Paulson Blames World for Our Mistakes

Good Morning Papamoka Bloggers - Well, it looks like the conservatives are trying to spin more webs to cover their butts after the economic downturn. I must admit though, the latest is one of their best. It's just complicated enough that might cause some people to believe it.

Unfortunately for them, it's also simple enough for others to dismiss it outright. Outgoing US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is now saying that "a failure to address the rise of emerging markets and resulting imbalances was partly to blame for the global financial crisis," according to a Financial Times interview published today.

Interesting! What failures? Who failed? The interesting part is that he leaves those answers to the reader; he is VAGUE throughout the interview. You're supposed to guess. He keeps saying "global" because he wants to leave the reader with the idea that it was a global mistake, and not due to our own domestic laws or decisions. In other words, Republican decisions.

Paulson told the Financial Times that "imbalances between fast-growing nations which save, such as China, and those who spent were at the root of the problem." What a fancy way to try and make us seem like an innocent victim! Paulson, you're a piece of work. I believe you no longer have credibility. You are now part of the problem and MUST GO!

Yes, we are the nation "who spent," and it's for that reason, along with extremely unregulated and overly-complex markets, WE are the culprits. WE created the worldwide imbalances due to our own laws and policies - or lack of them.

Name another nation on the planet that allowed for derivatives markets that gambled 50+ trillion dollars based on no real assets? I challenge anybody to come up with a better example of a more out-of-control, economically irresponsible country than us? I dare you.

WE didn't have to spend; WE were encouraged to spend based on changes to our legal and economic system. It was Republican "lazy capitalism" that created markets where people were ENCOURAGED to spend; that encouraged LARGE BUBBLES to grow, and eventually POP!

We became a nation of speculation, immediate gratification, and unsustainable returns. WE created the problem. "Global imbalances" is just another conservative Republican attempt to shift the blame. It's a FREAKIN SMOKESCREEN people!

"Excesses ... built up for a long time, (with) investors looking for yield, mis-pricing risk," Paulson told the Times. That's just DOUBLETALK people! Those were OUR "EXCESSES" created by a HUGE TRADE DEFICIT with the third-world (that politicians should have addressed long ago) and Republicans eliminating regulation creating highly capitalized and RISKY markets.

It was OUR FAULT no matter what Paulson says. WE LEAD THE CHARGE FOR EXCESS, no matter what Paulson says.

I'm tired of reacting to these people. I wouldn't have responded IF he had just described the WHO and the WHY! Instead, the whole interview was one big attempt to make the "deciders" look less culpable.

THEY are to blame, and they shouldn't get off the hook. They're trying to find ANY BS EXCUSE to escape it. Any reasonably intelligent person can read Paulson's interview and see the smokescreen.

One red flag is how the theory is only supported by the same conservative economists who got us into this mess, and who are also motivated to cover their butts and save their reputations. It's just one big elaborate SPIN!

None of it makes any sense. IF we had acted responsibly as a global market player there would NOT have been excesses. Not to mention, if the markets had been safe, the "excesses" would have been safe. It's as simple as that people.

The whole idea that global imbalances caused the crisis is just another example of conservative Republicans looking for a scapegoat for their own pathetic mistakes. It's a specialty of theirs. Pass the buck comes naturally to them. In other words, they're lying sacks.

It doesn't matter how "sophisticated" the argument sounds, it's BS!

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog