>>There are things that worry me in the market. I was a bit shook up by the troubles in
Russia having such a big effect last summer. I had not calculated that the hedge funds
would be allowed to make such large speculative loans. This is an area where I would
like to see more regulation, mainly in disclosure. This opens up the whole subject of
private banks, the main purpose of which is to hide money.
<<
Scary, yes, but in a way not. Alan Greenspan has always held
the ace up his sleeve and most people never gave it that much
thought. He has about 2 left according to my calculation.
The hedge fund fiasco (LTC) forced Greenspan to use one of those
aces. I think we'd be worse off if he hadn't done
so already (3 rate cuts). So, when you think about it, was there really that much to be worried about? There's still a lot
more room to cut, and if we're lucky we'll see some more:)
Now, we have England dropping rates some more, all of the
non-German European countries will follow suit, and the door
will be open for further European and US rate cuts if needed.
Are we really that much in trouble? IMO, no. This is just
growing pains for a new level of productivity in the world
order. It's a shame that the Asian countries have to suffer
as much as they are, but they will get back on track once
the interest rates are realigned. And some of the Asian countries
are just too corrupt and anti-capitalist to really play
ball with the rest of the world, so they have to learn the
rules. Too bad the average citizen has to take the blow instead
of their countries "policy makers".
joe
PS...I use to listen to Pink Floyd a bit (I wonder why
I can't remember anything they did except something about
a Wall:-) ) |
