The end is nigh
For the past two weeks as I have seen people on both sides of the political spectrum voice opposition to the proposed federal bailout of the American financial institutions, I've been dumbfounded. I don't pretend to understand economic issues all that well, but I do understand that a lot of respected economists are saying that we're on the verge of an epic collapse. And that we need to do something. So, maybe the plan that was proposed was flawed in many ways, something I don't doubt (since legislation hastily crafted in a panic is rarely without its errors), but it didn't seem like the people opposing the bailout were proposing any alternative. There were hopes that the crisis was overblown, that there would be some sort of "correction," or a belief that this would all blow over soon. But even the economists who I've read who opposed this specific bailout legislation still seemed to believe that we had to do SOMETHING. That, for me, was enough to convince me that this was important and that all I could do was hope that Congress would refine the plan into something that would help more than it hurt.
Today, that plan failed and the Dow correspondingly has dropped 600 points on the day as of the moment I'm writing this. I'm reading blog posts that have titles like "Where were you when the world economy collapsed?" And to be honest, not understanding what this might all mean, I'm fucking scared.
I lived through a recession in 2001-2002 and it left me jobless for 9 months and almost ruined my fledgling legal career. I just don't want to go through that again, but the sort of slowness that accompanies this kind of epic collapse is almost certain to result in yet more layoffs in an already struggling legal market. I'm not married, I have far too little savings and an expensive mortgage, my parents have all of their assets locked up in real estate they can't sell until this crisis lifts rather than worsens, and I just can't face going through all that again.
So what I want to hear from others is a) what you think should be done instead of the bailout, if you opposed this incarnation, and b) why you think the crisis is overblown, if you hold that opinion. Because, I gotta tell you, I read a half dozen economists' blogs and articles today and the news out there from people who do this stuff for a living (from both sides of the political spectrum) is frighteningly grim. And that was before the bailout was voted down.
(Image courtesy of Above the Law)
