In an interview with the Associated Press in his waning days in office, US Vice President Dick Cheney is quoted as saying "I don't think anybody saw it coming". His statement was in reference to the current global economic crisis.In all fairness, who could have seen the recession coming?
Further to this statement, he defended President George W. Bush's economic record, stating that he saw no reason for the President to apologize for not foreseeing the economic turmoil.
I mean, who could have foreseen that decades of unlimited tax cuts for the rich, coupled with a decline in real wages for everyone else, could have negative consequences?
Who could have foreseen that the intentional destruction of the American manufacturing base through "free trade" agreements could be anything but beneficial?
Who could have foreseen that the deregulation of the financial sector could lead to corruption and fraud?
Who could have foreseen that an economy based on consumption and debt could do anything but keep growing?
Who could have foreseen that a service-based economy would be unproductive in the long run?
Who could have foreseen that the removal of protections for workers, the Wal-Martization of jobs, and the destruction of the social safety net would reduce confidence in the economy?
Cheney is right. Absolutely no one serious could have foreseen any of this.
2 comments:
I guess they didn't get the briefing titled "Downturn determined to strike in the U.S." I'm sure if the administration had seen that they would have...oh. yeah. right.
even at less of a "broad strokes" level, Henwood and Dean Baker were calling the sub-prime fallout as early as 2005. not to mention the fact that the reason guys like that figure such things out is because people on "THE STREET" are already whispering about it in their glass towers. a lotta people saw this coming. a few even profited from it.
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