|
Do you put
money away in the bank periodically? You're just wasting it, you know.
At least,
that's the assertion of this mindless rant: Millionaire Slumdogs: the uber-rich need to
put money back into the economy.
Kostigen might say that with
this title I'm putting words in his mouth, that not all saving is bad
(only that done by the wealthy), so here's a sample:
Corporations
and wealthy individuals profited more than anybody else during the Bush
years. They can afford to help the rest of us out now by spending and not
squandering their capital.
I always get
a little uncomfortable when someone attempts to define what level constitutes
being rich, so I certainly go bananas when we start parsing the
group into "uber" and otherwise.
Hey, Tom, we
don't need you to tell us how awful saving is, the Fed's interest rate policy
is screaming precisely that. Instead of financial journalism, maybe you
should run for Congress; they keep telling us how they'll eventually firgure out how to "force" the banks to lend,
which has to be a policy course with which you agree.
Readers know
where I'm going with this because it's so simple. We don't suffer a savings
glut; we are living with the aftermath of a debt binger and a dearth of
savings. Banks can't be forced to lend into a system still overloaded with
debt at all levels-- borrowers don't want to borrow, anyway, as they're
trying to de-leverage. The only one getting this wrong is government, which
is not just growing, not just taking on more debt, but blowing
on the straw harder than ever to get us all to take more of the bad medicine
we're trying to get away from.
Our fearless
leaders should be expected to get it wrong--that's just what they do. That
someone like you would see savings as such an evil is truly sad, but it
actually represents a lot of wrong-headed thinking today.
In reality,
if we're going to "re-capitalize," say, the financial system, it's
actually going to need some--get this-- capital! Why shouldn't some of
it come from our own shores? Oh, that's right-- Washington can manufacture capital out of
thin air.
The fact is, we suffer from a lack of savings, something the private
sector is trying to fix right now despite the best efforts of those in D.C.
To propose more debt and more spending as the cure is the height of
insanity.
I know and
like some folks at Marketwatch and it is clearly
the world's leading investment site. Still, the editor who let that article
see the light of day should have his head examined. If you haven't clicked
the link above, you have to... it is truly one of the most inane articles
you'll ever read.
**Get this: I interviewed Ann Coulter on my podcast this week. Yes, that
Ann Coulter. Dial down your get-offended-o-meter and check it out!
Chip Hanlon
President/Delta Global Advisors
800-485-1220
www.deltaga.com
Chip Hanlon
focuses on foreign equities, currencies and commodities. He is currently the
president of Delta Global Advisors, an
SEC-registered investment advisor with more than $1BB in assets under
management. Previously, he was the C.O.O. and chief U.S. strategist for Euro
Pacific Capital, president of Unfunds, Inc. and
vice president of investments and syndicate director for Sutro
& Co. He is also a
contributing writer to Green Faucet and to Real Money, the subscription service of
thestreet.com.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| 
