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Capitalism is altered due to the impacts on economies from the viral outbreak
Cooperman said politics in the U.S. are moving more to the left: “Taxes will have to go up.”
Low interest rates may be lasting and are indicative of ‘a troubled economy.’
Consumer demand will come back slowly unless there is a vaccine for the coronavirus
Businesses will face compliance costs related to the virus
Lots of equity issuance will be required to “replace lost capital.”
Stock buybacks, one of the markets biggest drivers, will fade away
Profit margins at corporations will revert to the mean
Credit is cheaper than equities
A quiet Warren Buffett, a white knight in the last crisis, is a bad sign for the long term/
Capitalism was changed with "Too big to fail." That was the turning point. When gain are private and losses are covered by the public, Capitalism died. We've been in a new era since the Dot Com crash.
That dystopia you see in futuristic movies where wealthy people live in walled off cities while the poor survive on the outskirts? Don't you think that is being created right now? MASSIVE amounts of wealth have been transferred in the last 3 decades alone and economic downturns were the "reason they had to do save these wealthy corporation." Countless corporate tax breaks to companies and individuals as incentives to do business in a certain state. All of these gifts to business and individuals add up over the decades. ANd what you end up with is a shrinking middle class, a growing lower class, and pretty soon, that dystopia we all like to see on the big screen while eating popcorn.
All this talk about depression and not ONE mention of lowering taxes for the middle class and raising them for corporations and the wealthy. Not one peep.
There is nothing inherently wrong with Capitalism as a Theory -- The Right to Private Property, Freedom of Ownership, Profit Motive, etc.
The inherent problem is with Capitalists -- Most of them never learned to share on the school playground. Above a certain point, the greater good of society trumps the individual's bank account.
Last edited by FiveLoaves; 04-24-2020 at 08:04 AM..
There is nothing inherently wrong with Capitalism as a Theory -- The Right to Private Property, Freedom of Ownership, Profit Motive, etc.
The inherent problem is with Capitalists -- Most of them never learned to share on the school playground. Above a certain point, the greater good of society trumps the individual's bank account.
Everything about your second sentence is wrong. Do you realize that by saying that "the greater good trumps the individuals bank account", what you are saying the the freedoms you listed are only freedoms "up to a point"? What you left out of the first sentence is what goes along with the right to private property, freedom of ownership and profit motive, etc is the freedom of responsibility. To be responsible for yourself and your own family. Everyone todays seems to know all about what their rights are, but don;t have a clue as to what their responsibilities mean. You can have no rights without responsibility.
Read "The Duty To Be Free" by William Faulkner, you may find it enlightening.
True Capitalism, which is founded on pure entrepreneurship where a business owner puts up capital at risk and lives or dies based on said outcome, has been DEAD.
Our country is dominated by large Corporations that have been too big to fail long before the 2007/2008 crisis. They get significant tax breaks and other government perks to the point where the entity has more of a socialist framework than anything. They also get bailed out at nearly every major recession. That's not capitalism.
I've said it before and I'll say it again....Big Business, Big Media, and Big Government (includes Democrats and Republicans) are all in bed together. There's no "heat" between either of them, they are two sides of the same coin. It's laughable how people believe in the whole Donald Trump v.s. The Media crap, when The Media created Donald Trump as a celebrity and The Media created Donald Trump as the 45th President of The US.
The only place true capitalism is left is in small business and guess what? Small business is the one that gets the worse end of the stick in all of this.
Everyone todays seems to know all about what their rights are, but don;t have a clue as to what their responsibilities mean. You can have no rights without responsibility.
Keep typing -- you're proving my point.
Congress passes Small Business Bailout money, and most of it gets handed out to Friends of Big Banks. They gave away the aid to many Publicly-Traded companies with millions in capital assets. Harvard University for goodness sake !!
Were these capitalists just being responsible to their families ??
Do the anti-lock protesters in the mid-west have any responsibility ? Their Rights to buy potting soil trump everyone else's Right to breathe virus-free air ?
Capitalism was changed with "Too big to fail." That was the turning point. When gain are private and losses are covered by the public, Capitalism died. We've been in a new era since the Dot Com crash.
That dystopia you see in futuristic movies where wealthy people live in walled off cities while the poor survive on the outskirts? Don't you think that is being created right now? MASSIVE amounts of wealth have been transferred in the last 3 decades alone and economic downturns were the "reason they had to do save these wealthy corporation." Countless corporate tax breaks to companies and individuals as incentives to do business in a certain state. All of these gifts to business and individuals add up over the decades. ANd what you end up with is a shrinking middle class, a growing lower class, and pretty soon, that dystopia we all like to see on the big screen while eating popcorn.
All this talk about depression and not ONE mention of lowering taxes for the middle class and raising them for corporations and the wealthy. Not one peep.
Should also mention that the individual taxpayers are the ones paying the big majority of the federal budget here and not the corporations. They pay a tiny slice in comparison. Let's start there, raise taxes 5x on the corporations. They'll come begging for mercy as soon as you suggest it.
