Quote:
Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield
One nice side effect of a crisis is seeing some highly amusing flip flops.
So many orthodoxies of the past are show to be idiocy in these moments.
Argument: "We can't spend our way out of a crisis! We need austerity!"
Rebuttal: "MMT is a godsend!"
Argument: "We need to keep people jailed for long periods of time even for non-violent crime, as they are dangers to society."
Rebuttal: "We'll get sued if they get Covid and die! It was dumb to keep them all jailed under such draconian sentences! Time to free them!"
Argument: "The climate is fine. The air is good."
Rebuttal: "Look at these before and after Covid lockdown maps."
Argument: "This is a great economy!"
Rebuttal: "This is a great stock market. Half the country lives hand to mouth."
Argument: "Most importantly, we need to bail out the finance sector, as this will help all others -- trickle down style."
Rebuttal (in 2 years): "Now mega businesses and private equity own everything. Good luck getting your degree from Wal Mart University!"
The biggest bullshit, however, is a new argument: "We're all in this together." No. We're all in the most miserable competition for resources, among some serious uber-predators, we're likely to see in our lifetimes. And we'll resemble something more like an Indian caste system than an English class system by the time this is over. Much of it overseen by a clown car of well-connected shitballs not unlike the oligarches who stole Russia's assets from a vodka-stupefied Yeltsin.
...Welcome to New Brazil! Hope you don't live in the favela. Treasury Secretary Steve Schwarzman and Commerce Secretary Larry Fink are tearing them down to put up luxury villas."
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Regarding who owns everything when this is done, it's a bit strange to me that Warren and AOC are proposing a ban on all HSR-reportable mergers in an effort to keep PE from buying up industries and "protect small businesses" who will be struggling.
Selling to PE means the owners get at least some cash for their assets and the opportunity to do further business in the future. Not selling to PE means liquidating the assets, which will be acquired out of liquidation by PE or other financial buyers, and being left with nothing. Doesn't sound like much protection.
Of course, the proposal isn't going to go anywhere anyway.
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