People have likened the Global Financial Crisis (or Credit Crunch or Subprime Mess, take your pick) to 9/11, but I think that's a bad analogy.
On some levels, yes, 9/11 was a self-inflicted wound. But it was not a logical, obvious, justifiable consequence. We did everything in our power for five or six decades to egg those assholes on, and we did practically nothing about it when they blew up minor things like our embassies, but still. Al Queda is a bunch of hateful idiots who deserve W.'s full and undivided attention if anyone does.
And W.'s full and undivided attention can be a terrible thing. Just look at Wall Street. Now that Bush has decided to 'rescue' it (much as he decided to 'liberate' Iraq), it's down 39% from a year ago. My retirement savings are modest, but this makes them actually laughable. The money I've lost this fortnight, I could be driving a new car.
But this meltdown is not a 9/11. This is what you get when people with grown-up responsibilities start believing in fairy tales like 'the full faith and credit of the United States government.' To paraphrase Gary Trudeau today (and those who know me will tell you it's a sorry world when Trigger starts citing Doonsbury), privatizing profits while socializing risks is just stupid and wrong.
AIG still throws half-million dollar parties for its star agents and has the gall to defend this as a legitimate cost of doing business, even while it hits Uncle Sam up for another $39 billion. The fact that none of their executives has been summarily executed is an outrage. I don't care if the party was planned months ago, when you jerks should have noticed you were skating on thin ice, you never heard of a cancelled party? It doesn't matter if the agents you were schmoozing were not employed by AIG, it was still $440,000 that you didn't have.
These bail outs are supposed to restore 'faith' in the markets. I've heard more about the power of faith from NPR this week than I've heard in church in a year and a half. But if I have trouble making a leap of faith for Christianity, I have more trouble when it's government and corporate executives I'm supposed to trust.
What we're seeing in the markets both here and abroad today is a Chernobyl. Bill Clinton might have started the CRA ball rolling, but the assheads in the second Bush Administration did fuckall to fix it. Instead, they continued to pour fat on the fire because it created a false sense of prosperity and prosperity helps the President. They knew it was all going to come down, they just hoped it wouldn't be on their watch.
And it's a reflection on what a playground strafing Brownie raper this President is that even when we looked falsely prosperous he was less popular than a proctologist with fat, wart-covered fingers.
So the Dow closed below 9000 today, first time in five years. Basically, this is the market saying what I've said all along about the goon squad called our present administration: I don't trust you with a stale pizza, let alone a nation's economy. You assholes.
How bad is it? It's so bad that when Iceland finds out it's fucked, shot, powder burnt and snake bit, they turn to Russia for help. News flash for you Icelanders, Russia is not run by Chili Palmer. Putin and that gang don't do anyone favors, and they really will break your legs if you don't pay the vig.
But in fairness, what were they gong to do? Turn to the United States? We're broke.
All of which is, I guess, a long way to say I haven't opened up my heart and let Secretary Paulson in.
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