It is difficult to get a business loan in America these days. But during the bailout of American banks, the Federal Reserve passed out 16 trillion dollars in essentially free no-interest loans to the largest banks in the United States. This was documented in the GAO report in July, but few seem to be talking about it as yet. The money essentially covers banking losses resulting from malfeasance, poor planning, and stupidity.
If the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve had instead loaned an equal amount of $50,000 to every man, woman and child in America, our economy would not be in the desperate situation we now find ourselves in. The question becomes, "what would you have done with $50,000 if the loan had been made directly to you? Remember that the loans to the banks were at near zero percent interest. Of course giving $50,000 to each and every American would have so completely devalued the American dollar that we might have been running around with wheelbarrows instead of wallets, so to just shove cash into every American pocket would not have been the best of solutions, but giving 16 trillion in loans to the banks was no solution either as we have seen. It just allowed the banks to continue paying exorbitant CEO salaries and bonuses and carry on their new business as usual... taking away homes through foreclosure and pushing more of the middle class into poverty.
I have been an admirer of the Occupy Wall Street movement. It amounts to a bunch of people of all ages informing our culture that there are values greater than money. The movement may be an inconvenience to police and business as usual on Wall Street and in other cities. The mayor of New York may not like it a bit. But it may be time for the Federal reserve to call in the massive loans it made to the banks and find better means to actually make loans to the American people... that we may start new businesses, small farms, local operations that employ people and put them to work rebuilding the American dream and our own prospects for prosperity. We know that is not likely to happen. We will have to take creative matters into our own hands.
This afternoon my wife and I went to a food fair sponsored by Carroll County Fresh. We bought fresh produce, visited with friends and celebrated a return of local agriculture. One couple we visited with is making their living on 1/7 of an acre of land, which shows what hard work and a bit of land can do when used wisely.
Reclaim the American dream in your own neighborhood...
Make, fix and create...
I'd have paid off my student loans and bought some wood.
ReplyDeleteA good plan. Certainly many people could have paid down their mortgages, and kept their homes. Some could have kept their jobs or started new businesses, but instead we are left with big banks, over the top executive pay and predatory lending practices.
ReplyDelete