Opinion
Bark beetles are chewing out our economic insides
Financial wizards all across the nation are trembling as violently as the economy itself. I could do with a little less excitement, but nevertheless, this is a time our grandchildren will do school reports on and the adversity that we endure will become legendary in the annals of history.
The collapsing markets bring to mind the pine bark beetle. This is a little bug that finds a Ponderosa Pine or a Douglas Fir tree that is weakened from drought or other disease, and chews a little hole in the bark. A healthy tree would quickly drown the bug in sap, but a weak tree can’t. The beetle feasts on the moisture-carrying layer just under the bark and it lays its eggs. Soon the tree is completely infested, the under-bark is all eaten and the tree dies. The beetles move to a new tree.
The tremendous forest fires that burned in the Rocky Mountains a few years ago seemed like a total disaster. The truth is that Mother Nature kills off the bark beetle every now and then by burning down the forest. But people have built their homes among the pretty pine trees and tend to try to avoid forest fires. We’ve become so adept at preventing them, that the forest is long overdue for a good cleansing. Thousands of acres of trees killed by bark beetles wait like so many matchsticks for one well-aimed bolt of lightning.
We lived in the forest ourselves and were required to cut down our “beetle trees.” I decided to use a log from a beetle tree as part of a lamp in my son’s woodsy-themed room. I wired the log, put in the lamp fixtures and attached a handsome tan shade. My son thought it looked OK, but the problem was the chewing. All night when he tried to sleep, the chew, chew, chew of a bark beetle gnawed at his sleep. We had cut down the tree, but by trying to use chunks of the infested tree, we preserved the evil creature that inhabited it.
That’s similar to what’s happening in our economy now. The economy became diseased when the government required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to give sub prime loans. Sub prime is another term for undesirable customers. We all saw the advertising urging us to take loans against our equity up to 110 percent of the homes’ value. That’s like saying, “I’ll lend you $5,000 if you’ll give me a note on your car worth $4,000.” Which would the borrower rather have, the item worth $4,000 or the cash worth $5,000? The health of the economy was undermined by motivating people to default on their loans, and to borrow more than they could pay back.
The bark beetles are all those who benefited from loose lending practices, including politicians, borrowers and business executives who collect gigantic salaries for mismanaging lending companies.
Now the government is spending many billions of dollars trying to put out the forest fires, when in truth, the whole system is deathly ill. Yes, some folks who have built their fortunes in those markets will lose them, but eventually, the corruption has to be cleaned out and a fresh start made. Propping up the current system only delays the inevitable.
The worst idea I’ve heard in a month was to dump more billions into the auto industry. If American cars can’t compete, it’s because they don’t make enough attractive products. The unions have the Detroit auto manufacturers by the throat so that they can’t alter their current system and become competitive. Giving them a bunch of money to continue business as usual would be like spray painting a beetle tree green. It might look healthier, but it’s still going to die.
Government needs to let nature take its course, and let the companies that have products or services that people want to buy survive, and let the companies that have eaten out their own insides die. A depression may come whether the government intervenes or not, but a depression might be exactly what is necessary to get down to the healthy soil where new, strong businesses can grow.
The best things we can do now are to save as much money as possible, pay off debt as fast as you can, store a good supply of non-perishable foods like dry beans, grains and dry milk, and pay tithing. In Malachi 3:10-11 God promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it, and to rebuke the devourer if we pay tithes and offerings. I think we could use those blessings now.
BETH STEPHENSON is an Edmond resident.
- Opinion
-
-
Free File Alliance benefits Oklahoma taxpayers
Earlier this month, I was pleased to help announce a program that will help many Oklahomans complete their state and federal income taxes and be sure they have claimed all the credits and exemptions for which they are eligible.
-
House video feed yields positive results
I have enjoyed observing the first signs of tangible impact from the recent decision by state House Speaker Chris Benge to provide a live video feed of House proceedings on the Internet.
When I served as a City Councilman in Guthrie, I made the observation that the city policymakers’ decision to televise City Council meetings had an impact on city policy. No longer could councilmen count on supporting bad policy with the knowledge that the public would be unable to see their actions in context. -
Hatred based on religion nothing new
The late Richard Hofstadter was a professor of American History at Columbia University in New York City. He also authored several books, one of which was titled “The Paranoid Style of American Politics.”
-
Ready, set, wait for grocery tax cut
This past week the Oklahoma State Senate approved a measure to eliminate the sales tax on groceries. However, you shouldn’t be counting all the money you will save just yet — unless you are already preparing your shopping list for 2016.
-
Spring break ideas for families
The old saying, “No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow” comes to mind this time of year. Robins are taking wing and the daffodils are starting to peek out of the ground.
For many boys and girls, the traditional “spring break” cannot come soon enough, and most Oklahoma schools will observe this time off between March 15 and March 19. However, some school boards do not schedule a spring break, and a few opt to schedule a one- or two-day break only. -
Daring to dream can bring fulfillment
The Everly Brothers sang, “All I have to do is dream.” Dreams are of pretty cool stuff but also about aspirations and hopes for a lifetime. Growing up we all have dreams we reach for. To some it’s in sports, others politics, others to be in the movies. We “dream” of what things will be like when we only get older.
-
Deficits have their dark sides
Once upon a time there was a deficit. By our standards, it wouldn’t amount to much, but in its day, it was big enough and unruly enough that it managed to set historical forces in motion and we’re still hearing echoes of that little deficit today.
Now this little deficit, like all deficits, didn’t have a name of its own. It was just called “deficit.” And, like many other deficits, it was cultivated, nourished and born with the idea it would serve a good purpose. This particular deficit was meant to cover a war. -
Resident offers health care rebuttal
Congressman Tom Cole continued the Republicans’ misleading depiction of the health insurance reform bill and congressional machinations related to it in his essay in Tuesday’s Edmond Sun. He included so many inaccuracies that it is hard to clarify everything.
He falsely called the proposal a “government takeover of health care.” Health care is delivered by providers. Under both the current system and the proposed revisions of the system, a consumer selects a provider based on whether or not there is a means to pay that particular provider. -
Partisan political tactics stifle health-care debate
The process Democrats are pursuing to pass government-run health care has become as flawed as the legislation itself. And that’s really saying something. From the beginning, the attempt to force through a government takeover of health care has been marked by disregard for the views of the American people. Now, Democratic leaders are disregarding standard legislative procedures and well-established precedents, as well.
-
South of border business deals could expand local economy
There is one of the original copies of the Magna Carta on display in the British Museum in London, England. That document, which was signed by King John of England in 1215 under duress, imposed limits on the power of the monarchy.
A copy of the Magna Carta, along with the American Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Oklahoma Constitution are included in the volumes that contain the statutes enacted by the Oklahoma Legislature. Paragraph 41 of the Magna Carta mandated that “All merchants shall have safe and secure conduct, to go out of, and to come into England, and to stay there, and to pass as well by land and water, for buying and selling by the ancient and allowed customs, without any evil tolls.” - More Opinion Headlines
-
Free File Alliance benefits Oklahoma taxpayers
