Looks like Chicken Little was right after all

by David Grand
December 3, 2008

That old fable about a chicken, who believed the sky was falling down after an acorn drops on her head, also pretty well describes how we felt when the economy came tumbling down on us.

But as she survived from that conk on the head and from nearly being eaten by Foxy Loxy, so, too, will we hopefully survive the financial meltdown, that was analogous to lava pouring from an erupting volcano destroying everything it its path

When and how it'll be restored to what it was before all hell broke loose across every segment of the economy, nobody can predict with certainty. Not even by those  financial geniuses in Washington, who appear to be totally confused as to what course to take in coping with the situation. (Only a scared fox changes course as often as they have.)

Now, having been born during the Great Depression, I'm naturally worried about the possibility of the nation falling into that bottomless pit once again. And the grim, economic indicators I hear of each day only serve to reinforce my fears.

For example, I learned, that in October, 29 million Americans were on food stamps; that there were 30,000 foreclosure filings; that there was an 18-year high in unemployment claims; that consumer spending is the lowest it's been since 2001; that there's $900 billion in credit card debts; that the number of problem banks and thrifts jumped to 171; that  there's 4.23 million unsold homes on the market (with the median sales price falling 11.3 percent from a year ago); and that what with the Federal  Reserve pledging $800 billion to jump-start markets and make loans on everything from mortgages to cars and student loans more available, the total bailout commitments will be nearly a staggering $7 trillion.

As someone who never made it past general math in high school, I can't begin to comprehend such a large figure. But I'm not bad at adding numbers.

So, when I added that $7 trillion to the $438 billion budget deficit for 2008 and then threw in the $10, 667,734, 034, 539.17 national debt as of 28 Nov. 2008 at 07:48:38 AM (which was the exact time I checked the U. S. National Debt Clock on the Internet), I found, that there were just too many columns of numbers for me to add up.

But the one inescapable conclusion I came to (before staggering into bed) was that we're in deep you-know-what. And that if President-elect Obama doesn't keep his word to rescue us with all due haste, we could end up suffocating in it.

By now, you must think I'm a real worrywart, and that I should know that there's sufficient safeguards in place (or so we're told) to prevent our economy from going down the tubes. But then again, investors in the markets were told the same thing before the 1929 financial crash.

And it was so unexpected, that Wall Street brokers and bankers were even jumping out of windows, when confronted with the news of their firms and clients ruin. Many people, however, expressed feelings of sorrow over their falling from the heights of power--literally and figuratively.

I for one feel no compassion whatsoever for those fat cats on Wall Street, who got us into the mess we're in today, who I'd liken to the so-called "robber barons" of the late 19th century, who used unscrupulous business practices to feather their own nests. And I'd like nothing more than to hang a sign across Wall Street reading in bold letters: "JUMP YOU SCUMBAGS!" And the only bonuses I'd offer 'em would be cab fare home.