I am sitting at the Vancouver airport waiting for William to show up at Gate 77 for our flight to Chicago-Indianapolis. Everyone is looking forward to the Symposium which will definitely prove to be a winner. If all conferences were like this it would be a real joy.
The financial crises continues and has me worried on a number of accounts. First banking problems do not get ‘fixed’ by a quick infusion of funds. For those who were around in the ’80s it took time to crawl out from that financial hole. Problems tend to be systemic and are not fixed that easily. When you deal with money and lending, trends tend to be the norm of the day, not instantaneous solutions by simple costly cash injections. Problems in this industry tend to be like tips of icebergs, it takes time to see the whole picture. Secondly the culture of our society in the last 25 years has been one of spending and borrowing. Saving has taken a very low priority. When I hear the ‘experts’ say that the economy will seize up with lack of credit facilities it makes one wonder how much equity there can be when everyone is leveraging what they can borrow for continue. Where is the equity equivalent here? You don’t need to borrow or borrow so much when you have some sort of saved cash reserve. That seems to be the problem, saving or building equity doesn’t happen overnight. It needs to be a way of doing business and a long term approach.
Tinfoiling 
Gene,
As I’m reading your post I am visualizing that scene from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.
Mr Creosote has just eaten his weight in meat, potatoes, anything they put in front of him, you name it and then the waiter brings him the after dinner mint. “It’s wafer thin,” he exclaims….and then, well…….this feels like the economy in the US. We can’t handle anymore “Credit” we’re full up leveraged to the hilt…. Time to purge.
(warning: do not watch this video if you have just eaten, are eating or are about to eat).