Editorials
Easy money led to market crash
Maybe things had to get this bad before they could get better.
A 500-point plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the collapse of a major brokerage firm shook both Wall Street and Main Street to the very core Monday. It's not the way you want to start your week or, for those of advanced age, your retirement.
But these events were an unavoidable consequence of irrational decisions made over the past decade by everyone from the families that took on mortgages they couldn't afford to corporate chieftains who invested in securities they didn't understand.
Finally, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson decided enough is enough. And when Lehman Brothers came looking for a hand from the federal government to bail it out of a raft of bad decisions made over the past decade, Paulson just said no.
It wasn't easy, and the pain will be felt by everyone from the thousands of Lehman Brothers employees to the millions with a stake in the stock market. But there was a limit to what even the federal government, with its license to print money, could or should do to bail out Wall Street this time.
Already taxpayers are on the hook for up to $200 billion for the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two titans of the mortgage market.
There are two basic questions that the presidential candidates, members of Congress and federal officials who will sort out this mess must consider: The first is to what degree government should regulate the housing and stock markets. The second is whether it is possible, or even desirable, to have capitalism without risk.
One of the virtues of capitalism is that it delivers painful lessons for misunderstanding markets. If government takes away the pain, there is no lesson learned and housing crises and expensive taxpayer bailouts are sure to happen again.
- Editorials
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- Easy money led to market crash Maybe things had to get this bad before they could get better. A 500-point plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the collapse of a major brokerage firm shook both Wall Street and Main Street to the very core Monday.
- Our View: On school building plan It is a given that the Arlington and Milroy Elementary schools in Rush County are both approaching 100 years of age, are outdated and are in need of replacement.
- Our View: Thanks for your efforts Another chapter in Rushville’s history will come to a close Tuesday when the Rushville City Council meets for the last time.
- Our View: On the Rushville Animal Shelter Many area residents are aware of allegations regarding improper euthanasia practices at the Rushville Animal Shelter.
- Our View: On election outcome Local voters have spoken and their message appears to have been that it is time for a change. Of the seven people elected locally only two were incumbents.
- Our View: Amphitheater is worthy of community support It would be difficult to argue that the amphitheater in Riverside Park on Rushville’s south side is not a great addition to our community.
- Another View: Ethanol debate needs airing Public debates are usually viewed as a war, with one side winning and one losing. And debates are often seen as a negative, with each side using nasty exaggerations and the public unable to decipher the truth.
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Our View: On anonymous comments
The Issue
Should anonymous comments be posted online and printed in the
newspaper?
Our View
Unsigned comments are acceptable as long as everyone follows the rules. - From the publisher A lot of people have been talking about the content of managing editor Kevin Green’s column this past Monday. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.
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Our View: On economic development
Sir Walter Scott is credited with saying in Rob Roy that “time waits for no man.”
Rush County Economic & Community Development Corporation Executive Director Greg Griffin tendered his letter of resignation in late May. - More Editorials Headlines
