The Dow Jones ended today down 443 points from yesterday… when it lost 486 points. The 929 point loss over two days is the worst in the market’s history. Obviously they didn’t get the memo that all is well now Obama’s coming in to save the world.
Sarcasm aside, the economy is a wretched mess. Obama is going to be faced with not only this but also the insane level of expectations he raised during his campaign. His pledge that your taxes won’t be raised unless you make more than $250K $200K $150K (fill in blank) is going to loom large in all conversations. About the only promise that will certainty still be standing after January 20th is a promise that whatever happens will not be pretty.
The fundamental flaw of a consumer-based economy is that sooner or later the consumers will run out of things to consume. You can’t always buy more of what you either already have or for which you have no need. As the subprime disaster has amply demonstrated, lending to those without means to repay said loans can and will bring down not only titans of finance but cripple entire nations. No one has an inexhaustible supply of money. The naive notion that big business has a bottomless well from which to draw has been clearly demonstrated to be absolutely false. It is also clear that no matter how it is castigated as a heartless machine grinding down all in its path in an insatiable lust for more, big business is what runs the world economy. Certainly it cannot be allowed to operate unfettered, as the bitter fruit of excessive deregulation has revealed. But neither can it be chopped down.
You have a way of making things make sense. I am sincerely hoping that Obama et all at least learned something from Clinton’s errors, and they won’t make the same mistakes….
I miss W already. It was interesting to see all the nice things now being said about him on the news now that the “fight” is over.
Thank God that He is faithful and steadfast while our world is not. While the news (pick a subject) can be downright scary, my church sent letters out calling for us to turn off the TV and turn to God through prayer and Bible-reading. Their message was akin to something I printed out after my 31 year-old bride went home to be with the Lord last year after a 26 month battle with cancer:
1) God still reigns,
2) The Church is still precious in His sight,
3) Its mission is still clear,
4) Our focus is still Heaven; we are but pilgrims and not “earth-dwellers”, and
5) Victory is still certain.
Holding onto God’s truths helped me get through my wife’s illness and death. Doing the same will get me through anything else life throws at me — and the Promise holds true to all who cry out to Jesus.
Thanks for your consistent writing, Jerry, It is encouraging.