News for September 23
September 23, 2008 by Barbara
Filed under News and Analysis
Casualties of the Financial Fallout
As discussion continues over the proposed $700 billion government bailout plan of the U.S. financial markets, debate online is turning toward the ethics of capitalism and who the downturn will hit the hardest. Also, ProPublica updates its bubble graphic of the history of government bailouts to include the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and its a doozy of a bubble. Links include:
Sean Gonsalves @AlterNet | “Could it be that in this prostrate position, enough people will recognize that the unregulated free-market myth is dead? With Wall Street being handed a government bailout by an administration that regards laissez-faire capitalism as a divine elixir, the economic reality is: socialism for the rich; capitalism for everybody else. “Compassionate conservatism” for the wealthy. “Market discipline” for the poor.”
Martin Marty’s Sightings @The Dallas Morning News | “Like so many treatments of the market and other elements in life today, from the personal to the global, this story focuses on “self.” The nation has gotten used to isolating elements, seeing them “go it alone,” and bragging about the results, so it should be ready to picture that “self-healing” in one sector would work. No. We have heard enough in recent years about how the United States could make decisions about wars in which to engage, considering only its “self.” Nowhere has the language of “self-generating,” “self-developing,” “self-correcting,” and “self-healing” been more regularly employed than in respect to the market as it has come to dominate in the modern free world.”
Foreign Policy Passport | “The downturn comes at the end of the “golden era” of homecare. During the boom, nannies have been a staple of highly paid bankers’ households. But as the market sours, nannies are the first luxury to go. Nanny pay rates are dropping, and jobs might soon be, too.”
Christianity Today | “The bailout would give the government powers to purchase mortgage related assets (residential or commercial mortgages) from any financial institution with headquarters in the United States. Friedman points to an article by The Deal, which reports that several churches are short in their mortgage payments and face foreclosure.”
ProPublica | “On Friday, we posted a graphic putting the flurry of recent government bailouts in perspective. Since then, of course, the Bush administration has proposed the biggest bailout in U.S. history — a bailout larger than all the prior bailouts combined.”
Economy Trumps Social Issues for Religious Voters | Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
The University of Akron’s National Survey of Religion and Politics found that pocketbook concerns have replaced social issues, such as same-sex marriage, as a top worry. … Pastors said they aren’t surprised with the focus on the economy; many have church members who have lost their homes and their jobs.
- Related link: Zero Percent Say Economy is Getting Better | Crooks and Liars
- Related link: Germany Slams U.S. over Financial Crisis | TruthDig
The Misplaced Math Student | Brookings Institute
The push for universal eighth-grade algebra is based on an argument for equity, not on empirical evidence. … Waiting until ninth grade to take algebra makes taking calculus in high school more difficult. From this point of view, expanding eighth-grade algebra to include all students opens up opportunities for advancement to students who previously had not been afforded them, in particular, students of color and from poor families. Democratizing eighth-grade algebra promotes social justice.
- Related link: Cheaters | Slate
The Future of Mobile | The Official Google Blog
There are currently about 3.2 billion mobile subscribers in the world, and that number is expected to grow by at least a billion in the next few years. … So what are you going to do with it that you aren’t doing now?
In Debates, May the Best Actor Win | Politico
When it comes to presidential debates, the candidates are certainly ingenious when it comes to entertaining us. The candidates know that debates are not about demonstrating how they would actually behave as president. They know debates are about showmanship, stagecraft and acting. Which is why Barack Obama and John McCain are spending much of this week rehearsing for their first debate on Friday.
Barbara Schwartz is the editorial director at the Xenia Institute. She lives in Oklahoma City, Okla., and currently is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa.
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] big news this week, of course, was the economy. Between the $700 billion bailout plan that was proposed and then debated in Congress all week, the failure of U.S. financial institutions and the suggested postponement of the presidential [...]