Reply #29: Actually, the answer is subtle and has to do with multiplier effects [View All]

[depakid]

Every person who loses a job not only has less disposable income to spend on goods and services in local communities, but may well also be drawing on government benefits (as opposed to adding revenues to the stream) -and may well also be selling off various assets (whether equity interests in responsible companies that will continue to make profits and provide sustainable dividends- or family hierlooms- which in economic terms have similar utility) selling well below any reasonable valuation just to stay afloat or meet current obligations. That sort of deal, make us all- evrywhere in the world- that much poorer.

In these sorts of respects, individuals and families mirror in some ways what's happening with redemptions in mutual funds- or even hedge funds. They have to dump fine assets, things they wanted their kids (so to speak) to have- along with whatever else- to try to say afloat.

Without intervention- systems at times end up in self reinforcing cycles of feedback loops where individuals, neighborhoods, communites and businesses, larger corporations, governmental entities- and even larger international concerns all end up, so to speak, going down with the ship.

Seems to me that we can both damn well dislike, disagree with or even hate the kinds of people and processes that got us to this point and yet still understand that it's necessary to stem the tide, and get behind responsible and intelligent policy makers all around the world together- not just in Oregon or Australia or in Britain or China or the EU- the lot of us.

Whether one warned against troubles beforehand is mostly irrelevant now- except perhaps as to credibility.

One can remember the Battle in Seattle, yet move forward, rememberinf rather than dwelling too much on the past.

It's 2008, not 1999.