The American Spectator

JP| 8.9.11 @ 7:41AM

It may well be speculators, Ben. There are whispers that George Soros has been shorting currencies; as a result, there was a run on Gold yesterday. But, why currencies? That's where the debt comes in. It isn't just the Dollar that is in trouble. The Euro is even in worse shape. And even China is piling up debt at a rapid pace.

Stocks are bought and sold in currencies. The crash yesterday could have been triggered by speculators selling off dollar denominated stocks in favor of a more solid commodity - Gold.

What makes this period of time so unique is that every major industrial is awash in debt. Currencies are devalued everywhere as banks hold vaults filled with government bonds. Yesterday's sell-off may in fact have been the result of short-sellers. But don't discount thier actions. Shortselling currencies is a sure indication that something is not right.

Alan Brooks| 8.9.11 @ 9:50AM

"Speculators and the utter irrelevance of President Obama."

You wanted Obama to be irrelevant and you got what you wanted; it worked with Clinton and it might very well work with Obama.

Alan Brooks| 8.9.11 @ 10:43AM

"President Obama... cannot do anything about anything. He might as well be on the moon."

If Obama went to the Moon you would be overjoyed-
cry your crocodile tears all you wish.

Teaghan| 8.9.11 @ 11:20AM

Brooks, you're a horses ass. Get lost.

O Tamandua| 8.9.11 @ 11:21AM

Alan, respectfully asked, what is President Obama doing that you like...honestly?

Alan Brooks| 8.9.11 @ 11:35AM

"Alan, respectfully asked, what is President Obama doing that you like...honestly?"

Why? for one thing, I wont mention the previous POTUS,
however Obama will do better than McCain could have done as president-- the only people who wont admit that fact are those who voted for McCain.
I like Obama as a person, and if he is re-elected the GOP will have to either revamp to being genuinely conservative, or fold.
i am not gullible, i know it is all a game-albeit a serious game. You have to pretend you will find another Reagan, you have to go through the motions to satisfy the older sentimental people.
Do what you think you have to do, but...
Count me out. I wont vote for your ersatz Gippers.

For you the game goes on; for me the game is over.

John II| 8.9.11 @ 12:23PM

"I like Obama as a person . . ."

You mean, you like unaccomplished, self-absorbed, ignorant, mendacious jackasses?

Or do you mean that you, as a person, like Obama? In which case, what does being a person have to do with liking Obama? Unless you mean to say that it's an accomplishment for any creature other than a cocker spaniel or a gerbil or a goldfish to like so transparently unlikable a, so to speak, person . . .?

You must learn to articulate your likes more precisely, Alan.

And now back to "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952), in which the prescient Cecil B. DeMille anticipates the Obama administration and its effect on the Americano psyche by staging a spectacular train wreck.

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 1:09PM

Why the Meltdown, Ben? Because intelligent people won't invest when asswipes from the Coasts are advocating increased taxes and government costs of doing business.

Now, I think it's a perfect time to invest in the Stock Market because there are bargains to be had.

RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:45PM

If that's the reason, Occam, it's hard to explain yesterday's high demand for US Treasuries.

Shill Watch| 8.9.11 @ 2:52PM

You have been identified as part of the progressive con and not a normal part of the American Spectator comment section. Nobody is buying what you are trying to sell.

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....vis-hanson

Alan Brooks| 8.9.11 @ 4:42PM

I clicked Shill Watch's link, and this is how Hanson's piece began: "We are witnessing a widespread crisis of faith in our progressive guardians of the last 30 years."
30 years ago was exactly when Reaganism started to kick in, summer of '81.

Alan Brooks| 8.9.11 @ 4:48PM

Young Reaganites used to say "fake it 'til you make it", which is a moral ambidextrousness of the sort the majority of you accused Clinton of.

Shill Watch| 8.9.11 @ 5:16PM

Not everybody that lived 30 years ago was a progressive guardian. Awan Bwooks is not even a good sophist. Reagan put the first chinks in their armor. Obama is demonstrating their total lack of substance.

Shill Watch| 8.9.11 @ 5:23PM

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....n_newsreel

Here is some more reading material on the raw intellect our President.

Inventor| 8.9.11 @ 3:41PM

That's easy, everything else on the Wall Street "CASINO" is "GARBAGE" and not trust-able.
Grab the last thing that might survive.

Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.9.11 @ 3:52PM

I don't bother with silly, this very instant, still sanctimoniously shilling, without a shred of dignity, for the reelection of an unaccomplished, self-absorbed, ignorant, mendacious jackass, trainwreck of spectacular proportion, on being too utterly unaccomplished, and self-absorbed, and ignorant, and a mendacious jackass, to sanctimoniously espouse any opinion on any macroeconomic phenomenon, yet not possessing any dignity to know any better matters.

bernfp| 8.9.11 @ 11:44PM

You only used "jackass" twice. Why your reticence to really tell it like it is?

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 6:21PM

US Treasuries are going to go even higher---they are safe havens supposedly, even at AA+ ratings, RCV.

But honestly, while I respect your Constitutional Law Prowess, macroeconomically, there's no profit to be had by flogging the productive class.

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 6:23PM

Actually, RCV---that is the perfect explanation---if the economy was truly good, people would be investing in businesses. I think it's a good time to invest in the Stock Market because Obama will lose in 2012, and a recovery will start after that.

Occam's Tool| 9.6.11 @ 10:32PM

People follow herds, RCV. Good time to invest in STOCKS. The herd is investing in treasuries because they are safer than stocks. Me, I'll wait until the interest on treasuries goes up to 15%, like it did with Carter.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 3:23PM

So you admit you are a tool.

Did you notice where S&P's Sovereign Debt guru named the failure to allow the Bush tax cuts for the rich to expire as a factor in the rating cut?

When you find anyone who disagrees with you an appropriate target for insult you just show yourself as weak minded.

Try actually learning some facts, and when you realize 100% of our real debt problem is the responsibility of three republican presidents, maybe you will grow up enough to actually discuss it. Oh, yeah, Reagan/Bush I/Bush II. Look it up and believe.

Shill Watch| 8.9.11 @ 3:46PM

Nobody is buying your progressive con. Move along spendthrift.

skip| 8.9.11 @ 4:01PM

Idiot.

Liar.

Per the Office of Management and Budget:

Federal receipts for 2003: $1,782,314,000,000

Federal receipts for 2007: $2,567,985,000,000

That is an increase of over 44% in federal revenues.

When was George W. Bush president?

When was the George W. Bush tax cuts?

Liberal sack of shit.

Rico| 8.9.11 @ 5:22PM

What facts would that be Bobby Boy? According to the U.S. Treasury's own website, the national debt "to the penny" stood at $14,587,727,605,443.44 as of yesterday. When Obama was sworn in, the debt stood at $10,626,877,048,913.08. That works out to a 37% increase in the mere space of only 2.5 yrs.

Pray tell us, how did you manage to hang this reckless run up on Ronald Reagan?

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 6:24PM

Yes....I remember the economic joy of the Carter years, Plan 9.

Grzmlyk| 8.9.11 @ 2:54PM

You like Obama as a person?

You are obviously a fool and a very, very, very, very, very, very, very poor judge of character.

Which are prerequisites for being a liberal-in-good-standing.

I hear Hitler liked dogs. And Charlie Manson could play a pretty good guitar. And Ted Bundy was an artist with a blunt instrument.

Congratulations, jackass.

Rosemary| 8.10.11 @ 7:20AM

Alan, the question was, what is it that President Obama is doing that you like. Not what are the Republicans not doing. Not what President Bush did. What is President Obama doing that you like.

