Bailouts and Bull

[MTLskyline]

A few weeks ago I saw an excellent 20/20 report by Libertarian reporter John Stossel on the recession and solutions to it, etc. I thought it was all quite well done.

 

Part 1 - Stimulus

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Part 2 - Solution to traffic problems?

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Part 3 - Medical Marijuana

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Part 4 - Universal Pre-Kindergarten

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Part 5 - Mexican Border Fence

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Part 6 - Is the American dream still attainable?

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[Cataclaw]

Video 1 - Stimulus:

 

The general premise is that some economists disagree with Obama's plans. The thing is... no economist is omniscient. You have "conservative" economists that instinctively favour plans to the right, and "liberal" economists that instinctively favour plans to the left. There are plenty of economists that agree with Obama's plans, and plenty that disagree. It's hard to get consensus.

 

 

Video 2 - Roads

 

I think they're missing the ball here.. the way to reduce congestion is to reduce dependency on roads. The best way to do this is by providing alternatives such as mass transit. My cousin lives in midtown manhattan and doesn't even own a driver's license. She doesn't need to! 24/7 subway service to pretty much anywhere + bus + train!

 

Didn't bother to watch the other videos. This liberterian seems a bit too wacky with his views. He clearly favours privitization of everything over any kind of government help, a position i disagree with.

 

I don't want gov't sticking their nose into EVERYTHING... but i don't want them being totally absent either. I favour a healthy balance.

[MTLskyline]

Video 1 - Stimulus:

 

The general premise is that some economists disagree with Obama's plans. The thing is... no economist is omniscient. You have "conservative" economists that instinctively favour plans to the right, and "liberal" economists that instinctively favour plans to the left. There are plenty of economists that agree with Obama's plans, and plenty that disagree. It's hard to get consensus.

Bush and much of his administration were in favour of massive stimulus despite being Republicans. I'm not quite so sure that this is entirely divided along party lines. IMO, its like global warming, a lot of scientists say that it is humans' fault, and a lot of others believe that it isn't.

 

Video 2 - Roads

 

I think they're missing the ball here.. the way to reduce congestion is to reduce dependency on roads. The best way to do this is by providing alternatives such as mass transit. My cousin lives in midtown manhattan and doesn't even own a driver's license. She doesn't need to! 24/7 subway service to pretty much anywhere + bus + train!

I think you're both right. I believe that there should be much more investment in public transit. However, I am not against the idea of private roads for people willing to pay comparable fees to what transit users pay. Both solutions would reduce traffic congestion on public roads.

 

Didn't bother to watch the other videos. This liberterian seems a bit too wacky with his views. He clearly favours privitization of everything over any kind of government help, a position i disagree with.

 

I don't want gov't sticking their nose into EVERYTHING... but i don't want them being totally absent either. I favour a healthy balance.

Yeah, John Stossel brings interesting (but sometimes a little extreme) views to the table. Although there is a lot of truth in what he says, it is true that government does have its role which private enterprise can't always provide.

[Cataclaw]

Hehe.

 

Thanks though for posting, you always post interesting stuff MTLSkyline! Keep it coming