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Free Market

Milton Friedman Debate Continues To Roil University Of Chicago

Chi-Town Daily News | Peter Sachs | Posted 11.24.2008 | Chicago

Read More: Milton Friedman Institute Controversy, John Cochrane, Milton Friedman Institute, Milton Friedman, Bruce Lincoln, University of Chicago, Friedman Controversy, Milton Friedman U of C, Higher Education, Free Market, U of C Faculty Senate, Chicago News

The first faculty-wide senate meeting of its kind in 24 years could take place by the end of the year at the University of Chicago as a controversy co...

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The Debt vs. Interest Rate Conundrum

Michael Pento | Posted 11.17.2008 | Business

Read More: 10 Trillion, Federal Funds Rate, Market Forces, Economy, Fixed Income Shock, Intra-Bank Lending, Consumer Spending, Fixed Income, Credit Crisis, The Fed, Print Money, Recession, National Debt, Bailout, Low Interest Rates, Inflation, Economic Meltdown, Treasury Issuance, Money Supply, Free Market, Interest Rates, Fixed Income Rates, Business News
Michael Pento

It now takes about 10 cents on every tax dollar collected just to pay the interest on the debt. As bad as that is, it's only because interest rates are at record lows that the debt is still manageable.

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The Failure of the Free Market

Matthew Stein | Posted 11.16.2008 | Green

Read More: Environment, Sustainability, Free Market, Economy, Great Depression, Environmentally Friendly, Green Living, Green News
Matthew Stein

Why do we feel that we must leave our most important assets, the health and natural resources of our planet's ecosystems, up to this sacred cow called "The Free Market"?

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Public Ownership -- But No Public Control

Robert Weissman | Posted 11.14.2008 | Business

Read More: Wall Street Bailout, Wall Street Crisis, Nationalization, Financial Crisis, Banks, Henry Paulson, Free Market, Executive Compensation, Business News
Robert Weissman

It is a remarkable time. On Friday, the Washington Post ran a front-page story titled, "The End of American Capitalism?" Today, the banner headline is...

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Who's To Blame?

Fortune's Stanley Bing | Posted 11.10.2008 | Business

Read More: Greed, Free-Market, Regulatory Malfeasance, Financial Crisis, Wall Street Crisis, Wall Street, Business News
<i>Fortune</i>'s Stanley Bing

I'm getting pretty sick of all attempts to complexify this question, so I'll lay it out for you right here. Who's to blame for this incredible mess? It's really clear.

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America Needs Obama To Recreate Our National Narrative

John Rember | Posted 11.10.2008 | Home

Read More: Henry Paulson, Bush Administration, r.d. Laing, Economic Crisis, National Narrative, Michael Mukasey, Free Market, Election 2008, Campaign 2008, Biden Obama, Barack Obama, John McCain, Abu Ghraib, Torture, Home News
John Rember

How to explain an administration that nationalizes the banking system even as it praises the free market? How to explain a financial system that turned debt into wealth, and wealth into debt? How is it that most people don't even know which country their house belongs to?

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"Free Market?" R.I.P. and Good Riddance!

Warren Goldstein | Posted 11.08.2008 | Business

Read More: Wall Street Crisis, Economic Crisis, Free Marketeers, Financial Crisis, Bailout Plan, Free Market, Free Market Ideology, Wall Street, Laissez-Faire, Business News
Warren Goldstein

Not only are there no "free markets" on Wall Street--there never have been. There have only been institutions and markets receiving varying degrees of protection from the mass of American citizens.

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The Bailout Bill Passes Congress, President Signs the Legislation, and the World Is Saved. Not.

Patrick Takahashi | Posted 11.07.2008 | Green

Read More: Metastable Oil Prices and Stock Markets, Simple Solutions, Economy, Tokyo Stock Exchanges, Congress, World-Wide, Mccain, Obama, Paris, German, Republican, Europe Recession, Nymex, Dow Jones, Bailout, Free Market, China, Green News
Patrick Takahashi

We saw it when Reagan became president in the early '80s and a decade ago when the price of oil (in real dollars) hit an all-time low. Here we go, back to the past again. That's why it's ominous.

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This is a Crisis -- But Also an Amazing Opportunity

Johann Hari | Posted 11.01.2008 | Politics

Read More: Unemployment, Global Economy, Wall Street Crisis, Economy, New Deal, Free Market, Politics News
Johann Hari

Even if the bail-out finally goes ahead, credit is drying up; unemployment is sure to swell, along with all the rage and resentment it brings. So why am I feeling -- tentatively, terribly -- optimistic?

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The Story of Silly George -- The King Who Believed in an Imaginary Magicfriendinthesky

Frank Schaeffer | Posted 11.01.2008 | Politics

Read More: Christianity, Political Satire, Free Market, God, 2008 Election, Fairy Tales, Satire, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, Politics News
Frank Schaeffer

You see, the silly prince's brain had quit working the same way that all people's brains quit working when they decide they've found One Truth that solves everything.

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Republican "Workout" Is A Cop Out

Ron Grande | Posted 10.31.2008 | Home

Read More: Washington, Main Street, House Republicans, Ideology, Ideological, Workout, Paulson, Wall Street Crisis, Credit, Bailout, Wall Street, Securities, Crisis, Financial, Republicans, Free Market, Political, Home News
Ron Grande

The House Republicans will be to blame for any calamities that may yet be in store for our economy. Their objection to the modified Paulson Plan was not ideological, it was political.