You guys never answer, but instead point fingers everywhere but where they belong, at yourselves. Some wise person once said that when one points ones finger at someone, three of them are pointed right back at you. So stop with that nonsense and answer the question.

Roy N.| 8.9.11 @ 11:34AM

Alan baby, I would be even happier if you joined Obama in a one way trip to the moon.

Alan Brooks| 8.9.11 @ 2:54PM

Notice Mr. Stein's Freudian slips: he not only strongly hinted he wants Obama to go to the Moon, but also to the outer reaches of the solar system.
Ben would perhaps like to write: "I despise Obama like the plague."

Teaghan| 8.9.11 @ 3:54PM

No, that's my line.

Alan Brooks| 8.9.11 @ 5:00PM

...so let's get this straight: Ben Stein secretly wants Obama to go to the Moon, Teaghan (a combination of [T] ea Party and Reagan) wants Obama near Pluto?

Hey, try not to be too infatuated with the president!

Rico| 8.9.11 @ 5:31PM

I cannot speak for the eloquent Mr. Stein, but I will be happy to say it on my own account - I despise Obama like the plague.

As far as I am concerned, his cockamamie Black Nationalist Marxist fantasies, if allowed to run unchecked, will be as ruinous to this country as if the Bubonic Plague descended on this country in the form of millions of idiotic Obama-voting leftist rats.

mzk1| 8.9.11 @ 11:31AM

Maybe he shouldn't have stabbed the Speaker in the back? Maybe if he had the slightest amount of copetence in anything but corraling special interest groups, lawfare, and extortion?

You'd better believe it worked under Clinton. We got Welfare reform and a booming economy after he became irrelevent. Doubt we could do it again, though; Obama and Clinton are too different in character.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 3:25PM

Clinton gave you welfare deform, for which he should be damned. Clinton gave you the booming economy what gave you the balanced budgets.

You threw away the balanced budgets to cut taxes for the rich. It was insanely stupid to cut taxes in wartime, but you were not exactly acting sanely.

Live with what you brought down on us.

old white guy| 8.9.11 @ 2:15PM

obama was irrelevant the day he was born. get your head out.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 3:28PM

"old white guy| 8.9.11 @ 2:15PM

obama was irrelevant the day he was born. get your head out."

You were irrelevant the day you were born. Obama's great failing was he tried to play nice with the right wingers. He should have known that a viper isn't evil by choice, it's his nature.

The fact that you chose "old white guy" as your user name tell us enough about you. Oh, and I am an old Baby Boomer white guy, just not sunk to the level that I would think your comment was actual discussion.

Shill Watch| 8.9.11 @ 3:59PM

You are of course a shill and not to be taken too seriously.

"Obama's great failing was he tried to play nice with the right wingers."

Oh. I get it. You are using Newspeak. In that case we are trying to play nice with him too. You are nothing but a giant pile of bellyfeel.

Rico| 8.9.11 @ 5:36PM

Yes, Shill Watch, he is speaking Newspeak. In the world inhabited by Obama, Pelosi, and burned out old hippies like Bob From District 9, baby murder = choice, crooked special interest payoffs = investments, lawful political dissent = hate speech, etc.

Shill Watch| 8.9.11 @ 6:59PM

Lefties always instinctively try to kill language. It is what accounts for the foggy thinking of our various shills.

David C| 8.9.11 @ 11:22AM

Demand drives the economy. The velocity of money has slowed and as our aging population enters their lower productivity and spending years a depression is inevitable. Look at Japan after the gulf war.

Obama or Bush or any other president is not the question of who can bring us out of this economic calamity, lower demand and velocity will win and depression will follow. Real question is what will happen to our freedoms and rights as we enter these uncertain times.

As to the debt, let’s start by taking the 6 trillion in securities being held for social security and agree the fed will print to cover these. Now we are down to 8 trillion. Dollar is already being devalued. Means test medicare.

Unfortunately a world war followed the last world-wide depression.

Ben, thought you knew about pushing on a string from econ 101. Anyone? Anyone?

mames| 8.9.11 @ 12:05PM

Ben is right to this extent. CONGRESS is at fault as they have pushed spending to ever greater heights actually exponentially increasing since FDR. WE are reaching the brick wall on this one and if someone doesn't put the spending brakes on we will hit it a break neck speed. A Pres can do nothing without Congressional support. Support can be had from the GOP as well as we are lousy with well dressed RINOs.

As to the financial strength of corporations and the luxury market they are buffered from the impact by large sums of dwindling valued dollars - for a while. All the income of the market cannot make up for shrinkage in the economy. Not until those corps see reasonable evidence of a stable tax and spend environment will their money be released to expand the economy and provide jobs. Low taxes, low govt spending, expands the economy which is the opposite is tyranny. Our founders understood this basic concept (Jefferson: "there is no freedom without economic freedom") and Obama would like to "remake" us through an Alinski like crash. He can only accomplish it though because of weak minded men like McConnell and Boehner and other Rinos; he already has his spiritual kin in the Dems.

Tasine| 8.9.11 @ 11:59AM

President Obama is in office for one purpose and that purpose has nothing to do with the welfare of America. Yes, he is irrelevant, and mostly that is good. I believe he SHOULD be irrelevant as his goal isn't in the best interest of our nation. He isn't the least bit concerned over the economy - has done all he knows to do to make it even worse - but he isn't concerned because he has what he wants and needs and that's all that counts. He is a narcissist supreme, and that's how it is.

Colin| 8.9.11 @ 2:32PM

Ben, Ben, Ben. You're a decent fellow, but I liked you better when you were teaching economics to Ferris Buehler.

kate| 8.10.11 @ 1:42AM

Just watched a travel show (pbs type thing) on Denmark. Reminds me of Santa Fe, only even more spoiled -rotten ,we are so special and "picturesque". The europeans are now freaking out that we won't be able to send our strong American soldiers and money to save them. Let them form their own army. Less for them to spend on bicycles and crab fests on the beach. We have thrown good money to socialists for too long. Let them eat cake.

kate| 8.10.11 @ 1:50AM

BTW
If Obama thinks we can be like Europe, he is mistaken. We are geographically a HUGE country. We are not a little country where everyone can bicycle to work. Otherwise, we would! Good lord. Are there any people with brains in Washington?
Europe was so thrilled to see a European President be elected. Now they are wondering...Who will make the money and who will defend us?????

tsd| 8.9.11 @ 7:49AM

The markets are a joke, run by the biggest pirates and thieves ever known to man kind. They make the likes of Blackbeard look like a Sunday School Teacher. Someone ought to make a movie the "Pirates of Wall Street". Anyone with money in them will loose, and will deserve to loose as it is now the worst bet you can make with your money. Obama comments, funny as they are just make the joke he is more pathetic. Who the hell voted for this buffoon?

no name| 8.9.11 @ 11:33AM

How right you are tsd. the only reason the market rebounded in '87 was because the fed guaranteed that certain ones that bought stocks would not lose any money, hence that was the cause of the market to rise and people bought stock because the market rose. What a sham! Now the stock market has millions of unsuspecting 401k investors, not in that situation of their own doing but in because of being forced to by companies that wanted to end retirement packages. If the stock market was so good, why didn't the companies buy the stock thru their retirement programs and pay the retirees monies earned there? Because they knew it is a sham. First it caused their stocks to go up, they wiped their hands of the whole messy retirement situation and they could give themselves huge raises as management ceo's and not be answerable to stockholders cause although they didn't get any dividend for that year, the price of the stock increases every year... WHAT A RIP-OFF!!!!

hardcard| 8.9.11 @ 7:50AM

Dear Benny,
It's the debt, stupid !!!!!!

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 4:42PM

Dear Hardcard,

It's the unemployment stupid!!!!

