Charade of the Debt Crisis

By Steven Kim

Book Id: WPLBN0002118253
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.2 MB
Reproduction Date: 7/28/2012

Title:	Charade of the Debt Crisis
Author:	Steven Kim
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Social Sciences, Economic Policy
Collections:	Authors Community, United Kingdom
Historic Publication Date:	2012
Publisher:	Mintkit Press

Member Page:	Steven Kim
Citation APA MLA Chicago Kim, B. S. (2012). Charade of the Debt Crisis. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.cc/

Description
A common mistake in real and financial markets is a mix-up of means and ends. A showcase cropped up during the financial crisis of 2008 and its aftershock including the debt crisis in Southern Europe. In response to the fiasco, policymakers round the world wasted trillions of dollars worth of public funds on makeshift schemes that ended up hobbling the financial forum and the real economy. Upon closer inspection, however, the epic blowup was a consequence of excessive meddling in the markets rather than the outgrowth of a laisser-faire policy as was widely assumed in the public sector as well as the private segment. To make things worse, a confusion of the objectives and methods led to feckless and even wrackful moves in response to the financial flap along with the Great Recession and their aftermath. From a larger stance, a solid grasp of means and ends is the first step toward designing a cogent agenda in any domain.

Summary
In complex fields such as finance and economics, a common blunder involves a mix-up of the destination and the journey. A showcase cropped up during the financial crisis of 2008 followed by the debt crisis in Europe. Among the raft of muck-ups, one sample was the knee-jerk reaction of the policymakers in propping up the market for sovereign bonds in Southern Europe. According to the rhetoric, a formal default by Greece or any nearby country would shatter the common currency on the continent, which would in turn clobber the regional economy as well as the entire planet. With a bit of reflection however, it was clear that none of these claims were valid. No doubt some of the actors in the public sector were taken in by the flaky arguments. If so, the bungle stemmed from a patchy grasp of financial and economic issues. An example lay in the proper role of the banking industry in the economy as a whole. Another instance concerned the true purpose and significance of a currency union across neighboring countries. Amid the din and smog, the politicos plundered the public treasury in order to prop up the battered securities. Sadly, the rash move was a huge waste of the taxpayer’s money. Worse yet, the boondoggles hobbled the real and financial markets, thus ensuring that the entire society would have to forfeit trillions of dollars worth of income over the years and decades to come due to the crippled economy. In any field of human enterprise, a solid grasp of the means and ends is the first step toward drumming up a cogent strategy while cutting waste and boosting productivity. The next step is to thrash out a trenchant plan that exploits the opportunities and avoids the pitfalls. The third task is to put the resulting plan into action with gumption and dispatch.

Excerpt
In any field of human enterprise, a solid grasp of means and ends is the first step toward fixing up a worthwhile scheme while cutting down waste and beefing up productivity. The next step is to thrash out a trenchant plan that exploits the opportunities and avoids the pitfalls in the landscape. The third task is to put the resulting plan into action with gumption and dispatch. In the case of the debt crisis, the proper course would require a cogent agenda to ensure a speedy recovery of the financial forum and the real economy. On the downside, the damage done to date by the banksters and politicos is far too massive to allow for a quick or painless recourse. On the upside, though, the lack of a pat answer does not mean that there are no useful cures, or that the problems should be left to fester on their own. For there are baneful schemes as well as healthful ways to deal with the ailments. To this end, it’s high time to consider the big picture and take the high ground. As things stand, the politicians will not on their own initiative take up the gauntlet and tackle the problems in a serious way. In that case, the voting public will have to prod the pols in the right direction. In other words, the ultimate responsibility lies with the electorate that has to insist on higher levels of integrity and accountability from their leaders in dealing with the weighty issues of the age. The examples of this stripe are legion, as in the case of public debt in the U.S., currency union in Europe, and economic growth round the world. The crucial issues are spotlighted by the hoopla over the debt crisis and currency union in Europe. To clean up the mess for real, the first order of business is to pinpoint the causal forces in the financial, economic and political spheres. The second, and related, step is to distinguish the bedrock of reality from the quagmire of illusion. The third task is to build on the hard facts in order to fix up a sturdy solution. In this way, a sound remedy can serve as an antidote for the usual hash of obfuscation and bumbling that spawns an endless chain of bombshells in the financial forum as well as the real economy.

Table of Contents
Summary Private Gain and Public Mulct The Currency is Not the Debt The Currency is Not the Economy Muddle of Economic and Financial Factors Boons of Currency Union Contagion of Debt Political Factors Inflation as a Cure for Political Bungling Private Windfall and Public Largesse Noxious Impact of Misguided Schemes German Resolution to a Greek Tragedy Hale Approach to the Banking Industry Right and Wrong Ways to Boost the Economy Forward Gaze References