September And October Of 2008

It Must Be Awfully Frustrating To Get A Small Raise At Work And Then Have It All Eaten By A Higher Cost Of Commuting.

The Economist John Maynard Keynes Said That In The Long Run, We Are All Dead. If He Were Around Today He Might Say That, In The Long Run, We Are All On Social Security And Medicare.

The Sources Of Deflation Are Not A Mystery. Deflation Is In Almost All Cases A Side Effect Of A Collapse Of Aggregate Demand.. A Drop In Spending So Severe That Producers Must Cut Prices On An Ongoing Basis In Order To Find Buyers.

There's No Denying That A Collapse In Stock Prices Today Would Pose Serious Macroeconomic Challenges For The United States. Consumer Spending Would Slow, And The U.s. Economy Would Become Less Of A Magnet For Foreign Investors. Economic Growth, Which In Any Case Has Recently Been At Unsustainable Levels, Would Decline Somewhat. History Proves, However, That A Smart Central Bank Can Protect The Economy And The Financial Sector From The Nastier Side Effects Of A Stock Market Collapse.

With Respect To Their Safety, Derivatives, For The Most Part, Are Traded Among Very Sophisticated Financial Institutions And Individuals Who Have Considerable Incentive To Understand Them And To Use Them Properly.