Wall Street gambling

Letter to the Union Tribune (unpublished, of course):

The Goldman Sachs case allows us to step back and assess the American financial sector's role in business. Once upon a time, Wall Street's primary purpose was to raise money for productive industry. But now, it has been turned into a casino. Credit default swaps? Derivatives? Gambling, pure and simple.

No free market?

Letter to the SD Union-Trib (unpublished):

Almost 20 years ago, Japan entered a deflationary slump. Piously wearing the mantle of capitalism, America sent economic experts to advise them to take the hard medicine, let the bad banks fail, allow the free market to work. How ironic now to see the U.S. government spend hundreds of billions to prop up our own failed lending institutions. Apparently we don't practice what we preach.

Government to prop up housing

Letter (published) to the San Diego Union-Tribune:

I agree with what Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston said last week: “Taxpayers should not have to absorb preventable, foreseeable losses.” Lenders and borrowers deserve to reap what they've sown. No money down? Liar's loans? Revolving lines of credit? Banks should have known better.

Similarly, I have little sympathy for “naive” buyers who used nonstandard loans to borrow more than they could afford, assuming that rising values would allow them to refinance. Others used their homes as ATMs, pulling out equity to live beyond their means. All are learning property values don't go up forever.

Plenty of people sat on the sidelines waiting for the housing bubble to end. Why should government prop up housing prices? Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Do we live in a socialist or capitalist nation? Let the free market reign.

BRENT McDONALD
San Diego

Union-Tribune link