Will this be the LAST bailout? Senator Shelby "I think not." (bankrupt, loans)

[evilnewbie]

Senator Shelby is opposed to the MASSIVE bailout with the government trying to buy most of the bad debts out there... you know, the 1+ trillion dollar bailout... when asked if this was basically a game-changer with the bailout... NOPE... banks will still go bankrupt... when asked, with this massive bailout will that be the end of more bailouts... NOPE... wth are we doing? What is wrong with our government that even one of them can smell a ponzi scheme when he sees one...

[Nor'Eastah]

I'm not sure anybody really knows what's going on here, or how best to get a handle on it. Some are trying to calm the markets and restore confidence, others are trying desperately to prevent the taxpayers from having to shoulder all these burdens. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of middle road. Nobody seems to really be in charge. There's no consensus. It would be nice if a strong, well-informed 'leader' would step forward right about now, but I don't see one anywhere on the horizon.

What will be, will be. I think it's getting to be a little late to save the whole house of cards. There really are some things so rotten to the core, so over-leveraged, that we just have to let them go. Some things are beyond salvation. People will be hurting from this for a long time to come. But it's not the first time that the whole edifice came crashing down. It's just that the dollar amounts are higher, do to (what else?) inflation.

The best we can all do is look after ourselves. Waiting for the government to save you may be a big mistake.

[Wild Style]

^^

the F.I.R.E. economy produced TONS of faux wealth or paper wealth. Think about the guy who bought a home in 1998 for say 198,000. In 2006 that same home was going for 500,000. This person now thinks he/she is 302,000 dollars richer. so he/she pulls this money out in equity to purchase all sorts of crap. This in turn spurs on our economy based on fake purchasing power. Example, Bestbuy, Circuit City and 4 other stores pop up in these neighborhoods based on analysis of the purchasing power of the people in that new area. Problem is, the purchasing power is really fake. It is money that will evaporate as the asset hyperinflation (bubble) bursts. You had entire jobs, entire industries and so on built on this very premise. So, many companies are going to go out of business. Many places that are now super crowded will become a little less crowded as job losses mount. Things will return to their pre bubble days and that is a good thing. We are seeing inflation (just look at prices from a year ago as opposed to today or look at the growth in money supply over the last year) which is tough on many. This temporary price correction in certain asset prices will stabilize and then continue to grow just as they always have (again, just look at the year over year trends). This is going to be the painful part of all this. But in the end, this will be good because America can build a better economy from the ashes of the last one. So it isn't all doom and gloom. I think for the next decade its going to be unbearable for a lot of people. Some of us will not make it back financially and mentally from this, all wars have casualties. We probably wont be able to **** money away on silly stuff as we have in the past once all this is done either.

Read Eric Janzen, Nourel Roubini, Peter Schiff and a few others (Drawing a blank right now). they have been 100% accurate in forcasting trends, janzen as far back as 1998 called ALL of this. Once you start reading on these guys and understanding whats happening you will see how all this is going to play out. Only thing is, getting yourself into position to weather the storm. Thats the tuff/tricky part. On people and analysis to avoid. Avoid anyone giving you short term data to predict what will happen long term. that is a foolish person and someone unaware of how economics works. Follow these steps, do tons of research and you will be ok. Then you need to start making moves to get yourself in position.

1. Cut any extra expenses you have
2. get rid of any securitized debt you have first
3. if you can move in with family members and split costs, do that.
4. try to get a job in a field that will be reslient to all this.
5. prepare for the long haul. Thats not 1 or 2 years. that could be 5 to 8 years from now.

People are predicting a lot of little bubbles over the short term to keep us hoping along until the new economy will be running at full steam. So, try to learn how to detect a bubble and how to avoid anything that will affect you in relation to that bubble.

The news isn't all bad, just plan, stay calm and be ready.

[tallrick]

In my opinion the only way to save the economy would be to push investment to things that generate real wealth, energy production, mining, farming, etc and just let the toxic loans collapse. Trying to support inflated real estate and other bubbles just diverts money from where it is really needed- production. Is anyone else angry that the "bailouts" are just going to further stunt our potential? If all that foreign investment was used to build the factories of the future and new energy sources we would be in a whole different situation now.