The World as We Know It?

October 11, 2008 in Crisis, Economy, International by Mardé | 7 comments

Can it be that the world as we know it may be coming to an end? Naw, it can’t be that bad, can it? Well, I’ve been cramming as much of this global financial predicament as I can stand into my head the last couple days, between going about my daily chores and ablutions. And, as one might say, this is serious shit. Paul Krugman’s blogs have been my main starting points, but also I watched online Bill Moyers’ interview of George Soros, the man who predicted this perilous predicament a number of months ago. George states that we have wasted valuable time and are still behind the curve but may be lucky. Nothing less than a coordinated intervention by all the countries into their banking systems to supply vast sums of equity, plus huge economic stimulus packages and bailouts for homeowners, will work. Or at least it seems so. Tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008, may be the D-Day, D for decision. Will it work? We’ll have to see.
Update Oct. 12: Well, here it is Oct. 12, Sunday, and it looks like the Europeans at least are starting to get their acts together. We’ll see about the U.S.of A. Paul Krugman still has doubts about our commitments, but thankfully our markets are closed tomorrow, the day Columbus discovered America, or so the story goes…… Oh, and here’s another great source of info on the current situation.

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  1. barbara’s avatar

    barbara on October 13, 2008 at 4:43 am

    Hi Mard,,
    Yes, already the medias are blowing this up everyday.
    For what an average person know about this stuff, it ends up just freaking some people out.

    I hope that you are keeping a cool head, my friend ;)

  2. Aileni Noyle’s avatar

    Aileni Noyle on October 13, 2008 at 5:29 am

    Would you believe I was talking to a retired statistician who shared the island with us about 1998 and we discussed this very situation. As a Science Fictioneer with an interest in dystopian works, the concept was not unfamilar.
    I have never known of a governmemt who has thrown away the people’s taxes with such abandon as Bush’.
    How can any one of your countrymen even consider another GOP term.

    Off thread, why do they stick to the antiquated system of remaining in office until January ?

  3. Mardé’s avatar

    Mardé on October 13, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Thanks for your messages, Barbara and Aileni. Well, the news this morning is that the US markets will bounce back, but we’ll have to see: an even slight bit of bad news is liable to tank things here again. It’s hard to know when “a bottom” has been reached.

    Yes, Barbara, the news media have been going crazy over this but in fact it is serious. That’s why I confine my readings to people who understand the situation, like Paul Krugman, who, incidentally, I see won a Nobel Prize! Just announced this morning. Good going, Paul! (not that he reads my blog….;-)

    That’s very interesting about that statistician, Aileni. Many people thought the present situation would be in the realm of Science Fiction, but they were proven wrong! YES, Bush is the worse president this country has ever had, and by far! It’s amazing that anyone can still vote for the GOP, but old habits die hard. We have a lot of antiquated systems here in America, like the Electoral College just for one, but there appear to be vested interests that pretty much hold up change. Also, I think now in view of the economy Obama would win by landslide if there were no racism in this country, but maybe he will anyway. I won’t believe it until — or if — it happens.

  4. Zhu’s avatar

    Zhu on October 13, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    I think the world is changing a bit, that’s it. Our financial system is flawed and it is worth trying to learn not to reproduce the same mistake.

  5. Mardé’s avatar

    Mardé on October 14, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    Yes, Zhu, the world’s changing and being forced to learn but will it? Time will tell.

  6. judith’s avatar

    judith on October 15, 2008 at 9:17 am

    A couple of years ago my husband announced, quite out of the blue, that he thought the world was heading for a major disaster, due to our obsession with money and consumerism. Now it’s here he’s being quite smug, which is annoying in itself. I find the whole thing very confusing and very worrying. I don’t have any faith in the powers that be. I keep asking hubby for another prediction, but I think he’s quit whilst he’s ahead! :wink:

  7. Mardé’s avatar

    Mardé on October 16, 2008 at 9:24 am

    Hi Judith. Thanks for dropping by. Hey, it’s easy to say, like I do, the world’s going to hell in a hand basket. But every hell is different, unique, and who knows where it ends up? Many of us don’t have it so bad, and we’re very lucky. I try to figure out what’s going on by reading online a lot, and I’m lucky to have the time to do that.

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