Enough already!
October 16, 2008
I’ve avoided blogging about the financial landscape and various unfoldings of fiscal policy for the past few weeks, not because of a need to play ostrich as in the case of my retirement accounts, but because everyone else has been doing it, every single day. What had I but personal outrage to add to the mess? What had I but negativity? And as I’m trying to avoid dwelling overmuch on the bleaker side of affairs to the point of creating paralysis, well, not adding my voice to the cacophony seemed prudent.
For the most part, it’s been helpful. I’ve managed to, slowly, stabilize certain crucial aspects of my (financial) life even as other elements are becoming less and less comprehensible. I won’t get into the latter, but will say there’s an overwhelming desire to escape. Mindfully paying less attention to the frenzied media has enabled me to get some work done.
It’s not that I’ve ignored the news, or the bloggers who are blogging about the ongoing situation, though, which means a new spark of exasperation flared this morning when I read this headline from the LA Times:
Because the first stimulus package really did wonders for the economy. Sure, the author acknowledges that “The battle could be even tougher than the one that played out last month over the $700-billion rescue plan for the financial system.” The fact remains, the first stimulus package passed, the bailout rescue plan passed, the government quietly bailed out the automakers somewhere amidst the bailout furor, the list of fear-motivated “solutions” goes on. And now we have another one.
As JLP asked this morning, is a credit-free Christmas such a horrid concept? More macroeconomically, is desperately trying to stave off a period of correction and downturn worth all the time, money and desperate measures we’re taking? It’s not that I don’t feel the effects of a softening economy, it’s not that I lack empathy or sympathy or any other -athy (other than apathy, I don’t feel that). I’m just concerned that the flurry of perhaps poorly conceived reactions, the flailing of our collective government, business leaders and ivory tower economists, is creating a bigger monster. I’m just wishing for a long-term solution Christmas, more than anything, solutions that are well-thought-out and aren’t short term fixes that don’t actually help.
And now I’m worried again.
