tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post7393274517954329834..comments2023-10-23T22:07:07.535+01:00Comments on London Banker: Did Buffett Just Give Us A Coded Warning?London Bankerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13358082683340132378noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-75832913551503896292008-10-17T09:44:00.000+01:002008-10-17T09:44:00.000+01:00Hi London Banker,I think it's time to try to updat...Hi London Banker,<BR/>I think it's time to try to update our opinion about Warren Buffett. His last comments still seem to imply that he agrees with what Paulson/Bernanke/USGov is doing is the right thing to do.<BR/>What is your updated take about him?pejhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958133367017526690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-53807546894536321332008-09-29T16:42:00.000+01:002008-09-29T16:42:00.000+01:00So there are a couple of things I wonder1) What ex...So there are a couple of things I wonder<BR/><BR/>1) What exactly was it in that initial meeting Paulson had with some members of congress (schumer et al) that all caused them to freak out<BR/><BR/>2) If the fear was a vapor luck in the international credit flow (no, we yanks are as isolated as we would be led to believe), then why not first force transparency on these institutions (show your cards), then determine who needs aid. This lets all the players see who is in real jeopardyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-58501717408665068742008-09-26T13:03:00.000+01:002008-09-26T13:03:00.000+01:00What if Rove thought up Paulson asking for $700B t...<I>What if Rove thought up Paulson asking for $700B to bail out fat cats. An imperious demand, very annoying, with lots of weird demands for total power. Then scare the Demos in congress into going along. So that ,,, ta-da ,,, saviour man McCain and the good Republicans of congress can nix it and foil the plan which made Americans so angry.<BR/><BR/>It's win/win - you win the election, and if you're really lucky, you might get $700B too!<BR/><BR/>suecris</I><BR/><BR/>suecris:<BR/><BR/>This is the kind of "conspiracy" that makes more sense (and that I and others had suggested) <I>and</I> it fits with the Shock Doctrine.<BR/><BR/>Another way it works is for the neoconservative doctrine of <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/topic/starve-the-beast-1" REL="nofollow">Starve the Beast</A>. If the country has to spend all this money of this debt, it will not be able to afford things like National Health Care and Social Security. So your argument is correct that the conservatives / Republicans see this as a win/win.OkieLawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17071917464425173379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-25159950279935776732008-09-26T12:49:00.000+01:002008-09-26T12:49:00.000+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-31292007227922329942008-09-26T12:08:00.000+01:002008-09-26T12:08:00.000+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-75828545210452231362008-09-26T11:40:00.000+01:002008-09-26T11:40:00.000+01:00black bob,I think what you don't see is the violen...black bob,<BR/>I think what you don't see is the violent hostility the populace had to another war. Woodrow Wilson had campaigned to keep the US out of the first WW and as soon as he was inagurated he began to conspire to enter it. The country had no patience for more of the same old BS Wilson pulled on them and another blatant set-up like the Lusitania (the German Consulate in NY had taken out a notice in the NYT warning passengers not to board the ship because it was carrying illegal war supplies and would be attacked if it tried to reach England) simply was not going to cut it to get congress to vote for war. <BR/><BR/>The advantage was in the attack itself being a "surprise" and undefended against, not in the sinking of the battleships but the results of the attack were beyond Roosevelt to control, i.e. acceptable collateral damage.yoyomohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06357340275250708990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-41042588348355352012008-09-26T06:19:00.000+01:002008-09-26T06:19:00.000+01:00A recent conversation in the JPMC boardroom:Q: Wha...A recent conversation in the JPMC boardroom:<BR/><BR/>Q: What are we going to do today, Brain?<BR/>A: The same thing we do every day, Pinky: Try to take over the world.<BR/><BR/>Except that for JPMC, there is no try. They are doing. With full federal complicity. So which connections make them such a favored child?