Friday, February 20, 2009

How Worried Are You?

Real Time with Bill Maher is on, and the panel is having a good discussion on the state of the US economy. One of the things mentioned really caught my attention. Bill said the average price for a home in Detroit is $18,000. Think about it -- that's less than what I paid for my car!

The Great Depression has reached Detroit. The average price of a home is now $18,513 and unemployment has reached 21%, and it’s expected to get worse. Detroit is facing a crisis of epic proportions that officially puts Detroit statistically (and real term) on par with the great depression. [...]

It has become the center of all that is wrong with America ... and nothing of what is right.

For example, the crime rate has fallen ... because of lack of targets within the city. Meaning there is nothing left to steal. In fact, even the criminals don’t want to leave jail.
Reading this leads me to ask what are your thoughts about the following question:

Is the panic causing the problem, or is the problem causing the panic?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Wall Street has been on a roller coaster ride for some time now, and when the market tanks it impacts everyone. Is there justification for all this panic, or are they merely panicking for the sake of panicking ... and does that question even make any sense?
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

BAC - it actually doesn't matter if it is the chicken or the egg, because the result is the same either way.

That said, from a purely mathematical perspective the big banks are insolvent; their debts completely outweigh their assets. Pumping money into them is just delaying the inevitable. They will be nationalized sometime soon - I don't know if there is a politcal advantage to do it sooner than later, but it will happen.

That's the time to watch the panic.

Regards,

Tengrain

Anonymous said...

I was surprised to read this about Detroit, "crime has fallen" for example. I live in Florida (was DC for 33 years) and so far so good. We haven't been affected and although beach condos are moving for less money, they are selling. Our economy seems to be in crisis in the school system. We read those headlines daily. Interesting post. Good comment from Tengrain.