Monday, March 2, 2009

May you live in interesting times



The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 7,000 for the first time since 1997. The government is pumping a ton of cash into AIG and just took a 40% stake in Citigroup. Meanwhile, Bank of America is lamenting its decision to take TARP funds. Job losses are expected to exceed 600,000 for the month of February to push the unemployment rate to 8%. A lot of people are making comparisons to the Great Depression.

Back then, during FDR's first term, businesses hung signs with an iconic blue eagle to let people know they supported the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act and National Recovery Administration. Maybe soon we'll have banks and financial institutions hanging placards declaring that they have taken bailout funds and support government efforts to stabilize the financial sector.

I won't hold my breath for that to happen.


I doubt we'll see anyone declaring their support for gov't programs like this anytime soon