Recent articles have described the efforts world-wide to prevent the collapse of Greece and other EU member countries whose economies are sitting in the toilet. These are countries that have over spent their incomes, borrowed billions, are so far in debt that they can never repay, but, the only solutions seriously being considered are to give them more money. The only hurdle is,"Who is stupid enough to lend them more?"
It is interesting to look back a couple of years to the problems of the big 3 auto makers as the melt-down of the financial markets in the US occurred.
All 3 companies found themselves over-extended, under-productive and about to sink into the quagmire of insolvency. Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, in prophetic ignorance declared that the auto industry was to big and important to be allowed to fail. (The real reason was that she owned too much stock in them.)
When the magical bailout buoy was offered by the White House, General Motors and Chrysler were the only ones who latched on. Ford said they could fix their problems by themselves.
I was very critical at that time of all 3 companies in an article entitled "Five Foxes in the Hen House", but especially at Ford for the outrageous compensation packages of their chief execs while their company tanked.
Now, 3 years later, Ford is reporting sales are up and they are operating back in the black. While GM and Chrysler are admitting that they will be lucky if they can pay back the American people 30 cents on the dollar.
Back in the 1960's, while Pres Lyndon Johnson was fighting his war on poverty by throwing more and more money at the problem, creating Medicaid, food stamps and inter-city projects, I would listen to my dad expound how it was not possible to spend yourself rich. The only bumper sticker he ever placed on his car said, "I fight poverty, I work!"
Back to today, the question still looms, do we throw more money at Greece or let then Pay the Piper? If we loan more money to Greece, where does it stop? With Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Ireland, England? The list goes on and on.
I ran across this poem that personifies the deluded interpretation of economics by Progressive Governments.
SMART
By Shel Silverstein from his book, “Where the Sidewalks Ends”
My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes – I guess he don’t know
That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just ‘cause he can’t see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head –
Too proud of me to speak!
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