Radical bailout plan has a jawdropping price tag

[Martrae]

Just like they're paying off the deficit?

Did you check out that link about the economy I posted? You really need to listen to it all.

[Arlos]

Well, it wouldn't have been the government paying off the debt, it was the private companies we bailed out, and the later re-sale of the beneath market value securities we acquired, plus the requirement for equity stake in the companies that got the assistance.

-Arlos

[Martrae]

Problem is housing prices are still too high. The only way the government will get back the money from these is if they hold those prices at those inflated levels...which is part of what got us in this mess.

[Tuggan]

i'll admit i don't know jack shit about economics, or the stock market.. but uh, wasn't the dow at like 3-4k several years ago? now it's at like 12k? how the hell does that kind of growth happen legitimately in such a short period? maybe popping the bubble isn't such a bad thing.

i was also under the impression that firms like goldman sachs etc.. were more of the borrowers than the loaners? they borrow the money, gamble on the market and speculate with it for profit? so we bail out the guys that put this situation on us? the reason our dollar is garbage? the reason energy and food costs are so high? i say let them crash.

let small banks grow into the new big banks. if we keep throwing cash at the big boys to buy up all the assets of wamu, wachovia etc... won't we end up with just a few incredibly massive banks? that sounds pretty dangerous in my uneducated opinion.

i applaud congress voting this shit down, i was almost proud of the government yesterday afternoon. i'm sure there will be some bullshit bail out, and i doubt anyone that matters has the nuts to suggest we start from the bottom and let it work it's way up.

i don't have a 401k or IRA, and i've become pretty good at scraping by. michigan has been in the shitter pretty much my whole life, this "crisis" doesn't scare me much at all. goodluck to the rest of you though

[Evermore]

Computer Trading largely was the cause of the explosive growth

[Martrae]

[vonkaar]

i'll admit i don't know jack shit about economics, or the stock market.. but uh, wasn't the dow at like 3-4k several years ago? now it's at like 12k? how the hell does that kind of growth happen legitimately in such a short period? maybe popping the bubble isn't such a bad thing.

3-4k?? The dow hasn't been that low since the end of 94. It has been VERY explosive since then - doubling in only 4 years. The two major crashes were the dot-com and post 9-11 crashes causing it to drop as low as 7500 (from a dot-com high of 11,750). The 9-11 recession barely lasted a couple of years, but the index stayed relatively strong. From early 2003 til the high of Sept-Oct 2007, the trend was VERY strong, peaking above 13k... So, if you JUST look at the Dow, we've simply sunk back down to the levels of the post 9-11 recession. The ridiculous growth in the Housing, Financials, Technology and Oil sectors are major contributors to this 15-year up trend. Cripple a few of those and this recession can only be expected.

Certain cconomists have been calling for this for YEARS but nobody listened. Hell, I invested pretty heavily in a brazilian home builder and I've paid dearly for it. I don't neccessarily think we should always listen to the doom&gloom economists, but this bubble was OBVIOUSLY over-inflated. Currently, they are expecting the Dow to drop even more if the bill isn't passed soon. Some have speculated that it could sink another 2-3k. Surely that will panic congress and the bill will go through. Which... fucking sucks.

[Arlos]

Watch this: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/187.html

-Arlos

(warning, humorous content included)

[Tikker]

legbone related is it?