#1 I've been thinking about this. There is no reason for everyone to tank just because our housing prices have. What's at work is something more fundamental, and deeper: the total dependence upon US liquidity.
WE have to buy foreign oil to keep the price high enough to satisfy our Middle East "allies".
WE have to buy from every nation of the world, at their prices, while our exports are given short shrift.
WE have to provide credit for failed states and dictators, to "buy" friends in far-away places.
WE have to defend Europe so they can support their cradle-to-grave welfare state, and ignore their own defense needs.
The golden goose is dead. Long may it remain dead. Let the world take care of itself, and may the United States stop being so "european" - and stupid. We've been played for suckers long enough, and the party's over. While it might not be the best thing for the world to dive into a financial black hole, it seemed to have survived several times without us rescuing it.
I know lots of people who have money tied up in the stock market, with that money a major portion of their retirement plan. I'm sorry, but in the short term, you're going to get terribly hurt. If you're wise enough to go long-term, I don't think any American investor will be critically hurt. The rest of the world can go to hell in its own chosen way. |