Ben Carson Announces Candidacy for Presidency
Ben Carson seems like a good guy who has sound views on some subjects. But I agree with Allahpundit:
I think he’s running now because, on some level, he really, truly believes that the thousands of people he’s met who’ve slapped him on the back for standing up to Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast a few years ago are just the tip of the iceberg of a broad national grassroots movement that’s out there waiting for him. I think he’ll be genuinely surprised when he discovers they aren’t. Which is sad.
I suppose, but I think it’s just as well. I have come to view economic literacy as central to the qualifications of people running for President, as I believe economic freedom is one of the greatest and most misunderstood issues out there. And when someone writes in a book that the financial crisis was caused by deregulation, I conclude that they have some learning to do. Here’s Carson in his book America the Beautiful:
Some degree of government regulation is necessary for our large financial institutions to prevent the kinds of tragedies that occurred during and immediately after the great stock market crash of 1929 and again in 2008. The real shame is that we did not recognize the importance of financial regulation after the great crash of 1929 and appropriately developed safeguards in the 1930s. Unfortunately, we decided to deregulate during the 1990s, paving the way for the economic meltdown in 2008.
Tom Woods wrote a book about the financial crisis called Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse
[W]ith regard to the housing market, the point is that lenders were doing exactly what the federal government and its central bank wanted them to do. Saying that more government oversight was needed misses the point. More and riskier loans are what the government wanted. Fashionable opinion everywhere, especially throughout the government sector, cheered as traditional lending practices were abandoned and riskier ones adopted–why, the American dream is being extended to more and more people!
The problem, Woods explains (as is often the case when “deregulation” is blamed for market ills), is that we don’t have real deregulation. Sure, phony deregulation might pose problems, but nothing that couldn’t be cured by a genuine free market:
This is the context in which regulation and deregulation have to be considered: a system so far removed from the free market that innocent third parties are on the hook for private firms’ foolish and risky decisions. In that context, is “deregulation” necessarily the best approach? Of course, real deregulation, which would abolish all monopoly privileges, establish free competition, eliminate the “too big to fail” presumption, and force banks to produce their depositors’ money on demand or declare bankruptcy–in other words, treating banking just like every other industry-would be the most welcome outcome of all.
For a discussion of the real causes of the crisis — laws and regulations mandating irresponsible loans, the backstop of Fannie and Freddie, affirmative action in lending, the Community Reinvestment Act, the Fed’s manipulation of interest rates, and the ever-present promise of bailouts, among others — read Woods’s book.
So, sorry. I can’t get excited about someone who blames deregulation for the financial crisis.
But hey. Ben Carson would be better than Hillary Clinton.
Ding.
Patterico (9c670f) — 5/5/2015 @ 7:51 amis no good when you peak at breakfast
go back to bed goofball
happyfeet (831175) — 5/5/2015 @ 8:08 amTalk about your low bars to pass over — “better than Hillary.” My Husky can jump that bar. A brick can’t jump, but I’d rather have a brick as POTUS than Hillary.
Beldar (fa637a) — 5/5/2015 @ 8:11 amBen Carson!
For surgeon general.
Steve57 (818fa4) — 5/5/2015 @ 8:16 amto me it seems that for the Black segment of the population to break free of the tyrannic Democrats Progressive group think it needs to start thinking of alternatives. And I think just by virtue of being the same race, Dr Carson will get a smidgen of that community to look at what the other choices are. At this point drawing off just 2% from the DP group think would be very good.
So, Yeah! for Dr Carson running.
seeRpea (81fcfe) — 5/5/2015 @ 8:30 amI don’t know what is in Ben Carson’s mind, and I don’t think he would make the best president
MD in Philly (not in Philly at the moment) (deca84) — 5/5/2015 @ 8:31 ambut i think his being a candidate might be a very good thing
IF
a lot of the debates can focus on what we need to do different than the Obama administration and why,
rather than primarily bloody each other
just as Fiorina can get away, perhaps, with a more aggressive stance against Hillary
perhaps too Carson can get at least 10% of African American’s to listen to criticism of Obama instead of crying racism! and move on
but that didn’t work before, so IDK
One of the most important reasons that America has produced the standard of living we have today is fractional reserve banking.
If you think for one minute that requiring banks to hold 100% of their deposits in readily available currency is a good thing, then it is truly you who have no idea about financial literacy.
Regards
Jeffrey (2eddb6) — 5/5/2015 @ 8:57 amAt the very least it will demonstrate that no, racism is not why people hate Obamacare.
Steve57 (818fa4) — 5/5/2015 @ 9:01 amMD’s right. There is an issue with what our pols can “get away with.” In our two-tiered society of adults (heterosexual, White men) and children (everybody else), the adults are required to give broad deference to the children. There simply are things our old, White men dare not say for fear of being labeled abusive. A diverse field can’t be shamed into silence. I’m pleased that Carson has joined the fray.
ThOR (a52560) — 5/5/2015 @ 9:10 amYes, ancient whites like Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, and Marco Rubio.
Unlike the fresh, hip, spry Hillary! Clinton or Joe Biden.
Steve57 (818fa4) — 5/5/2015 @ 9:23 amSteve 57,
Did you enjoy the spectacle of Rand Paul walking back his Baltimore comments?
ThOR (a52560) — 5/5/2015 @ 9:37 amI like Ben Carson but his “your right to own a gun depends on where you live” attitude will keep me from ever casting a vote for him.
CrustyB (69f730) — 5/5/2015 @ 10:15 amThOR, I haven’t enjoyed the spectacle of GOP failure theater for some years now.
Steve57 (818fa4) — 5/5/2015 @ 10:51 ammister doctor ben carson come quick timmy fell down the well
happyfeet (831175) — 5/5/2015 @ 12:18 pmSure, they’ve been waiting for him IN THEORY. In REALITY, not so much.
It’s like, yeah Mitt would’ve made a good President. Like in the ’50’s or so.
And Ben would be a good President to have followed W. But now? We need someone to
kick liberal ass, cut regulations, cut the federal workforce, eliminate some agencies
And maybe, just maybe stop sending jobs overseas either by monetary structure or
by actually moving the equipment there. And then we can have an economy again and
we can start kicking people off welfare. Until there’s jobs there’s no where for
people to go and I don’t think that Ben nor many other Republicans have that figured
out yet.
jakee308 (49ccc6) — 5/5/2015 @ 3:49 pmTalk about damning with faint praise…
carlitos (c24ed5) — 5/5/2015 @ 5:23 pmJeffrey,
Go fuck yourself.
Regards,
Patterico
P.S. As for the rest of you, behold how not to begin a conversation with the blog host.
Patterico (9c670f) — 5/5/2015 @ 5:54 pmThe best book on the 2008 collapse was After the Fall by Nicole Gelinas.
I reviewed it here.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/5/2015 @ 6:08 pmPat @17, sometimes no matter how much schooling you’ve had, how much your parents spent on your education and vocabulary, nothing else will do.
Steve57 (818fa4) — 5/5/2015 @ 6:13 pmOther blacks will consider him an uncle Tom, and nothing else.
BradnSA (2312b5) — 5/5/2015 @ 6:17 pmAgreed, BradnSA, but even 5-10% is a better start than nothing.
MD in Philly (not in Philly at the moment) (deca84) — 5/5/2015 @ 6:26 pmCarson is a man of accomplishment. And that right there will sink him with black Democrats.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/5/2015 @ 6:29 pmHidden in Plain Sight: What Really Caused the World’s Worst Financial Crisis, and Why It Could Happen Again
Gerald A (6b504a) — 5/5/2015 @ 7:08 pm