The comment was made, "...'Hot Money' would flood out again as soon as it found something better to invest in - which it did, in the 2009-10 gold-and-commodities bubble..." We are a LONG ways from gold being a bubble. It did flood back into the more riskier asset of Stocks and into the "treasuries and bond bubble". That's where the real asset bubble is and where that next bursting sound will be that we hear.

By: Ed

Ed — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:52:51 +0000

It will backfire on the banks. We (miserable operators ) will pay off our mortgages, stop leasing equipment, stop using our credit cards as a line of credit and only buy when we have cash. After twelve years, I am there. And the bas*** can close for all I care. My combined bank fees at my least favorite ( and fifty four years of an account) was fourteen dollars last month and near nil balance. And I am now very hard to beat in the marketplace.

By: H. Craig Bradley

H. Craig Bradley — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:33:40 +0000

PRESCIENT MARTIN The name of the game here is to market the "inside scoop", which often is accompanied by the sales lure "get rich quick". Some investors (sic gamblers) can not resist a 'flier', hence the appeal of expensive newsletters by subscriptions with the latest hot stocks at home or abroad. True enough, if you see a real trend developing and allocate your investments to take advantage of it, then you probably will earn greater returns than your competition. Generally, the initial stages of an emerging trend are not conclusive or obvious. However, once the trend is entrenched and validated by events, the prognosticators unveil themselves. Next, you read it in the Wall Street Journal or even see it on MSNBC. What a surprise!

By: Trimonious

Trimonious — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:22:10 +0000

If you make assumptions about why demand for loans is slack among small businesses and then treat that as a fact which underpins your whole argument, it makes it difficult to treat this as anything beyond opinion. I think the argument that government debt issues is crowding out available capital for private enterprise is generally solid but the extent and consequences of that are poorly argued here.

I guess the big question critics never answer is: what would your response have been to the crisis? In the panic, I think those in charge behaved pretty soberly and probably averted disaster. Almost every single economist agrees that stimulus of some kind was necessary. So what would you have done differently.

By: Archie

Archie — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:25:07 +0000

You assume that there was any intention of the US government to repay any of the debt.
A major devaluation of the dollar was always the way the 'Big Guys' planned to repay the insurmountable debt to China. Why do you think the Chinese are all buying Gold?
Creating a war and supplying both sides with weapons is the plan for re-establishing the USA as a dominant world player.
Obama is just a front man for the same people who pulled the stings for Clinton and Bush.
It is really funny that the same families, who caused the 1929 crash, caused the 2007 crash and no-one seems to have noticed how they sucked up all their competitors at pennies on the dollar.

By: Tn.Dave

Tn.Dave — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:08:09 +0000

"the drop in bank lending was partially caused by the fed’s requiring banks to raise their levels of capital."
They aren't lending because the govt allowed them to change from "mark to market" to
"mark to fantasy" to cover many billions of toxic and high stench loans. The fantasy part
of it is to buy time to rid themselves of some of this debt. The crash is coming and this
can be seen if you watch the trillion or so sitting on the sidelines waiting in anticipation to
grab some of this debt at very cheap prices. Meanwhile, banks don't dare lend a hell of a lot
because they are in deep s@#t. Our gutless media covers none of this to any extent. Banks
rule the country and we were warned a long time ago what might happen. Here are a few quotes
from our forefathers, Lincoln, Jackson, & Jefferson. ………………………..and when was the
last time you saw any of these quotes on CNBC or anywhere else ? ……….or even a discussion
about the dangers we are now in. Too late, the banks win with deep pockets to corrupt just about
every politician in Washington. No way to fight it except to vote them ALL out and start anew.

Andrew Jackson to his corrupt banks:
"Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. "

~ Andrew Jackson, 1767-1845, 7th US President, when forcing the closure of the Second Bank of the US in 1836 by revoking its charter.

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
Thomas Jefferson 1802
That's right 1802

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to
tremble for the safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of
corruption in High Places will follow, and the Money Power of the Country will
endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the People, until
the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed."
Abraham Lincoln

By: birdy

birdy — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:44:56 +0000

Alert!

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/GI.20100216.escenic_1470414/GIStory/

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:57:19 +0000

Only 4.6% of bank credit, wow.

What's the average in past decade?

By: bruce seligman

bruce seligman — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:38:20 +0000

the drop in bank lending was partially caused by the fed's requiring banks to raise their levels of capital. this could most easily be accomplished by shrinking the balance sheets.. your comments? bruce

By: David Dixon

David Dixon — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:14:36 +0000

Why should a small business owner make a 15-20 year bet with all the unknown's
-Health care
-the economy
-Tax change unkowns

It makes no sense