what's the right ammount of regulation/to keep our "Free" market economy?

I am SO GLAD we're not in a recession. So very thankful.
(Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...)

(Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...)

Who is bellowing into the microphone that the fundamentals are sound and the economy is actually growing. Somebody oughta tell the poor guy the microphone's not working, the shooting flames stopped shooting, and the hologram of the wizard's head dissipated and nobody's paying attention to him any more.

When The Wall Street Journal runs headlines saying the financial system has been rocked to the core, and even Alan Greenspan says it's bad... it's bad!

Aw - we are all whiners, don't you know. The recession is all in our heads. I can't think of the senator who said that, but I heard today the if McCain is elected , the senator will be named the Secretary of the Treasury.
And I heard a reporter say today that 'fundamentally sound' remark by McCain was word for word what Herbert Hoover said just before they voted him out in 1932. Eugene

Robinson of the Washington Post said they ought to get a little book of Hoover quotations to give to McCain so he won't hang so many dead weights around his neck. No, let's not. Let him hang himself or whatever.

Oh - it was Senator Gram who made the whiner remark. He is McCain's economics advisor.

good article

Well, we don't actually have a free market. The nature of our money prevents a free market. Even in the area of organized crime which clearly operates outside the laws there is no free market. (Just try starting your own crime organization and see what happens.) So since we have no free market and can't have one until we change the nature of our money the question is hard to answer as stated.

That said, there is the problem of the law versus how the law is enforced. The law doesn't matter if it isn't enforced. So the real question is what "rules" are being enforced and how. The answer to that is that you can't enforce the official rules since there is too much money involved to prevent the corruption of the enforcement agencies. So what unofficial rules are the big money interests enforcing?

The answer to that question is that they are unable to control the money either since our money is, by nature, uncontrolable. Therefore, the business cycle with its booms and busts.

Therefore, there is no right amount of regulation possible with our form of money. It just can't be done. Our money makes it impossible. No nation and no society in recorded history has managed to do it. If you want a much fuller explanation and a solution for the problem you will need to take the time to read either the novel week Invisible Hand or at least read the posts in the POM Education group at http://POMEducation.gather.com/

Or you can have the fun of reliving history once again. Your choice.

Capital markets are unstable. In the past there was no way to make them stable. But today we have computer power that can be used to make them stable.

By using the greater computer power of today we can have a much higher turn over of capital in the capital market. This higher turnover will make the market harder to game or control and the market will no longer have the unstable run ups or declines. Who can change or control the market when say 20% of the capital is trading each day?

So now that we have the compute power to provide for all these transactions that will smooth out the market how do we force people to turn over at a rate of 20% a day? Easy, put a cap gains tax of 0% (zero) on all gains of 7 days or less and put a cap gains tax of 90% of all gains of more than 7 days.

The likes of Yahoo, Micosoft and/or Sun Micro Systems will give us the systems that will provide automated software agents to support turning over one's investments every 7 days (based on the specs you give the agent).

A system like this will make the financial markets work as smoothly as the local fruit market.

This is but the latest chapter in the unending horror of republiCON failures of governance, this time brought to us specifically by none other than McBush's economic advisor. I, for one, don't think it's any great coincidence that McCain is now quoting Herbert Hoover.

If I answer this, am I a whiner?

We need enough regulation to level the playing field. That means equal access by all to the markets, mortgages, etc -- with the same qualifying rules for all.

If qualifying rules were equal, it would eliminate at least some of the high end speculators who make their money by bankrupting.

You didn't include Russia in your list. Their markets are dropping too.
Brazil is also taking a beating.

The fact that this is not just an American problem gives me doubts about the assertion that we have a regulatory failure. I think that is a gross oversimplification of what is going on.

Its an interesting question on how much regulation is the right amount.
I wish that that question was being asked by policy makers.

Unfortunately, I expect we will probably get some sort regulation rammed thru in a hurry by legislators that want to look tough or proactive. Regulations in this country tend to be the closing of the barn door after the horses have run off.

Larry is right about us not having a truly free economy...its more of a mixed one and it its edging towards the European style socialistic model.

Pat is right too about the rush to do something, anything. Hell, look how good such legislation has worked in the past. Sarbannes-Oxley, the Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, and of course the Real ID. The record of government interference is so good this next round of regs will probably be a doozy.

I'm not sure