An encouraging way to look at the $700 Billion Bailout: with reservations
Filed under: Debt
I'm always one who enjoys hearing a positive spin on the economy, and so I thought I'd share what Peter Justen, the CEO of MyBizHomePage, told me today when we started discussing the current economic situation:"In many ways you can make the argument that our overall economy is very strong. Think what would happen if some other countries took a $700 billion hit to their economy," said Justen. "There would be tanks in the street. And we're still living our lives and asking friends if they want to go to a movie on Friday."
Yeah, he's right. Heck, the stock market even opened strong today.
His words were encouraging, especially because it's not as though Justen just fell off the proverbial turnip truck. (I really need to look into how that saying came about. Did someone make it up who hates turnip farmers? Was it statistically proven that turnip growers have a lower IQ than someone who grows kumquats?) But, anyway. Justen's immersed in the corporate world. He's a former mortgage banker, and his company's product, MyBizHomePage, is a free online site that automatically translates QuickBooks data into relevant information that entrepreneurs can use. As PCWorld.com said in a 2006 article, the site translates this relevant info into "just enough financial details to give you an overview of the business, without the mind-numbing detail."
Of course, I should have just left Justen's positive economy comment hanging there, but I prodded Justen for a little more information, and he agreed with the consensus that as strong as our economy is, it could derail pretty quickly if Congress doesn't work out a bailout package soon. And in that case, things could be "catastrophic."
"You have a system where guys who have spent their career in finance, like [Secretary Treasurer] Henry Paulson and [Fed Chairman] Ben Bernanke are going to be working on a package with guys who sold used cars and are now in the Senate," said Justen. "In other words, I'm not sure some of these lawmakers are knowledgeable enough to make crucial decisions, and I'm pretty nervous about that."
And now I am, too. Thanks very much. On that note, I think I'm going to go forget my troubles and catch Ghost Town or that new western with Ed Harris. Anyone have a copy of the movie listings?
Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale). Despite ending this blog on an ominous note, Williams does think that Justen makes an excellent point about the strength of our economy and that it's important to focus on that. And the latest headlines show that we are close to a bailout package.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-26-2008 @ 2:57PM
Mary Brents said...
If I get the jest of this article then I am not too comfortable with this either. After you cannot trust a used car salesman and so What doses that say about those so called geniuses that got the country into this fix to start with for the last 8 years for sure and did not see this coming. LOL Just who is playing who here.
Give the money to the people if you want to jump start the economy. We cannot have national health care it is too expensive but we can pay to bail out more big wheels in high prices suits and put our kids and grand kids in debt for the rest of there natural lives. I am against any bail out. Let them fall. That is the law of business. That is the law of capitalist countrys. Not bailing out every big bank. Hey and what happened to that PMI insurance that all those mortgages had on them that those tax payers were paying to insure those loans. Where is that money and who got it and why was the loan insurance not used???? Too much going on that does not smell right.
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9-27-2008 @ 1:15PM
Kim Walker said...
I agree with Mary as I am sure a lot of Americans do. Give the money to the people and it will jump start the economy. Can you imagine how the average working class citizen woud feel if they didn't have to worry about how they were going to make their mortgage payment, put food on the table and be able do more than just try to survive. I think it is about time the Government put some trust in the taxpayers of this Great United States of America. The same trust they have asked us to put in them. After all it is the people that go to work everyday and want to make an honest living that really makes this Country what it is. Isn't that what we are fighting for?
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9-27-2008 @ 9:45PM
Alan Macauley said...
If this bailout that is being proposed is granted, I would like to know just how it is going to be distributed. My feeling is that these CEO's should not received one penny of this money to pay their outrageous salaries and bonuses. Why should we pay them anything because their businesses are failing? If you're not doing your job successfully, then you should be replaced, not given bonuses or outlandish salaries. I would suggest that we eliminate their salaries from this bailout and ask them--ha, ha--to work as a "dollar a year man". They have more wealth than they deserve, so they can afford to work a couple of years, and not even feel the pinch, until the economy gets back on track.
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