Friday, March 27, 2009
Still more on what-a-waste ...
Paul Krugman is on a similar what-a-waste roll when it comes to expansion of the financial sector within American capitalism:
P.S. -- Hub Blog got my first inkling of financial-sector growth even in rural areas while driving through Maine once. A friend kept proudly pointing out all the new MBNA credit-card facilities popping up. The legalized loan-shark industry hasn't fared so well in recent years. But Barclays is opening a new facility! Or was. ... Ooooooooo. Credit-card operations jobs. Now that's the future.
Paul Krugman is on a similar what-a-waste roll when it comes to expansion of the financial sector within American capitalism:
Even during the “go-go years,” the bull market of the 1960s, finance and insurance together accounted for less than 4 percent of G.D.P. The relative unimportance of finance was reflected in the list of stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which until 1982 contained not a single financial company. …I took out his obligatory Reagan bashing in between ellipses, mostly for brevity’s sake but also because I think the trend began before Ronnie (think of the growth of mutual funds, credit cards, student loans, venture capital, etc., all reaching maturity by the time the Evil One entered the White House in ‘81.). But we’re in general agreement on the overall trend. …
The new system was much bigger than the old regime: On the eve of the current crisis, finance and insurance accounted for 8 percent of G.D.P., more than twice their share in the 1960s. By early last year, the Dow contained five financial companies — giants like A.I.G., Citigroup and Bank of America.
P.S. -- Hub Blog got my first inkling of financial-sector growth even in rural areas while driving through Maine once. A friend kept proudly pointing out all the new MBNA credit-card facilities popping up. The legalized loan-shark industry hasn't fared so well in recent years. But Barclays is opening a new facility! Or was. ... Ooooooooo. Credit-card operations jobs. Now that's the future.
