More Stimulus, AIG’s Financial Trouble and Tax Promises
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke calls for a 2nd economic stimulus package.
Troubled insurance giant American International Group Inc. halts its lobbying efforts and cancels company events costing $80 million.
The Associated Press compares the tax plans of the leading presidential nominees.
More headlines: listen to the LibertyWeek podcast.
1. BUSINESS
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke calls for a 2nd economic stimulus package.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on why we’re still stimulating like it’s 1999:
“Genuine stimulus would entail liberalization of the economy from excessive regulations, interventions, and spending, and from political inflation of the money supply. It would maintain the conditions—legal order, minimal regulations, and stable institutions—within which wealth can be created while recognizing that governments do not themselves create wealth.”
2. INSURANCE
Troubled insurance giant American International Group Inc. halts its lobbying efforts and cancels company events costing $80 million.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer on how AIG went off the rails:
“AIG’s collapse shows that state regulators fell asleep at the wheel. AIG had subsidiaries in more than a dozen states, meaning that more than a dozen state regulators oversaw a portion of the company, but nobody had an overall view of AIG’s operations. Like all other major insurers, AIG engaged in a variety of investments with its own money, sold consumer investment products and ran banking operations. And state regulators didn’t understand them.”
3. POLITICS
The Associated Press compares the tax plans of the leading presidential nominees.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on the history of presidential tax pledges:
“Campaign promises about the economy often end up being unfulfilled. Bill Clinton promised a middle-class tax cut, but increased taxes instead. Jimmy Carter promised to cut inflation, but it went up to record levels. FDR promised a balanced budget, but ran up record deficits. And the elder Bush promised to create 20 million new jobs, but delivered economic stagnation.”
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