Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Finance, the economy & Economics How will the financial crisis develop?

I only wish their efforts were so reliable when they confirmed the existence of WMD in Iraq prior to the invasion.

Perhaps if the Wall Street Journal said it, numan. But "the NY Times" is not such a monolith.

The NYT is saying it only in self defense as their ad revenues are now sucking eggs.

I sense an almost breathless sense of excitment in the reporting of bad economic news on this thread. I am curious why that might be?

I think you misinterpret.

It is actually the gasp you make when you reach the top of the roller coaster and you look down and see that the end of the track is hanging over an abyss.

-

I can't speak for anyone else but as for me I'm not breathlessly excited in the least. Ms. Mickey and I had plans for Paris in March, that's gone. I had plans to retire one day, that's not looking as peachy as it was 6 months ago. I'm now working hard on a big garden because it may be we'll need it. All things considered so far I'm a lucky sumbitch - so far. That said, I'm losing sleep because I'm afraid that by the second quarter of next year I'll have to let some people go. One of my brothers was doing quite well until recently and now may have to file for bankruptcy. One of my children and her family are just barely hanging on. We have friends, a chef, a newspaper reporter, a business owner and more who are all unemployed. Arizona, where I think everyone on earth owned a second home, is in deep, deep debt, somewhere perhaps on the other side of 1.5 billion. I know of only one person who has sold a house here in the last year.

The bailout is a goddam scam beyond comprehension. I don't see things getter better for years. We haven't hit bottom yet in the US. That will happen sometime next year. I can't imagine. Like the lyrics to a Cowboy Junkies song I long for the days when "a quart of milk was still a dollar or even when a quart of milk was still a quart."

My guess, Ardy, is that many of us are doing what we can to cope and to prepare ourselves for the hard times to come. I will be absolutely giddy if I'm wrong about the future.

For the time being I'm trying to live in the moment. Hell, I'm not that materialistic a guy, though I have a lot more crap than I need. I've been "broker than hell" in my adult life, after a divorce many years ago. I made it. It was tough at times, but when things get like that you cowboy up and walk on. It took years but I made it. I'm not worried about me. I'm most concerned about the people I love and the dark horizon ahead.

yeah... well said...
I pretty much feel the same way. I know bride and I will be fine, but we have the same sinking feeling about so many of our friends and the coming generations. We lucked out, in retiring 20 years ago during the good years of stability... We're part of the "Lucky Generation"... living between the extremes of war and extreme financial volatility.
We live frugally, but with heads above water, barring catastrophic illness etc., and no debt.
What we're beginning to see is the anxiety that comes to older persons, when realization sets in that there isn't any easy way to recover what they're losing. When you can't "go back to work", or even handle a minimum wage job. When that money market fund that was paying 8%interest has lost 40% of its' capital, and the $18,000 in Social Security represents 60% of the total income. I'd suggest that this is not an unusual situation.
All in all, even that doesn't sound as bad as the fear of what future inflation will do.
As we recover in two or three or four years, those who are still in the work force will grow with the inflation. Not so for those who are no longer able to work. When the $30,000 income of today turns into $15,000 or less, the average retired senior may be suffering more than ever imagined.
No one knows what the future holds, but history teaches that the elderly suffer most in difficult times.
I worry most about the people who around the 55 to 60 age bracket, where the money from the peak earning years usually goes into building the retirement fund.
All incomes are relative, of course... and being "comfortable" means different things to different people.

As to the future... I can only hope that our government will provide safety nets as a first priority. Hard to talk about shelters and soup kitchens, but the alternative unimaginable.

Sounds hard to believe, but here in central Florida, most of the aid programs are being stretched already, with all funding, both public and private, falling far short of needs, and not much light showing on SM's dark horizon.

How could that happen if not for withdrawal? Are money market accounts not CDs?

No, they aren't. They're low-risk, but not as safe as CDs.

</end Julia's financial knowledge.>

Today on Bob Brinker, Bob's fill-in host John Flannigan blamed the repeal of Glass-Seagull in 1999 on "Clinton and his buddies."

I wanted to reach thru my radio and grab that guy by the throat and make him admit there was a Republican Congress at the time.

Mr. Flannigan also commented that President-Elect Obama hasn't done anything about the "uptick" situation yet.

Um...I thought there could only be one President at-a-time?