All your banks are belong to us
We watched with some humor in Europe as the American financial crisis unfolded. We only had occasional access to English TV, and since no one else discussed it with us, it was sort of like turning on the TV and seeing a drama like ER or 90210.
It seemed obvious to me for the past couple of years that the whole mortgage thing would blow up sooner or later. Just like the dot coms, no one wanted to say anything lest they wake up from the dream.
I emailed Osamu and asked him whats up; he said watch more banks will go under. And the very next day another one did.
Earlier this week Ben pointed out that you can tell which banks are worst off by checking their rates. He pointed out that WaMu had the most attractive rates for savings accounts, etc, since they are probably desperate to attract cash. In fact WaMu went under yesterday.
I have an HSBC account thanks to their generous rates, so I became a bit worried, though I haven't yet figured out how to check on their health otherwise.
A visit to my Bank of America branch yesterday also confirmed that I could feel slightly relieved: their rates are abysmally low.
Of course, I don't have enough money period to really need to worry about losing anything, unless things go really south.
In the end will we see just JPMorgan, BofA, Wells Fargo, and Citi?
In the mean time congress is debating over the massive bailout. A years worth of money to bail out the stupidity of the past five or so. And the check will be written in a week. Didn't spending beyond our means get us here in the first place? What's going to happen next year? It certainly will not be a pleasant start for the next president... and perhaps the first big confirmation of the slow decline of the United States.
It seemed obvious to me for the past couple of years that the whole mortgage thing would blow up sooner or later. Just like the dot coms, no one wanted to say anything lest they wake up from the dream.
I emailed Osamu and asked him whats up; he said watch more banks will go under. And the very next day another one did.
Earlier this week Ben pointed out that you can tell which banks are worst off by checking their rates. He pointed out that WaMu had the most attractive rates for savings accounts, etc, since they are probably desperate to attract cash. In fact WaMu went under yesterday.
I have an HSBC account thanks to their generous rates, so I became a bit worried, though I haven't yet figured out how to check on their health otherwise.
A visit to my Bank of America branch yesterday also confirmed that I could feel slightly relieved: their rates are abysmally low.
Of course, I don't have enough money period to really need to worry about losing anything, unless things go really south.
In the end will we see just JPMorgan, BofA, Wells Fargo, and Citi?
In the mean time congress is debating over the massive bailout. A years worth of money to bail out the stupidity of the past five or so. And the check will be written in a week. Didn't spending beyond our means get us here in the first place? What's going to happen next year? It certainly will not be a pleasant start for the next president... and perhaps the first big confirmation of the slow decline of the United States.