Continuing to talk about how bad the economy is getting isn't going to help it but Alan Greenspan's apology might help point the blame and make us all feel better.
Alan Greenspan admitted he made mistakes in the past five years as the former federal reserve chairman. Greenspan admitted to trusting the market to hold itself and denying the need for more government involvement.
What he fails to admit is the low interest rates that helped investors more securely trust that people will pay back what they owe, which is clear now that they couldn't than and sure can't now.
Is it all Greenspan's fault?
I don't think one person can be blamed for the demise of a strong economy. Many people took part in bringing down the world's most powerful market, at least it was a couple of years ago.
The decline has been slow up until a month or two ago when markets began to drop tremendously and foreclosures shot up.
The 71% forcloseure rate that has occured in less than a year is scarey and we're just waiting around to see how much the $700 billion bailout plan will actually slow or hault that increase.
We have to blame ourselves at some point for buying homes that we couldn't afford. We have to blame the banks for selling bad investments to United States Wall Street.
We can blame Greenspan for his under estimating banks and the market since that was he main job. We can also blame him for not foreseeing what his decisions could do, since that too is the sole purpose of his job in my opinion.
The problem is going to continue. Home owners are being forced out, people are losing their jobs and these are signs of a serious depression.
Not everything is going to be made better by the bailout plan.
'Time heals all wounds', as the cliche' goes. Let's just hope time really does heal these severe economic wounds before they are opened back up again.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Fear Factor
The USA Today had an article on Thursday that talked about how investors aren't going to be moving money because of consumer's low purchasing confidence.
Not many people are out buying luxuries right now. Luxuries like high end electronics are going to be taking a back seat to necessary costs.
Another article in USA Today, also on Thursday by Barbara Hagenbaugh and Sue Kirchhoff, stated that it is most retail that will suffer not just electronics.
The article, which was not on the USAToday.com web site, reported total retail sales fell 1.2% from August to September.
The article stated that the Commerce Department said it was the biggest drop in consumer spending since 2005.
All aspects of life are being cut back, cars, electronics, out of home dinning, clothing, books, music, and even groceries.
Consumers are seeing the market news and closing up their funds.
Joel Naroff, an economic advisor, said consumers started shutting down spending before the market even crashed.
Not many people are out buying luxuries right now. Luxuries like high end electronics are going to be taking a back seat to necessary costs.
Another article in USA Today, also on Thursday by Barbara Hagenbaugh and Sue Kirchhoff, stated that it is most retail that will suffer not just electronics.
The article, which was not on the USAToday.com web site, reported total retail sales fell 1.2% from August to September.
The article stated that the Commerce Department said it was the biggest drop in consumer spending since 2005.
All aspects of life are being cut back, cars, electronics, out of home dinning, clothing, books, music, and even groceries.
Consumers are seeing the market news and closing up their funds.
Joel Naroff, an economic advisor, said consumers started shutting down spending before the market even crashed.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Global recession may be in the midst.
The economy has taken a huge hit. The Bailout plan was supposed to rescue the economy, so far the market has only slipped farther down.
USA Today reported Dow Jones has fallen further and further in the market in the last seven sessions. Thursday the stock fell below 9,000, and the first time since 2003 that it has fallen below that point.
According to the money section in USA Today on Thursday, the market summary shows all four companies are down more 35% for the year.
It isn't just the American market that has been effected by the bank's loan problems.
The article reported U.K. having to form similar plans to America's Bailout plan that was passed last week.
Iceland, specifically has been forced to take control of their largest bank for fear of collapse.
Investors aren't investing anymore, the scare has hit their confidence and it's not likely to improve quickly.
Jon Noonan, chief investment strategist at Appleton Partners, doesn't seem hopeful that drastic change is coming soon. He said, the problems the economy are facing may cause this recession to last longer than any other since World War II.
All the global economic leaders such as China, Russia, Germany, U.K., and many others are all having to cut bank interests and buy out banks.
Unless confidence picks back up and people start investing it seems the U.S. economy and the economy of the world are in for a rough patch.
USA Today reported Dow Jones has fallen further and further in the market in the last seven sessions. Thursday the stock fell below 9,000, and the first time since 2003 that it has fallen below that point.
According to the money section in USA Today on Thursday, the market summary shows all four companies are down more 35% for the year.
It isn't just the American market that has been effected by the bank's loan problems.
The article reported U.K. having to form similar plans to America's Bailout plan that was passed last week.
Iceland, specifically has been forced to take control of their largest bank for fear of collapse.
