Global financial crisis

**Sim** · #1 17th Sep 2008, 15:08

Globally we are in melt down... Food prices rising, petrol prices rising, gas and electricity rising... This financial crisis, recession, credit crunch, call it what you like is going to continue and will get much worse than we have seen so far. Expected this to go on until 2010 when the market will bottom out. We are doomed!!!

Is the future looking bleak?

The global financial crisis in recent days:

Brittain's biggest mortgage lender in trouble - Lloyds TSB is to merge with HBOS.

Lehman Brothers assets after the fourth-largest US investment bank filed for bankruptcy protection

The US Treasury stepped in with an $85bn (£48bn) rescue package to bail out AIG amid fears the group, once the world's largest insurer, could face collapse.

Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch in a $50bn deal - making it the third top US investment bank to fall prey to the sub-prime crisis within six months.

In Russia, trading on the country's main stock exchanges was halted after steep falls this week.

In UK - new figures showed 1.72 million people out of work in the 3 months to July, up 81,000 from previous quarter, and the highest total since 1999.

**serverguy** · #2 17th Sep 2008, 15:30

Yeah, everythings going to come to a grinding halt....

just like the Large Hadron Collider

**Bubba** · #3 17th Sep 2008, 18:18

Thank you chicken little. And be careful how the hell you talk about AIG. As an American taxpayer, I BOUGHT that damn company today. WOnder if I can get an owner discount............

Oh, but on other news. Chinese heads will roll because they screwed up and sold the poison baby food to their own people instead of selling it to Americans to kill our babies. They aren't quite so concerned with the welfare of their babies as they are with getting caught.........

**Carbon** · #4 17th Sep 2008, 19:29

AIG being in the hands of the government isn't too bad, because the way they've structured its return and future business/repayment plan is pretty straightforward.

**Bubba** · #5 17th Sep 2008, 21:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carbon

AIG being in the hands of the government isn't too bad, because the way they've structured its return and future business/repayment plan is pretty straightforward.

Yeah right. Name ONE thing Government has managed correctly Carbon. I'll bet you spend all your cash and don't save for retirement because you have social security......... Give me a damn break here.

Home owners don't pay their mortgage, they lose their house. Mortgage Company's (who made all the bad loans) don't pay THEIR bills (mortgage), they get bailed out. Don't pay your insurance premium? CANCELED. Big insurance company wastes all your premiums, pay the useless execs MILLIONS of dollars to be stupid and steal all the cash and I get left holding the bill. Life's great with a golden parachute ain't it?

Don't piss on my back and call it rain...........

**Sim** · #6 18th Sep 2008, 02:32

The Government can manage to suddenly find trillions of dollars to hand out to mega rich companies.

I'll have to give up my 3rd car... lol

**Mike0001** · #7 18th Sep 2008, 04:37

I can see things getting pretty heated here!

True, governments and communists get it all wrong, but so do capitalists. There is no golden rule that says seeking profit is infallibly right for everyone, it is just as bad a doctrine as saying that it is infallibly wrong for everyone.

In China, freeing up the economy may have contributed to that scandal anyway.

Plus in the US you enshrine religious beliefs into your constitution. How dumb is that?

**Bubba** · #8 18th Sep 2008, 08:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike0001

Plus in the US you enshrine religious beliefs into your constitution. How dumb is that?

It does? Pray tell me where as I seem to have missed that part. The only mention of religion I know of if "Freedom OF Religion." Let me explain that to you. It means you have the freedom to choose what, if any, religion you will follow. The historic significance of that particular personal right is that in many European Countries at the time there was an "Official" religion and those not following the "official religion" underwent persecution.Many groups left enmass for the American colonies for that reason. Ever hear of the pennsylvania Dutch? What about the Church of England? Know the History of it?

Side note: Sorry Carbon, I wrote that in a hurry and it comes across much more harsh than it was intended. It was SUPPOSED to be light heartedly sarcastic, a little jab at Gov't inefficiency designed to get a chuckle. It sure didn't read that way to me this morning. More like grumpy and argumentative lol. You are correct about the restructuring, and distasteful as it is, they (we) really had no choice. The stakes were just too high and the global repercussions of letting AIG fail could have been catastrophic. It still sticks in my craw though that the execs that directed them to failure though will not be held accountable. on the contrary, they will get to keep the millions they were paid for their ineptitude and spend their retirement (if they do retire), in great ease and comfort.