Governor cheers on Wall Street

and the Governor's next tweet brings it home (4.00 / 1)

Wow.

"If we support Wall St, and make the tough choices necessary to stabilize our state, Wall St will help NY as we build a New Economy."

The last time I saw New Economy capitalized like that was just before the dot-com bust...

---

by: simonstl @ Wed Dec 09, 2009 at 20:39:31 PM UTC

NY= (4.00 / 4)

Apples
Windpower
Cabbage
Photonics
Publishing
Rail cars
Machine tools

We're actually good at a lot of stuff.
Unlike Paterson, apparently.

I'm pretty friggin' tired of supporting Wall St., in the ever-increasingly-expensive style to which they have become accustomed.  Pretty sure I am not the only one who feels like that, either.

How about we skip the "New Economy" mumbo-jumbo and just get a new governor?

---

by: robinia @ Wed Dec 09, 2009 at 23:09:33 PM UTC

Maybe he's fundraising (4.00 / 1)

Rumor has it that Andrew Cuomo's January filing will show a warchest in excess of $15 million, and Paterson is desperate to catch up.  Where better to get money than from people who just got enormous bonuses?

---

by: Dan Jacoby @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 17:39:58 PM UTC

Is that.... (4.00 / 1)

"SALE of honest services?"

---

by: robinia @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 17:46:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

NY's economy needs Wall St. right now (0.00 / 0)

NY state is in a severe economic bind. We are on the brink of default, losing our good credit rating, and being unable to deliver basic goods and services.
Believe you me, I am NO friend of Wall St., but I do realize that in this economic climate, they may be the quickest fix to help solve NY's ills.

Eliot Spitzer had the luxury to go after Wall St. excess because the state economy was humming along just fine, and was strong enough to absorb the hits regulation and retributions put on the Street (read as lost tax revenues).
It is a much different climate today.

I don't think Governor Paterson is asking New Yorkers to turn a blind-eye to excess and fraud at the financial markets in order to increase profits and tax revenues. If we look at his statements outside of the political/cynical prism, he is making a common sense appeal to focus our efforts on Wall St. to get investment and lending back to pre-2008 levels, which in turn will help finance small business.

Like it or not - Wall St does help Main St. - we may just need them more than ever right now.

Tax the Church.

---

by: furiousdee @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 17:54:15 PM UTC

turning to the cause of the disaster to heal it? (0.00 / 0)

These are exactly the companies who put us in "this economic climate", and enabled it to be a train wreck across the nation.  

Maybe it was nice to have New York's tax revenues bumped up a little by real estate fraud across the country and other creative deals across the world, but I don't think that's a habit we want to stay on.

Sorry - I really just can't buy the "we need Wall Street" argument today.  We need Wall Street like a junkie needs another fix of heroin.  That's a "need" to get rid of, not a need to celebrate.

Spitzer, whatever his flaws, at least saw that the approach Wall Street had been taking wasn't sustainable, and that making this work required telling our "friends" that they had some major problems.

---

by: simonstl @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 18:09:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Better get picking (0.00 / 0)

If you don't believe Wall St. is an essential part of the NY state economy, then I suggest you better start cooking exclusively with Apples and Cabbage (see Robina's post above) - because it's going to take boat loads of those items to turn this mess around.

Governor Paterson, like him or not, has the charge of turning this economy around and getting New York back on its feet. The legislature has shown no interest in doing so; Washington has no money to give.

Paterson is turning to the one NY industry that has the capital to help us out in the short-term, so we can wisely invest in the long-term, thus stabilizing and growing our economy.

If a junkie is forced off of heroin too soon, he dies. Some methadone therapy from Wall St. will help us heal and emerge stronger on the other side - as long as care is taken to avoid a relapse.

Tax the Church.

---

by: furiousdee @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 19:23:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

metaphor doesn't quite work (0.00 / 0)

Junkies don't usually die of withdrawal.  Overdoses are the deadly threat.  Withdrawal is unspeakably unpleasant, but it's often the first step toward getting off.  Methadone can help, but it's not usually administered by the heroin dealer.

"Paterson is turning to the one NY industry that has the capital to help us out in the short-term, so we can wisely invest in the long-term, thus stabilizing and growing our economy."

I don't think Wall Street's ever shown a bias toward investing in New York State, with the possible exception of some moments in the 1970s when financiers took an interest in keeping New York City from going under.  They did not, of course,  do such things for free.  There were cash and political costs attached.

The Governor claims that "we are going to weave relationships between those upstate innovators and Wall Street capital... But we have to understand that we will need Wall Street, we will need that capital investment to foster that agenda. And this is why New York will come back and the sooner we address this problem, the stronger and faster we will recover from it."

I wonder why he thinks it will be different this time.

