4
Have a peaceful, prosperous new year
Robert Reich
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
TEXT OF COMMENTARY
Kai Ryssdal: It's an understatement to point out that this has been a year for the history books -- politically, economically, of course. And for commentator Robert Reich, personally.
Robert Reich: The biggest thing to happen to me this year was the birth of my first grandchild, a little girl named Ella. Now, I know this kind of thing happens all the time, and frankly, I get a little bored with people who go all gushy about the birth of kids or grandkids.
I'm bringing Ella up not so much because she's special -- of course, she is -- but because she was born right in the middle of the worst economic downturn in my lifetime and probably yours, and maybe even hers. Ella came with a crash.
Like almost everyone else, I've lost a big chunk of my savings. And the house I bought here in Berkeley at the very top of the housing boom is probably worth a lot less than I paid for it. I'm not too worried about my job because I have tenure here at the University of California, although maybe I should worry because the state is technically bankrupt.
My point is that, relative to Ella, it's all, well, sort of irrelevant. OK, maybe I'm going all gushy. But that's the point. Having kids or grandkids expands your focus, and also your time horizon.
You pay a little bit less attention to what the Dow is likely to do over the next quarter, and more to the underlying wealth of the nation. Not just its gross domestic product, but its gross domestic decency, if there were such a measure: The quality of our public schools and of our atmosphere, the extent of our generosity to one another. You find yourself paying less attention to the gossip surrounding Bernie Madoff or Rod Blagojevich, than to the larger questions they raise about greed and public morality.
Which brings me to today, and tomorrow and beyond.
I wish you not just a prosperous new year; on that score, 2009 may be something of a bummer. No, I wish you and your kids and grandkids, and Ella, a good and peaceful and generous new year.
Ryssdal: Robert Reich is a grandfather and a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent book is "Supercapitalism."
It would be wonderful to think of the bigger issues, as Robert Reich so warmly suggests (yes, I'm a fan). But before I can relax, I need to believe we will improve the Credit Rating Agency system. When we evaluate the safety of our financial institutions, one crucial way to measure their strength is by checking the ratings of the securities in their portfolios; when the ratings go wrong, entire markets can collapse. Reform would be no easy task: wise reform could help secure our economic future, while poor reform might stop our economy cold. But without reform today's children will almost surely repeat our painful lessons.
I love Robert Reich and agree that people should think further ahead than one quarter, and about more than money. But it seems to me that most of the people who obsess about the daily Dow and quarterly profits, and messed around with Credit Default Swaps, have children and, often, grandchildren, and it didn't make them think long-term.
What an incredibly lovely piece by Robert Reich. He's always one of my favorite commentators, but he just outdid himself. We've lost 40% of our savings, and, yes, it is a bummer, but his point about how having grandkids changes your outlook is one I need to keep reminding myself of! Thanks so much for having him on the show.
