We're mostly in agreement about what is happening, just different opinions about the shake out to come. Of course, who knows? I've been amazed at the resiliency of this economy for some years. I thought Greenspan made a big mistake(intentional and despicable imo) when he lowered around the time of LTCM, fueling this bubble. A lot of smart posters on SI back then predicted a more severe reckoning in the future, like now perhaps? Seems like a mistake to think we can avoid all normal economic cycles of recession/growth and be in a perpetual cycle of growth. Remember how everyone talked about the new paradigm in the tech bubble days? A few astute posters talked about "a pair a dimes" as a reference to what would happen if they tried to artificially forestall the natural cleaning out of excess in the markets. Well we've got excesses all right. Everywhere. Greed in mortgage lending. Greed in insurance. Greed on Wall Street. Greed for oil. Hey, but Greed is good right. Of course I need oil, insurance, and a home, but the people running the show have lost all sense of fair play and sensibility about the future and have not balanced out the profit motive with the long term economic health and benefit of society at large. WAS THERE ANY POWERFUL FIGURE THAT SAID, "THESE LOANS ARE WRONG AND THEY WILL HURT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND OUR ECONOMY AND OUR COUNTRY?" Now they will want the responsible taxpayer to fund the bailouts for their greed and stupidity. Well, I say NO. I want my real estate taxes lowered. I want the insurance companies to start paying my medical claims, I want the greedy *&%$#$#@s to pay the price, not the taxpayer. Let the working person rebuild by buying real estate at a fraction of what it's valued at now. Let the shake out happen. For once they may not be able to stop it. And hopefully we'll see innovation, and some real solutions, and a coming together, all imho.
Kath |
