Bailouts and Unmaskings

One of the distressing things about the recent monetary crisis is that is has revealed so many people to be unprincipled and dishonest. I am not referring to the politicians of both parties who have abandoned their professed beliefs in a logrolling frenzy of bailouts, panic, and handouts in the last four months. People who pay attention already knew that most politicians are scoundrels and hypocritical posers. Their behavior has been execrable, but hardly surprising. Neither am I talking about the out and out con men who have been exposed by recent events – Madoff and all the little Madoffs who have come or are coming to light as things have gotten tighter. There are always con artists out there. It is not odd that a system wide margin call would smoke a few of them out.

No, I am thinking of some so-called honest people – some bankers, business people, and manufacturers who may have generally made their way in the world by working productively and dealing fairly and been proud to do so, but are now pushing up to the bailout trough with all the other little piggies and squealing out specious justifications for doing so. It seems that they are all for free markets when they are doing well, but want to socialize their losses when things get rough. There is not much good to say about the former high-fliers who shirk responsibility for their failures and show no shame or reluctance over begging for public assistance. Whatever else these people are, they are not principled believers in a free economy and free competition. Many now seem to be sloganeering opportunists who don’t believe in anything in particular.

We have even had some people in various places try to have it both ways on TARP by announcing that they took or want to take TARP money and then claiming that they do not really need it. There is surely good reason to be skeptical about the veracity of such statements, given the costs and restrictions attached to the payouts. However, in one sense it almost does not matter whether they are true or not. A person who seeks a government handout he does not need is a welfare cheat. A person who needs his handout but says he does not (perhaps to avoid frightening stockholders or depositors) is a liar. Neither one commands a whole lot of respect. Nor do all the other actual and wannabe corporate welfare queens out there.