Greenspan was one of the very worst, Volcker had a tough job to do, hence the "Volcker shock".
Sounds like you are a fan of strict government regulations such as the Volcker Rule?
Wow, Tesla laying off more than 10% of its world wide workforce, two Top Executives leaving
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Sounds like you are a fan of strict government regulations such as the Volcker Rule?
Kind of amazing how an automaker layoff post morphs into an intellectual discussion(?) of Economics.
Greenspan got so many things wrong which was compounded by how long he stayed at the Fed.
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Yep. Certain groups loved what he was doing.
Government regulations? I'm more a fan of financial "regulations", and even then that term is too vague.
Instead I like the term "budgetary regulations". No one can constantly spend (and spend at increasingly higher rates!) more money than they earn, the government included.
Since I took a shot at Greenspan, the President who took us off the gold standard is the root cause of our inflationary and budgetary problems. That President, who threw Bretton-Woods under the bus, gave Greenspan the opportunity to wreak his havoc.
And, @JeffKeryk, with you and me being Silicon Valley types, both you and I well know salary planning is a zero sum game in our business. When I managed a team of engineers I only got so much money to reward the team who worked for me. Some people get raises, others didn't. And in every single case I always rewarded those who made the greatest contributions to the team's efforts.
The government lives in financial fairyland compared to the pure capitalism you see in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley often gets a bad rap from those who haven't lived or worked there. People think Silicon Valley is for softies. Not! Silicon Valley has a take no prisoners mentally. Silicon Valley is a land of the survival of the fittest.
Scott
Yep, people wanting to leverage the crap out of themselves, leaving themselves no financial headroom should things hiccup and not go as planned.
Sue and I were friends with a couple who were quite successful. They leveraged themselves to the max, frequently getting 6 figure loans from the husband's parents. His business slowed and he was so leveraged he couldn't pay all his bills. His solution, he stiffed his parent's out of a million dollar loan.
And the best part is, they justified stiffing his parents because they were the ones who voluntarily loaned him the money. He believed it was his parent's risk! There is a financial forgiveness program going on right now, one that I won't name, that has this same attitude.
Sue and I were so appalled by our friend's attitude we slowly wound down and ended the friendship.
Scott
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That "rising tide" crowd...
My FIL loved him and Reagan because he was very wealthy and they made him wealthier. Do you know what didn't happen? His secretary didn't get any wealthier.
You are too kind. Silicon Valley is flat out brutal. Feast or famine. Some say we have no soul; you know exactly what I mean.
For those who may not understand how the Valley works, to make the big bucks you have to be responsible for something deemed mission critical by the executive staff. Then you get the golden handcuffs.
I love it here.
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Spot on. That's history.That "rising tide" crowd...
My FIL loved him and Reagan because he was very wealthy and they made him wealthier. Do you know what didn't happen? His secretary didn't get any wealthier.
Yes! I agree! My entire career was spent there. I cannot imagine another place on the planet that has virtually unlimited potential to become so highly rewarded.
And just because a person has a fancy degree doesn't mean they are successful. I fired a Purdue graduate. He'd been with the company for 10 year probably, making good money too. He felt entitled with that fancy degree and his very wealthy upbringing. Problem was, he was slow and he became more and more defiant when I assigned him work.
As you know, @JeffKeryk, anyone and everyone in Silicon Valley gets assigned work they wished they didn't, be it being put on a project they don't want to be on, doing a short term task they don't want to do, etc. But you gotta do it, it's part of the job.
For 3 or 4 months I'd been warning this prima-donna he was skating on thin ice. One day he came in and pretty much refused to help with something.
I fired him on the spot. I told him I wanted him gone on 45 minutes. I even helped him clean out his desk. I had him out of there in 30. He was in tears, incredulous that HE could be terminated.
Scott
What did that secretary do with respect to shaping financial or Cold War policy? Take meeting notes?That "rising tide" crowd...
My FIL loved him and Reagan because he was very wealthy and they made him wealthier. Do you know what didn't happen? His secretary didn't get any wealthier.
Scott
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I'm not saying the secretary deserved anything more. The proponents of the rising tide theory like to imply my FIL's increased wealth would somehow trickle down to her...it's their theory...not mine.
When people ask, I tell them the persons who should come here are those who want to do something. The Valley chews up people and spits out money.
Even an old drunk who threw away so many years, made so many mistakes, can make it here. Opportunity abounds!
Another Silicon Valley story. I was working onsite helping with a problem ridden project for one of the world's largest banks. These problems were costing the bank several million dollars per day.
Their project was a disaster and the woman who lead the bank's team was tough and mean beyond imagination. One weekend during an marathon all nighter an Executive Vice-President stormed into our war room. He ripped into her in front of everyone like nothing I'd every seen before. It was brutal.
This woman was HATED by everyone because she was a one of the most mean spirited managers I'd ever met. She broke down in tears in front of us. It felt kind of good seeing her raked alive over the coals like that, but I confess to feeling a bit sorry for her at one point.
It's one of those career stories we all have, one that we'll never forget. Silicon Valley is not for sissies.
Scott
I would have called security, give him a box , have him pack and leave within 10 minutes.
Problem with regulation is its never actually done. The banks were supposed to be regulated in 2007, except the regulators were not smart enough to know the banks were leveraged 30X, and the ratings agencies were too stupid to figure out when you burry junk debt into a CDO you shouldn't call it investment grade. All the regulators really wanted to work for the investment banks so do you think there going to do there job - of course not. Moral hazard is supposed to prevent this but we had none in 2008.
We will have another incident like this at some point in the future. It will be different but the same. Nothing was fixed. Laws won't work because they will find ways around them. Until we let banks fail and put bankers in jail when they cheat, nothing will change.
I don't know about you, but I like having paved roads to drive on to get to my house. Traffic signals, lighting, police, fire. I'm sure I'm missing a few other vital services that improve the value of my property.
This is always the argument and it wasn't my point - but since you brought it up, the simple fact is I can drive on the road, call the police, and whatever else without owning property and paying taxes on it. Taxes are extorted from those that have the most to loose from not paying. You never actually own your property, you pay rent on it to the government forever. Fact.
True. But I own a house and some cars, and I pay property tax on those. If I owned a boat or RV I would pay property tax on those in my state as well. However I own stocks and bonds and have money in the bank. I have title to these things, and clearly they are of value, but only pay tax on their increase - I don't pay an annual amount on them just for having them.
Clearly the government needs to be funded. The way we choose to fund it is interesting. The argument was made that in capitalism property rights are maintained, but my question is if I must pay a tax annually to protect my property rights, do I really own it, or have I simply purchase the right of its use, and I must pay the government annually to retain that use. Kind of like buying a co-op in NYC?
Philosophical question?
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