Perhaps it takes seeing it from another perch, another place.
But the attempts to save the World's so called economy are clearly looking more and more dubious as each day goes by.
This morning, as we read the newspaper from San Luis, there was a very sad picture of George Soros. The cutline spoke of deep recession, loss of jobs, and deflation. I opened up my email after breakfast to find that a friend who had just landed a fine position several months back, had just joined the jobless this week.
Here in Mexico, the peso is now at 14 to one, about as high as it has been in the last 10 years. The dollar has also grown stronger against the Euro, trading at 1.29 per Euro as of yesterday.
Bloomberg said yesterday that the Federal government had committed $7.4 trillion to lending facilities and guarantees. The total is now $8.2 trillion thanks to new programs announced today to aid borrowing by consumers, small businesses, and homeowners.
Do you know how much money that is?
It's a new high speed rail system for the US, it's enough money to go 100% renewable, its enough money to provide real health care for all. It's 10 years of weaponry and war.
According to Naked Capitalism:
There are a few problems with this approach:
1. The banks have already been given support right, left and center. They are still not lending,Persisting in a failed course of action is not a sign of intelligence."
2. Some of the stinginess is warranted. Um, a credit bubble means a lot of people got loans who shouldn't have. Do we want banks again to make unsound loans? I should hope not, but I could be wrong here. A fair bit of consumer credit ought to contract. And even if a lot of good customers also have their credit lines cut, do you really think the banks are going to turn around and reverse these decisions on a meaningful scale. Ain't happening.
3. Consumers are scared about employment and the loss of their home equity piggybank. They also know they borrowed too much. They want to lower debt levels. So as a reader put it, "Even if you throw the horse in the lake, you can't make him drink."
4. Banks are so desperate to restore profits that they are jacking up prices on existing consumer credit, even as the Fed and Treasury have been provided lots of low-cost support. Citibank and American Express are raising interest rates on existing loan balances for a a significant proportion of customers, and they no doubt have company. If consumers face higher charges on their outstanding debt. it considerably reduces the odds that they can or will take on more debt. (clip)
Last night, we sat around and talked about the world economy with our German and Swiss friends. This village will not change much as the world economy crumbles. Sure, there will be a few less tourists and there will be less of them buying paintings and jewelry from my artistic friends.
The outlook last night though was very bright. Most of us agreed in one way or another, that the world is making its way to a sanity and a well being that it has never known before.
There are enough people on the planet now who know that the Capitalist's World as it has grown over the centuries is in for a major rehaul.
There are enough people on the planet now who know that this world will tumble as sure as the previous world of Monarchs and Aristocracy tumbled 300 years ago.
And there are enough people on the planet who know where we are in the development of human and global consciousness.
There are also enough people on the planet now who know that it would take 9 planet earths for everyone to live like an American.
And that, for the moment,
We just have one.
And it's time we all begin
to act
as if we know it.
Like an earthfamily
like an earthfamily indeed...
ReplyDelete