Its a fuckin nightmare. Though i did just buy BHP shares that are incredibly cheap, more than 50% less than the peak.

I wonder if this will help nintendo gain third party support. I mean, if they could make a same quality game on the the wii as on the 360, why not? Minigames just arent' going to cut it anymore.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081025/bailout_bonanza.html

It looks like the bailout money is going to be used for everything except what it was originally supposed to. Even automakers want a piece of the pie for god's sake.

I could be wrong but I suspect this is because houses over $1 Million were more over-valued than most homes in the housing market, many people who bought these houses (foolishly) stretched to get the largest loans they possibly could (thinking that house values ‘always’ go up) and wealthier people are (potentially) more likely to cut there losses and walk away from a home that is worth (far) less than the mortgage.
 

Its ironic, but this whole financial mess is the best thing to happen to ME financially (sure I'm in the minority here :P).

Its forced Australian interest rates down - meaning I save immediate, and real money on my house interest payments.

Its also forced the AU down significantly - meaning every $1US my company earns has turned from $1.10AU to almost $1.50AU.

I really doubt that Melbourne house prices will drop at all as well - with the extra "home owners grant", lower interest rates, and such a under-supply of rental properties. If one thing would ever completely *destroy* the Australian economic base here - its a significant drop in house value. Just about everyone I know who owns property, uses their house as leverage to get lots of credit (and owe heaps).

Last time US speculation destroyed the world economy (1929), a World War followed. Since the fuze is already lit in the middle east, there wil be plenty of factory work soon.

dont say that shit. Wasn't Iraq already an economic boost for the big weapons industries.

No. The blame goes to government. It's not like anyone is that surprised that there was an implosion in the sub-prime market. The only thing they didn't count on is how illiquid and worthless the CDO's and Credit Swaps would become when it was time to shit or get off the pot.

The Republicans get more blame because it happened on their watch and they're getting punished for it this election. That's certainly not to say that lobbyists for investment banks weren't contributing money to the campaigns of Democrats who held key votes. This was a really big fuck-up on both sides and a repudiation of libertarian economics. On the position of regulation Democrats and Republicans are probably going to agree more so then less so, of course they'll put their own little spin on things to make it appear that they are diametrically opposed.

I don't see how this could be a repudiation of libertarian economics because you could argue that a large portion of the problem was caused by quasi-governmental organizations (like the Federal Reserve, Freddy Mac, and Fanny May). Beyond this, you can't ignore that many banks were being "encouraged" to take on high risk loans by the government in order to increase home ownership for poor people.

In my opinion, this crisis is just another example of the government creating larger problems when they try to solve a problem. The government is like a carpenter who chooses to use large spikes rather than finishing nails and is (somehow) always surprised when they crack the wood.

No. The heart of darkness was unregulated markets. Ask Alan Greenspan. He said so last week. I hear he used to be a Libertarian and a follower of Ayn Rand. Well, I used to be a Libertarian and a follower of Ayn Rand too so I guess that doesn't mean much.