The signs are beginning to look good for the economy and some pundits are hailing the worst of the economic crisis as over. Since the bailout of toxic assets by the Obama Government, last week, the stock market has rallied and investor confidence has seemed to risen.
IBISWorld have even reported that growth will continue in Australia (against the IMF outlook), and some at Deloittes have even reported that the high levels of receiverships have peaked, (falling back to pre-meltdown rates). Is this an over-optimistic or premature outlook or have the tables really turned on our economy?
The big four Australian banks, which have been a bastion of conservatism, have they changed? Have they started trusting each other again by starting to lend to each other, (which has all but stopped over the last eight months)?
Surely, there needs to be some fundamental changes to the whole capitalist system, not just a bailout of “toxic assets” by the US Government? The whole fundamentals and “free market” economy seem to be rotten. Will we need tighter regulations on investment banks and hedge funds? Will they disappear all together?
I believe that if the fundamentals of the capitalist system aren’t fixed, then there will be an even bigger bubble that will burst around 2011 or 2012. If it is fixed, “properly”, then we have the potential to have perhaps 100 years of prosperity before the next downturn.
So, what are the alternatives to a “free-market” capitalist system that obviously doesn’t work? Protectionism or perhaps tighter regulation? Corporate capitalism looks like fascism under a different name. Could this be the end of “globalisation” per se? Are we headed for socialism, communism, bolshevism or any other “ism”? Or are we just heading for global anarchy, as an alternative to our failing capitalistic system, which is built on an unsustainable platform of growth and consumerism? Will the barbarians rise again? Has the Golden Age of prosperity finished? Only time will tell. All I can say is that we are heading for some interesting times ahead. I say bring it on!
Rubbish! the fun is just starting. Experts haven't got a clue, no one knows what is going to happen. I mean look at the ratings Agency Standard and Poors, the day before the Lehman Brothers went into liquidation, they gave them a AAA rating.
What does that say about expertise in the financial industry? Everyone is looking backwards and not forwards and we are heading towards unprecedented times. No body knows the full extent of the impact, and a few people are controlling the outcome, people like George Soros, (surprise, surprise) who by the way, just made a billion out of this "crisis".
Developing countries will probably lead the way out of this, while the Western countries are on their arses hoping for a miracle from Jesus or maybe Moshiac (if you are Jewish)...........
I say "batten down the hatches, coz there's a storm brewing on the horizon"....."Evolve or become extinct" and by the way, don't wait for the government to bail us out, because they haven't got a clue whats going on. They're just doing the simplest and most dumbest thing possible and that's printing money, coz that's all they know......
Kanga Forum
Kanga Market