Michelle Belanger (sethanikeem) wrote,

Black Tuesday Redux

A word of warning, before you get on with this post:

I try not to get on my reincarnation high horse on here. I understand and respect the fact that some of my readers may find my beliefs not only extraordinary but -- to put it mildly -- a bit "out there." But there's something that has been nagging me the past few months as I've been reading the headlines. I don't think one needs to have any kind of past life memories in order to see and recognize these trends, but they've made a particular impact on me.

You see, at the turn of the last century, I was a woman I call Helen. From my research, her real name was probably Ellen, but I've always called her Helen. I have this feeling that she found Ellen too plain, whereas Helen of Troy was a far more interesting figure. Anyhow ...

Helen died in the early thirties. She got to see things wind up to the Great Depression. After 9/11, I was seeing echoes of those earlier times, but it was nothing too huge. Just enough to make me pay more attention to the changing tides of financial institutions. A little financial unrest following that tragedy was to be expected. After all, one of the points in attacking those particular towers was to lash out at American wealth and capitalism.

The past six months, however, should be raising flags for just about everyone:

Wachovia

Bear Stearns

And, of course, that little fiasco with the bank in California.

The US government enacted legislation that was developed in the Depression Era and has not been used since then in order to keep Bear Stearns from faltering completely and crashing out economy with its fall. That legislation involved an emergency loan that kept it afloat long enough for Chase to purchase it.

Pay attention to how many bank and financial institutions are being bought out, changing brands, or otherwise going under. I know that the folks who make the news reports insist that we're not really in a recession and that the economy is getting stronger ... but the real evidence is there for anyone to see.

The US economy is hurting, folks, and from where I stand, it looks like history is close to repeating itself not quite a hundred years later. My advice for anyone with funds in a bank in excess of $100,000 -- diversify. Right now, federal law protects you up to $100,000. After that, you're out of luck if the bank goes under (just like those folks in Cally).

The other good thing about knowing history is that when it repeats like this, it also presents an opportunity for second chances -- armed with the right knowledge, we can choose to do things differently and possibly have a better outcome.

--M
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

  • 36 comments