|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Page
1
2
3 More
on
Explains how we live in a world of unlimited physical resources because of rapidly advancing technology.
"Unlimited Wealth: Paul Pilzer Tells Where to Find the New Prosperity," by Duncan Maxwell Anderson, Success Magazine, October 1993.
"Unlimited Wealth," by Paul Zane Pilzer with
introduction by Bob Meyer,
Barter News,
Sept 1992.
|
Thrift and Trust: Twin Victims of the S&L
Crisis |
||||||
|
page 4 of 4 "Fast Eddie" McBirney really knew how to throw a part. The chairman of Sunbelt Savings Association became known as the king of Texas-style business bashes. At one party, hundreds of the thrift's customers and friends feasted on lion, antelope and other exotic game while being entertained by a pair of obese disco singers called "Two Tons of Fun." At another shindig with an African safari theme, McBirney dressed up as the Great White Hunter while guests ate water buffalo ribs and watched a magician make a live elephant vanish. Even as Sunbelt Savings and Loan slipped into insolvency, Fast Eddie kept partying. He eventually was forced out of office by federal regulators, but not before Sunbelt spent $1 million on parties in two years, according to a subsequent lawsuit. Paul Zane Pilzer's book, "Other People's Money," is full of stories about the Fast Eddies of the savings and loan industry. It's an eye-opening look at the roots of the problem, the management abuses that made it worse, and, according to Pilzer, the government's inadequate efforts to clean it up. "The real tragedy of the savings and loan crisis is not so much the enormous bill that taxpayers will have to cover as a result of official neglect and mismanagement," Pilzer writes. "Rather it is the extent to which the calamity has undermined the noble purpose of encouraging people to save money to make their own lives better." As a boy, Pilzer learned from his father that above all, the American financial system is based on trust--credit is extended and debts are paid. "Just think if one in 10 people decided to withhold their credit card payments for a month while they thought about it," Pilzer writes. "The whole system would collapse instantly. We have no debtor's provisions in this country. The whole country works on trust." So the biggest aspect of the S&L crisis, and the one in most urgent need of repair, is the loss of people's trust in the banking system. It was "the ultimate act of faith" for immigrants to save their money for |
the long term rather than spend it to make
themselves more comfortable in the near term, Pilzer says. "That's
why we have all this capital available to grow. Trust in the
system needs to be restored quickly." The root of the problem, Pilzer argues, was the deposit insurance system. Established to protect the life savings of common people, it ended up providing a safe money shelter for the rich and a government-sponsored invitation for thrift managers to take risks with their deposits. Reform is necessary, Pilzer says, and there are "a couple of painless ways" to do it. The system should insure a maximum of $100,000 per person, not per account. "I'm not interested in the guy who's whining that he has $800,000 and he can't find an insured investment for it. If you want security for the rest of your money, invest it in the U.S. government. Buy U.S. Treasury bills. The Japanese have been doing it for generations." Second, we should start scaling down the $100,000 insurance level, he says. Insure the first 10 percent fully, he suggests, and cover the rest for 90 percent. "This will make you care about which bank you put your money in, and the market will regulate the banks. "The thrift bill passed by the administration doesn't deal with the root causes," Pilzer says. "It only deals with the symptoms. We must deal with the deposit insurance system." Bailout of "the most costly financial debacle in the peacetime history of America" will cost U.S. taxpayers more than the combined cost of rescuing Chrysler, Lockheed, the City of New York, and Penn Central. "Worst of all," Pilzer writes, "it didn't have to happen. History had already provided the lessons that could have prevented the ruin." The S&L debacle did more than destroy an industry. It also took a toll on the nation's spirit of thrift. Paying the bill will be bad enough, Pilzer writes. But it could be worse--if the lessons of the crisis don't spur "the kind of positive action necessary to guarantee that such a catastrophe could never occur again." prev |
|||||||
| PUBLICATIONS |
 The
Next MillionairesExplains how you can become of the the ten million new millionaires that will be created between 2006-2016. |
 The
New Health Insurance SolutionHow to get cheaper, better health insurance from birth to old age without an employer plan. |
 The
NewWellness Revolution How to make a fortune in the next trillion dollar industry--preventative medicine and wellness. |
||||||
 New
York Times BestsellerGod Wants You To Be Rich Explains how our economic system is based on our biblical heritage, and you can prosper materially and spiritually. |
 Fountain
of WealthAward-winning 6 CD (or cassette) audio series explains the new opportunities for creating wealth in the 21st century. |
 Other
People's MoneyPilzer's first book, exposing the S&L Crisis and the history of savings in America. |
 Unlimited
Wealth Pilzer's seminal work explaining how we live in a world of unlimited physical resources because of rapidly advancing technology. |
 The
Next TrillionWhy the wellness industry will exceed the $1 trillion health care (sickness) industry in the next ten years. |
 Real Estate
ReviewCollection of articles on the guidelines for success in commercial real estate investments. |
 The
Wellness Revolution How to make a fortune in the next trillion dollar industry-- preventative medicine and wellness. |
|
| HOME | BIO | BOOKS | ARTICLES | MEDIA | FEEDBACK | CONTACT | SEARCH |
