Galbraith Says "There Were People" Who Saw the Crisis Coming

March 2, 2009 (LPAC)--During the question and answer period of the Congressional hearings held last Feb. 27 before Barney Frank's House Financial Services Committee, economist James Galbraith followed up on his prepared remarks which called, among other things, for placing the large bankrupt banks "in receivership," by stating that "there were people...who understood how dangerous the situation was becoming."

Galbraith did not mention the name of Lyndon LaRouche, who is widely known in Washington and in every leading world capital for having accurately forecast the current breakdown of the international financial system, in a July 25, 2007 webcast.

Galbraith was stating his disagreement with the absurd comments made earlier in the panel by former Fed Vice Chairman Alan Blinder, who argued that "It would have required superhuman foresight," to see the "stunning" and even "unbelievable" events which have occurred "since the pot blew" in August 2007. Settling once and for all the question of the proper pronunciation of his name, Princeton economics professor Blinder added that, when AIG went belly-up, it "took my breath away."

Galbraith quickly interposed that he had a "modest difference" with his colleagues, noting that in 2008 there were people, who were "close enough to the markets" to have a "pretty good sense of how bad the crisis could get." If the Committee wanted, he added, he could supply evidence of a conference which would prove his point. The only problem was that these "small, specialized" groups had limited "reach and influence," like Cassandra, you might say.

Galbraith added that "we" are still coming to terms with the "scale" of the problem, and "time will have to pass" before political layers are ready to move on the level required.