Obama’s Downfall into the Wall Street Vortex
A Review of the Outcome of the Economic Protests in the U.S.
The Iranian Diplomacy News website discussed the recent protests in the U.S. and the future of its economic development with two international economic commentators, Dr. Narsi Ghorban and Dr. Farhad Khorrami.
Wall Street is a famous street in Manhattan, the metropolitan New York City area of the U.S. The New York stock exchange building, located on this street, is by far the world’s largest stock market thanks to its turnover rate, financial volume and the market capitalization of its listed companies. For the past few weeks, Wall Street has had to witness the protests of deprived people who are fed up with U.S. economic problems. Increasing unemployment, wage cuts and so many other economic concerns are the main reasons for these protests.
In response to a question concerning the economic reasons behind the recent demonstrations and protests on Wall Street and the roots of this movement, Dr. Narsi Ghorban, an expert on international economics, said, “The formation of such demonstrations without official permission on Wall Street is an unprecedented event. It is true that there are economic problems in the U.S. and other countries, but these protest marches are mainly targeted at a number of American banks and the individuals who are reaping money out of this financial crisis.”*
On the threshold of the 2012 presidential election, the commentators on U.S issues are now being addressed with a very important question: Will Obama have to do the political parties any special favors to stay in power? Ghorban replied, “Americans have two parties and there is a constant fight between them in Congress. The White House has to introduce new bills to House and the Senate to pass. If they do not approve the bills, people can pursue their own petitions by applying pressure on the government to achieve the desired result. The procedure people adopt to reach their goals will definitely affect the Senate and the House’s voting.
The White House has proposed a package to Congress to raise taxes on the wealthy to resolve the U.S. financial problems, aimed especially at reducing social class differences. However, the Republicans are against this bill. For example, Warren Buffett, one of the major U.S. investors, confessed in an interview that he paid fewer taxes than his secretary.”*
Ghorban thinks that the Wall Street protests do not follow a usual order. Now the question is if these protests follow a continuing trend or a temporary one. He answers, “They might be continued. Yet another hypothesis is that different political parties might even try to encourage demonstrators to be persistent in fulfilling their objectives. In other words, the government may try to exploit this situation to get Congress to pass the bills already introduced by its affiliated party. Therefore, there is a possibility that one party intentionally organized these demonstrations to reach its goals.”*
Dr. Farhad Khorrami, a university professor and economist, believes that these protests are rooted in the recent U.S. financial crisis that first began to surface in 2008 when unemployment started to grow more than ever. Today the U.S. unemployment rate is 9.1 percent. Unfortunately, American politicians have not been any bit successful in solving this grave issue. Even Obama has announced that it will probably take a long time before the financial crisis can be resolved.
In the eyes of protesters, Wall Street, which is a center for many important banks and stock markets, seems to manifest all the U.S. economic problems.
In answer to the question of whether or not these protests would have any effect on the U.S. economic decision-making, Khorrami said, “No, they would not. The U.S. economy, just like Europe’s, is much the same as a patient who is feeling bad and the doctor has already prescribed his medication. But he still asks for more, unaware of the fact that more medicine will not help him get better.
“These financial crises began during the Bush presidency. The efficiency of the expansionary economic policies that were adopted during his time requires time to take effect. Therefore, Americans need to wait till the country goes back to pre-2008 era, a more stable state.”*
Khorrami believes that the U.S. government has taken on a lot of costs to free America from this financial crisis, and to resolve the unemployment issue.
Nonetheless, he has a quite different idea from Ghorban about the continuity of these protests. Khorrami believes that the “Wall Street movement is transient and it might only last up to two weeks since there is hardly an alternative for the U.S. government in dealing with this crisis. Consider the same issue in another country like Greece; the protest might lead to the overthrow of the government while the financial crisis would not be resolved.
“The U.S.’s problems will still exist even if Obama loses the election by the majority vote and a different party takes the seat of power. The U.S. job market has changed tremendously after this crisis. It is mainly because of the economic recession and the structure of the U.S. labor market. A lot of jobs that were available in the past are no longer in demand. On the other hand, the U.S. economy is run on the private sector and the government has no authority in dictating specific employment regulations to businesses. However, the government has some other polices such as unemployment insurance, etc. to help unemployed Americans survive. This helps the country maintain its balance to some extent.”*
The Iranian Diplomacy News website discussed the recent protests in the U.S. and the future of its economic development with two international economic commentators, Dr. Narsi Ghorban and Dr. Farhad Khorrami.
