Jul/08©Chris Farley
The Real Financial Loss
Merrill Lynch reported a $4.7 billion loss last quarter. IndyMac was seized by federal regulators. The U.S. government is bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But this isn’t the worst news. No, this doesn’t even register when viewed in light of the real bad news. The Coca-Cola Company’s second quarter net income fell 23%! I may have to make a very large purchase of Diet Coke to bail them out. I assure you this fall in their profit was certainly not because of me. I keep them in business!
I’m not sure how to weigh in on the current state of the economy. I’m not an economist, but I’ve been reading quite a bit and I’m pretty firmly in the pro-globalization column. If the crisis in the United States means than more of our companies are owned by foreign companies, then some good may have come out of this ordeal. In the meantime, I suppose I’ll just have to put my trust in the United States Department of Treasury, of all places.
In the meantime, I hope your money is safe! If they’re not, I encourage you to make yourself feel better by pouring yourself a Diet Coke. It’ll make you feel better!
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3:48 pm on July 18th, 2008
Pro-globalization? Really? Interesting. It looks like you've been reading up on economics. All I have to say is, remember that GDP does not measure standard of living.
8:26 pm on July 18th, 2008
Not immediately, it doesn't, but to quote from a TV show of mine, "If Chinese kids are going to be sewing soccer balls together with their teeth whether or not we sell them cheeseburgers, then let's sell them cheeseburgers." I'm not indifferent to human rights, but I think that a free market is a way of achieving global human rights. Ostracizing nations that fail to provide for their people is a slippery slope and probably just leads to a vicious cycle.
8:36 pm on July 21st, 2008
But on the other hand, if we import products from other countries with social and environmental policies less stringent than our own, it promotes a kind of "race to the bottom." Benefits that we take for granted here–overtime pay, paid sick days, limits on chemical exposure, etc.–are expensive. Corporations want to manufacture products in places where they have to deal with these inconveniences as little as possible. Countries then have little incentive to improve regulations, because more stringent regulations means potentially losing manufacturing jobs. In short, a completely free market benefits the elite few at the expense of the many.
9:42 am on December 12th, 2008
Merrill Lynch reported a $4.7 billion loss last quarter: This is a big amount of loss!
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