<BR/><BR/>While I admit that for purely selfish reasons (The bulk of my accounts have been at WaMu for years.) I'm glad this went so smoothly, there is not a bank in the world I despise more than Chase. Could be time to move the flag again.Knute Rifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02345893660115107054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-58999975716704430642008-09-26T04:19:00.000+01:002008-09-26T04:19:00.000+01:00Here's a conspiracy theory for you. WaMu just fai...Here's a conspiracy theory for you. WaMu just failed fairly gracefully tonight - no cost to FDIC. If the world's largest thrift can go under without making too many waves, maybe ... <BR/>What if Rove thought up Paulson asking for $700B to bail out fat cats. An imperious demand, very annoying, with lots of weird demands for total power. Then scare the Demos in congress into going along. So that ,,, ta-da ,,, saviour man McCain and the good Republicans of congress can nix it and foil the plan which made Americans so angry.<BR/><BR/>It's win/win - you win the election, and if you're really lucky, you might get $700B too!<BR/><BR/>suecrisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-80633028185111068212008-09-26T02:14:00.000+01:002008-09-26T02:14:00.000+01:00LBIn US vernacular, "Pearl Harbor" just means "sho...LB<BR/><BR/>In US vernacular, "Pearl Harbor" just means "shocking and total military disaster". We used to use "Waterloo" in more or less the same way. Buffett isn't given to irony or double meanings, so I don't think he had an attempt to provoke a crisis in mind. He is of course careful with his words and reticent about things many of us would blabber about, but that's to be expected of a master negotiater.<BR/><BR/>Whatever advance knowledge Roosevelt may have had, the larger fact is that we placed an oil embargo on Japan which can be interpreted as an act of war in international law. The overstretched Japanese military needed every drop they could get, so it was a "vital interest" or whatever term applies. Yurgin discusses this in his comprehensive history of the oil industry.<BR/><BR/>Buffett's statement is somewhat mysterious. It could be payback for being allowed to do the GS deal. Or returning a favor he owed Paulson. Or he could sincerely think the bailout is in the public interest.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-45056972224261171742008-09-25T22:31:00.000+01:002008-09-25T22:31:00.000+01:00@ dinkI'm already on record saying that I think th...@ dink<BR/>I'm already on record saying that I think the gun to the Congressmens' heads is the Fed is illiquid. Over $600 billion of their $800 billion in balance sheet Treasuries has been lent against this crap MBS collateral. The Paulson Plan will allow banks to take back the crap MBS and get cash for it from Treasury, returning the good Treasuries to recapitalise the Fed. If the Fed doesn't get recapitalised pronto, then the next big shock takes down the central bank. That's the threat that is forcing through this bill.London Bankerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13358082683340132378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-79138485270676084262008-09-25T22:22:00.000+01:002008-09-25T22:22:00.000+01:00"...write something uplifting and philosophical fo..."...write something uplifting and philosophical for Friday..."<BR/><BR/>What would be more fun is what you think Paulson told all these elected officials behind closed doors. They're obviously terrified. It has to be far more than The Shrub told the masses last night.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-58716030673330995832008-09-25T17:49:00.000+01:002008-09-25T17:49:00.000+01:00If there is a hidden agenda,it is surely the immen...If there is a hidden agenda,it is surely the immense power now passing into US government hands if the bailout is carried through. The takeover of Fannie and Freddie gave control of around half the mortgages in the country to the government. The $700 billion bailout will severely compromise Wall St and give the government an effective excuse to either raise taxes or lower welfare payments. All this in addition to the huge escalation in defence spending and Home security. A fairly handy outcome for this extreme administration (think 1930s Germany). I am not suggesting that all of this has been planned - far from it but it leaves the US citizenry extraordinarily vulnerable to the next administration. Not a great situation when it can be expected that the public anger will become ballistic as the full scope of the mess becomes more apparent. <BR/><BR/>Of course, there is a small chance that no agreement will be reached. Is there any good reason why simply letting the market do it's work and allowing the "systemic" failure (whatever that is) to take place. Bail-out or no bail-out, I can't see a severe recession or worse being avoided. If anything, intervention is only likely to make matters worse and set back the clear benefits of free markets for two or three decades. Welcome to the new world of Chinese/Russian style statist economies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-201935541370620842008-09-25T17:34:00.000+01:002008-09-25T17:34:00.000+01:00Follow the number...