Who could possibly have foreseen the current meltdown in the U.S. economy? After all, wasn’t it just weeks ago that John McCain was telling everyone that the fundamentals were strong (echoing president George Bush, who just a few months ago was saying that the economy was “vibrant” and the financial system “strong”). Well, lot’s of people as it turns out. Crackpots, loons… harebrained conspiracy theorists! Um, like this guy:
Meet Max Keiser, a former stock broker, a financial analyst, blogger for the Huffington Post, inventor of the HSX virtual trading system, radio host on London’s Resonance FM and a journalist for Al Jazeera English. In addition to all of that he also has a Drudge-like website called “Follow the Money” that’s chocked full of super-scary shit… Where, for example, we learn from the Daily Mail that today Gordon Brown is floating a “sketchy plan” of his own estimated at £1.9 trillion to bail out U.K. banks and that Ireland has likewise issued a state guarantee worth €400bn to bail out its banks.
But never mind… do keep focusing on Julie Couillard’s tits or some “plagiarized” speech Harper made six years ago, or whether some irrelevant Christian whackaloon committed a hate crime by telling high school students gays should be executed. Because, you know… it’s important to… Oh, never mind. Look, something shiny!
Red Tory v.3.0.3 
Wow, good site, but the video won’t play now.
*Puts on tinfoil hat, shiny side out*
If that doesn’t work for whatever reason, try this:
Ah, YouTube is down for scheduled maintenance. I wondered why nothing much would play the last while.
Thanks for the link to that scary Drudge-like site RT! Great find.
What do you think of this statement, made by my hairdresser today – “This is nothing. This isn’t nearly as bad as what happened in October, 1987.” Now, I’m no finance whiz but to me, that was an extraordinarily stupid statement. Still, I’m asking because … well, mostly I was so shocked she said it I’m wondering if there might be some truth in it. I can’t see how but what do you (et al) think?
I wasn’t directly invested in the market being only 27 back then. As I recall however, it was one of those wild, irrational fluctuations that happens from time to time. I’m not sure that anyone can really pinpoint what set off the panic… something to do with trade imbalances, apparently. Which seems kind of laughable now. So yes, “Black Monday” did wipe out a lot of capital in a single day, but it was quickly recouped in the weeks thereafter.
The present situation is vastly more problematic and fundamental. It cuts right to the heart of the whole global banking system and the ludicrous insanity of the gaming casino more politely referred to as “Wall Street.”
Ok, see, that’s what I thought. Banks failing all over the world is sort of serious.
I was in college on Black Monday and remember that blip as you do. It hurt for a day and recovered quickly later.
I don’t know if I can keep my hairdresser. I always thought she was smarter than that.
I don’t know if I would rely on the delightful young Iranian lady who cuts my hair for financial advice (kind of an academic matter in my case). Mind you, she’s probably just as informed as any customer service rep at a bank…
I don’t even remember anything happening in October, 1987. But then, I was a poor graduate student, so money was the last thing on my mind, since I didn’t have any.
Macleans attempted a blog post on finances (the topic was John Kenneth Galbraith), but it quickly got ‘tarded up by the right wing trolls…who, for reasons that mystify me, seem to think they’re experts on economics.
I have to say, Red, I owe you not just one but several apologies. I must have totally misjudged you. This post, like several previous ones, makes more sense than anything I have seen anywhere else.
It does seem that our media (and way too many bloggers) are more concerned with events that happened eons ago, or the “physical endowments” of a certain “moll”, rather than the real and pressing issues.
I believe they’re all climatologists as well. And experts in typography, DNA-testing, military history, geopolitics, and anything else one can imagine. The expertise comes with the CPoC membership card, apparently.
I don’t even remember anything happening in October, 1987.
Actually, I have no memory of 1987…period. Of course, I was a narcissistic eighteen-year-old who breakfasted daily on hallucinogens. Did I miss anything important?
…right wing trolls…think they’re experts on economics.
They are fiscal philistines: they’re no experts, but they know what they like.
