Calvin Coolidge

[CountryBoy1981]

Instead of asking for another Reagan, could we get another Coolidge instead?

Calvin Coolidge did all the things we’d like to see a politician do today: Coolidge cut the federal budget, cut taxes, and vetoed spending bills. He acted on principle when public-sector unions challenged the public safety. Finally, Coolidge left the presidency with a higher reputation than it had enjoyed upon his arrival . . .

Coolidge’s piety gave him an understanding of what we call natural law, the idea that some laws come not from jurists but from above. “Men do not make laws, they do but discover them," . . . That led Coolidge to veto numerous bills as president, representing his conviction that the souls of people, and the collective of society, fare better when the government refrains . . .

Even in his tax cutting, Coolidge’s plans reflected faith. He cut taxes, he said in his 1925 inaugural, not only because tax cuts work, but also because high taxes were morally “wrong.”​

Calvin Coolidge's faith was the secret to his success | Fox News
​

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Good read.

 

[Tsigos]

Yes. The president whose laissez-faire policies led to the stock market crash of 1929 and sent America into the Great Depression. Let's do that again.

 

[jdmack79]

Yes. The president whose laissez-faire policies led to the stock market crash of 1929 and sent America into the Great Depression. Let's do that again.

Your thinking here is absolutely insane. Do you think that more regulation, a more powerful government, and greater central control of our finances are good? Would you have rather had FDR as president? Why not support Stalin if you want the government to control the economy with an iron fist?

It was not Coolidge's fault that the stock market crashed. It was FDR's fault that the depression wasn't fixed for a decade.

With individuals like you advocating increased regulation and control it's no wonder why we are in this mess.

 

[Tsigos]

Your thinking here is absolutely insane. Do you think that more regulation, a more powerful government, and greater central control of our finances are good? Would you have rather had FDR as president? Why not support Stalin if you want the government to control the economy with an iron fist?

It was not Coolidge's fault that the stock market crashed. It was FDR's fault that the depression wasn't fixed for a decade.

With individuals like you advocating increased regulation and control it's no wonder why we are in this mess.

Would you invest your money in a stock market that was not regulated by the government?

 

[jdmack79]

Would you invest your money in a stock market that was not regulated by the government?

I most certainly would. You should choose your investments on how you anticipate a business will preform. That decision should be based on numerous things, but not how greatly the government is able to control the company.

I don't want the government to pick winners and losers. I instead want them to simply get out of the way and let me make my own decisions. The last thing I need is some nanny in DC telling me what is a responsible use of my own money.

 

[Tsigos]

I most certainly would. You should choose your investments on how you anticipate a business will preform. That decision should be based on numerous things, but not how greatly the government is able to control the company.

I don't want the government to pick winners and losers. I instead want them to simply get out of the way and let me make my own decisions. The last thing I need is some nanny in DC telling me what is a responsible use of my own money.

You misunderstand the point entirely. If the government is not able to make sure earning reports and profit projections are not misstated and to prosecute those who violate such securities laws, how would you ever have confidence in any information regarding how a company will perform?

The market works when people can believe earnings reports of publicly traded companies. After the crash of 1929, investors lost all confidence in the markets which took more then a decade to regain after FDR pushed for the passage of the Securities Act of 1929 and created the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Time and again, laissez-faire policies have been pushed by the wealthy elite who wish to play by their own rules and each time they have led to disaster. Most recently, a laissez-faire attitude in banking has led to the 2008 financial crisis.

Don't believe me? Check in with Forbes who published the following article shortly after the 2008 collapse: Laissez-Faire Capitalism Has Failed - Forbes.com

The attempts to rehabilitate the image of Coolidge by Fox News is just more calls for laissez-faire policies by the billionaire elite who control such media outlets and who will promise once again to self-regulate but who will leave the rest of us holding the bag as history has taught many times.

 

[jdmack79]

The attempts to rehabilitate the image of Coolidge by Fox News is just more calls for laissez-faire policies by the billionaire elite who control such media outlets and who will promise once again to self-regulate but who will leave the rest of us holding the bag as history has taught many times.

No, the only reason that we are left "holding the bags" is that the government forces us to. It is the government who is bailing out firms, the government that created Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the government that created the notion of too big to fail.

History hasn't taught us that self-regulation fails, because we have rarely had self-regulation. Time and time again we are told that capitalism is failing, when in reality it is a highly regulated and government controlled suedo-capitalism that is failing.

 

[Tsigos]

No, the only reason that we are left "holding the bags" is that the government forces us to. It is the government who is bailing out firms, the government that created Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the government that created the notion of too big to fail.

By "holding the bag", I'm not just talking about paying for a bailout. When the economy collapses, it is bad for the vast majority of people.

Can you cite examples where laissez-faire capitalism (or as you call it, self-regulation) has worked long term?

 

[jdmack79]

Can you cite examples where laissez-faire capitalism (or as you call it, self-regulation) has worked long term?

Can you cite examples of when laissez-faire capitalism was actually practiced in the United States?

 

[Tsigos]

Can you cite examples of when laissez-faire capitalism was actually practiced in the United States?