$700bn cannot possibly be as a...Follow the number...$700bn cannot possibly be as arbitrary as Paulson would like us to believe...It's all in the math...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-29337665103254959792008-09-25T17:26:00.000+01:002008-09-25T17:26:00.000+01:00@LB"...write something uplifting and philosophical...@LB<BR/><I>"...write something uplifting and philosophical for Friday..."</I><BR/><BR/>Thanks...I think we may need it...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-1442710530985689382008-09-25T17:11:00.000+01:002008-09-25T17:11:00.000+01:00Well, think of it like this. What advantage woul...Well, think of it like this. What advantage would be conferred by having the Japanese make an attack on Hawaii in which the US battlefleet was sunk over and above that conferred by one in which it was not? Would the US Congress and people have been willing to let the matter lie if no ships were sunk shelved any idea of war with Japan? I don't see that one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-44245172301561089982008-09-25T12:51:00.000+01:002008-09-25T12:51:00.000+01:00black bob,MGK,The most valuable asset in the Pacif...black bob,MGK,<BR/>The most valuable asset in the Pacific theater were not battle ships but aircraft carriers and those were safely sailed out of harm's way a few days before the attack. The sinking of a few battle ships was visually traumatic but not strategically decisive especially since Pearl Harbor is shallow and most of the damaged ships were easily raised and quickly repaired. It's not like they sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.yoyomohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06357340275250708990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-46398408226668689162008-09-25T10:52:00.000+01:002008-09-25T10:52:00.000+01:00LB,These are dark times with potentially immense a...LB,<BR/>These are dark times with potentially immense and horrible consequences.<BR/><BR/>Complicit in the evils that lead to this coming disaster is the press, or mainstream media going along with the lies and deceit. And the choice of politicians that will lead us out is nothing less than disastrous.<BR/><BR/>Two wars of aggression continue virtually without comment, with the threat of more. Now we have a financial coup d'etat that threatens a future fascist dictatorship, sooner rather than later. <BR/><BR/>And because of a mild criticism saying that you might have been mistaken in reading too much into the comments made by a multi-billionaire - and who can interpret the motives behind what such people say, but at least we are entitled to speculate - you begin to feel paranoid and tin-foil hattish and promise to back off by writing a nice piece.<BR/><BR/>Come on, please. You have built up a readership by being a cynic who does not parrot the press, and who does not attempt to report 'nice' drivel to make us feel good in this time of crisis.<BR/><BR/>Stay with it.<BR/>gAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-41274795200852122062008-09-25T08:47:00.000+01:002008-09-25T08:47:00.000+01:00@ KnuteYou're right. I'm now looking for fascists...@ Knute<BR/>You're right. I'm now looking for fascists in the closet and under the bed. Time to change gears.<BR/><BR/>I'll try to write something uplifting and philosophical for Friday. As I said to Pej, I still need heroes, and one of them wrote a piece a few months back that I've been wanting to promote on the blog.London Bankerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13358082683340132378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-3301768104313498342008-09-25T05:27:00.000+01:002008-09-25T05:27:00.000+01:00Geez, LB, are the black helicopters circling your ...Geez, LB, are the black helicopters circling your house?<BR/><BR/>First, I must say I'm not as impressed with Stinnett as yoyomo is. The nonpopular reviewers have been, shall we say, less kind than the popular reviewers who know approximately squidly dot about the topic. One of the themes constantly expressed is the fundamental truth that you should insist on iron clad evidence before attributing to conspiracy what can be explained by incompetence. For example, even though Pearl had been hit, MacArthur was caught flat-footed when the Japanese hit The Philippines the next day (And why that megalomaniacal lardbutt managed to die a hero in spite of it. Don't get me started on MacArthur.).