It has amazed me over the years that not only did the Mindless Zombies borrow big heaps to buy bioltelecosmictechdot.com speculative puffballs at P:E ratios unheard of, but they went on to do the same again with houses. Starting about 2005, when I had a look for a house to buy in California and I couldn't believe how high prices were, and they kept rising for another couple of years, it has been obvious that a big crunch for houses and banks was coming.
Not only did people do Zombie borrowing, and amazingly they still blame Alan Greenspan for their borrowing mania, but banks went on a lending rampage of equal proportions. I hadn't realized at the time of seeing the hugely high priced houses that not only had the buyers and borrowers gone mad, but the mortgagees had too, lending 100% or even 110% of the excessive price of the house, and lending it to people with no possible way of repaying the loan, or even servicing the interest.
Fortunately for them both [lender and borrower] Big Ben cut interest rates spectacularly, making it appear that things were not as bad as they really were, [for a while = but chickens come home to roost].
Incredibly, the maniacal bankers were then bailed out by citizens who saw the value of their US$ diluted by the $trillion and their earnings taxed heavily while they voted en masse to invade Iraq without even bothering to take it over. Surely they didn't really believe that WMD rubbish. They seemed to do so though it was obvious BEFORE the invasion that there were no, or negligible, WMDs.
But things are never so bad that they can't get worse. How about shutting down all imports to "save American jobs"? Surely somebody will come up with that idea and citizens will think it a great idea. Then, when they are less worried about obesity because hunger is more common than food, they could decide to have a civil war or maybe a war with China to force them to buy opium or something. Banning oil exploration should help make things worse too. Obama shut the Gulf of Mexico which produces lots of oil. $6 a gallon or $10 a gallon should cut air pollution.
Maybe everyone could vote for somebody like Adolf Hitler - he was popular in Germany in similar circumstance [not there yet but lets give it a few more years of grinding].
Mqurice |