Bill S| 8.9.11 @ 8:03AM

The stock market is on the brink of total collapse because the economy is. Record deficits. Record layoffs. The Fed is monetizing the debt. The deficit is larger than GDP. Europe is on the brink of collapse. Obama came out and said that we're going to keep doing the same things until they work. My money is in gold. You'd have to be insane to own stocks.

Dave| 8.9.11 @ 10:35AM

..."Obama came out and said that we're going to keep doing the same things until they work."

Well, here's the inside scoop that won't be covered on NBC's Nightly "CYA Obama" Report. President Barry's promise to keep on doing the same things are not intended to work our economy upward ... but rather to sustain the promise and he made while on the campaign trial in '08. Remember what he said?

"I want to fundamentally change this country." Having previously run some early background on the guy, I believed his promise then, and still do today. But how do you go about fundamently changing the country? First, you begin tearing down the systems that made ours the globe's greatest economy in history. But our current system, as it remains, is what stands in front of Obama's promise to not only "fundamentally change this country", but to ultimately see its name changed to The New People's Republic of Karlville.

It's no more complicated than that. And further numerical analysis and bean counting is simply cluttering-up the barn.

I think Bubba Clinton had the right idea when he simplified his first election message: "It's the economy, stupid." And it was. All that's left now is for Barack's plan to see the light of day, and to begin issuing the executive order for 250 million brown uniform jackets for his newly named 250 million nationalized citizens.

Isn't that how the book ends?

old white guy| 8.9.11 @ 2:19PM

question. how many people will have to die before the communist ideal is reached in the u.s. ???

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 4:53PM

""I want to fundamentally change this country." Having previously run some early background on the guy, I believed his promise then, and still do today. But how do you go about fundamently changing the country? First, you begin tearing down the systems that made ours the globe's greatest economy in history."

The system that made ours the greatest economy in history was from the mid '30s to the mid '70s. It was the growth of unions and the growth of the middle class through higher wages for the working class.

Back in the mid '70s your side started tearing that down. Your efforts led to this economic debacle. Until we go back to higher incomes for the working people we will not climb out of this hole.

reiska| 8.10.11 @ 7:58AM

Anyone who makes a public statement along the lines that he wants to fundamentally change this country sounds like a quintessential narcissist to me.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 4:49PM

"The deficit is larger than GDP. "

My God, your ignorance is amazing!

"Obama came out and said that we're going to keep doing the same things until they work. "

They are the only things that ever worked. When Reagan finally did get growth it was doing the same things. When Bush II finally did get growth it was doing the same things.

Obama just wants to do what worked for Reagan and Bush I, and not doing what failed for Reagan/Bush I/Bush II.

"My money is in gold. "

The only way you win with gold in the long run is if the US actually goes down the tubes. Which is what Paul Ryan is working for.

If the US does recover gold goes down the tubes. Do you people have any knowledge of the history of the last 40 years?

"You'd have to be insane to own stocks."

I said that in the late 90s and the right wingers thought it was funny. A couple years later they weren't laughing at all.

We have told you for years that contribution based retirement plans were gimmicks to screw the workers. Right wingers thought that was funny. They aren't laughing so much any more.

You on the right just don't seem to learn, everything you have done for the last 40 years has led up to this. Time to give up your arrogance, hate, and sense of entitlement and go back to the real values. You remember as you learned in Sunday School, "I was hungry and you gave me to eat...". Start worrying about your neighbor and things will work out better for you.

Shill Watch| 8.9.11 @ 7:07PM

Big government does not come off favorably in the Bible. By the way, Bob the old white guy, you can help anybody you have a notion to. Nothing is stopping you. You don't think that you are obeying that commandment when you take other people's money and give it to friends of the Democratic Party, do you? Gosh you are pathetic.

POST American| 8.9.11 @ 8:14AM

-----STILL squeamish about talking that 1.5
QUADRILLION in FAKE USURY derivatives, or the ongoing Rockefeller CFR/RIIA RED China sellout and TREASON OP?

Didn't think so.

NOW--

---GET READY FOR HUAC---

----------------------------AND----------------------------

-------------SEE YOU IN NUREMBERG!----------

Bill| 8.10.11 @ 5:44PM

Fake usury derivatives, what brokerage company deals in them? Do you have a phone number or the name of a broker I can call?

Vacogito| 8.9.11 @ 8:17AM

From a purely current economic perspective this drop may seem manufactured or the result of 'speculators', however it is not disconnected from either the mood or the current milieu. It is rather a direct barometer of the President's policies and the continuing policies of his government. It is a vote of no-confidence in Barack Obama. Until he brings in a team that has actually participated in private enterprise (extremely unlikely) or is no longer in office I do not believe that we will see sanity or consistency in the stock market.

Mike D.| 8.9.11 @ 9:05AM

Trot this dufus in the white house out a few more times in front of his teleprompter and TV cameras and their won't be a market left.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 4:56PM

"From a purely current economic perspective this drop may seem manufactured or the result of 'speculators', however it is not disconnected from either the mood or the current milieu. It is rather a direct barometer of the President's policies and the continuing policies of his government. It is a vote of no-confidence in Barack Obama."

The 'dumbness meter' goes off scale on that one.

Your shallow reasoning does not explain the previous Bush recession, or how Obama inherited a debt pushing 90% of GDP. Esp when Reagan inherited a debt of 32.5% of GDP. 100% of the growth in the debt to GDP ration came under three anti-tax republican presidents.

Look it up. Then keep rereading that until you actually realign your thinking to reality.

George True| 8.9.11 @ 7:22PM

It is your thinking that is devoid of reasoning, and shares no intersection with truth. Your moniker is well chosen, as your place of intellectual residence is definitely an alien enclave.

You are truly a resident of Bizarro World, Bob, where up is doen, black is white, inside is outside, and everything that is isn't, and everything that isn't is.

Since you referenced Reagan, I will do so as well: "It isn't that our liberal friends are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Sorry Bob, we can't fix stupid here.

Louis Jenkins| 8.9.11 @ 8:23AM

Dear Ben:

Somehow I feel you're in a bubble all to yourself. You are fortunate to travel to and fro, jet here and there, or just hang out. Look at the market, the deficit, what is going on in europe. These are interesting times that we live in. One thing is correct: Obama is flailing about like drowning man. The world will continue in its financial dealings inspite of his theatrics. He does not, and has never, improved our economy. Job programs? There were never any efforts to create jobs. It's all fluff. What the American public wanted to hear.

Skippy| 8.9.11 @ 4:19PM

Ben, the auto biz is excellent?
On which planet?
I have been selling them for 20 years.
We sell half the cars we did 5 years ago, and for far less profit per car.
The very best industry to observe, if you want to find out what the working stiffs think of the economy, is the car biz.
When they have confidence, they buy cars because they want to.
When they have none, they buy them when they have to.
Ben, it sucks, and it has sucked severely since late 2008.
Methinks you are losing touch with the true economic engine of America.
Us.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 4:58PM

Ben Stein never was in touch with reality. In Dec of 2007 argued against warnings of economic trouble by saying the fundamentals of the economy are strong.

Dec 2007 is when the recession began.

Recently he said us wages would have to fall to $2./hr to compete. Ever try to figure out how fast $2/hr would turn American into a third world country?