<BR/><BR/>Is Buffett part of a conspiracy? Doubt it. As I've stated elsewhere, I think he's just taking advantage of the bailout, and he knows either the ignorant government or ignorant punters will buy whatever he wants to sell at whatever price. He intends to make a profit. Period.<BR/><BR/>As an aside, a parable: A guy worked at a sawmill for a number of years. Every Friday, he left with a wheelbarrow full of sawdust. The guards knew the sawdust was worthless, but they figured he must be stealing something, so every week they probed it, looking for hidden contraband. They never found anything. Years later, on his deathbed, the man revealed he was indeed stealing every week. He was stealing wheelbarrows.<BR/><BR/>It occurs to me that the TARP may be stuffed full of crap like the nonreviewability clause to distract us from noticing that the entire idea of a bailout is full of crap. If that is the case, it has been very successful so far.Knute Rifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02345893660115107054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-69175001902143350862008-09-25T04:48:00.000+01:002008-09-25T04:48:00.000+01:00According to Reuters it looks like democracy has l...According to Reuters it looks like democracy has lost and the coup d'etat will succeed. At least initially. <BR/><BR/>Taken together with the other strange events that have occurred since Bush became the puppet-in-chief, things are beginning to look very frightening indeed.<BR/>gAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-90941899117042842422008-09-25T04:34:00.000+01:002008-09-25T04:34:00.000+01:00Is bailout temporary stealth measure to recapitali...Is bailout temporary stealth measure to recapitalize Fed?..<BR/>See:<BR/>http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/4563<BR/>Paulson and Bernanke ratchet up the blackmail talkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-21800319259383458492008-09-25T04:18:00.000+01:002008-09-25T04:18:00.000+01:00I too would like to thank Jesse for his blog and c...I too would like to thank Jesse for his blog and commentary... It's among my favorites. Apologies to London Banker for hijacking his comment section :)<BR/><BR/>To bring this somewhat back on topic(ie Buffett, foreknowledge, secret meetings etc), a little known fact is that Bush met with Buffett at Offut AFB in Nebraska on the day of 9/11. As far as I know, Buffett has never publicly commented on this, but it is easily verified. It's a stunning fact, as far as I'm concerned -- why was Bush talking to this businessman in the middle of the fog of that day?<BR/><BR/>There is no doubt that US military policy served to provoke Japan by limiting their access to oil, among other policies. I think that the issue of who knew what and who was directing policy is highly debatable, for what it's worth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-13777757683841741072008-09-25T03:13:00.000+01:002008-09-25T03:13:00.000+01:00Jesse,Off topic, but since you don't have a commen...Jesse,<BR/><BR/>Off topic, but since you don't have a comments section at the cafe I thought it apt to mention here that I thoroughly enjoy your blogs. Thanks.<BR/>gAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-17685634499031862942008-09-25T03:04:00.000+01:002008-09-25T03:04:00.000+01:00You might be giving Warren too much credit for sec...You might be giving Warren too much credit for secret meanings.<BR/><BR/>But I agree very much with the outre nature of this whole farce.<BR/><BR/>Here sign this bailout or the next thing you see will be a mushroom cloud.<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/3wkre9Jessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10098169118867085623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-912107698547747613.post-83664268334502703472008-09-25T02:33:00.000+01:002008-09-25T02:33:00.000+01:00Let's look at the full quote and get a better mean...Let's look at the full quote and get a better meaning thru context:<BR/><BR/>``It's not like Pearl Harbor where you could look at what happened with your own eyes and decide you had to do something that day,'' Buffett said on the cable channel. ``This is sort of an economic Pearl Harbor we're going through.'' <BR/><BR/>So what's the real meaning? He says that Pearl Harbor was something you could see, the destruction was tangible, it was immediate, and you had to react "that day."<BR/><BR/>The current situation is a crisis -an economic one, which means unlike Pearl Harbor, the damage is hidden and may take some time to unravel for all to see. Do you wait for the damage to show itself? Or do you react (pump 700 billion) ASAP?<BR/><BR/>Anyone else agree?<BR/><BR/>-gnkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com