Libertarian Fail

He never was. It was always Shuh-sheff-skee, with his still-undenied comments about Bill Clinton.

No matter how many titles he wins, he'll never get the stink of losing to a Black man in '94 off his family name. Nolan Richardson's men stood tall as humble Arkansas pissed on the Blueblood Devils from a great height.

 

4 cuss words in one short description. Maybe a new record:

Rep. Thomas Massie, a conservative libertarian Republican from Kentucky, attracted the ire Friday of his congressional colleagues and President Donald Trump, who urged his party to “throw Massie out” of the GOP.

 

M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D Maryland will win.

 

MARYland will win nothing other than the Jackée Harry memorial trophy.

 

Jackee is still alive! And the Dance has been cancelled...

 

Dont forget Darth Vader Cheney, in top picks!

 

Who in the name of Vince McMahon is this?

 

Watch Netflix's The Tiger King. You'll thank me for the recommendation.

 

Eugene Volokh on libertarian principles during a pandemic. https://t.co/qd36ayPerB pic.twitter.com/RAyxVdlWZk

— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) April 5, 2020

 

OK, so libertarians are subject to some social controls; now, who is approved to compel any who say that they are not, and are going to go to spring break regardless?

 

Facts -

1) A big difference between the 2020 crisis and both the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Depression is that today's banks are in good shape. As a result, they have been able to accept businesses defaulting on their loans, and real estate holders defaulting on their mortgages, without having immediate difficulties. (Some aspects of the CARES bill has helped with that.)

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-16/banks-pretend-2020-never-happened

2) One big reason that banks are in better shape today is the Dodd-Frank bill, passed after the 2008 financial crisis, which strengthened banks' capital requirements.

3) Republitarians destest Dodd-Frank and have attempted to repeal it since it came out. Rand Paul doesn't like it. Justin Amash doesn't like it. Donald Trump doesn't like it.

OK that last one was a bit of a joke. But come on, do you really want to hold positions that match Donald Trump's? Think, people.

 

Amash may make a mad dash because he thinks we spend far too much cash. Will voters accept or bash?

Americans who believe in limited government deserve another option. https://t.co/c7P2vOTyOe

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) April 13, 2020

 

Voters want the cash. I like Amash where he is, he provides a useful viewpoint but I wouldn't want a heavy dose of his beliefs.

 

So the largest bank consolidation in just about a century was a good thing?

 

Better than 10,000 small, badly capitalized banks going under.

 

Wonder why they were poorly capitalized...

Also, is it? Is it really?

 

Because the less you capitalize a bank, the more profitable it becomes, unless a crisis arrives.

Absolutely, positively, without question, not even close.



I can't think of any industry that has improved so much under regulation. This is where libertarians need to regard their beliefs as guiding principles, not articles of faith, and to stop defending the indefensible. That they cannot illustrates that they will always be a marginal political movement, like the Greens.

 

...and why is that...?

Except for the regulation that incentivized a lack of holding of reserves in the first place, right?

 

The standard math of leverage. Less capital equals more leverage, equals higher profitability if the loans are profitable. During good times, when memories of defaults fade, banks will inevitably lower their capital bases so as to improve profitability. I mean, all businesses take on more risk during the business cycle's peak, that is why we have booms and busts. Banks are no different with that, but the consequences are larger.

Sure enough, Trump took down part of Dodd-Frank's banking requirements late last year. They always take more risk at the wrong time, and fewer risks at the right time. By "they" I mean the general business community, not the standout smart ones like Buffett (who does the opposite). Of course Trump is a particularly dumb example, which is one reason why he so often declares bankruptcies.

Then the regulation needs to be fixed, not scrapped. Without oversight, banks will drop their loads when crises hit. They did for centuries, until dragged while complaining into the modern era.

 

Astonishingly well. Smaller problems than these knocked down the dominos in 2008. Read the Levine article, he is very good. (And for Timon too, because at heart Levine is a financial libertarian.)

 

So they were incentivized to over-leverage completely independently of any action or regulation imposed on them? I see.

Oh, so there's an "ideal" reserve requirement at which point our problems will be solved. I see.