Summers: 'Excess of fear' must be broken

[Belial]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said Friday the nation's economic crisis has led to an "excess of fear" among Americans that must be broken to reverse the downturn.

"Fear begets fear," Lawrence Summers, the president's director of the National Economic Council, told a forum.

"It is this transition from an excess of greed to an excess of fear that President Roosevelt had in mind when he famously observed that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself," Summers said. "It is this transition that has happened in the United States today."

Summers spoke amid new signs of a deepening recession. The U.S. trade deficit plunged in January to the lowest level in six years as the economic downturn cut America's demand for imported goods, the Commerce Department reported Friday.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090313/ap_on_bi_ge/obama_economy

[w4rma]

1. Deal with the outsourcing problem, now! It's at the root of all of the problems!

…
However, while America's deficit with many of its trading partners declined sharply, the politically sensitive shortfall with China bucked the trend, rising by 3.5 percent to $20.6 billion.

U.S. manufacturing companies, battered by what they view as unfair competition from China, said that the continued high deficit with that nation pointed to a need for the Obama administration to take a tougher line on trade rules with the Chinese.
…

[Mari333]

7. hell yes! nt

[Baby Snooks]

2. The "disconnect "of the Obama Administration

It is not fear but reality and apparently it is a reality the Obama Administration is completely disconnected from.

Millions are out of work and there are no other jobs to apply for. Small business is going out of business. Big business gets bailouts and responds by laying off employees. Employees whose taxes paid for the bailouts. States like Texas are taking stimulous money selectively - money to help the crooks instead of their victims.

There is nothing in either of the stimulus bills or the spending bill that helps Main Street - it is all directed at Wall Street.

And Democrats wave their little flags the way the Republicans did. While America continues to collapse.

Why are only the crooks being helped by this administration?

[w4rma]

3. That's extremely untrue about the stimulus bill. It was very good at targeting Main street.

The TARP funds, of which there were more, and the Federal Reserve money, of which there was even more, were fully targeted at Wall Street and none of that money helped Main Street. All of the TARP money should have been used on an additional stimulus plan for Main Street.

[Baby Snooks]

4. Apparently you don't live on Main Street....

Or maybe you live in one of the penthouses on Main Street and are metaphysical in your outlook. "As above, so below."

Things might still be nice in the penthouses above. Things are not so nice on the street below.

[wackywaggin]

5. Break excess of fear with prosecution of criminals!!

Check out www.batstrading.com and find out some interesting stuff about the stock market and a fellow named Eric Swanson, Shana Madoff's husband and former SEC compliance chief,and who is now vice president of this stock exchange firm.

Hang em'High!!

[wackywaggin]

6. Instructions

after going to website click: < About > tab. Then click management biographies, scroll down, and guess what Eric Swanson, Shana Madoff's husband is Vice President of the stock exchange firm.

[bemildred]

8. More like a "shortage of confidence", or a "dearth of new suckers". nt

[notadmblnd]

9. Then create some jobs so people can begin to feel secure again

Stop the cheap labor off shoring and put people here to work.