I will at least give him some credit for acknowledging "Admittedly there are few financial institutions that can escape what would be a good measure of accountability in this crisis," but of course he says nothing about what that might mean, preferring to stay on the sunny side of life.

There was one sentence I'm afraid he really should start working on, though:

"We are going to create other industries to replace our financial services..."

Good idea - and good luck with that!

---

by: simonstl @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 20:09:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Soybeans (4.00 / 1)

Soybean acreage is increasing in New York, well beyond the traditional finger lakes region.  In addition, New York soybeans are higher in protein and lower in fat than soybeans grown in the corn belt.

---

by: Dan Jacoby @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 20:38:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Heh (4.00 / 1)

I was reading through, formulating a "junkie" response to your previous "quick fix" comment... and you did it yourself!

Anybody who believes that the "managers of capital" are taking an increasing share of the wealth of this nation (and others, too) in order to "help" small businesses and Main St. has been drinking the kool-aid (or taking a nip of the heroin here and there).

We desperately need to shrink the financial sector and our state's bad habit of relying on taxing it.  Income tax could be raised, or, hey, I like your idea of taxing the church.  Or, legalize soft drugs and tax them.  But, don't say we should rebuild a predatory industrial sector to shore up a bankrupt state.  Somebody's got to make more wealth, we can't steal our way to prosperity anymore.  The cabbage farmers and other consumers are tapped out, and the Chinese are cutting off our allowances.

---

by: robinia @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 21:27:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If the engine of our economy in New York... (0.00 / 0)

Is Wall Street, that explains a lot.

I actually believe Wall Street is the engine of the New York City area's economy (two different things) but in upstate, I don't see the connection. The engine of our economy for a long time was manufacturing but that has fallen off since NAFTA and high taxes began to reign supreme. Agriculture is a huge engine here (and has been for a long time) but apparently Wall Street is bigger. I guess I missed that portion of New York state recent history.

As I said to open, if Wall Street is the engine of our economy, that explains a lot. Wall Street is key to the national economy and the world economy (really), but to depend on it here in New York is the wrong move. Surely, those who scurry about Wall Street live here and in that way, they power our economy, but there are other industries we should turn to for an economic boost.  

---

by: robert.harding @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 20:50:08 PM UTC

Not the engine of the (upstate) economy ... sort of (0.00 / 0)

Wall Street is certainly the largest engine of the economy of the state government, since it sends so much money to Albany.

Since about $10 billion goes from NYC to Albany every year, never to be seen (in NYC) again, and since that amount alone represents almost 1% of the state's total GDP, it could be argued that it is a significant portion of the engine for the economy of the rest of the state as well.

That being said, there is no doubt that New York City, as well as the state, needs to find ways to diversify not only its economy, but also its sources for government funding.  It might not have been so bad if both the city and the state had put billions of dollars into rainy day funds back when Wall Street was sending the results of its "irrational exuberance" into government coffers.  If we had, then we'd have the money we need both to pay our bills and to tell Wall Street to get its act together for the good of the country.

Unfortunately, we have had a succession of governors and mayors who failed to get the job done.  When times were good, whether the mayor was Koch, Giuliani or Bloomberg, no attempt was made to rein in spending and put money aside (I know, Mayor Bloomberg sort of did, but still allowed the city's spending to increase by 40% after adjusting for inflation).  Similarly, neither governor, Cuomo or Pataki, is innocent of the same shortsighted fiscal stupidity.

So now we are in a crisis situation, and the only light, dim as it may be, at the end of this tunnel is coming from Wall Street.  So let's suck it up for a year, and then, when things turn around and the money is flowing freely -- let's get the job done right.

ReBootNY.org

---

by: Dan Jacoby @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 22:40:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Here's Paterson's dilemma (4.00 / 1)

Our state's progressives have heavily taxes Wall St. profits over the years in the name of the little guy. In a boom economy, that makes the state bazillions. In a bust economy, we're fucked royally. Paterson NEEDS Wall St. to be making money so that he can tax their profits.

If a company is losing money, they don't pay ANY state income taxes. Who makes up the difference? Correct: Poor people losing services and middle class people paying more in taxes.

---

by: Amherst Guy @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 20:55:30 PM UTC

To clarify, (4.00 / 1)

I don't oppose taxing corporations. Just laying out the dilemma.

---

by: Amherst Guy @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 20:56:04 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

it's a real dilemma, especially short term (0.00 / 0)

but Paterson can't exactly help Wall Street make money, and the kinds of things he does ask for are the kinds of things that never actually happen.

It feels like an "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine" speech, in too many ways, at a really bad time.

All I can figure is that he thinks Wall Street is feeling so unfairly abused that they'll throw donations his way.

---

by: simonstl @ Thu Dec 10, 2009 at 21:49:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]