This is a picture about the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis. In the left of it there is a man under the relics of Wall Street buildings. On the other side stands a man who has just woken. The implicit argument this picture wants to convey is that the crisis was due to the incompetence of the regulatory department. The supervision on the financial behavior was too lax during the last seven and half years and those officials should be account for that.
This picture try to makes us believe the government officials didn't act by comparing them to sleepy old men. The damaged construction indicate the severity of the problem. But this could be misleading while it draw audience's concentration of the government and firms, but not the consumers. People will probably omit some of the irrational behavior of the public, such as borrowing excessive money without the ability to pay back, or pursuing a large house just because other people have ones.
Also, the sleepy image persuading us that the government is incompetent neglect the other possibility. The government could be doing this on purpose. We know keeping the interest rate low can stimulate economic growth. This is what Greenspan has been doing during his term in Fed.
So I think this cartoon is funny and convey some appealing observation, but it certainly simplified the situation to make people more comfortable to accept.
I find this comic rather interesting because of the stance. It seems this comic portrays the carelessness the federal regulators had during the past several years. Although the picture picture is quite one sided, a fair share of the blame would have to go to the regulators. I am no genius on this topic, but I feel as if there are more culprits than just the regulators. Wall-street fell based on an accumulation of flawed choices and business ideas of many people. The blame should be distributed.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting and funny to see the federal regulation with a bear and pajama and say " what happens?". He looks like waking up just now and innocence. However, on the other side, the person woking in Wall Street are extremely heavily pressed by the pressure of economic crisis. One is in pressure, but the other one is easy and just fresh. That's too ironic!! The federal regulation is supposed to be responsible for the economy but he is sleeping!
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