W| 8.9.11 @ 9:46PM

Which Union is this District 9?

reiska| 8.10.11 @ 8:06AM

Well, from the outside looking in, I sure hope you ditch this dufus next year. But who have the GOP got, I ask this erudite readership?

richard ryan| 8.9.11 @ 8:31AM

I'm amazed that the market has held on for so long. The financial sector filled with Obama supporting crooks like Goldman Sachs is a joke. Corporate profits are holding because in the last 3 years companies have slashed their costs and outsourced jobs to other countries. As a nation, our balance sheet is currently in the hole by $40 TRILLION dollars! Are we going to tax our way out this???? If we do, what will that do to our economy? Can interest rates stay this low indefinately? When they rise, what will THAT do to the stock market and our economy?? The stock market hasn't even begun to fall, my friend. And it does not take an over educated closet economist to understand it.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 5:07PM

Well, you got it right. Funny for this publication.

Only one detail. Since the rich are *NOT* putting their money into this country, taxing the rich will do damn little harm, and a lot of good.

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 6:26PM

Right. Like Buffet is NOT buying Railroads, for example.

George True| 8.9.11 @ 7:44PM

How exactly will taxing "the rich" do a lot of good? If the marginal tax rate for income over $373,650 is raised from the current 35% to 39.6%, how much additional tax revenue would that theoretically bring in, and how much of a dent would that make in the annual deficits of $1,500,000,000,000.00 ($1.5 trillion dollars) that we have incurred for the last three years?

If you don't know the answer, then you are talking out your ass. Furthermore, even if you do know the answer, and the amount is a small fraction of what we would need to balance the budget (which it is) then you are still talking out your ass.

Budget? What am I saying? The Democrats haven't submitted a budget in almost three years now. Also, the reason I used the term 'theoretically' earlier is that raising the top marginal tax rate would not produce anywhere near as much as you might think, because people in that tax bracket will simply shift their income and change their habits in such a way as to avoid as much of that tax increase as possible. After all, they didn't become rich in the first place by being stupid.

In any case, the Laffer Curve has been proven empirically to be the way things work in this world. In your Bizarro World, maybe not so much.

reiska| 8.10.11 @ 8:11AM

No Bob, taxing the rich will make no difference whatsover to the overall state of the economy.

Stopping the waste and expansion of the public sector might just help however.

They are already pissed off with the credit rating down grade.

reiska| 8.10.11 @ 8:13AM

Oops - just ignore the last sentence.

Clint| 8.9.11 @ 8:32AM

"U.S. stock futures continued its wild swing Tuesday after markets suffered their worst one-day loss since late 2008 in the previous session and as traders awaited a Federal Reserve statement on monetary policy that will be dissected for any hint of further easing.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148 points to 10874, having swung more than 300 points in both directions, according to data from FactSet Research.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 23 points to 1134.25, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 43 points to 2081. "

irish19| 8.9.11 @ 12:55PM

Likely bottom fishing investors. We do live in interesting times, and they're likely to get more "interesting" before the dust clears.

somnolence| 8.9.11 @ 8:54AM

"Autos are excellent." How so? For even more BORROWING AND LENDING AND EXTENDED CREDIT? And after we, the American taxpayers bailed out GM, where are our profits to pocket we were promised after we all became shareholders? No, instead for the dupes who continue to buy GM you are propping up the union. Sheesh, with thinking like this why even have an election. It's hopeless.

bluecollarbytes| 8.9.11 @ 8:58AM

This piece is 'familiar'. I'm used to seeing the left put forth some of the same claims---' the 'panic' is due to a small group of manipulators.....more so I guess than the reckless runaway train-o-needs that has Ben supporting tax hikes.

We've been warned for decades about unsustainable govt spending and unbridled growth in govt control. Obama has dragged us to the precipice, but the end result was/is assured unless we deal with this in a comprehensive wide-ranging effort to 'reset' our relationship with govt.

I'll be supporting the presidential candidate who goes all out against govt-business as usual. Voting for someone who will continue to condone our self-destruction, even at a slower 'bi-partisan' pace, is not something I'm going to do.

Lew Dunbar| 8.9.11 @ 9:02AM

There was a term coined in 2008 that explains this confusion - "BenSteinery"

Ben Steinery is an expression of derision, scorn and mockery coined in a January 2008 column titled "Farewell to Ben Stein" by Wall Street stock analyst and financial blogger Barry Ritholtz. The phrase refers to the many dubious economic prognostications made by financial writer, movie actor, game show host and creationist mouthpiece Ben Stein.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ben_Steinery

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/.....o-ben.html

Todd S| 8.9.11 @ 10:53AM

Ben Stein needs to be put on to pasture or go back to his game show instead of giving his useless political and financial commentary. This is not 1987 Ben, we are hurtling faster and faster to financial disaster that will make 2008 look like a joke if Obama and the ruling establishment (include the likes of Boehner, McCain and Graham) are not removed and serious steps taken to restore us to fiscal and business sanity. The market rally of the past year was completely false and entirely based and reckless monetary policy of Bernake and now the bill is coming due as the dreadful economic realities set in. Your sight does fail you Ben.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 5:11PM

"This is not 1987 Ben"

Yes, it is. In Dec 1987 Ben Stein said the fundamentals of the economy are good.

Dec 1987 was the month the recession started.

This is 1987, and right wing economics are pulling us into another recession. Perhaps it may reach the level of a depression.

Only this time, thanks to right wing economics, we may not be able to dig our way out.

mzk1| 8.9.11 @ 11:34AM

I almost went for it, until "creation mouthpiece". So basically he is a heretic against your religion, and all else follows.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 5:50PM

The great majority of Christians in this world belong to faiths that accept evolution.

The Jewish Virtual library says most Reform and Conservative Jews accept evolution. Among Orthodox there is a greater division of views.

The Jewish belief tends to be evolution and faith are not in conflict, which accords with what Pope John Paul II said, or more specifically, "Truth cannot contradict truth."

A creationist mouthpiece is one who exalts creationism and denies evolution, to the point of wanting the religious views to be taught in public schools.

My view on that was best expressed by Professor Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

" The Torah's story of creation is not intended as a scientific treatise, worthy of equal time with Darwin's theory of evolution in the curriculum of our public schools. "

Creationists tend to be Christians who think their view of the Old Testament outweighs Jewish views on the original teachings, which were theirs, after all.

grant1863| 8.9.11 @ 9:03AM

Obama is far from irrelevent. He and his anti-business, anti-growth policies are some of the reasons for the lack of confidence. FDR done small.

Sparky| 8.9.11 @ 9:19AM

Puh-leaze, lets not pile on 'speculators.' It ain't about speculation; it's about program trading!

Intelligent Design| 8.9.11 @ 9:24AM

The market is behaving as if people are going to stop needing and buying food, clothing, cars, computers, travel, insurance, housing, and medical care --- to name a few items. The declines of the last few days are the result of understandable but actually absurd panic over: 1) the debt ceiling deal which failed to cut spending; and 2) the downgrade of U.S. Treasury securities. The world is not coming to an end, despite the fact that we have to put up with Obama and his comrades for another 18 months or so. Help is on the way.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 5:52PM

"The world is not coming to an end, despite the fact that we have to put up with Obama and his comrades for another 18 months or so. Help is on the way."

Then you can complete the task of turning American into a third world country. Which Ben Stein has already shown his support for.

reiska| 8.10.11 @ 8:15AM

Very sensible comment ID!

somnolence| 8.9.11 @ 9:28AM

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm DELIBERATELY making sure my cars, computer, clothes, etc. last for years so I can save for a rainy day. It is called being conservative with your money. If that affects the market I guess it had better grow up.

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 1:11PM

Buying Detroit makes sense---cars serve the purpose of getting you from here to there in the most cost efficient way possible. Only a fool invests in a depreciating asset. And cars in Minnesota winters have a hard time appreciating.

jackc| 8.9.11 @ 9:34AM

Obama continues to frolic in celebrations, jet-setting, vacations, extravagant birthday bashes, golf galore, basketball, living off of taxpayer donations.
Promotes welfare, playing victim, begging, pontificating.
Unaccountable, irresponsible.
The Obama legacy.

