Ralph Nader: Whistle-Blower. Advocate. Spoiler?

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Ralph Nader Discusses Being Scapegoated 2000

03 min 41 sec

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Ralph Nader Weighs in on Wall St. Bailout

05 min 36 sec

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Ralph Nader Hopes for Third Party Shakeup

02 min 19 sec

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Watch Full Program

01 hr 05 min 26 sec

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3 Comments

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brahson

Posts: 1

Posted: 10.26.10, 10:09 AM

icouce - You're saying that federal legislation is made by people opposed to business profits? The politicians whose campaigns are financed by the very industries they "regulate"? And the lobbyists who help write - or who just write - the legislation, are they secretly anti-business? The former CEOs who go to DC to run the regulatory agencies responsible for their former - and future - businesses? They have financial interests in those businesses, and they secretly want to hurt them? And you think there's a free market? Are there bailouts in a free market? Bailouts by liberals, bailouts by conservatives? A "free market" where the government (aka military) is used to protect "US interests"?

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icouce

Posts: 11

Posted: 10.11.08, 09:29 PM

Free markets did not cause this failure, government economic intervention did.

Mr. Nader is of base, greed is not a systemic condition, it is a human condition. In a socialist/command economy, human greed is demonstrably no less a factor in economic decisions than in a freewheeling capitalist market � ask the Russian. However, it is in any case a straw man. Free markets did not cause this failure, government economic intervention did.

The elephant in the room no one seems to be talking about is the �regulatory� effect of an extremely complex tax code incentivizing behavior that would not otherwise occur in an open and free market � entering into contractual obligations without full understanding can only occur in an environment where intervening government �incentives� are present . Remember, one man�s �incentive� is another man�s �loophole� and vise versa. In addition, 40+ years of profligate credit, government budget deficits and Keynesian monetary expansion coupled with the 1992 Community Redevelopment Act mandating loans to �underserved� minorities and others of dubious financial merit have all contributed to market faithlessness in our ability to conduct our financial affairs soberly. Yet, there is wonder and incredulity expressed by pundits at the lack of confidence exhibited by these �broken markets�. Moreover, Federal Reserve actions lowering interest rates to unwarranted levels -- an economic boom accompanied by falling interest rates to all-time lows -- served the interests of its shareholders not of the nation, by providing the liquidity needed for these dubious loans.

All these were government/quasi-government actions not laissez-faire capitalism run amuck. On the contrary, markets are punishing exactly the kind of behavior one expects them to punish � yes Mr. Friedman, you did tell us so, even if Mr. Nader has conveniently forgotten. In addition, if all that were not enough, the market�s reaction to every government action of the last six months in this regard, and in particular of the last two weeks, is ample evidence that no one with any sense has a scintilla of faith that the government knows what the heck it is doing � but markets are broken. Do tell!

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jensenjoe

Posts: 2

Posted: 10.11.08, 08:26 AM

Your right Ralph,
But I remember President Reagan deregulating everything, killing unions starting with the airline industry with the union in Patco.
The Republicans and Democrats are equally to blame, and I'm thinking very seriously to vote for you, I don't like the other two guys, I think we'd get more of the same if we got one of them.

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