The Takeaway

Everybody is frustrated and kind of taking it out on each other.
Kathryn Wylde, deputy chair of the New York Federal Reserve’s board of directors, on the Wall St protests. Speaking on The Takeaway this morning she said bankers and protesters have “far more in common than what divides them.”

Apathy About the Economy

Economist George Soros thinks we’re heading toward a Great Depression. And Ben Bernanke is skeptical about the recovery. Haven’t we heard this before? Are we becoming desensitized to all of the noise about the economy? Do you pay attention to economic news more or less than you did two years ago? Why? Why not? Call 1-877-8-MY-TAKE

The economy could get a
big boost from the ‘green!’
The legalization of
Hemp and Marijuana, I mean!
There is money to be made,
but it’s yet to be seen
Our government doesn’t believe
in the ‘American Dream!’
The uses for hemp are too numerous to list.
But, they say Marijuana is bad…What?
Is there something I missed?
A listener from Kentucky contributed this Dr. Seuss-esque comment to yesterday’s discussion on how legalizing marijuana might improve the economy. Follow the link to read the full poem and to contribute to the discussion. Should pot be legalized?

Would companies sit on so much cash if there were some kind of penalty for doing so? What could be done to motivate companies to reduce this practice, which hurts the economy, and all of us in the process? Do we need a carrot or a stick? I would like to hear the opinions of experts…
Amy, a listener from Massachusetts, responds to the big ideas on how to fix the economy that we discussed this morning. Before the experts tackle the question, what do you think is needed to help the economy, a carrot or a stick?

Automate the highways. Create an elevated automated electrified highway system. This will create thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of good jobs here in America. Once built it will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, make driver induced traffic jams a thing of the past, make us more productive and reduce the daily stress in our lives. Automating the highways should be this generation’s Apollo program.
Mike, a listener from Massachusetts, gives us his big idea on how to fix the economy. Other ideas from our listeners include improving the educational system, shifting our economic focus away from Wall Street and evolving our economy from industry to information. What is your big idea for the U.S. economy? Call us at 1-877-MYTAKE or post your idea at thetakeaway.org.

Consumer confidence will return when Americans are employed at a LIVING WAGE. Americans would be happy to spend if they had the funds to do so — most of us are not just sitting on our money. The real problem is that too many Americans do not have enough to cover the basics.
Peg, a listener from the Southern Tier region of New York, responded to today’s segment discussing the likelihood of a dip in consumer confidence.

On today’s show, John Hockenberry interviewed one of our own, Managing Editor Rupert Allman, about his impressions on the unrest roiling Britain. Allman, of the BBC, says the line between those who feel lucky to be a British resident and those who do not is an invisible one. He spoke about unrest in his country in the 1980s, and how some people feel lucky to be born in Britain, and are invested in their community, while others do not. It’s a distinction that is difficult to see, but incredibly important, when the chips are down.

We have not gotten a lot of facts from anyone about whether this crisis was mainly stupidity and greed, or whether there was outright fraud and lying…If they are successful you could see tens of billions of dollars return to the company thus benefiting taxpayers who rescued the company three years ago.
— Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times, on AIG’s $10 billion lawsuit against Bank of America.