Wow! September 15, 2008. A day that will live in financial infamy.
It may top October 24, 1929, Black Thursday, the day that triggered the Great Depression.
Lehman Brothers is being liquidated. Merrill Lynch is getting sold to Bank of America. These two titans of the American financial sector will exist no more.
The insurer AIG is getting bailed out.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are no longer functional.
The Dow Jones fell by more than 500 points, its worst performance since September 11, 2001. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and European stock markets are crashing too.
It's a big, huge, freakin' mess.
This is the kind of disaster that only people who are convinced that they're really, really, really smart -- sooooooo much smarter than your average, ordinary shlub -- this is the sort of catastrophe only arrogant fools like these could create.
But not to worry -- oh no! According to President Bush, Senator McCain, and Treasury Secretary Paulsen, the "fundamentals" of our economy are "strong." Please, don't panic. Everything will fine. Nothing to see here.
What the hell are the fundamentals of our economy anyway? And how are they strong? Somebody please enlighten me, I can't seem to figure it out.
This Wall Street meltdown will be disastrous for NYC. I don't see how it can't be. So much of the state and city economy depends on the taxes the financial sector produces (those big bonuses are vital to the city's well being). One can safely assume that tax revenues are going to plummet as a result of this.
This will mean huge, painful cuts to our city's services (schools, police, firefighters, hospitals, sanitation, etc). It'll probably mean even more painful tax increases to make up the revenue shortfalls. Don't be surprised if we find ourselves in a situation similar to the 1970s fiscal crises. It'll be a nightmare but I know New Yorkers will pull through it. After all, we'll survived much worse.
I can just see the headlines now: "McCain to City: Drop Dead."
To get a thumbnail sketch of this whole thing, check out the following:
Wall Street meltdown: your two-minute catch-up
It may top October 24, 1929, Black Thursday, the day that triggered the Great Depression.
Lehman Brothers is being liquidated. Merrill Lynch is getting sold to Bank of America. These two titans of the American financial sector will exist no more.
The insurer AIG is getting bailed out.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are no longer functional.
The Dow Jones fell by more than 500 points, its worst performance since September 11, 2001. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and European stock markets are crashing too.
It's a big, huge, freakin' mess.
This is the kind of disaster that only people who are convinced that they're really, really, really smart -- sooooooo much smarter than your average, ordinary shlub -- this is the sort of catastrophe only arrogant fools like these could create.
But not to worry -- oh no! According to President Bush, Senator McCain, and Treasury Secretary Paulsen, the "fundamentals" of our economy are "strong." Please, don't panic. Everything will fine. Nothing to see here.
What the hell are the fundamentals of our economy anyway? And how are they strong? Somebody please enlighten me, I can't seem to figure it out.
This Wall Street meltdown will be disastrous for NYC. I don't see how it can't be. So much of the state and city economy depends on the taxes the financial sector produces (those big bonuses are vital to the city's well being). One can safely assume that tax revenues are going to plummet as a result of this.
This will mean huge, painful cuts to our city's services (schools, police, firefighters, hospitals, sanitation, etc). It'll probably mean even more painful tax increases to make up the revenue shortfalls. Don't be surprised if we find ourselves in a situation similar to the 1970s fiscal crises. It'll be a nightmare but I know New Yorkers will pull through it. After all, we'll survived much worse.
I can just see the headlines now: "McCain to City: Drop Dead."
To get a thumbnail sketch of this whole thing, check out the following:
Wall Street meltdown: your two-minute catch-up
It was totally obvious even as early as Spring 2004.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who works in finance and says otherwise is either incompetent or lying.
It was all about the debt, stupid!