On...Politics and the Economy

What's the Deal?

This is when I wished I was a real expert on the Great Depression. Is this what the average person felt in those lonely days of October (October eh?)? Did they not see the real pain coming? As of right now I know the market is tanking and everyone at the top is either running around foaming at the mouth or sprinting with their heads lobbed off while their head babbles on the ground. But, and I hate to use this term, Main Street has not yet felt the pains. Gas is tumbling, which is good. I bought $2.99 gas yesterday and it felt fantastic. Ford stock is below $2 a share and that seems like a real good deal. I assume many others in 1929 and 1930 might have felt the same way then looking at RCA stock. Ford can't go away can it? Not Ford. Buy low when everyone else is selling like Warren Buffett always states. Hmm. Should I? Or should everyone panic?

Panic would be really bad. Everyone must keep their head and believe in the system. Because if not, what is the alternative? It's not like the USA is the only one on the chopping block. We're all in this together. Even the Communists will get whacked to some degree. What I fear most is war, especially as oil prices drop. Sweet irony, eh? Iran, Russia, and Venezuela only stay above water because of oil money, but if that dries up will that make they more or less aggressive? They could take it out on their neighbors to prop up their failing regimes.

I hope the parallel goes no further. I can't wait to see my next 403b report, ouch! The last 5 years gone. I can't help but feel a little bad for the boomers who put most of their retirement eggs in the stock market. Let's see what comes next.

Post note: Both candidates should only talk about this situation. With all their advisers you can't tell me they can't lay out first the problem and second the possible solutions in a clear and succinct manner? And do it without fear or sophomoric hope? Whoever shows their resolve and calm on this issue will win the election.

Related Articles

*A Short Banking History of the United States: John Steele Gordon

When Fortune Frowned: The Economist

The End of American Capitalism: Washington Post

We Have the Tools to Manage the Crisis: Paul Volker, WSJ

Moment of Truth: Paul Krugman, NYT

Crisis Marks Out a New Geopolitical Order, Financial Times

On...The Future of Capitalism

Bailouts and Purges

If nothing else the whole bailout, stock market hiccup, etc is giving the nation a small economic lesson. Unfortunately the professor is a hungover drunk with a failing marriage and a hodgepodge degree in Marxist-Adam Smith tomfoolery. Which is the wonder of Economics. Nobody really knows much and everyone is tampering with the thing. Poking and prodding the carcass. Many suggest leaving it alone is best (see Joel Stein in LA Times), others praise the bailout (A Bill that Deserved to Pass), others look at the big picture and realize the painting has already been ripped off the museum wall and stuffed in a trunk. What is the common man to do? According to many of the political commercials they should be really scared and angry at Big Oil and Wal-Mart and Evil Banks. Ah, the 1930s all over again.

I myself am not astute enough in economics to make real observations that I feel are accurate at this point, and I don't like chasing black swans, but anyone else is free to get a dialogue going on that. But I do have the sense that old systems are shifting and the capitalists are running to the socialists in government for security.

Our politicians should have done what the founders have always suggested--do nothing rash. Sit on it, let our passions cool, then make formative decisions. The bailout bill was a total rejection of Enlightenment coolness of mind. It was a panic-filled free-for-all and buy-off. Instead using logic, we are further blending the state and the market in an orgy of passion and fear. The trudge towards the socialist twilight is usually not a good thing. It puts too much power in too few of hands, especially politician and bureaucrat's hands. We will take a further step in that direction is Barack Obama wins and a Democratic congress injects an European health care system into our bloodstream. If our economy is truly on the brink like so many doom and gloom pundits believe, this will be a potentially troubling move. I tend to be an optimist and believe it is hard to bring down a $14 trillion economy, but universal health care should not be in the cards at this moment (if ever).

I also want to say the whole Wall Street vs. Main Street simplicity is juvenile. Us versus Them. Nice. I love how the populists use the term Main Street as a good thing. They might want to check out where the term really came from--Sinclair Lewis' Main Street (1920). A scathing satire on the idiocy and backwardness of small town life. Clinging to guns and God fits the Main Street motif nicely. But oh, the wisemen will come and show them the light. Fun stuff. Further discussion on the impact the economy is having on the working class can be found in Ross Douthat's new blog posting HERE

Jacob Weisberg from Slate.com has a interesting dissection of the labeling of our new economic arrangement. The article sortof jumpstarted this blog.

Also two excellent economic websites are RealClearMarkets and The Skeptical Optimist.