Ehh. Again, I don't think people realize how dire the situation was at the time. I don't get scared about things very much, as I'm an even keeled type of guy. There were two times in my life I was actually scared, the day my father died and a day in September, 2008, when I thought the financial system was going to collapse.

The story isn't that well known but there was a day when panic started setting in and institutions started pulling their money out of the banks. The Dow was down a few hundred points but that was normal during that time. Then at around 11am things started getting really ugly and it was down 700 points. I remember asking what was going on across the room and a trader told me that there's a rumor going around New York that they broke the buck. People started getting really nervous and I remember telling my wife to get ready to quietly leave work, go to the bank, take out as much cash as they would let her, and go to the supermarket and buy a lot of food. She asked me if I was kidding and I assured her I was not. Thankfully Paulson stepped in and guaranteed the funds at around noon that day.

Again, the seriousness of the credit crisis was mostly unknown. Google it ("breaking buck 2008"), there are a few articles written about it, but a lot of people just don't know the story.

It really was a scary moment.

I'm not an expert, but I do have a finance degree and worked for an investment bank and other financial institutions. You do continue your streak of being absolutely wrong about everything though. Very impressive.

I don't think I am a professor - most economics professors are idiots. I wasn't trying to simplify it that, but he said he didn't want to talk about it so I just wanted to get one question answered.

greed from who?

What did the government do that kept the bottom from falling out? Once they took that action did they take other action & was that action a good or bad thing for the economy?

I don't think I'm as clever as you probably think I think I am.

Greed from investors who bought the securities. Greed from the investment banks and rating agencies who wanted fees. Greed from homeowners who bought more than they could afford.

The government organized backstops and created TARP, remember? Are you being purposely obtuse? There are many books and documentaries out there about this. And yes, not letting the major banks in the country fail was undoubtedly a good thing.

Here's a pretty good blurb about it. Watch the 4 minute video, it's pretty enlightening. The guy is a jolly looking fellow so it's amusing how he tells the story in a mild manner.

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usato...story/2800783/


I also remember a friend telling me he was on a tradefloor at a major bank and a trader had tears in his eyes and told him this is the day that America ends. Lol. Funny now, not so funny then.

This is an amusing take on the situation. Lol @ greed.

Wil, Samsonh is basically paraphrasing "The Big Short." You seem to be implying that book/movie is wrong?

I'm amused about talking to people who obviously have no idea what they are talking about. It's really funny how you are so sure of yourself about everything, too. Meanwhile, you are constantly wrong about everything. Not just a few things, but every single thing.

Lol.

That's a great answer. Thanks William.

You proving me correct about your record of being wrong about everything is so great. I love it.

You do realize my name isn't William, right? There is a reason I call myself "wil" instead of "will". I'm not trying to be trendy by dropping a letter.

Warren, I don't know how you can be "proven correct" when you dodge answering the simplest of questions.

Peeps, in Content threads we really need to try to minimize posts that are entirely snarky and insulting to other posters. If people are so obviously wrong, it should not be difficult to point out where they are wrong. Or at least engage in some semblance of a reasoned discussion.

Nobody wants micro-moderation of Content threads where every personal-attacky post is deleted, but that is the direction we may be headed if the frequency of those types of posts does not diminish.

Lol

Here's an interesting description of that day. Heh. Was a scary ****ing day.

http://www.fa-mag.com/news/five-year...off-15412.html


“Never has the ground under my feet felt as shaky as it did on September 16, 2008, when I received a call on my office phone telling me the Reserve Primary Fund – a money market fund – had broken the buck and indefinitely suspended redemptions of its shares. That meant investors could not withdraw their money. That day, and the days that followed, were marked by chaos and confusion as hundreds of thousands of panicked clients called their advisors.”
— Stewardship: Lessons Learned from the Lost Culture of Wall Street

Here's another

https://www.thebalance.com/reserve-primary-fund-3305671

The next day was the closest the United States ever came to an economic collapse. On September 17, 2008, investors withdrew a record $144.5 billion from money market accounts. They had always been the safest of investments. That's where companies, sovereign wealth funds, and even retirees keep their cash. During a typical week, only about $7 billion is withdrawn.

Panicked investors were moving the funds to U.S. Treasuries. That forced yields to drop below zero. In other words, investors were so panicked that they no longer cared if they got any return on their investment. They just didn't want to lose capital.

The last 20 or so posts are fairly indicative of why anonymous posting would be a good thing for this forum.

Wil's position on the economic downturn of 08 seems fairly different to bahbah's, yet because of history, Ao seems to lump Wil and bahbah together in to same camp.

Samsonh's post on greed doesnt seem to be in opposition to what Wil is saying but again due to history, Wil seems ready to counter "lol greed" even though i am not sure what he disagrees with.

You guys need to stop looking at the author of posts and focus on the post themselves.

Across the Country, a Republican Push to Rein In Protesters

Note the discrepancy between the words and actions of these lawmakers:

Combined with things like Trump's deputy assistant calling opposition to VOICE "un-American", the message from Republicans is clear: we're back to Bush-era rules of patriotism where protesting or opposing the president is unpatriotic and un-American. We had an 8 year break where it was okay to protest again, but the old rules are back now.

For the "wahhhh fake news liberal media" fans, I saw today that the Washington Post published this amazing, fawning opinion piece by Hugh Hewitt about Trump's speech:

Assuming that "well-constructed" doesn't have to mean "truthful" or "accurate", yeah, nice take there Hugh. The "fake news liberal media" must really be making some advanced chess plays by publishing this!

And speaking of Trump's speech, one part of his immigration argument was this:

According to the study he cited, that's true for first-generation immigrants, but the same study says that over 75 years, the descendants of first-generation immigrants will contribute more in taxes than the first-generation immigrants received.

Additionally, immigrants are more educated now than in previous generations:

Remember, Trump cited this study. Immigration is a positive investment for the country, as it always has been.

LOL Mike Pence used a personal email that got hacked

Of ****ing course Mike Pence is the old grandpa that still has an @aol.com address

This is 98% great and insightful but that 2% is loosely implying there's an equal distribution on all 'sides'.

I think it's pretty obvious that me and bahbah disagree, you are correct. My issue with samsonh's generic "greed" assessment is that it's simply, well, simplistic. It's such a sweeping term that it's essentially useless. No wonder someone like aofrantic mentions a Hollywood movie.

Greed has always been with us. Every single person who invests in stocks and bonds and buys a home is "greedy" all of a sudden because the housing market crashed? Come on. That's not a real answer. Maybe it's due to my financial background (pay attention, aofrantic) but I'm much more inclined to attribute it to the idiocy of the buyers, risk management failures, and government policies than simply blaming "greed". It's so generic that it's meaningless.

The problem is the regressive left don't know how to behave when they "protest". Therefore, it makes sense that laws need to be made to combat these "people".

Do you really support protesters who block the road? I don't feel sorry one bit for those whom have been run over.

These laws are necessary or else common citizens will have to take matters into their own hands to combat this nonsense.

i don't even

lol mongo