One Astronomer's Noise

With thesis proposal out of the way, I can finally focus on the world around me. Um, maybe I want to go back into my little hole after looking around…

I finally got a chance to catch up on the first presidential debate at Hulu. Needless to say, I was unimpressed. Besides the ridiculous fact that a debate on foreign affairs spent the first half hour on the US’s economic crisis, both candidates had good things to say, and both said things that annoyed me. Obama is in favor of retreating from Iraq within a reasonable time period… yay! He is, however, intent on expanding the military presence in Afghanistan. And I can’t help but wonder, will it do any good? McCain wants us to “win the war in Iraq” but I find it hard to believe that we’ll “win” anything at this rate. Both candidates give good lip service to more careful spending in government, though McCain is more forceful in his delivery. Even for a scientist such as myself, who sees important scientific work get hurt by spending cuts and freezes, and unsustainable government budget is something that we cannot live with. However, McCain shows little restraint when discussing government spending on defense (or what I call offense). Both candidates find time to bicker, contradict, appeal to emotion, and make outlandish promises. I don’t think I like politics in general, and my cynicism is only raised when I see that you can now Google quote mine for yourself! Like I mentioned before, there as plenty of talk of the struggling economy and the proposed bailout that was later voted down in the House that week. (And will be resurfacing?)

So what is one to make of the economic situation? Some say it’s dire, others that the economy is doing quite well despite the headlines. Mike Flynn at Reason says that it’s Wall Street’s problem, not Main Street’s. (Thanks, Seth, for the link!) Many are writing to their Congresspeople to stop the bailout on these and similar grounds. After all, wasn’t it government meddling that got us in this mess in the first place? Others, such as Obama, call this a failure of an unregulated market and call for more government intervention in its aftermath. One guest on NPR’s “On Point” said it was time for a “new New Deal.” (I wish I could remember who it was, I just happened to tune in to a bit on my way to work.) I’m no economist, so I can only share my virtually worthless anecdotes and opinions. Despite the cries of panic being uttered in the media, and the colossal failure of some well-known institutions, I do think this is the last stand of a rot from within that will only serve to clean up and help our economy in the long run. The failure of these businesses is due to their own poor practices, so don’t bail them out! However, their bad choices may influence many people who otherwise made good economic decisions on their own. So what do we do for them? Is the situation really that bad for most people if we’re still all buying iPods and Priuses? If the government contributed to this mess, shouldn’t they at least help clean it up? Is there a way to clean up the mess with taxpayers’ money, give the money back as rebates when the crisis is over, then begin to break up the marriage between government and business that has impeded the market so far? What do I know, I’m just a poor grad student.