Investors aren't investing anymore, the scare has hit their confidence and it's not likely to improve quickly.
Jon Noonan, chief investment strategist at Appleton Partners, doesn't seem hopeful that drastic change is coming soon. He said, the problems the economy are facing may cause this recession to last longer than any other since World War II.
All the global economic leaders such as China, Russia, Germany, U.K., and many others are all having to cut bank interests and buy out banks.
Unless confidence picks back up and people start investing it seems the U.S. economy and the economy of the world are in for a rough patch.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Senate votes 'Yes' to billion dollar bailout.
After being rejected on Tuesday the Bailout Bill finally passed the U.S. Senate last night with a 74-25 victory.
The plan wasn't perfect to start off with and needed some revisions. Compromises were made and now there is a plan of action that satisfies most delegates.
According to USA Today, the new plan includes giving the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. the authority it needs to increase the size of bank deposits it insures from $100,000 to $250,000. The plan also includes tax breaks.
The big question is why is the bill requiring health insurers to offer mental health coverage on a par with other benefits?
The answer is of course to do whatever it may take to get this bill passed and into action, regardless of the debt it will add on in the end. The additives to the bill are estimated to cost 120 billion extra to the already high $700 billion already planned to be spent over the next 10 years said Andrew Taylor, of the Associated Press.
The push for this bill seems to be a means to the end of the American people's panic attack that started weeks ago when the Dow Jones plummeted and banks started going under.
The general wonderment is will this extra deficit ever go away or will America's economy continue to take a beating?
I think everyone just wants a solution no matter what the consequence may be later, my thoughts are, haven't we done that already? Haven't we made enough hasty decisions.
All the American people can do is to wait and see if the bailout plan works, assuming it's passed by the house of representatives on Friday night.
The plan wasn't perfect to start off with and needed some revisions. Compromises were made and now there is a plan of action that satisfies most delegates.
According to USA Today, the new plan includes giving the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. the authority it needs to increase the size of bank deposits it insures from $100,000 to $250,000. The plan also includes tax breaks.
The big question is why is the bill requiring health insurers to offer mental health coverage on a par with other benefits?
The answer is of course to do whatever it may take to get this bill passed and into action, regardless of the debt it will add on in the end. The additives to the bill are estimated to cost 120 billion extra to the already high $700 billion already planned to be spent over the next 10 years said Andrew Taylor, of the Associated Press.
The push for this bill seems to be a means to the end of the American people's panic attack that started weeks ago when the Dow Jones plummeted and banks started going under.
The general wonderment is will this extra deficit ever go away or will America's economy continue to take a beating?
I think everyone just wants a solution no matter what the consequence may be later, my thoughts are, haven't we done that already? Haven't we made enough hasty decisions.
All the American people can do is to wait and see if the bailout plan works, assuming it's passed by the house of representatives on Friday night.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
women are better than men
An article in USA Today discussed the statistics from a survey on the power struggle in households and who wears the pants in the relationship, so to speak.
It turns out women are gaining power and men are giving it up willingly.
Have men become to lazy? Do women just have a new sense of authority over all?
The article discusses why it is women are making the decisions in the household and men are letting them.
Women are always changing and always growing and it seems men have just put up the white flag.
Have men just realized, "women are usually right anyway so why not let them do our bidding?"
You can see it all over sitcoms and dramas and really every where you see relationships in action, Men follow women because we have a power and intelligence that men don't often utilize.
Can men take care of themselves? I'm sure most can if they put their mind to it.
I suppose it's just so much easier to let someone else do it for you especially when you know they will do what is in your best interest because they love you.
The results showed that out of 1,260 people surveyed, 43% the women make the major decisions for the household.
What happened men? After fire you just sort of let us take over.
It turns out women are gaining power and men are giving it up willingly.
Have men become to lazy? Do women just have a new sense of authority over all?
The article discusses why it is women are making the decisions in the household and men are letting them.
Women are always changing and always growing and it seems men have just put up the white flag.
Have men just realized, "women are usually right anyway so why not let them do our bidding?"
You can see it all over sitcoms and dramas and really every where you see relationships in action, Men follow women because we have a power and intelligence that men don't often utilize.
Can men take care of themselves? I'm sure most can if they put their mind to it.
I suppose it's just so much easier to let someone else do it for you especially when you know they will do what is in your best interest because they love you.
The results showed that out of 1,260 people surveyed, 43% the women make the major decisions for the household.
What happened men? After fire you just sort of let us take over.
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