WHO IS TO BLAME FOR BLACK MONDAY?
That remains to be seen
‘Blaming others is a sign of low self-esteem because in doing so we are not taking responsibility‘
On Monday 29 September 2008, the US House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion bailout plan aimed at stabilizing the financial system, i.e. a plan to let the least fit survive, triggering the largest point drop in Wall Street’s history.
The bill was trounced by a 228-205 vote, with “no votes” from both the Democratic and Republican sides. The fact is that of the Democrats, 141 voted for the bill and 94, or 40%, voted against it. Of the Republicans 65 voted for the bill and 133, or 67%, voted against it. What message does this send to both Presidential candidates? How can either candidate blame the other party for the failure of the bill? If someone can be blamed at all, the blame is bipartisan!
Blaming others is, however, a technique used by people and parties that are clueless and is a large part of the problem. It is often just used as a smoke screen to conceal ones own responsibility.
What I simply do not understand is how Barack Obama can only blame the Republicans for the current economic crisis. He is blaming the Republican economic philosophy … which has also been the economic philosophy of most Democrats. How can one blame Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush for the crisis now shaking Wall Street, while between their precidencies, a Democratic President, Bill Clinton, adhered to more or less the same philosophy? What happened in those eight years? A presidential candidate should not believe that everything is simply a question of good versus evil, however, if he does, we might have another problem to deal with.
Karel Frielink
Updates on the Plan:
30 September 2008: Timeline Banking crisis
1 October 2008: stocks rise on hopes of revised plan and revisions to the bill (for draft bill click here)
2 October 2008: U.S. Senate votes in favor of bailout but markets won’t rally
3 October 2008: US$700 billion bailout bill passed
6 October 2008: World markets are falling
14 October 2008: Another $250 billion pumped into banks
23 October 2008: We all know the bankers’ oath of secrecy… Maybe we need another bankers’ oath: “I promise never to allow financial gain, i.e. greed, cloud my judgment“. An oath to serve clients and shareholders (click here for a discussion about the micro-bankers’ oath). However, oaths are a poor substitute for integrity…
