Barack Obama is best decribed as a Rip Van Winkle who appeared years after a free market across the world, with an extensive framework of rules, was established in 1995 along with the World Trade Organization. He has dusted off some old cliches of socialist redistribution and changed the language with worlds like "fairness", neighborliness, etc. As he enters the modern world, he encounters a familiar bewildered population. The old communists knew how to manipulate people in times of crisis. It was in 1917 that Russia, after a period of 50 years of solid economic growth, had fallen on bad times. The old monarchy had lost control of a country torn apart by the stresses of a long war. The Bolsheviks, with their demogogy, knew how to fire up the soldiers returning from the battlefield. Where calm minds would have focussed their attention on solving problems, they set about their agenda of grabbing power.
The confidence that Americans suddenly have in Obama's ability to be an able steward of the economy is completly inexplicable. He has neither the expertise nor a belief in the ability of free markets to ensure prosperity. Market economies have always gone through their ups and downs. Not so far back, cataclysmic downturns such as the Asian meltdown, the Mexican crisis and the Internet bubble have come and gone not to mention the Savings and Loan crisis. The one difference between this and the previous crisis is the absence of the confidence Americans have always had in their ability to cope with bad times.
It is ironical that the very people who brought about this disruption are the ones who are posing as saviors. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae liberally bought housing related securities and ignored warnings about the dangers to the rest of the financial system. The Chris Dodds and Barney Franks of the world shielded them from any scrutiny while helping themselves to sweetheart deals from the Countrywide and others. Now they want regulation of the private financial world! Barack Obama received generous contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
There is something about the social psychology of the people influenced by Barack Obama that is hard to understand. I suspect people are soon going to get a rude awakening if they do elect Obama.
