Now, just to keep everyone up to speed. Last week the Big Three Automakers went to Washington D.C. asking for $25 billion to get their companies through the ‘economic crisis’. Instead of help they got spanked on CSPAN and sent back to Detroit to redo their homework. They are required to present a compressive plan for recovery to Congress by Dec. 2nd before anyone will consider giving them any money. Then over the weekend Citigroup (a fine financial institution) got approved for another $20 billion hand out (on top of their previous $40) PLUS the government is guaranteeing over $300 billion in assets. No questions. No public spanking.
Anyone else think this is odd? Apparently Rachel Maddow (Cable news Superhero) does. And she is much more articulate than I am.
“The tale of two Bailouts”
Rachel Maddow on MSNBC is my new favorite. She’s funny, witty, and just sarcastic enough to hold my attention.
However, to prove I am not getting ALL my news from late night cable here is an article in the Economist about Hank Paulson and Friends latest attempts to stop the sky from falling. These guys are handing out money faster than the Federal Reserve can print it. And that is exactly what they are doing. Printing money. Now I’m not an expert, but doesn’t just printing more money make it all worth a little bit less? I can’t help but remember reading about bread lines in the Soviet Union before it fell of people showing up with a bushel basket of rubles to buy one loaf of bread. But that couldn’t happen here in America… right?
I do have a question for myself though… why do I keep following all this depressing news?
You know why people watch car racing? To see an accident.
You know why people watch hockey? To see a fight.
You know why I keep watching the economic news? To see a disaster.
I can have no more hope to effect the economy than I do to prevent a car crash or a hockey smack down. It is out of my hands. The next year or so is going to be a mess so I’m popping a big bowl of popcorn and sitting back to watch the show. I just hope this isn’t one of those Art House films where everyone dies in the end…
Okay, the election is over. Its time to focus on other things… and right now the biggest issue is the economy. The stock market is fluctuating everyday with the DOW hovering in the mid 8000’s. Jobless rates are going up. Sales in the retail market are tanking and expected to go down further. Home foreclosures are up and home values are down. And of course the Big Three automakers here in Michigan are about to tank if they don’t get a little help from their friends in D.C. (lucky for them Washington has set a precedent of tossing lots of cash around just recently).
Arianna Huffington has a good post about the current economic situation at her site. It is short and I recommend it for a quick recap of things as they are.
Want a little more info? How about the big G20 summit taking place in Washington DC this weekend. World leaders from 20 different countries have gathered here in the United States to attempt to formulate a united strategy to deal with what is a global economic crisis. Anyone feel better knowing it isn’t just America in trouble? Yeah, me neither. If I were a paranoid person I would start shouting things like New World Order and Illuminati agenda! But there is so much disagreement about HOW they should handle things that it is doubtful (to me) they will figure out a solution to the current situation let alone redraw the globe into a new Fascist Utopia. Some countries however, like China, may actually come out of this situation more powerful than ever before bringing global changes as yet unimagined.
Now for something a little closer to home… Detroit and the Automakers. Living in Michigan this is an in your face issue. Absolutly everyone knows someone that will be effected by whatever eventually happens to Ford, GM, and Chrysler. All three automakers have made bad management decisions that have lead them to be extremely vulnerable to the larger economic crisis. Of course this is a situation of their own making, but the consiquences of denying them the $50 billion they’ve asked for from the Government is far reaching. Estimates of 2 to 5 million jobs could be lost. The loss of tax revenue alone would be devistating. As much as I’d love these companies to have to eat crow for their bad decisions and let the “Free Market” wipe them out it may be a case of cutting off our nose to spite our face.
For anyone paying attention though none of this should come as a surprise. The housing bubble, easy credit, and stagnant wages are just a few of the warning signs that have been creeping up on us for years. Much like a cat creeping up on its not so unsuspecting prey…
November 4th 2008! Its finally here! All I can say is thank f*cking god!
We just need to get through election day and night. I will be watching the news and checking online for updates all day. Here are a few sites I will be frequenting plus obsessively watching any and all television coverage (I intend to watch MSNBC, Fox, CNBC, and CNN like a hawk).
Posted by esryck8 
Posted by esryck8 
Posted by esryck8 
