Topper's Travels
Topper Kain's blog. Topper Kain is a world-famous kazoo player and traditional norwegian food chef. He wants you to use the comments.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Despite the high pitch screams coming out of everybody Paulson, Obama, McCain, and Company, we are not in crisis, only our financial sector is. Unemployment is at 6.1%, high compared to the last 3 or 4 years, but around average for a recession for the last 50 years- and certainaly a far cry from the 70's. The stock market, while rattled, currently is around where it should be if it actually grew at the same rate as the US economy for the last 15 years (IE- the 90's bubble never REALLY popped...) Housing prices are down 20%, but then again they had skyrocketed something like 100% since 2000. What is happenning is a market correction and a downturn in the business cycle. The liquidity crisis does need some solution, but the answer should involve shareholders, executives, and companies losing their shirts on bad, dumb loans, not the US government. I like the suggestion that we follow the Swedish / Fannie Mae plan and demand equity in any company that wants to participate in the bailout.
Overall the recent crisis has been an embarassment for the "free-market" republican party. I'm going crazy here over in my libertarian wing.Labels: Bailout, Economy
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