There is nothing inherently wrong with Capitalism as a Theory -- The Right to Private Property, Freedom of Ownership, Profit Motive, etc.
The inherent problem is with Capitalists -- Most of them never learned to share on the school playground. Above a certain point, the greater good of society trumps the individual's bank account.
In other words, this post is reminiscent of the little fellow who didn't like baseball … because his batting average wasn't very good.
Capitalism was a by-product of the great Enlightenment of four centuries ago; it evolved from proprietary, or individual capitalism, to financial, or corporate capitalism, because the great pool of capital upon which all enterprise depends became too large for individual control (and responsibility).
AND
the rise of finance capitalism, through the recognition of the concept of equity also dampened the vulgar and shopworn appeal to class-consciousness still promoted by some at this site. There are a few exceptions, of course, but a closer inspection of the lifestyles of people like Warren Buffett and Amazon's Jeff Bezos doesn't turn up too much raw hedonism.
As with the Carnegies and Rockefellers who preceded them, much of the wealth created by today's most successful entrepreneurs will eventually wind up in the hands of philanthropies and other institutions, which are not exactly dedicated to the pursuit of personal gratification.
and that is a huge improvement over the days when what little wealth there was lay in the hands of royalty -- gained through the monopoly on the use of brute force granted to the nation-state and wasted mostly in warfare, in attempts to subjugate each other.
Congress passes Small Business Bailout money, and most of it gets handed out to Friends of Big Banks. They gave away the aid to many Publicly-Traded companies with millions in capital assets. Harvard University for goodness sake !!
No, my point is much larger than yours. I don't give a rat's you-know-what about who got bailout cash and who didn't. Let those who were unprepared - in business and in their personal lives - scurry around for the money. Who gets some and who doesn't, and who cries about it isn't the point. The fact that so many need it is what matters. I'll let you read my post from a few days ago in the "Companies are suspending 401K matches" thread to explain what I mean:
Quote:
Furloughs, layoffs, pay cuts, 401K match suspensions, and even dividend and share repurchase suspensions are all things that companies need to do in this COVID environment to protect themselves as going business concerns.
The sad thing, however, is that the vast majority of companies find themselves needing to do these things because they don't take the safe, cautious and prudent measures needed during GOOD TIMES. If more companies worried about building fortress balance sheets by keeping solid cash reserves and reducing debt to minimum levels, keeping dividend distributions to safe, reasonable payouts and conducting share repurchases only when they had the excess cash to do it, rather than taking on more debt, and only when the stock price dictated it was prudent, they might not have to resort to these emergency measures now. Nobody ever sees dark times like this coming, but they always come. Corporate America should be much better prepared than it is.
The vast majority of Americans today act exactly this way with their personal finances as well. A few days ago, I was watching a news segment about lines outside of food pantries, and I was thinking to myself, wow, that sure is a long line of mostly shiny, newish looking cars waiting for food handouts. I hope Americans finally learn to stop spending as if their paychecks were things to be taken for granted - they're not, and to start using the good times getting themselves better prepared for the dark times that always come.
Probably not though.
THAT is what I mean by freedom of responsibility. People need to be much more responsible in their personal financial lives, as do businesses large and small. And I'll let you in on a little secret - Government is the biggest enabler there is. Shhhh, don't tell anyone, lol.
Quote:
Do the anti-lock protesters in the mid-west have any responsibility ? Their Rights to buy potting soil trump everyone else's Right to breathe virus-free air ?
You actually used a great example. I was in a Walmart just a few days ago, went there to grab a few groceries on my way home from work. Now, I can go to Walmart to buy bread, milk, toilet paper, etc...all so called "essential" items, so why can't I buy topsoil? Why is the garden shop area of the store closed off, whats the sense in that?? I could have bought toys, sporting goods, and many other items I would consider non-essential, but not garden supplies?? Please humor me and explain the wisdom behind that.
Another example is two stores near my house, one a small retailer that sells 90% non-essential made in China crap that is open because they happen to sell a few food items and batteries, the other a thrift store that's been closed for going on a month, with a fairly good chance of never reopening. Now, if I can put on my mask, wash my hands and slip on my gloves to go shop in one store while observing the social distancing etiquette, why not the other? In fact, with so many people out of work, I might argue that the thrift store, with it's cheap, used clothing and household items might be more essential today than most other stores, right?? We're not talking a crowded sit down restaurant, movie theater or sports stadium here, just a little old thrift store. Explain to me how that makes sense??
Last edited by treasurekidd; 04-24-2020 at 11:04 AM..
Guys, News Flash: ANYONE CAN INVEST IN THE STOCK MARKET.
I can cite myself as an example. I was born poorest of the poor. But they allowed me to create an account and invest in the stock market. Hence, I rode with the rest of it.
It would be different if only Rich people who have $1M can are allowed to invest in stock market and those who don't have that initial amount can't.
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