Four Horsemen?

Obama 08

NOT one reporter asking people on the street what is happening on Wall Street. How it's going to impact them. The only thing being talked about is the "Lipstick" issue. No one cares.

Guess we'll have our bibles, guns and know how to field dress a moose to survive into the next century.

We are F*cked as a country.

I have a friend at Lehman's (though maybe not anymore, I should really call...) and his prediction was we have at least another year like this - with financial crisis, etc. until things bottom out before they get better.

Obamanut wrote: Oh boy, another "two sides of the same coin" joker...

You guys lost all credibility after 2000, you realize this don't you?

I would say that there are significant differences, but as far as the deficit and the national debt, they both suck (a LOT) and haven't a clue.

And we won't have to worry about them being on the same coin, either will make sure there ain't a coin to spare...

mitchell73 wrote: I was wondering, isn't this partially the result of those years of artificially low interest rates from Greenspan? I know it kept the economy chugging, but it seems like borrowing money was too cheap and encouraged recklessness. Why isn't anyone blaming him?

Funny you should mention it- I was listening to a reporter on 1010 this morning and they were interviewing some poor ex-Lehman guy carrying his office-in-a-box. They asked him what was to blame. He said one word over and over: "Greenspan."

I thought God didn't have a country...

Fasten your seat belts, this depression is going to be a doozy!

Even if the government and citizens begin to act responsibly, the economy will be a mess for years to come. But don't get your hopes up that anyone is going to start acting like adults just yet, "culture wars II" is now on dvd.
If you really believe that McCain/Palin will yield the same result as Obama/Biden, you need to think through the scenario again.

The war is off budget ($600 plus billion and increasing $12B per month).
The Bear Sterns bailout is off budget ($29B).
Freddie Mac / Fannie Mae is off budget (maybe $300B plus).
Bush's current budget should be at least $350 Billion higher than the projected $407 billion deficit.

Now we are talking real money - single year budget decifits of ove $750 billion.

Kiss your retirement goodbye (if there is anything left after today's 500 point plunge).

But I don't agree this is good for New York City, or the United States.

I heard you can make a bundle in Alpacas

http://www.alpacainfo.com/

Well, I think you can qualify for farm subsidies with them...

You think they'd let my Alpacas graze in Prospect park?

If it gets really cold, and heat becomes too expensive, can I slay my Alpaca and then sleep inside it (ala Star Wars)?

Can we retitle thread this the Four Alpacamen?

What happens in six months, when the average american realizes that the rest of the world is not in a bad recession ...just the US? Yes, the US will have slowed the world economy for a while, but we are one of the few that is fundamentally unsound.

They will blame someone ...immigrants, Iran, someone.

This is the day I fear, not the depression itself.

yes, but they do not carry the same amount of debt. Their investments are down because they invested here....

Their economies are not tied to speculation to the same degree as ours.

madman wrote: When Asia stops buying our debt we are really screwed.

yup, but the optimistic side of me says they'll "save" their money in productive forms....

Faced with low returns from investment in the stock market, they could:
Invest in parks for the populace.
Implement pollution standards to clean up the air they breath.

...and other ways of investing that almost exclusively benefit their own country.

Coal ash, for example, mostly falls back to earth within 500 miles.

With an impending depression on the horizon,it may be time to think about becoming a used stroller dealer.

as it turns out, we have more to fear from unregulated capitalists than we do from any socialists.