By MICHAEL LEWIS and DAVID EINHORNPublished: January 3, 2009
AMERICANS enter the New Year in a strange new role: financial lunatics. We’ve been viewed by the wider world with mistrust and suspicion on other matters, but on the subject of money even our harshest critics have been inclined to believe that we knew what we were doing. They watched our investment bankers and emulated them: for a long time now half the planet’s college graduates seemed to want nothing more out of life than a job on Wall Street.
This is one reason the collapse of our financial system has inspired not merely a national but a global crisis of confidence. Good God, the world seems to be saying, if they don’t know what they are doing with money, who does?
Read on...
When the New York Times starts talking about the end of the financial world as we know it, it confirms the obvious. Yet many pundits and commentators continue to talk about "the bottom" and recovery, and the status quo, and business as usual. Peacenik wonders about the inflation/deflation debate. If Peacenik had any money what should Peacenik do? What should you do? The urge to ignore it all, and hope for the "muddling through" thesis to play out is great. But Peacenik thinks this is the end of globalization and capitalism. Peacenik thinks buying some seeds is a good idea. Can anyone protect themselves from hyper-inflation or deflation? Probaby not. But Peacenik recommends taking some small steps towards survival. Peacenik got a solar flashlight for xmas. Peacenik wishes everyone all the best for 2009.
