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My main takeaway is that financial crises affect everybody (ex: oil recessions from low cost tend to limit damage to oil producers and economy of cities reliant
by rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
My main takeaway is that financial crises affect everybody (ex: oil recessions from low cost tend to limit damage to oil producers and economy of cities reliant on them, whereas everybody depends on money and the availability of credit) and at greater levels than other kinds of recessions. When credit crunches, people who were on the margins or even comfortably in debt end up in precarious positions where there is little help available, and the only bailout beneficiaries are big banks.
I suppose the reason far-right political groups benefit is because when people lose their possessions, all they are left with is their identity, and a lot of anger. This can feed resentment at any "other" group responsible for their travesty, whether it be a foreign power (WWI victors), internal distinct subgroup (Jews in Germany; Muslims in America/Europe; welfare recipients), or even religion (Arab Spring and ISIS being correlated with the global recession and rise in food prices).
History shows that any extreme cannot last forever, but it can do damage that lasts for generations. The extreme right may be wrong, but the conditions make them attractive. And dangerous.
- lintiness 11y ago"the only bailout beneficiaries are big banks" is patently false. if the banks were the only parties to benefit, there'd be zero political will to aid. banks hold the nation's savings, and allowing them to fail meant multiples of pain for average people. if this crisis proved anything, it's that friedman was right (printing can stall a deflationary spiral). what remains to be seen is how the next act plays.