Despite months of warning signs, state and federal officials are just now mulling ways to repel an almost certain recession. But there's an explanation for their lack of foresight. It's called Wall Street, and it doesn't make sense.
For example, the market value of Apple Inc. on Wednesday dropped $15 billion as stockholders sold en masse, dropping share price by more than $16. News reports suggest investors were disappointed by Apple's 57 percent profit increase. That's "increase" with an "i," not "decrease" with a "d." And that's not an isolated incident.
It raises the question of how politicians or average citizens define good and poor economic performance. Further, it raises issues about greed. From all appearances, greed is a primary factor sending the U.S. economy into paralysis, along with funding the country's longest war on credit.
The mortgage crisis was born of greed. Well-monied individuals craved a new investment that would generate far more than average returns. High-risk loan portfolios -- collections of subprime loans -- became their vehicle. Lenders had much more common sense in the past and didn't issue such risky loans. Now, widespread defaults are contributing to a nationwide panic attack, along with CNN and other shock news hucksters.
Unfortunately, government is not responding in a thoughtful or measured way.
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Tuesday's emergency interest rate cut by the Fed came too late. Even worse, coming just hours after foreign stock markets dropped significantly, the Fed's decision appeared to be an investor bailout, not one designed to help workers.
The federal stimulus, meanwhile, will come on top of existing tax breaks that have contributed to an ever-growing deficit, which also is being fueled by the Iraq war.
Just imagine how the U.S. economy would be humming today if funding for an unnecessary war had been invested in our own country.
-From the Superior Daily Telegram
