--- On Sun, 2/1/09, SA <s11131978 at gmail.com> wrote:
From: SA <
That seems more like a populist view than a Marxist view. Actually I do think moral hazard is a problem for banks, which is why finance needs to be regulated and repressed in exchange for the support it inevitably has to receive from the state in order to avert and survive crises. Again, unfortunately Marx doesn't tell us much about financial regulation.
SA ^^^^ CB: I suppose I could find quotes from Marx and Lenin to demonstrate that the Marxist view places a lot of emphasis on encouraging masses of people, the populace, to take on the bourgeoisie, both industrial and financial oligarchy, in an all around way. Will you take my word as a Marxist that this is a point of overlap between the populist and Marxist views ? This would be a radical reform on the road to more fundamental changes, like expropriating the expropriators. Actually, fortunately, Marx and Engels, do have a big suggestion for financial regulation. _The Manifesto of the Communist Party_, in its elementary program has a proposal which covers a good portion of what is to be done. Even some bourgeois governments seem to be toying with this today in 2009: "5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly". Kind of reminds of single-payer health care: single-creditor banking. (smile) http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html#Proletarian
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