Not So Funny Stuff

I have the Wall Street Journal here at my desk. I get this cute little version over here, not the big broadsheet they publish in the US.

I was reading about the financial turmoil. And I'm surprised to find that the story has me in a vice grip. I don't know why. I'm not invested in much of anything beyond my apartment. So the fall of Lehman Bros. is not going to reach into my pocket much. Still, I can't turn away.

I think it's the enormity of the thing. Markets around the world were shaken. Uncertainty is the only certainty. And everyone who is plugged into an economic system anywhere in the world will be touched by this. It's a world event, right? But it's not like any of the world events we've experienced in my lifetime.

It doesn't have the feel of an attack or a war. It's not like a government falling. I'm tempted to link it to a natural disaster, but I'm afraid that's disrespectful because tsunamis and earthquakes takes lives. I just can't place where this sits in my understanding of current events. But I am straining to do so - It's just so big. So I read and I thought about it, and I think I might have been making progress.

But then what happened? The presidential candidates started talking about it, and I started thinking about politics and the political side of the economy. I started to get angry. And so I watched the following.





I don't know how to fix this, and when I look at the campaigns I do not feel reassured.

They aren't speaking to the issues, as usual. But I guess these events are the issues speaking out of turn.

I just hope we can elect someone who will put the right people in place to find our balance again. My thoughts aren't worth much, but for what they are worth: I think we need to reintroduce regulation (duh), but I don't think it would be useful to go back to the stuff Clinton repealed at the end of his term. That stuff was from the 1930's, and the repealing of it was part of what has fueled the last 10 years of worldwide economic growth. I guess someone should have thrown cold water on the mess before we got to this point, but I don't want to place blame (yet). It's too easy to say someone should have been watching. I don't think we have the kind of regulatory apparatus in place to have seen this coming. I guess we have to watch and learn (and when the market hits the bottom, get your money in there).

Seriously, however, best wishes and my sympathy go out to all who are going to be affected by the job losses and the financial strain that's troubling the world right now.