t2k, I am personally very familiar with people who have been "worried" about Y2K for a long time. I say "worried", because I believe some people simply enjoy a good crisis. And they come off as the benevolent prophets when/if Y2K bug causes widespread difficulties in everyday life (food/water/electricity shortages): Then these people who have bought the 50 gal water drums, generators, and freeze-dried food, etc., will be heroes.
The problem with the whole scenario is that the biggest companies and most small ones have already fixed their y2k bugs. I get y2k pamphlets in my bank statement, with my natural gas bill, with my electric bill, assuring me that they have fixed and tested their systems for y2k.
And people have become tired of hearing the y2k doomsayers. Most have already tuned out the entire subject, with eyes glazing over at the mention of it.
JMO. What's not JMO though, is that I *will* have electricity, I *will* have grocery store stores with plenty of food, and I will be able to write checks off my checking account. I will have just as much water available as I ever did, and I will have natural gas flowing to my gas appliances and furnace. As Jan 1, 2000 draws very close, it's very possible that grocery stores may see a temporary draw-down of inventories, though the trucks will be rolling quickly to fill the gap.
However, the markets have a mind of their own, often not related to public thinking. If joe and jane 401K holder decide to shift into cash to side-step the turning of the century, that could feed on itself like you say, as more people do it simply because more people are doing it, which causes more people to do it. I'll have some cash on hand myself, if only to buy good stocks on the cheap. |
