Hudson hits it hard. Here is a choice excerpt:
“Were you wrong?” Congressman Henry Waxman prompted him to elaborate. “Partially,” the Maestro replied. “I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organizations, specifically banks, is such that they were best capable of protecting shareholders and equity in the firms.” The fact that they simply sought predatory gains for themselves – in the form of losses for their customers and clients (and it turns out, taxpayers”) was “a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works.”
Whoa! What "functioning structure" of "how the world works" could THAT be? Could he be speaking of the depraved, Godless, secular philosophy of Ayn Rand's "Objectivism"? Greenspan's fetishism associated with Ayn Rand's Objectivism is reported on here.
For background, here is a link to a transcript of an old Playboy magazine (sorry no pictures ;) interview of Rand from way back. Excerpts:
Rand: "The Objectivist ethics, in essence, hold that man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself.Here is another beauty that should set Austrian hearts aflutter :
PLAYBOY: According to your philosophy, work and achievement are the highest goals of life. Do you regard as immoral those who find greater fulfillment in the warmth of friendship and family ties?The utter depravity continues at the link. But my question for Greenspan (and other apostles of Rand) would be, if one testifies to an admiration for the philosophy of Ayn Rand, why would one be surprised when people then act in accord with that philosophy? And why should you be surprised when then injustice, greed, fraud and depravity are the results? How could Greenspan be surprised that people act in their own selfish interests when that is EXACTLY the secular philosophy or what Hudson may call his "religion" that he professes a "faith" in? How does this man's mind work?
RAND: If they place such things as friendship and family ties above their own productive work, yes, then they are immoral.
At least Greenspan is in semi-retirement and is no longer in as influential a position as he was as Fed Chairman; but Hudson identifies a current "relapse" into his "religion" in a recent op-ed Greenspan wrote, and gives him no quarter, it's a good read.
Moving forward, past the era of Greenspan, perhaps our immediate concerns should focus on our current group of policymakers, and what their influences are.
It has been reported that current House Budget Committee Chairman and Simpson-Bowles Deficit Commission member, Rep. Paul Ryan, a while back spoke at a ceremony honoring the legacy of Ayn Rand . Ryan was reported to have said:
“The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand,” Ryan said at a D.C. gathering four years ago honoring the author of “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.” …
How does the depraved philosophy of Ayn Rand figure in Ryan's or other current policy maker's decision making? And what kind of macro economic outcomes should we expect because of this?
Let's not forget that Lloyd Blankfein claimed that he was "doing God's work." I conclude that he was making this claim on behalf of his cohorts also.
ReplyDeleteThese people are perverts. They have life ass-backwards. And that is being kind.
BTW, did you know that Ayn Rand model her heroes after a murder who dismembered a 12 year old girl, whom she admired for not having a drop of empathy.
Ayn Rand, Hugely Popular Author and Inspiration to Right-Wing Leaders, Was a Big Admirer of Serial Killer
And she was a hypocrite, too.
Ayn Rand Railed Against Government Benefits, But Grabbed Social Security and Medicare When She Needed Them
Tom,
ReplyDeleteThen you have Eric Cantor in the ultrashort Treasury ETF (hoping for a US Sovereign default?)
and I looked on OpenSecrets.com and Boehner and Ryan have the PIMCO long commodity ETFs in their personal portfolios (I will do a post in the future, when they update for 2010 and if they still have it) hoping to enrich themselves via a commodity price increase? while we here are trying to advocate for more commodity market regulation to avoid commodity bubbles, high food costs, etc...
This is textbook Ayn Rand type stuff by POLICYMAKERS and REGULATORS (so-called) no less. Right out of the Ayn Rand school of thought and REASON (there is that word again)...
Tom, if nothing else, we are being educated in the process of how a descent into the depths of human depravity works...
I didnt know about her serial killer worship but it does not surprise me. I am so thankful I never had the desire to read any of that Ayn Rand stuff!
Very dark. Resp,
PS Thanks for introducing me to Michael Hudson's analysis a while back... he has very unique perspective.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteThis is from the article at the 'Serial Killer' link in your comment:
"one poll ranked Atlas Shrugged as the second most influential book of the 20th century, after the Bible."
The sad thing is I believe many morons on the right are probably buying, reading, and supposedly "believing" both books! More hypocritical behavior.
Resp,
Speaking of Rand.... apparently Atlas Shrugged the movie is in theaters on April 15.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/
"PS Thanks for introducing me to Michael Hudson's analysis a while back... he has very unique perspective."
ReplyDeleteMichael was onto these folks way back when.
@Tom: Wow.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom. I try to read Hudson whenever he has a new article. He has more range and depth than just about any economists writing today. I know that he understands and basically accepts the state theory of money. He certainly understands the post-Bretton Woods monetary environment since he wrote the book on it. Do you happen to know where he stands vis a vis MMT? He must be aware of it as he is affiliated with UMKC and he links to L. Randall Wray on his website. Despite that, I've never heard or read anything from him that could be easily identified as an MMT talking point.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Greenspan, A while back I saw a newspaper clipping that my dad had cut out circa 1986. In the article the author was questioning the appointment of Greenspan as Fed chair on the grounds of his being an ideological extremist. So some people were aware of it at least.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteRand: "The Objectivist ethics, in essence, hold that man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself."
Clearly, the Randists have been sacrificing others to themselves since they gained influence in public affairs. So, they are immoral even by rand's own standard.
David, Hudson has allied himself with the American Monetary Institute's monetary plan which was written up as a bill that Dennis Kucinich sponsors. His writings are often somewhat out of paradigm wrt MMT, even though he is well aware of it.
ReplyDeleteIt was known from the get-go that Greenspan belonged to Ayn rand's inner circle, i.e., he was a card-carrying member of her cult. (source)