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Some Administrations -- Not All -- Make Policy Decisions Based On Constitution

Sheila Suess Kennedy | Posted 10.30.2008 | Home

Read More: Constitution, 2008 Election, Economy, Economic Meltdown, Supreme Court, Warrantless Wiretapping, John McCain, Political Culture, Guantanamo, United States, Barack Obama, Patriot Act, Bush Administration, Free Market, Torture, Home News
Sheila Suess Kennedy

As we prepare to choose a new president, we should look closely at the candidates' approach to our constitutional culture. It will tell us much more than the issue papers and campaign promises that are mainstays of electoral strategies.

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The Moral Subtext of the Bailout Debate

Nathaniel Frank | Posted 10.26.2008 | Business

Read More: Wall Street Crisis, Conservatives, Tarita Virtue, $700 Billion Bailout, Henry Paulson, Morality, Mccain, Free Market, Business News
Nathaniel Frank

While trickle-down economics theory can be used to mask a raw power grab, it is also a philosophy of moral superiority which many conservatives have come to truly believe.

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Obama's Opportunity

Stanley Kutler | Posted 10.26.2008 | Politics

Read More: George Bush, Debate, Bailout, Mccain Suspended Campaign, Free-Market, Barack Obama, 2008 Presidential Race, Bill Clinton, Politics News
Stanley Kutler

Obama has a chance to relieve us of the sheer, adulterated "free market" nonsense that has badly misgoverned this county.

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Take A Deep Breath And Count To Three

Aaron Harber | Posted 10.26.2008 | Business

Read More: Robert Rubin, Henry Paulson, David Walker, Bailout, Deficit, Economy, National Debt, Secretary of the Treasury, Foriegn Investment, John McCain, Free Market Capitalism, Shadow Government Statistics, Federal Debt, u.s. Economy Problems, Barack Obama, National Deficit, Inflation, Congressional Bailout, Foriegn Investors, Financial Crisis, Free Market, Current Account Deficit, Socialists, Business News
Aaron Harber

Congress and the current Administration have allowed the nation's finances to deteriorate to a dangerous level.

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Hank Paulson Should Call John Doerr

Adam Hanft | Posted 10.25.2008 | Business

Read More: Government, Mortgages, Paulson, Bailout, Equity Positions, Equity, Economy, Cdos, Bernanke, Credit Default Swaps, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Subprime, Free Market, Liquidity Crisis, Google, Doerr, Business News
Adam Hanft

More than Paulson, more than Bernanke, more than pretty much anyone in Washington I'd trust venture capitalist John Doerr to negotiate my stake in the bailout.

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The Free Market is Like a Toddler

Philip Slater | Posted 10.25.2008 | Business

Read More: Free Market, Government Bailout, Wall Street, Paulson, Bernanke, Economy, Business News
Philip Slater

The free market is energetic, yes, and creative, yes, and innovative, yes, but stupid. It will gamble its way into bankruptcy, poison its children, destroy its environment -- you can't take the kid anywhere.

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Read 'Em and Weep

Bob Ostertag | Posted 10.24.2008 | Business

Read More: Government Bailout, Barney Frank, Hurricane Ike, Iraq, Iran Nuclear Weapons, Russia Georgia War, Free Market, Iran, Politics News, Wall Street Crisis, Henry Paulson, Afghanistan, Treasury Secretary, Global Warming, Financial Crisis, Economy, Business News
Bob Ostertag

No one, not Bernanke, not Paulson, not anybody, knows if the bailout will work. It isn't that the details of the plan are wrong. It's that there are no details.

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The Bailout Plan: Welcome to Economic Shock and Awe

Arianna Huffington | Posted 10.23.2008 | Politics

Read More: Henry Paulson, Government Bailout, Economic Shock and Awe, Economy, Barney Frank, The Authorization to Use Financial Force, Financial Crisis, Chris Dodd, Free Market, Wall Street Crisis, Treasury Secretary, Politics News
Arianna Huffington

In the battle over the proper role of government, the high priests of the church of the Free Market -- including Bush, Paulson, and the Masters of Wall Street -- have suffered a monumental defeat. So why are we allowing them to dictate the terms of their surrender?

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McCain, Obama on Energy, the Environment and AIDS

Eliza Margarita Bates and Cara Zwerling | Posted 10.17.2008 | Home

Read More: HIV/AIDS, Corruption, John McCain, Cap-and-Trade, Barack Obama; John McCain; McCain Energy; Obama Energy; Barack Obama, Straight Talk Express, Nuclear Power, Greenhouse Gases, The New York Times, Ethanol, Free Market, Mccain Nuclear Power, Home News
Eliza Margarita Bates and Cara Zwerling

Over the course of this week, OffTheBus is running a primer on some of the most important foreign policy issues the next president will face. Today, the primer looks at where Obama and McCain stand on energy and environmental policy and the AIDS crisis.

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Warning: Wrecking Crew at Work

Thomas Frank | Posted 10.12.2008 | Politics

Read More: Corruption, Department of Interior, Political Corruption, Bush Administration, Interior Department Scandal, Free Market, Politics News
Thomas Frank

The Interior Department's bungle-dee-botch is what government looks like when you make it "market-based," as Bush once put it. This kind of government answers not to the public but to the party with the most money.

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Oil Execs to Congress: I Drink Your Milkshake

Chris Kelly | Posted 05.31.2008 | Politics

Read More: Oil Prices, Oil Executives, Oil Companies, Bp, Economics, Big Oil, Exxon Mobil, Oil, Polar Bears, Free Market, Shell Oil, Politics News
Chris Kelly

Supply and demand is one factor in determining price, but another factor used to be called "competition." Again, I'm not an economist, but I'm pretty sure that was supposed to drive prices down.

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