Wall Street is a famous street in Manhattan, the metropolitan New York City area of the U.S. The New York stock exchange building, located on this street, is by far the world’s largest stock market thanks to its turnover rate, financial volume and the market capitalization of its listed companies. For the past few weeks, Wall Street has had to witness the protests of deprived people who are fed up with U.S. economic problems. Increasing unemployment, wage cuts and so many other economic concerns are the main reasons for these protests.
In response to a question concerning the economic reasons behind the recent demonstrations and protests on Wall Street and the roots of this movement, Dr. Narsi Ghorban, an expert on international economics, said, “The formation of such demonstrations without official permission on Wall Street is an unprecedented event. It is true that there are economic problems in the U.S. and other countries, but these protest marches are mainly targeted at a number of American banks and the individuals who are reaping money out of this financial crisis.”*
On the threshold of the 2012 presidential election, the commentators on U.S issues are now being addressed with a very important question: Will Obama have to do the political parties any special favors to stay in power? Ghorban replied, “Americans have two parties and there is a constant fight between them in Congress. The White House has to introduce new bills to House and the Senate to pass. If they do not approve the bills, people can pursue their own petitions by applying pressure on the government to achieve the desired result. The procedure people adopt to reach their goals will definitely affect the Senate and the House’s voting.
The White House has proposed a package to Congress to raise taxes on the wealthy to resolve the U.S. financial problems, aimed especially at reducing social class differences. However, the Republicans are against this bill. For example, Warren Buffett, one of the major U.S. investors, confessed in an interview that he paid fewer taxes than his secretary.”*
Ghorban thinks that the Wall Street protests do not follow a usual order. Now the question is if these protests follow a continuing trend or a temporary one. He answers, “They might be continued. Yet another hypothesis is that different political parties might even try to encourage demonstrators to be persistent in fulfilling their objectives. In other words, the government may try to exploit this situation to get Congress to pass the bills already introduced by its affiliated party. Therefore, there is a possibility that one party intentionally organized these demonstrations to reach its goals.”*
Dr. Farhad Khorrami, a university professor and economist, believes that these protests are rooted in the recent U.S. financial crisis that first began to surface in 2008 when unemployment started to grow more than ever. Today the U.S. unemployment rate is 9.1 percent. Unfortunately, American politicians have not been any bit successful in solving this grave issue. Even Obama has announced that it will probably take a long time before the financial crisis can be resolved.
In the eyes of protesters, Wall Street, which is a center for many important banks and stock markets, seems to manifest all the U.S. economic problems.
In answer to the question of whether or not these protests would have any effect on the U.S. economic decision-making, Khorrami said, “No, they would not. The U.S. economy, just like Europe’s, is much the same as a patient who is feeling bad and the doctor has already prescribed his medication. But he still asks for more, unaware of the fact that more medicine will not help him get better.
“These financial crises began during the Bush presidency. The efficiency of the expansionary economic policies that were adopted during his time requires time to take effect. Therefore, Americans need to wait till the country goes back to pre-2008 era, a more stable state.”*
Khorrami believes that the U.S. government has taken on a lot of costs to free America from this financial crisis, and to resolve the unemployment issue.
Nonetheless, he has a quite different idea from Ghorban about the continuity of these protests. Khorrami believes that the “Wall Street movement is transient and it might only last up to two weeks since there is hardly an alternative for the U.S. government in dealing with this crisis. Consider the same issue in another country like Greece; the protest might lead to the overthrow of the government while the financial crisis would not be resolved.
“The U.S.’s problems will still exist even if Obama loses the election by the majority vote and a different party takes the seat of power. The U.S. job market has changed tremendously after this crisis. It is mainly because of the economic recession and the structure of the U.S. labor market. A lot of jobs that were available in the past are no longer in demand. On the other hand, the U.S. economy is run on the private sector and the government has no authority in dictating specific employment regulations to businesses. However, the government has some other polices such as unemployment insurance, etc. to help unemployed Americans survive. This helps the country maintain its balance to some extent.”*