If you have bank shares you'll lose that money, or if you own bank corporate debt you'll lose that too. On top of that we have house prices still falling, and unemployment will rise.
But when push comes to shove, finance is just a way of sending numbers back and forth. Zombies won't stalk the streets because they didn't get any dividends.
People will still have food in their stomachs and diesel in their cars.
The real crisis begins when those problems hit us... ;) Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
If the government doesn't take control of the economy early, you get a depression and then the government has to pick up the pieces. WWII got the world out of the Great Depression.
If the government takes control of the economy early... Hey, stop laughing!
When capitalism fails it's socialism or fascism. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
GOOD MORNING WORLD!!! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Democrats' latest idea: gas stamps, 11 Sep 2008
As the U.S. economy teeters on the brink of recession, Democratic leaders are revisiting an idea born of the Great Depression: gas stamps to help Americans cope with high fuel prices. The proposal to subsidize fuel costs for lower-income families and individuals would almost certainly be popular with white, working-class voters and could boost Barack Obama's appeal with that critical voting bloc in this year's presidential election. [...] Under one version of the proposal, a person earning up to $31,200 or a family of four earning up to $63,600 could receive government payments totaling $500 for gas. [...] The idea for fuel stamps was first proposed by maverick Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Income Security and Family Support subcommittee, who remembers his family using gas stamps when he was a boy during World War II.
The proposal to subsidize fuel costs for lower-income families and individuals would almost certainly be popular with white, working-class voters and could boost Barack Obama's appeal with that critical voting bloc in this year's presidential election. [...] Under one version of the proposal, a person earning up to $31,200 or a family of four earning up to $63,600 could receive government payments totaling $500 for gas. [...] The idea for fuel stamps was first proposed by maverick Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Income Security and Family Support subcommittee, who remembers his family using gas stamps when he was a boy during World War II.
That story hasn't gotten any play yet, has it? Pelosi didn't, when she announced the second stimulus package. 15 July. It's as new. Again. All that campaign excitement! does tend to gloss who is calling the shots in DC.
See these stories and more at How I spent my stimulus to get a feel for how quickly that $120B disappeared. Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