POST American| 8.9.11 @ 9:39AM

-------JUST IN

"--Things are going to get MUCH worse
as America declines---"
'Jolly' Jim Rogers
Glow--BALL-ist/ RED China TREASON apologist/
SOROS enabler/ Glenn Beck GUEST Consultant
(Australia TV)

-Keep a goin' kiddies

----There's NO TREASON issue to fret about!

JUST KEEP A GOIN'-----------------------------

Bill| 8.10.11 @ 5:45PM

"Things are going to get much worse as America declines."

I suppose truer words were never spoken, even if you were talking about some other nation.

Kenny| 8.9.11 @ 9:47AM

Love ya, Ben, but you seem so clueless.

The market fell, as it should have even sooner, because the foundation of the welfare state welfare state -- the Great Society and the New Deal -- are crumbling under the massive debt they've accumulated.

In other words, Ben, the jig is up and investors are unsure of what will happen next.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 5:55PM

"Love ya, Ben, but you seem so clueless."

Ben Stein has been clueless all along.

"The market fell, as it should have even sooner, because the foundation of the welfare state welfare state -- the Great Society and the New Deal -- are crumbling under the massive debt they've accumulated."

Explain how the debt to GDP ration fell continuously from 1946 till 1981 when Reagan managed to reverse that. Explain how the Debt to GDP ratio pose WWII rose only under three anti-tax republican presidents, Reagan/Bush I/Bush II.

Then you will understand how meaningless your comment is.

David| 8.9.11 @ 10:32AM

A lot of this is the people working to drive it down to make a profit.

And of course S&P hates all things 'thinking and free' so it was not surprising to see the downgrade.

Clint| 8.9.11 @ 10:39AM

Dow's Up 235 Points.

Waiting For FED Statement.

Elgordo| 8.9.11 @ 10:49AM

To COUNTER the UNFAIR DEMONIZATION of the TEA PARTY

The Dems are trying to demonize the Teaparty with generalized, nebulous attacks on them as terrorists

A Teaparty SpokesPerson(s) should clearly list the 4 or 5 itms the Teaparty wants in a discussion of the Debt Negotiations to upgrade our S&P Rating back to AAA

Then demand to know what's terrorist about these demands.

Also, the Teaparty should point out that it was the underlying policies of Obama not the contentiousness of the Debt Ceiling debate that got us to the brink of insolvency.

Steve A| 8.9.11 @ 10:59AM

Obama is an embarrassment. If things continue this way much longer, this guy will completely melt down in full view of the entire world. Mark my words. The Left will try to explain it away due to the stress & his "concern." The truth is that this guy could not lead his way out of a wet paper bag & now it is obvious to even the casual observer.

janie| 8.9.11 @ 11:06AM

Well you might be in la la land, but many Americans are out of a job and can't aford vacations, me for the first time in my life by layoff, so spare me your infantile musings. You think like the elites. No the market did not come back. I lost over half of my input into my 401K and it has never recovered to those amounts. If wall street is behaving as you suggest, then laws need to be established that forbid such behavior. Your glib attitude is not in the least helpful to the average American.

mzk1| 8.9.11 @ 11:36AM

Interesting. I had almost all of my 401k's (two of them, not enough to retire on) in stocks, and they mostly came back (before this week).

Melvin| 8.9.11 @ 11:35AM

Someone answer this. If things are as bad as the powers that be says it is wouldn't things be even. Example, crappy economy, crappy wall street, but Wall street and the banking industry are making record profits, so wouldn't the economy naturally follow suit, but it isn't.
Hedge funds guys aka speculators are artificially influencing the market to drive prices up or down, depending on which way they speculated.
Sorors just made a shit-pot load of money, and the whispers are that since he and the White House are best buddies, that he had insider information that the bond rating was going to be lowered. If Soros indeed did that, that who is to say that members of Congress, Senate, White House, staffers, lobbyists, and other crony's also bet against the Country by sharing this insider information?
Are there laws and oversight against this type of reckless financial behavior, well we at least thought so in 2006. But with this bunch who follows financial laws? Wall Street, or the White House need no stinkin laws, they have insider information.

Westie| 8.9.11 @ 11:44AM

Why does anyone pay attention to Ben Stein who has been almost as wrong as the rest of the Keynesian wannabes for 3 years!
Ben Stein should be writing for the AARP magazine...

ReConUSMC| 8.9.11 @ 11:51AM

Wall Street has nothing to do with a Govt that has spent itself into Oblivion since Pres. Johnson's 5 major Entitlement Welfare programs that changed America forever Financially and economically .Creating and paid fore welfare state in only 3 years . 70 % now receive some form of entitlements while 25 % pays 85.6 % of all taxes while the bottom 51.3 % pay little or no taxes and get back 21.971 % in entitlements .
There are now 3,711 special interest entitlement programs even though money was never allocated for those expenses since Johnson ?
Wall Street has nothing to do with every time we spent a Dollar is Entitlements we have to borrow 40 cent .
I believe it was Congress and Presidents that raised the National Debt to get reelected 74 times since Nixon not Wall Street .

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:06PM

Then demand to know what's terrorist about these demands."

The "terrorism" is the Tea Party demanding *EVERYTHING* they want, but they give *NOTHING*, or they let the country go into default.

Yet they control a small minority of one branch of congress.

"A Teaparty SpokesPerson(s) should clearly list the 4 or 5 itms the Teaparty wants in a discussion of the Debt Negotiations to upgrade our S&P Rating back to AAA"

Debt negotiations should have nothing to do with raising the debt limit. They would be legitimate in budget negotiations, but not when the topic is paying debt already incurred.

S&P has already said what should have been done. Number 1: No more big huhah about raising the debt limit. It needed to be done it should have been done completely separately from debt negotiations. Don't tell the world they don't get paid if the Tea Party throws a hissy fit.

Number 2: Raise taxes for the rich. As the S&P Sovereign debt honcho said, that would have given us $950 billion toward debt reduction.

Number 3: A more vigorous stimulus package. Yes, he did say that. The stimulus did work, per the WSJ"s economist panel, the National Association of Business Economists members survey and others. Stop lying about that right wingers, and accept, stimulus is the only govt program that really works to alleviate recessions.

Finally, answer this question. Why has 100% of the post WWII increase in the debt to GDP level come under three anti-tax Republican presidents, Reagan/Bush I/Bush II?

George True| 8.9.11 @ 7:57PM

Sorry Bob, but the actual facts on the ground here in thee real world are the polar opposite of what you stated. I realize things are 180 degrees different in the Bizarro World you inhabit, but that is not where we are.

IT is the Dems and Obama who were the "terrorists". They were 100% intransigent on their demands. They demanded no spending cuts whatsoever of any kind, regardless of the fact that of the 300 billion dollars we spend every month, 120 billion dollars of it is money we do not have and have to borrow. And they got what they wanted. No spending cuts. None. Zero. Zilch, Nada. And that is why S&P downgraded, because they saw that the US gummint had no intention of addressing its spending addiction and subsequent runaway borrowing needed to sustain it.

I realize things may work different in the alien enclave that you are from, but we are not in District 9.

W| 8.9.11 @ 9:50PM

Bob, what would you do to fight the real terrorrists, you remember the radical muslims who just killed thirty of our men?
It is blasphemous to call fellow cititzens who disagree with your tax policy "terrorrists" when the real terrorrists are killing our men. You are debasing the meaning of the word, and I am sure the real terrorrists are laughing at us because some of our citizens, like you, do not know the meaning of the word, and cannot tell the difference.
If you love taxes so much, then pay more voluntarily, and get your overpaid union officials at District 9 to pay more.

