"Dude, Where's My Bailout?"
September 17, 2008
The above title for today's blog comes from an article that I saved from the September 10, 2007 Business Week Magazine. It was under "News & Insights" "Commentary" written by Roben Farzad. According to a bio I found on google, Mr. Farzad is a 1998 graduate of Princeton and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is now a senior writer and columnist for Business Week and a commentator on CNN and National Public Radio. I believe that this particular piece is a "tongue-in-cheek" commentary on our expectations of government help when we get ourselves into financial trouble.
I quote from the article which was subtitled "An open letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Senate Banking Committee Chairmen Chris Dodd"
" Honorable Public Servants: As you know, the conflagration in the subprime mortgage market is beginning to singe the very fabric of the American dream, by which I mean life, liberty, and the pursuit of home equity. ...Bad credit? No credit? No problem! Uncle Sam has your back."
The commentary's final paragraph: "Please remit my $74,000 by check, money order, or PayPal. Rest assured that I will cycle the dollars back into economically vital investments. I hear some hedge funds are slashing their minimum buy-ins to $10,000, and that half finished condos in Miami can be gotten for pennies on the original dollar. In any case. my efforts to bolster the U.S. gross domestic product could surely be strengthened by a series of interest rate cuts, so please see to those, too. After all, gentlemen, while intrepid investors like me crank the engine of American capitalism, times like these call for all of us to pitch in."
The commentary is delightful in its irony , but unfortunately, since September 2007, the government has moved in to bailout more than just the homeowners facing foreclosure. This month alone has seen the takeover of Fannie and Freddie, the non takeover of Lehman Brothers, the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America and last night the government loan of $85 billion to AIG.
Can this mess all be the result of the decline in our home equity because our homes are no longer worth what we paid for them? Having been a real estate professional through 3 other down markets, I do know that this one is different.
Will the economy recover? Certainly! How or when remains to be seen.
The above title for today's blog comes from an article that I saved from the September 10, 2007 Business Week Magazine. It was under "News & Insights" "Commentary" written by Roben Farzad. According to a bio I found on google, Mr. Farzad is a 1998 graduate of Princeton and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is now a senior writer and columnist for Business Week and a commentator on CNN and National Public Radio. I believe that this particular piece is a "tongue-in-cheek" commentary on our expectations of government help when we get ourselves into financial trouble.
I quote from the article which was subtitled "An open letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Senate Banking Committee Chairmen Chris Dodd"
" Honorable Public Servants: As you know, the conflagration in the subprime mortgage market is beginning to singe the very fabric of the American dream, by which I mean life, liberty, and the pursuit of home equity. ...Bad credit? No credit? No problem! Uncle Sam has your back."
The commentary's final paragraph: "Please remit my $74,000 by check, money order, or PayPal. Rest assured that I will cycle the dollars back into economically vital investments. I hear some hedge funds are slashing their minimum buy-ins to $10,000, and that half finished condos in Miami can be gotten for pennies on the original dollar. In any case. my efforts to bolster the U.S. gross domestic product could surely be strengthened by a series of interest rate cuts, so please see to those, too. After all, gentlemen, while intrepid investors like me crank the engine of American capitalism, times like these call for all of us to pitch in."
The commentary is delightful in its irony , but unfortunately, since September 2007, the government has moved in to bailout more than just the homeowners facing foreclosure. This month alone has seen the takeover of Fannie and Freddie, the non takeover of Lehman Brothers, the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America and last night the government loan of $85 billion to AIG.
Can this mess all be the result of the decline in our home equity because our homes are no longer worth what we paid for them? Having been a real estate professional through 3 other down markets, I do know that this one is different.
Will the economy recover? Certainly! How or when remains to be seen.
posted by shirley harry at 9:01 AM
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