The Fake and the Real

The Bush Administration’s answer to the current housing and credit crisis is a fake solution. Although the new policies announced by Treasury Secretary Henry Poulson on Monday, March 31 have been widely reported in the media as “new regulation,” there is no new regulation. Poulson defended the current level of regulation of the banking industry and, instead, promoted the view that what we have here is a failure to communicate. A lack of interface among regulatory agencies. As a result, the administration has adopted what Paul Krugman calls “The Dilbert Strategy,” giving the appearance of responding by simply rearranging the organizational chart.

The Bush Administration has mastered the art of the fake response. Sometimes in the life of those in power, events demand an answer. There is trouble in the land, and the people look to their leaders for help. But President Bush and his group are advocates of small government and free markets, as a result, often they don’t really want to respond. In these cases they give the impression of caring by responding with BS. (See philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s On Bullshit)

Sometimes, if a response to a problem can serve his interests, the President responds with real, authentic policies. Examples include: tax cuts, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, bankruptcy reform, and the recent Wall Street woes. Fake policies include Katrina, the entire field of international diplomacy, the environment, and, most recently, the economic problems of the poor and middle class. Billions of dollars in loan guarantees—real money—is instantly moved into place when needed by the top end of the economy, but those who are losing their jobs and homes are still waiting.