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 10:13PM

I seem to recall Gold was under $40/oz under Reagan, Bob from Bizarro world.

Nixonfan| 8.9.11 @ 11:51AM

It is ironic that the president's father was a respected economist, and yet the president knows absolutely nothing about economics (other than what Raisa Gorbacheva knew about economics).

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 1:11PM

The President's father was a Communist from Kenya.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:07PM

"The President's father was a Communist from Kenya."

First you admitted you're a tool, now you prove it.

Todd S| 8.9.11 @ 11:15PM

Wikipedia Bob, not so hard to learn a few facts if you try. He was from Kenya and he was an avowed Marxist. Go back to smoking your "medical marijuana" you old fool.

RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:47PM

It's Ben Stein's father who was a respected economist. No wonder you're a Nixon fan!

George True| 8.9.11 @ 7:59PM

Ben Stein's father is a discredited economist.

Mike Hihn| 8.9.11 @ 11:52AM

The Crash of '87 was quite legitimate. That's when the S&Ls; finally collapsed, although Volcker had killed them almost a decade earlier with his intentional double-digit interest rates.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:08PM

Dang! Somebody actually spoke the truth!

somnolence| 8.9.11 @ 12:01PM

Fortunately, I've avoided a little less of the devastation others have seen in their ira, 401ks by keeping the majority in fixed interest since the year 2000. So far, less gain, but also less pain.

St. Thor| 8.9.11 @ 12:12PM

Mr. Stein: I don't think you realize just how fragile civilization and civilized behavior is. Just a few moves by the jackasses in congress and our anti-civilization president, and we're back in the American wilderness with no electricity, no heat, no air conditioning, and moving around by travois.

Pat| 8.9.11 @ 12:59PM

It’s amusing how often political commentators can so easily leave our earth to whirl among the stars and comets. Obama, speculators, loss of confidence, panic, the price of gold – blame it all on complete irrelevancies – the only thing we should panic over is panic itself - right? If aliens from the planet GOP abducted Obama this evening, tomorrow morning we would wake up to an America incredibly deep in debt, with an “official” unemployment rate of 9.1% and still forfeiting our competitive advantage to 3rd world countries where half the population doesn’t yet enjoy the benefits of indoor plumbing. If the Aliens kept Obama prisoner for the next two years on their strange and wondrous space vehicle, our national debt would continue to be outrageously high, unemployment would hover above 9% and marriages between cats and dogs would remain illegal in Texas, although possibly being contested in California courts.

Our economic problems are very real, we can’t magic them away no matter how much we pay our beloved commentators to spout nonsense. Americans are paying enormous sums in interest on our federal debt and we no longer borrow mainly from ourselves; 50% of our debt is held by foreigners. It’s true you can’t slap interest payments on the old Weber and cook it medium-rare, but this interest on debt is a real world reduction in our individual wealth, yours, mine and those remaining Americans still paying their taxes.

Dollars paid in interest on our debt to China or Lichtenstein are dollars American citizens must individually give up, dollars we can’t use to better our individual lives or the lives of our families, dollars we can’t invest in new ideas or private enterprise. Maybe Obama made the situation worse, in fact, we’re pretty confident he did – but, in the end, we have enormous problems in this country, real problems we can’t rationalize away or lay primarily at the feet of “speculators”. Perhaps it’s time we pay closer attention to the facts and learn to tune out these “feel good” peddlers.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:11PM

Such a long comment, no real solutions, or even real examination of the problem, yet you made an excellent point. Time to start dealing with reality, with facts, not mythology.

Now, when we can agree on reality, we can start making headway.

George True| 8.9.11 @ 8:05PM

Riddle me this, Batman: How long do you think we can continue to incur deficits of one and a half trillion dollars a year before our currency becomes devalued by 20, 30, 40, 50 percent or more? Two years? Three? Four?

And when it comes to pass, are you okay with the idea that everybody's money will only buy half what it did just a few short years earlier?

Now THAT is reality, Bob.

Tom in Michigan| 8.9.11 @ 1:05PM

Obama has made himself irrelevant. Honestly, how can anybody take him seriously when he offers no leadership on the debt debate, stands mutely before a teleprompter for almost one minute saying only, "We're waiting;" has people speculating - perhaps not fairly but, nevertheless - the debt debate deadline was set so he could go to his birthday parties and do barefoot congas - while markets crashed; persists in attacking "corporate jet owners" after giving them a break in the "stimulus" which did nothing to stave off 9% unemployment, uses the same dumb-sounding phrases over-and-over (my personal favorite is "whole buncha") and uses idiotic non sequiturs like "don't call my bluff."

He's his own worst enemy.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:13PM

"Obama has made himself irrelevant. Honestly, how can anybody take him seriously when he offers no leadership on the debt debate"

Obama's big mistake was in taking the debt debate seriously.

The only real problem is unemployment. Bring that down and the debt problem is solved.

All the rest of your nonsense not worth bothering with.

George True| 8.9.11 @ 8:08PM

Riddle me this Batman: What do you think Obama can or should do to reduce unemployment?

Stefan Stackhouse| 8.9.11 @ 1:10PM

We elected to the Presidency the most inexperienced and underqualified person within living memory, if not ever. Why is it any surprise that he is now floundering around, clueless and utterly ineffective?

As for the markets, I do think some people are missing the point. It is not so much that the S&P downgrade caused the downturn, but rather that both events are a massive vote of no confidence in our government. Investors gave our political leaders the benefit of withholding judgment all the way up until Aug. 2nd. Judgment has subsequently been rendered. That does not mean that the market just keeps going down, down, down. It only means that the "incompetent, ineffective government discount" has now been fully worked into valuations.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:15PM

"We elected to the Presidency the most inexperienced and underqualified person within living memory, if not ever."

Nope, you are wrong. It is true George W. Bush was the most inexperienced and underqualified person within living memory, if not ever, but he was not elected, he was anointed by the politicized US Supreme Court.

That is who you were talking about, isn't he?

George True| 8.9.11 @ 8:15PM

Sorry, we are not in District 9, the alien enclave that you come from. Here in this world, Obama most assuredly was the most woefully, pitifully underqualified president anyone could ever contemplate. As much as I didn't think much of GWB, compared to Obama he looks like genius material. Pretty much anybody picked at random from the phone book would make a better president than Obama. Anyone who has never held a real job in the real world is certainly not in the slightest way qualified to be president of what up until recently was the greatest free market nation in the world.

And by the way, Bush did in fact win in 2000. He won the initial count, and he won every recount. Even the left wing Washington Post, in their own independent investigation and analysis of the 2000 election did reluctantly conclude that Bush did in fact win.

Maybe in your Bizarro World... Gore won. But that is not where this election took place.

Eric Munhall| 8.9.11 @ 1:26PM

This would not be the first panic or recession that was started by the media generated fear.

DJ King| 8.9.11 @ 1:48PM

"Why are we having this meltdown? Why right now?"
Because it's what the African-African (not African-American), Muslim, Communist, hater of America POTUS wants. That's why!

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:16PM

""Why are we having this meltdown? Why right now?"
Because it's what the African-African (not African-American), Muslim, Communist, hater of America POTUS wants. That's why!"

I seldom call any poster a bigot, but it's so obvious you are that it has to be said.

You are a bigot.

George True| 8.9.11 @ 8:17PM

And he who pulls the race card IS the racist.

David V lenson| 8.9.11 @ 1:55PM

Ben, you answered your own question in Sentence One of Paragraph Three.

