Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Where is the Economic Crisis?

The current fear roiling financial markets is the "debt problem" in Europe. But I have a hard time finding the problem. Look at this graph:

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Supposedly Greece, Italy, Spain, and Ireland are "hopeless debtors". But their debt isn't all that different from the debt of Germany or the United States.

Click to Enlarge

I'm suspicious that all the teeth gnashing and the howls of "we are all doomed!" are simply fear stirred up by financial ghouls who want to stampede markets so they can pick off the weak.

Governments should stand up to them. They should have a united policy of supporting their bonds to stop these financial attacks. Right now the only "winners" are those who feast of the fearful. The fact that governments around the world are letting fear stampede financial markets adds fuel to the flames. It only makes things worse. I simply don't understand why governments can't realize there is strength in numbers. The old Ben Franklin saying is relevant: "Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Sadly, the world does not have leaders worthy of it. Instead, spineless sold-out fools have maneuvered into power on the hopes of money and glory when in fact, the world needs leaders of principle who can make tough choices, tell the people the truth, and in fact lead them out of this mess.

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