Um, the Coolidge era during the 1920s comes to mind.

So I guess you could not cite any examples?

 

[jdmack79]

Um, the Coolidge era during the 1920s comes to mind.

So I guess you could not cite any examples?

My argument is that you cannot attack something that didn't exist in the first place.

 

[Tsigos]

My argument is that you cannot attack something that didn't exist in the first place.

The 30th US President - Calvin Coolidge

"He became known as "Silent Cal" for his quiet manner and Laissez Faire economics."

"Many deemed his economic practices as contributing greatly to the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing depression."

 

[CountryBoy1981]

You misunderstand the point entirely. If the government is not able to make sure earning reports and profit projections are not misstated and to prosecute those who violate such securities laws, how would you ever have confidence in any information regarding how a company will perform?

The market works when people can believe earnings reports of publicly traded companies. After the crash of 1929, investors lost all confidence in the markets which took more then a decade to regain after FDR pushed for the passage of the Securities Act of 1929 and created the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Time and again, laissez-faire policies have been pushed by the wealthy elite who wish to play by their own rules and each time they have led to disaster. Most recently, a laissez-faire attitude in banking has led to the 2008 financial crisis.

Don't believe me? Check in with Forbes who published the following article shortly after the 2008 collapse: Laissez-Faire Capitalism Has Failed - Forbes.com

The attempts to rehabilitate the image of Coolidge by Fox News is just more calls for laissez-faire policies by the billionaire elite who control such media outlets and who will promise once again to self-regulate but who will leave the rest of us holding the bag as history has taught many times.

Can you tell me who was President when the stock market collapsed? If you are going to say that Hoover had a laissez-faire attitude you are severely mistaken. Hoover was the George W. Bush of his day in trying to fix a bad economy. Then FDR came into office and was the President Obama of his day and increased spending and government control. The effect was to have "The Great Depression."

Usually markets crash and self-correct, but when you have regulation and government control of the economy the market stalls and takes decades to recover. Would you say George W. Bush or Obama was like Coolidge in their handling of the economy? How long has it been since the market went down? The answer is over 5 years since the market fell and there is not any signs of it getting any better (actually worse). What is the common theme between this economy and the Great Depression? Governmental control and regulation.

 

[CountryBoy1981]

The 30th US President - Calvin Coolidge

"He became known as "Silent Cal" for his quiet manner and Laissez Faire economics."

"Many deemed his economic practices as contributing greatly to the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing depression."

There were also many (Left) historians who stated that FDR got the U.S. out of the Great Depression. The same have also stated that Woodrow Wilson was one of the best presidents (ignore the political prisoners). Who writes history and what motive do they have for writing it? You really do not seem to want to question historians and believe everything as fact without doing your own research.

 

[RockofStrength]

The 30th US President - Calvin Coolidge

"He became known as "Silent Cal" for his quiet manner and Laissez Faire economics."

"Many deemed his economic practices as contributing greatly to the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing depression."

That same "many" will lick FDRs boots and claim that he saved our economy as well

 

[Tsigos]

There were also many (Left) historians who stated that FDR got the U.S. out of the Great Depression. The same have also stated that Woodrow Wilson was one of the best presidents (ignore the political prisoners). Who writes history and what motive do they have for writing it? You really do not seem to want to question historians and believe everything as fact without doing your own research.

I am the only one in this thread to do any research. Yeah, why trust historians. better to trust Fox News I guess becauae they have no agenda, right? Where is your support?

 

[Tsigos]

Can you tell me who was President when the stock market collapsed? If you are going to say that Hoover had a laissez-faire attitude you are severely mistaken. Hoover was the George W. Bush of his day in trying to fix a bad economy. Then FDR came into office and was the President Obama of his day and increased spending and government control. The effect was to have "The Great Depression."

Usually markets crash and self-correct, but when you have regulation and government control of the economy the market stalls and takes decades to recover. Would you say George W. Bush or Obama was like Coolidge in their handling of the economy? How long has it been since the market went down? The answer is over 5 years since the market fell and there is not any signs of it getting any better (actually worse). What is the common theme between this economy and the Great Depression? Governmental control and regulation.

I said nothing about Hoover supporting laissez-faire policies. Coolidge served until March 3, 1929. The fact is that at the time of the crash on October 29, 1929, the markets were still operating under the laissez-faire policies championed by Coolidge (and Harding).

 

[Tsigos]

That same "many" will lick FDRs boots and claim that he saved our economy as well

Your feelings regarding FDR have no bearing as to how Coolidge's policies led to the Crash of 1929.

 

[RockofStrength]

Your feelings regarding FDR have no bearing as to how Coolidge's policies led to the Crash of 1929.

Logically under lazziez-faire his policies could not lead to the Crash of 1929 because his policies would have refused to abet or prevent the Crash. If only people are responsible for the crash in the market (as it would be under true lazziez-faire) then so be it. If Coolidge failed to enact policies that would prevent the crash then he merely did what the government should regarding our national economy: stay the heck away from it.