The Street and Corporate America are only 10-20% of the pie. The other 80% is spent, destitute, maxed out; 1 in every 5 of them have taken in an unemployed relative or friend and are supporting them . And, 4 to 6 million of those have used up benefits, the dread U-6 cohort.

Only increasing the budget 6-700 billion instead of a trillion is not going "ease" anything.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:19PM

Well, you got it. Nice set of numbers.

Don't forget the underemployed. I am not supporting any unemployed relatives, but several underemployed relatives.

The fact that you mentioned U6 shows you have done your homework. Congrats.

Shoey| 8.9.11 @ 2:22PM

Ben Stein is a kenysian-stimulus-monger, in other words a big government shill.

Bill| 8.9.11 @ 2:38PM

I like Ben Stein. He sometimes gets a bit too self-indulgent in his writings, but hell he's an actor, what's to expect?

I think his worst defect is that he liked Nixon. But he knew Nixon and I didn't, and even after that I have to admit I respect his integrity for not letting conventional wisdom on Nixon budge his sense of loyalty.

mzk1| 8.9.11 @ 3:09PM

I think liking Nixon is one of his positives.

At any rate, it's a long-running feature in AS, a lot of peopel like it, and if some people don't, why don't they read something else. This search for political purity is ridiculous. Learn some geography or history.

Bill| 8.9.11 @ 3:52PM

OK, that's two of you.

Occam's Tool| 8.9.11 @ 6:29PM

Nixon fought Communists.
Nixon saved Israel.

Two reasons to like him.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:22PM

LBJ fought communists.
LBJ was listed as the most pro-Israeli president in an Israeli survey some years back.

Two reasons to like LBJ?

LBJ had more to do with bringing down the Soviet Union than Reagan did.

That is true, but I really just tossed it in to watch right wingers spit and spew.

Occam's Tool| 9.6.11 @ 10:36PM

NIXON SAVED ISRAEL. Not a poll, a fact.

Bill| 8.10.11 @ 9:06AM

You mean like recognizing Red China, fighting Communism like that? Or do you mean the Paris Peace Conference to end the Vietnam War, fighting Communism like that?

Bill| 8.10.11 @ 9:08AM

How did Nixon save Israel? There was that 1972 war, but I didn't think the U.S. did much to help Israel in that brouhaha. So it must have been something else. What was that other thing?

Occam's Tool| 9.6.11 @ 10:37PM

Operation Nickel Grass. 1973 Yom Kippur War. Incredible airlift. Might have prevented Israel going nuclear.

Bill| 8.10.11 @ 9:09AM

Maybe Nixon should be remembered fondly for NEPA and the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

Grzmlyk| 8.9.11 @ 2:45PM

You got it, Shoey.

Ben really needs to hand over all his money to the Nanny State as he says he wants to do, shut the hell up and live on $50k a year.

He needs to relocate to the Huffington Post.

mzk1| 8.9.11 @ 3:10PM

Some good news. I see the dollar is finally up a bit against the shekel. (Why do I pick the shekel? Because I get paid in it.)

Inventor| 8.9.11 @ 3:35PM

When are the people going to realize that all this financial "BULLONY" is "STAGED" to keep your wallet empty. The US government has spent how much??? Got proof that happened??? Got invoices to prove the money was spent??? Or did the money, if at all, went in the reelection cookie jar. IRS requires us to have paperwork, where is the Governments at!!!

Bill| 8.9.11 @ 3:51PM

The government has spent $14 trillion on election campaigns? Wow.

Bill| 8.10.11 @ 5:47PM

How many political TV ads would that kind of money buy? No need for any shows. We would just have political ads 24/7.

Inventor| 8.9.11 @ 4:00PM

How about a fix. Put those federal "TOADS" on a flat 10% tax, that is about 5 Trillion per year.
Same for the states, a flat 5% tax, that is 2.5 trillion.
that gets everyone paying. All the rich, corporations, small business etc. Much less than the some 35% we now pay on dozens of taxes.

Now look at your at the back of your drivers license and you should find a magnetic strip.
If we move up to the same health care plan our senators and congressmen have which is No deductible, copay, limits. Then we could have full health care. What pays for it???
Of 100 million dollars a hospital spends, 60 million is "PAPERWORK"!!! so you have full coverage and see a doctor for $40.00 not what ever a hospital must charge. This saves the insurance company's 60% less 20% payout means a 40% increase in cash flow. You see where this is going, save waste, pay for services.
This means that the public at large will have money in there wallets.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:25PM

"If we move up to the same health care plan our senators and congressmen have which is No deductible, copay, limits. Then we could have full health care. What pays for it???"

Congressmen and senators are under a health care plan through private sector insurance companies, just like all federal employees. Look it up.

Most really don't need it, they could pay for their own. Look that up, you know there are a lot of lawyers in congress, but how many is unbelievable. Then there are the doctors. Are you surprised they have no sense of what life is like for ordinary Americans?

jron| 8.9.11 @ 4:25PM

"I offer as the world prize exhibit the Crash of '87." - Is Stein trying to tell us that Reagan was more irrelevant than Obama?

somnolence| 8.9.11 @ 4:41PM

But if everyone starts buying gold and silver you will have another dilemma on your hands in a country that has abandoned the gold standard. Ultimately it is lovely to look at, but I would bet against it being harnessed to ever sustain this society again. I'm not buying.

57nomad| 8.9.11 @ 4:52PM

I think the sell off and the panic are entirely reasonable. Ben's points are made about things that have already happened. Nobody is concerned about the realities of the past and the present is fleeting. What they are concerned about is the future.

You could be dressed in a $5000.00 suit and driving a Lamborghini, things indicating a robust past and present, but if you came to believe that the bridge you were driving on was missing a span and you were going too fast to stop, all of the present comfort you enjoy wouldn't make a bit of difference. Your reaction would be one of fear and panic. That is just what is happening today. Fear and panic are not subject to rational analysis, they are limbic reactions.

It's not a good idea to dismiss something because it is a product of the non-rational brain. These reactions are necessary for survival and are ignored at great peril. When a person of a group of persons are subject to these reactions the natural response is to prepare to flee or prepare to fight. The people in the markets are fleeing. It's the smart thing to do. Those who fail to heed messages from the amygdala are subject to being eliminated from the gene pool. The reactions of the market are entirely supportable and any different reaction would be foolhardy in the extreme. Present political and social conditions are not conducive to confidence in the future, past or present conditions notwithstanding.

Ben, loved Dreemz. My favorite line, "I'll take it."

michael| 8.9.11 @ 4:54PM

Ben Stein advertises himself as an "economist", and in fact wrote a financial column for Yahoo a few years back, uttering all sorts of recommendations to "buy and hold" while the DJ tumbled--and so far has not returned to its level as of the time of his writings. He now shows in this article what was apparent then: he hasn't a clue about economics.

The valuation of the stock market isn't based on the factors one uses to evaluate an individual stock and corporate profitability is not the overriding consideration. The overriding consideration is expectations, not merely about profits to be gained by owning stocks, but about the RISK attendant on owning stocks. When perceived risks increase, the capitalization rate used to evaluate an income stream goes up, and the present value of that stream goes down. Investors see the current fiscal mess and risk of default as posing a risk. They are discounting the market value accordingly. As to "speculators", that is just a stupid comment, unsupported by evidence.

DaveS| 8.9.11 @ 4:56PM

Obama can't do anything about anything? Patently false. I just wish it were true, from election day 2008 to the present.

jon| 8.9.11 @ 5:32PM

Why the crash? The government won't stop borrowing and spending. As a result, our country was down-graded. Well deserved and a wake-up call for the political class. Live within your means, government, and stop taking our money.