RT
So, are you saying I’m consumed with the trivial? Well then, what’s good for the goose…. Just how many posts have you done, WASTING your time scanning BT’s sites to point out the most meaningless of items? I mean could there really be a more useless exercise, that has no relevance to anything. What about a ten year old Bill OReilly youtube, what about…. I guess IMPORTANCE is subjective, or selective as the case may be. Just ignore it then, don’t chastize others for seeing an issue, just because you don’t. Works both ways.
Cheers.
Hi there, Red.
Just wanted to place Stiglitz as an answer to the question posed at the beginning of this post.
I must have totally misjudged you.
Don’t you do that for a living?
Or is your canting obduracy an ironic, archly executed form of performance art?
Werner — Perhaps you did. The situation of my opinion has perhaps shifted a little this way and that over time and with the course of events — sometimes to the left, then to the right a bit, but not really varying all that much from a fairly determined perspective of a moderate. That’s kind of an oxymoron, I know, and as Jim Hightower so wonderfully encapsulated our dilemma : “There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.”
What do you think of this statement, made by my hairdresser today – “This is nothing. This isn’t nearly as bad as what happened in October, 1987.” Now, I’m no finance whiz but to me, that was an extraordinarily stupid statement. Still, I’m asking because … well, mostly I was so shocked she said it I’m wondering if there might be some truth in it. I can’t see how but what do you (et al) think?
I’m not an expert (and I was just a kid back then), but she’s not completely stupid. Quite a few stock markets lost around 25% (some of them had close to a 50% loss) in one day, which is quite astounding. If you compare it to the current drop, 6.93% of the TSX and 8.79% of the S&P 500, it’s not as bad as what happened back then…. but there’s the real chance that it might get worse (afterall, in 1929 there was a small rebound after the Great Crash, but whatever gains made were wiped out in the subsequent years…. And I’ll confess that I wasn’t alive in 1929, but I have read The Great Crash 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith.)
““There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.””
Armadillos only get hit by people driving down the middle of the road? What gives?
Steve — Whoa. Chill out, dude.
Have I been “WASTING” my time? Well, perhaps. It certainly could have been better invested in more productive and selfish efforts that’s for sure.
Yes, I suppose “scanning BT’s sites to point out the most meaningless of items” is a complete waste of time. By that same token, we should all ignore everything written on any blog as being MEANINGLESS. This would include YOUR BLOG and every other blog on the Liblogs aggregator. Unless, that is, you’re applying some mysterious kind of exceptionalism by which YOU and YOU alone have some miraculous, completely exceptional value.
“I mean could there really be a more useless exercise, that has no relevance to anything.”
Indeed. That’s an excellent question. Might I suggest that you pose it to yourself. Do you seriously think for even a fleeting moment that “Joe Lunch bucket” (who we’ll conjure up for the sake of argument) gives two shits what you think about your microscopic parsing of the latest Decima Poll?
Moving on…
“I guess IMPORTANCE is subjective, or selective as the case may be.”
Yeah. Go figure. Please consult your nearest mirror.
Whatever.
Brilliant response!
You have to give it points for being concise.
yup.
It’s tough to say “Whatever.” like ya just don’t care when you’re a guest at someone else’s blog, Steve.
I heartily concur with your point Red. I had thought these financial troubles would be by-and-large be over by mid 2009. But I see I was completely mistaken.
In all honesty do you think the Canadian government will have to do some sort of bail-out?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/campaign2/ormiston/2008/09/blogbuzz_sept_29_2008.html
^ Congrats RT. 🙂
Wow. I can’t say I agree with this chap at all. He’s just a common garden variety gold bug.
Fiat currency may have it’s problems but gold would be terrible. Gold increased in value by nearly %100 over the last 3 years. Earlier this year when it was on a tear it increased nearly %20 in a week.
Can you imagine being someone who exports or imports when your currency does this? Unlike changes in fiat currency such fluctuations would often be completely unrelated to the actual economic state of the US.
Further, he is wrong when he suggests that to price oil in euros would devalue the dollar. Traders don’t need to actually hold dollars when they trade. So the changing state of the dollar would have more effect on a barrel of oil than if oil was priced in Euros.
Clayton — Yeah, I was made aware of that. It’s really not why I blog. But still nice to be noticed!
okhropir rumiani — I share your reservations and have expressed similar feelings about “gold bugs” in the past, but circumstances are what they are.