Discuss Jonah Goldberg's Dec. 16 Op-Ed column.

Every time the stock market collapses , there are people who are wiped out and vow never to buy stocks again ... even if they could .

LENNY @ 3:32 PM PST, Dec 16, 2008

The trouble with investment in infrastructure is how it's made. The government (any level) either (Option 1)pays a contractor to do the work, or (Option 2)it forms a bureaucratic entity and does the work directly. If it does anything besides Option 1, it will cost 5X's a much and likely be screwed up. If the government (and us, the taxpayers) cannot afford to contract it out, then the work should probably wait until we can afford it. In the meantime, the governmemt should make money as cheap as possible, stay-the-heck out of the way and let the economy get back on its' feet. Please! NO MORE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS!

jb @ 2:13 PM PST, Dec 16, 2008

'Laissez faire' should be dead. Blind adherence to free and unrestrained enterprise and trade got us to where we are today. That's what the pirates off the Somalia coast practise. Maybe the ship of state is sinking, but it's too big to sink, so it'll hit bottom before it goes under and drown everyone on board except the guys up on the bridge who put it on the rocks. Sound like an allegory or metaphor for the saving of the investnment houses and banks while the homeowners 'drown'? Time for 'laissez faire' to be buried!

Richard A. Davidson @ 1:28 PM PST, Dec 16, 2008

Mr. Goldberg must be getting paid still. Not time to panic? My friend us a management consultant, unemployed since July. Lectures re the long-term success of capitalism will not help him feed his children right friggin now. Always amazing to me how those who still benefit from the current economy offer counsel of "patience" to those who are living day-to-day scrounging food, shelter, clothing. I'd take the world-class advice of Nobel-prize-winning Dr. Krugman ANY DAY over that of a light-weight such as Mr. Goldberg.

mill @ 12:00 PM PST, Dec 16, 2008

Mr. Krugman has been right about the isdsues relating to the economy over the last eight years, and Mr. Goldberg has been wrong. I'll stick to Mr. Krugman to offer sound advice about our current economic problems. I would also say the LA Times should strongly consider replacing Mr. Goldberg's column with a column by someone who has not been so monumentally mistaken about all of the major issues confronting our nation.

Manoa @ 11:48 AM PST, Dec 16, 2008

You are absolutely right about freaking out. If anything, these times remind us that we are merely human and that a substantial correction is needed in our culutre as well as our economic habits. Everything will be ok and the free market will redeem itself. However, calling for the end of "laissez faire" is not to discredit capitalism. It is to save it from itself, like Paul Krugman has argued. Capitalism, like any man-made system, is not perfect, and it must be treated as such.

Magnus @ 11:33 AM PST, Dec 16, 2008

The conservatives "engineered" our current economic problems? Really? Too bad that the deregulation of the housing industry happened under Clinton. Oops!

Fred @ 11:27 AM PST, Dec 16, 2008

Jonah, Much of what you say here is, in principle, based on solid reasoning. But your comment "...the incoming Obama crew is promising infrastructure "investments" the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1950s.", demand a response. IN case you haven't noticed, that infrastructure, used by most Americans daily, is crumbling nearly as fast as the economy. It needs rebuilding and many in our country need employment. Seems like a good idea to me.

John G @ 10:59 AM PST, Dec 16, 2008

the problem is the federal government. all of the above posts are blaming the federal government for their personal mess. When do people ever look at themselves these days? We are inching closer and closer to over 50% of the population paying no income tax yet they receive lots of government services - roads, bridges, tunnels, schools, food stamps, unemployment benefits, health care (coming soon) Our society is something for nothing and it is embarrassing.

GTN @ 10:51 AM PST, Dec 16, 2008

"Freakout" is a good way to describe the last eight years of the Bush administration and conservative economic philosophy. They knew this was coming. They engineered it. They missed on the timing. They miscalculated it to occur not until 2009 after a new Democratic administration took office. Then they planned to blame it on the Democrats' economic policies. Rush Limbaugh has already jumped the gun. He's blaming Obama for the current conservative-engineered economic mess.

David Dunn @ 8:56 AM PST, Dec 16, 2008

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