Ground Control| 8.9.11 @ 6:02PM

Jon's is the most cogent post on this page. This is less about speculation than about big government trying to buy votes with other people's money (raising the tax rates), and with borrowed money (the rapidly expanding national debt). The Socialists in government (O'Bozo, Biden, and Co.) are seeing their last opportunity to seize power in perpetuity (remember, it was not until Caius Caesar was promoted as "Dictator Perpetuo" that the assassination conspiracy began) and create a one-party Socialist State. And the only way to create that State is to bring down the free economy and watch as the People demand Socialism to rescue them from the disaster brought on by their "hope-and-change" rescuers.

Bob From District 9| 8.9.11 @ 7:31PM

"Why the crash? The government won't stop borrowing and spending."

Explain why 100% of the post WWII growth in debt to GDP ratio occured under three Republican presidents. Reagan/Bush I/Bush II.

Until you do that you have no idea why this country is in economic collapse now.

Then look up the history of balanced budgets in this country.

Then make note of the fact that this country has been in debt since it was founded. The founding fathers didn't fret as much as you do. Not one single year out of debt, and yet this country grew and thrived, esp from WWII on, until Reagan.

skip| 8.9.11 @ 8:19PM

You posted a blatant lie.

I easily exposed the blatant lie.

This is your 21st post since I easily exposed your blatant lie.

I didn't count the blatant lies per post since I easily exposed your blatant lie 21 posts ago, but it is safe to say if each blatant lie is worth $100 billion, to be deposited in the U.S. Treasury, our current debt would be eliminated.

Arianna and Markos, Ed and Rachel, and Paul and Thomas, are not credible sources.

George True| 8.9.11 @ 8:30PM

"Explain why 100% of the post WWII growth on debt to GDP ratio occurred under three Republican presidents..."

It's an irrelevant question, Bob. Whatever you think the answer is, it is a distinction without a difference. I can think of several far, far more relevant and pressing questions:

How long do you think our government can continue to spend $120 billion dollars more each month than it takes in before our currency undergoes a catastrophic devaluation?

When everybody's money only buys half as much in another two, three, or four years, how do you think that will impact our lives? What might the average person have to do just to financially and physically survive every month under such circumstances?

Do you think it was wise for Obama/Reid/Pelosi to spend $4.5 trillion dollars more than we had over the last 2.5 years? Do you realize that such a level of deficit spending is an order of magnitude greater than anything that came before?

I understand that in Bizarro World the more you spend the more you save, but it doesn't quite work that way here in this world.

John II| 8.9.11 @ 11:11PM

How much do you get paid by the Obama machine to post ignorant smears on conservative sites, Bobby?

"There must be SOME way I can get into this scam." (Groucho Marx in "Night at the Opera," 1935)

Clint| 8.9.11 @ 5:50PM

Dow up 429.92 Points.

Moves Back Above 11,000 Level.

Buying accelerated into the close and the S&P 500 posted its best day in more than two years, following a drop of nearly 17 percent over the past weeks.

GreatScott| 8.9.11 @ 7:52PM

Ben Stein is a stooge for the Banksters. What economy is he watching? The Auto, Hi tech, Farmers and Manufacturing sectors are doing what?

End the Fed before they end us.

jackc| 8.9.11 @ 10:26PM

How come government is allowed to expand on tax donations, while private companies focus on productivity enhancements?
This is insanity at its extreme.
Government should only exist to serve as a referee, not to replace privatization.
Government exists to serve - not to to be served or worshiped.
Government must govern the least to be most effective.
All the regulations, entitlements, and Obama policies must be erased immediately.
Obama and his cohorts must be dismissed for the destructive economic policies.

POST American| 8.9.11 @ 10:56PM

-------------JUST IN!

Eyewitnesses reporting the rioting underway
in England provocateured --by FREEMASONS.

And all this just weeks after the OBVIOUSLY
set up, Freemasonic Norway horror.

The strategy is called 'humiliate and destroy
their hearts'.

OF COURSE, as usual, we have yet to have the
subject of Freemason infiltration, domination
and subversion of our government, media,
arts, education, and, their 'fave', religion even mentioned.

---Least of all in A S.

SO, get ready for lots and lots and lots
more 'benny violence' ---as David Rockefeller
and Lord Rothchild remain unchallenged
and, in the shadows, at large.

COPY GIRL| 8.10.11 @ 1:50AM

Ben,
Gold is being bought because it is being hawked like the slap chopper on TV. In the past, when have you ever seen "GOLLLLD" being advertised as "never worth NOTHING."? GOLLLLD is being touted as a finite commodity. God only made so much gold, folks. We have it in coins and bars and there ain't no more where this come from. Every mine in every country in the world is tapped out.

If the Watergate burglar says we must buy it because he buys it, then we must. We must own "physical gold", they warn us. And then we will be like a dog that can't find a safe place for his bone.

While you are sitting on a park bench in your tennis shoes with moles popping out of holes in the background - you are trying to sell something. It's just that what you are pushing is not affecting worldwide markets, as those shilling for purveyors of gold.

The surprise here is that you apparently have not figured out what P.T Barnum told us right after he created the circus. There is a sucker born every minute.

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel| 8.10.11 @ 2:52AM

Ben, you ask: "What the heck is happening?"..... "Why are we having this meltdown? Why right now?....."

After quickly reading your fine piece, I thought of the Scripture:

"The borrower is servant to the lender." [Proverbs 22:7]

It does not matter if some of the market indicators look positive. America, simply cannot sustain its overindulgence of begging for credit. It must stand on its own two feet. Financial confidence always erodes when credit is over extended.........

POST American| 8.10.11 @ 5:04AM

--------------BOTTOMLESS LINE P.S.----------------

AS 'SS----Us-----stain---a---BILL--IT---HEEE'
is the issue, and as 'AWE--stare---IT---HEEE'
is brought in by the Globalist USURY 'sin-dick-ITs'
(always remembering, we're the IT's)
--this first round of 'UN--EEEz' in Britain.

Our sources on the ground report massive
and total police stand downs and provocateuring
( ie capstone punks on the move).

Surely, with the RAND corp. forecasting much
'benny violence' for the next 3 decades of
'DE---IN--DUST REAL--EYES---ation' --time
to drop your bennies, and call out and prosecute
'the VILE' behind the violence.

"It's the Globalist's RED China TREASON OP mate! Bullocks! ----Haven't you heard?"

------------YES YOU HAVE.

JLK| 8.11.11 @ 12:17AM

Why?There ain't enough money in the EU to bail out Spain and there ain't enough money in the world to bail out Italy.That's why.

Richard Baker| 8.11.11 @ 5:59PM

Bill:
What Nixon did during the Yom Kippur War in '73 was send the Israelis M-60 tanks from US Army Europe as replacements and other supplies. I was sitting in a truck at Rhein-Main AFB in Frankfurt waiting to go to Israel to help them against their enemies and the threat of the Soviet Union to intervene. Other than that, I guess Nixon really didn't do anything.

Dwight| 8.14.11 @ 2:24AM

"corporate profits are extremely strong" "Up here at Lake Pendoreille though, it's paradise."

Oh! Good to hear you and your corporate buddies are having a grand ol' time while middle America geta laid across a barrel by folks like yourself.

By the way, your previously article about how awesome your vacation home is was just so interesting. I love hearing about rich people's second homes. Did they actually pay you for that? I didn't realize it before, but you are kind of like Paris Hilton. If fact you were making money off not doing anything years before that bitch was. You need to tell her to step off your goldmine!

I was thinking maybe your next article can be about how you and Kelsey Grammer got peddies and drank french rose all day on your last trip to the Hamptons. That would be SO Fabulous!!