Tornado Alley (PROG)

[SilverSurfer]

tinner, shocking response!

But unfortunately whomever is to blame, the only ones with leverage to borrow now are the 1% or at least the top 10% of peeps and busineses.... I don't agree with all of the article below - for debate..

"Do Americans really have a complete understanding of how the economy truly works? One confession of a "spectacularly" wealthy person reveals the big picture a lot of Americans are missing...

Most economists, investors, and and average Americans accept the notion that investor competition is beneficial to the overall economic health of any society.

However, it's no secret the America's wealthiest have been under attack, facing aggressive scrutiny more than ever due to the Occupy Wall Street movement crowding the streets and demanding their “fair share.”

In the defense of the 1%, Edward Conrad – a member of the 0.1 percent after helping build up Bain Capital, a private-equity firm, and transforming into a multibillion-dollar business – dedicated four years of his life to writing a book he hopes will change the way society views the ultra rich. The book is titled: “Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About the Economy is Wrong” and it will be published and distributed among America's bookshelves next month.

Interestingly enough, Conrad argues that the steep gap between the one percent and the 99 percent is a sure sign that our economy is working. Contrary what a lot of poor and angry youth may think, Conrad asserts that the typical American consumer simply doesn't comprehend just how valuable the investments of the super-rich really are.

According to Dean Baker, a progressive economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, for every dollar an investor gains, the general public actually gains a $5 value on that earned dollar. Conrad goes on to note that the public receives closer to $20 the value of every dollar an investor earns.

Going along with Conrad's thesis: the wealth of the millionaires and billionaires is something that the middle class should appreciate because the benefits are more proportionally advantageous to the public when compared to the individual wealthy investor.

More importantly, Conrad wants Americans to understand why he believes the banks require stronger government support and, if necessary, a bail out in the future. Despite the mistakes banks made (mainly, lending irresponsibly), Conrad insists that the bankers were “just doing their job.”

Meanwhile, many protesters still despite people like Conrad and exclaim that he and his type are “destroying our democracy.” Conrad himself was villainized for a recent scandal: establishing an institution with the sole intention of donating $1 million to a political-action committee that supported Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Scandal aside, Conrad certainly shows no hesitation in discussing money matters.

According to The New York Times:

He delighted in arguing over corporate-bond rates and Chinese central-bank policy, among other arcane minutiae. It also became clear that he had exhaustively thought through the role of the super-rich in our economy, and he wasn’t afraid to share those opinions.

Ultimately, Conrad argues that America's economics is simple: the better the payoff for taking big risk, the more risks people will take. That controls the success of our nation's economy.

Success in America is about hard work and it's not always about being happy. Conrad rather disenchantingly describes his view of it bluntly saying “It’s not beautiful. It’s hard work. It’s responsibility and deadlines, working till 11 o’clock at night when you want to watch your baby and be with your wife. It’s not serenity and beauty.”

Other renowned economists argue that Conrad is too optimistic when it comes to one of his other firmly held viewpoints: faith in the market's ability to reward only those who are creating real value in the greater economy. For this reason (amongst others), Conrad's book fails to touch on some of important economic trends of the past few decades including “how power and politics influence economic growth.”

Nonetheless, Conrad has no fear of the criticism he may receive after publishing what could be the most hated book of the year. In fact, Conrad encourages readers to get angry.

“People get very angry before they change their mind,” he said. “Economics is counterintuitive. It just is.” While Conrad seems to believe that a majority of American don't fully grasp the art of economics, he thinks that those who see it for what it really is will agree with him that having a small elite with great wealth is extremely beneficial for poor and middle class Americans."


http://www.wealthwire.com/news/finance/3124?r=1