Friday, September 26, 2008

Investment advice...

Scott Burns is an investment advice columnist that used to work for the Dallas Morning News. his advice is generally level headed and on track. He continually out performs the high priced big firms using his do-nothing couch potato methods. There, that's the background. His article today is spot on. Go in read it. I'll wait.
My sentiments exactly. The idea that Washington is going to solve our problems scares the bejeezus out of me. Is there nothing they can't screw up? Show me a shining example where they have managed money in a fashion that actually worked.
The one thing missing from the article is the role of the consumer in all this... and where did they learn their stupidity. Again, from the government. Where else do you learn that debt can only be solved through getting a loan?
Though, to be honest, I cannot suggest something that will fix this mess. The true Capitalist in me says don't do the bailout. Bad businesses deserve to fail. But since the government has had its fingers in the fail from the beginning, it's hard to just sit back and watch it fall. It's the economic equivalent of the war in Iraq. Sure, they got us into the mess through lies and deceit. But once they muck it all up, it's not like you can just drop it and walk away.
[edit]
It looks like the bailout is a done deal, which I pretty much thought it would be. To me the more important question here is not the obvious "how do we pay for it?" It's now what are you going to do to keep this from occurring again? And the only answer I can stomach is: Get your grubby hands out of it.
[edit yet again]
Fail.
I could continue to rant how the government caused all this but the armchair quarterbacks have raised another thing that has crawled right up my ass and died: The fact that the whole economy revolves around credit. (Whether that is, in fact, a fact is left to your own judgment). Let's assume that is true. I cannot tell you just how wrong this is. Yes, credit is needed. Yes it is a tool. But it is a tool in the same way dynamite and a Colt 45 are tools. They are tools that are to be used cautiously and sparingly. It won't happen, but it would be nice if there was a lesson in this where we (as a country) learned that assets are more important than liabilities. Credit should take a back seat to savings.

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