[quote=esmith][quote]The Federal Reserve is about to create billions of new money (out of thin air) to pay for all the bail out schemes being pushed down our throats.[/quote]

Would you prefer the second Great Depression?[/quote]

esmith, I am getting jaded with the threat of economic armageddon for all of us if people who bought overpriced houses on borrowed money, and their lenders, don’t get bailed out on the backs of people who didn’t. At this point, I am becoming more and more convinced that this is nothing more than a sophisticated scheme to transfer wealth from net savers to net borrowers.

I would be perfectly OK if our GDP dropped by 30% if the 30% of economic activity we lost was concentrated in the things I think we need to move away from anyway – sending smart, energetic people into careers of moving money around in clever ways to create the impression that it is “growing” quicker than it is.

It would be painful, but we are worse off paying people to continue doing things we no longer value than simply letting them find better uses for their energies and time, with some basic sustenance to get them through the tough times. Basic sustenance does not extend to paying people more money for their house than the price they paid for their first house 10-30 years ago, increased for inflation.