If you are concerned about how bad things really are in this country, watch or set your DVR to record FRONTLINE tonight on PBS.
I often hear people complain about the billions (soon to be trillions) being spent by the government on banks, propping up Wall Street or the auto industry, or all the money in the stimulus package and I assume these people must not understand what has happened to the financial system -- and thus the economy -- of the good ole U.S. of A.
If they did understand, I think they would complain, instead, that it's not enough.
We all know the country is suffering, jobs are being lost, stock market is falling, but unless you understand what has happened to the financial system, you don't quite understand how serious this situation really is.
The major banks of this country no longer exist.
At least, they no longer exist in the way you've thought about a bank most of your life. The major banks are essentially insolvent. The ones that haven't failed, will fail. The only money left is government money and it's not enough to keep them going.
We have kept them alive for a few months. We had to. We needed to give ourselves a chance to save things by trying to come up with some kind of economic stimulus, plans to fix the financial system (or have the government take over) and maybe start to do something about the problem that started it all: housing. It's all going to get worse if more isn't done.
The economy of this country was on the brink of total collapse when Lehman Brothers failed, the first round of TARP kept that from happening ... for a while.
Don't believe me? Watch the show tonight. Here's a preview below:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The meltdown of America
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2 comments:
I see that you are doing even worse than us in Florida. At least in my area, South Florida, sales in quantity of properties have increased during 2008 compared to 2007. However sales prices have gone down substantially. We are mostly seeing bargain hunters, looking for beach condos. 2009, however, has started on a sour note and with all these news of bailouts and giveaways and the millions of jobs lost, are scaring away buyers and encouraging "vultures".
The way I see it, there is no light at the end of the tunnel yet. Unemployment is the problem: Foreclosures are only one of the consequences of excessive use of credit by beleaguered families. It is one of the end results of an ongoing process of globalization and outsourcing of the industries and services of America. It has impoverished our middle class and mortgaged our country.
As a friend of mine told me once: "we're gonna end up selling insurance policies and Amway stuff to each other".
Sunny Isles Condos
Great post and incredible insight especially in Los Angeles. We team up with local LA bloggers for inside tips during our event.
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the real estate tips post was cool as well. cheers.
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