ANSWERS: 16
  • No, we are at the same point we were at in Oct. 2004.
  • Nope it is only a scare tatic to get you to comply and hand over your rights. No different than 9/11 and the patriot act of 2001.
  • Yes it is because it's not just here or in the West, but is involving the whole world. Just yesterday, Iceland prevented going bankrupt and today there was a bank bailout in UK. Nearly all the markets were closed as they fell 10% today. And it gets worse. Sure, things by the numbers look like several years ago, but there wasn't the huge debt and repayment that they is now.
  • For the stock investors who just try to buy and hold, until it goes up a lot, YES ... for the knowledgeable stock investor who knows exactly which stock to buy/sell and exactly when to buy/sell it, NO ... there are still vast fortunes to be made as the market is fluctuating even more than usual ... buy just before a stock goes up a bit and sell just before it drops a bit, then buy it back just before it rises a bit again ... massive amounts of buying and selling at just the right time will generate massive profits. Also, now, more than ever, is the time to be buying tax liens on properties, especially in the U.S., since tax liens have very high interest rates and are absolutely guaranteed by the federal government ... interest rates vary by region and county, from 16% to 36% ... that is far more than any savings account ... just contact a county and ask for a list of tax liens ... pay the property tax for someone who is unable to pay their property tax ... if they can reimburse you within a year, you get your money back plus 16 to 36 percent interest ... if they can not pay you back, as the holder of the tax lien you get very first shot at foreclosure and may end up owning a property for the mere price of a single year's taxes ... it can then be sold very quickly "as is" at a huge discount and will still earn much more than what you originally paid for your investment.
  • The only scary part is that people do not understand what is happening and why. The explanations on the TV and in the news don't really explain that is won't have much bearing on their own lives. There are more people out of work than there have been in the last few years, and more people are declaring bankruptcy, since they have found out they can buy all they want and don't have to pay for it. Only the very rich knew about that in past years. The economy has seen this all before, and people made it through just fine, as they will continue to do. Sometimes I feel like some kind of chump for being frugal and financially responsible, but it really pays off when everyone else is crying "The sky is falling".
  • The problem isn't the frozen credit markets or anything else. The problem is how our economy has been running for the last few years. David Tice of Prudent Bear Funds said the follwing: "Our whole system is based on credit expansion, we need to build credit year over year in order to grow. We're going to have a recession, and when we do, it's going to cascade on it's own." That is absolutely correct - think about it. If you borrowed $500 one year to pay for Christmas presents, then the next year borrowed $1000 on your credit card, the economists would look at that as growth. But if you don't pay any of the money back that's not growth! That is a house of cards. Our economy can't grow anymore because we've borrowed ourselves up to our eyeballs! Right now the government is doing everything it can to delay the recession. This just makes it worse, it will have a much greater negative impact when it finally arrives. The bailout was an extremely destructive bill (Paul Wellstone would be rolling over - the actual bill they passed was titled the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007) The real worry to me isn't the frozen credit crunch, or bank failures. The real worry is inflation. Where has the $700 Billion come from? Not the tax payers. No, it was created out of thin air, by the Federal Reserve. The FDIC increased the insurance on your bank deposits from $100,000 to $250,000 - but where did that money come from? When the central bank creates money, that is inflation. It leads to higher prices for consumers because the purchasing power of your dollars is weakened. We are going down the road of Zimbabwe, and Weimer Germany. Their currencies were destroyed by hyperinflation. That is what is happening in the US. Your dollars are being debased with every action the Federal Reserve takes. What I have done, is converted my holdings. I don't want to own US dollars, I want to own things that are not being watered down. That is why I own physical precious metals, like gold and silver. I am really scared for America, as Ron Paul said "The end of an empire always comes when the currency is destroyed." Right now the US is on that very dangerous road. Further information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUbA-vz0Py0 http://www.europac.net/externalframeset.asp?from=home&id=14206
  • Nothing is ever as scary as the media says. But right now, we are in uncharted waters. This is a world wide crisis and somewhat unlike the types of downturns that we have seen before. It's going to take some time to play out. So keep your eyes open.
  • not at all.
  • The general public hasn't felt the effects yet. Wait about six months and ask again.
  • Maybe. Maybe not. The real problem is that nobody really knows for sure. The current financial crisis is unprecedented in U.S. history. Everyone is trying and hoping to err on the side of caution and this could exacerbate the problem. You have some excellent answers here. Kudos to everyone. We are just going to have to wait and see. I wish I could be more helpful but honestly no one can answer this question with any degree of certainty.
  • “Expansion becomes impossible without abundant cheap energy. So I think that the debt of the world is going bad. That speaks of a financial crisis, unseen, probably equalling the Great Depression of 1930; it’s probable we face the Second Great Depression. It would be a chain reaction, one bank would fail, and another one would fail, industries will close…” Dr. Colin Campbell, geologist, founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (2006 interview). Michael Meacher, a British Labour MP and former Environment Minister identifies the Peak Oil crisis as “an apocalyptic scenario” . A Deutsche Bank paper on oil depletion goes in the same direction: “The end-of-the-fossil-hydrocarbons scenario is not a doom-and-gloom picture painted by pessimistic end-of-the-world prophets, but a view of scarcity in the coming years and decades that must be taken seriously.” To read more on Peak Oil and the Financial Crisis please consult the following article: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-112467
  • It will be scary and dire for some but not all. Those who lived in denial about how dependent their jobs were on the economy for years and years will probably be hit hard. Those who thought they could just pay as they go will be. But people who recession-proofed themselves, who didn't take out cheap and easy credit, who kept a sense of pragmatism... these folks should weather all right. To me the real problem is wages. More than housing, credit, ANYTHING. Did you know that in the seventies you could provide for an entire family on minimum wage? It should be increasing every year to keep pace with inflation. The economy functions best when money rises from the bottom up, not bottom down like W. and his cronies would have us think!
  • What I would like to know is this. The two countries who are spending the most on war (US UK) are the two countries feeling the crisis the most. History tells us that countries more than like will fall into depression when they spend on war (soviet russia in teh 60's, UK n germany in WWII, the list is endless). Why have the media never even CONSIDERED this as a possible cause, or at least put a fraction on the blame on it?!?!?
  • no it is all part of the natural economic cycles life cant be all boom time once things slow down and catch up it will be boom time again
  • Yeah, pretty much.
  • ONLY TO THOSE THAT IT AFFECTS.

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