Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/3/84; site teddy.UUCP Path: utzoo!lsuc!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!petrus!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!teddy!lkk From: lkk@teddy.UUCP Newsgroups: net.politics.theory Subject: Re: capitalism vs. democracy??? Message-ID: <1838@teddy.UUCP> Date: Wed, 18-Dec-85 11:50:37 EST Article-I.D.: teddy.1838 Posted: Wed Dec 18 11:50:37 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 20-Dec-85 21:50:43 EST References: <261@gargoyle.UUCP> <286@frog.UUCP> <267@gargoyle.UUCP> Reply-To: lkk@teddy.UUCP (Larry K. Kolodney) Organization: GenRad, Inc., Concord, Mass. Lines: 40 Summary: In article <894@mmintl.UUCP> franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) writes: >Nationalizing the banks would be a disaster! Instead of being independent >power sources, they would all be added to what is already the greatest >accumulation of power in the world. Now if you need to borrow money, >there is only one place to go -- and you had better have good political >connections if you expect any success. Until the recent advent of the Fair Credit Act (or whatever its called), the same was true of commercial banks. Especially if you were poor, or black, or . I'd much rather that the banks be in the control of the government, which I have *SOME* chance of affecting, rather than private individuals. Government ownership of the banks could be like that in France, where they are run as semi-autonomous "for profit" institutions. Government ownership insures, however, that capital is available for societally important sectors, such as farmers and the poor. Right now, the banks are in the midst of a massive series of farm foreclosures across the country. These foreclosures do nothing postive, help to futher destroy the small farmer and rural culture, and could/should be prevented, given a government bank with the foresight to realize this. Private banks can't see past this years bottom line. > >Truely meaningful economic reform would be a very good thing. It did wonders >for Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. I suspect what you have in >mind, however, is government control of the economy -- i.e., socialism. This >policy has been adopted by most of the rest of the third world. It, too, >has done wonders -- at preventing growth. It has also been implemented in almost every country in Europe, some of which have higher growth rates than the United States, and are much nicer places to live that Hong Kong. -- Sport Death, (USENET) ...{decvax | ihnp4!mit-eddie}!genrad!panda!lkk Larry Kolodney (INTERNET) lkk@mit-mc.arpa -------- Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. - Helen Keller