Two very different ways to move forward

Former Fed chief Alan Greenspan and Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) were both in the news today describing two very different ways to move forward from the current financial market predicament. In this report at the WSJ Economics blog, Dr. Greenspan favors the "more is better" approach to fixing what's wrong.

We do not take a stand on the choice of institutions eligible for emergency assistance. Rather, we urgently advocate immediate, extensive action that would maintain the functions of credit markets and prevent a serious economic contraction.

We are deeply concerned about instituting reforms for the longer run that will prevent similar crises in the future.

Ron Paul, on the other hand, sees such heavy handed intervention as part of the same pattern that has brought us to the current juncture.

In this interview with Alex Jones, Dr. Paul's remedies are much simpler.

“It looks like from I see in Congress, that they’re opting for a decade plus of depression rather than saying let’s correct our ways, let’s balance the budget, let’s bring our troops home,” said Paul, adding that the same course of printing money would continue - prolonging the agony and preventing a necessary correction.
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Paul said of the bailout, “They want dictatorship, they want to pass all the penalties and suffering on to the average person on Main Street,” adding, “We will have a depression or recession, it’s locked in place due to previous Federal Reserve actions.”
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The Congressman said that Greenspan and Bernanke should be criminally charged but that such an effort would be largely symbolic. "Morally speaking, they're the culprits," said Paul.

This report in the Army Times regarding the use of active duty military for “homeland patrols” and “crowd control" is referenced in the story above and has been forwarded to me by a number of readers this week.

When asked about this, Dr. Paul replied, "The more problems that we have, the more likely it is that we’re going to have martial law, so I do think they anticipate and they plan for these things."

And you thought the last two weeks were exciting?