Paul Krugman wrote on 2/15/09 about the increase in debt while the actual value of assets has either stagnated or declined. This piece gave me a much simpler way of looking at our country's economic crisis and the government's attempts to fix the problem.
All I had to do was picture a home (asset) built on what was once solid ground (debt) then picturing that house sinking into the ground as the ground liquifies (debt increasing) (easier to picture for me living in southern California with all of the earthquakes). As this metaphorical ground gets more mushy, the house not only sinks, it begins to break apart and, at some point, becomes unlivable.
To continue the metaphor, the Recovery Act and the mortgage plan announced today by President Obama will act like pushing rock into sinking ground to help keep the house from sinking further. Hopefully, enough Americans will be OK with pushing still more rock into the ground as the money in the Recovery Act may not be enough to ensure recovery from the recession and a solid foundation on which to rebuild a robust economy.
Second, Maureen Dowd's opinion piece in the NY Times from today tried to shine a more sympathetic light onto our former President G.W. Bush, especially in the last few years of his administration. Chances are, if she were talking about most anyone else's similar life journey, I would easily be sympathetic, even empathize to a degree with trying to be your own man while trying to be the kind of man of which his father would be proud.
I love having different ways of thinking brought to my attention. I have strived most of my adult life to not cling so fast onto ideals and beliefs because the more I insulate myself with those ideals and beliefs, the more likely I miss the opportunity to grow and maybe even let the next great idea slip through my fingers.
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