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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> >If people get the
> >idea that things are bad then they stop buying and the economy
> >crumbles. It is not so much the facts as the feelings. One might say
> >that in this regard, feelings create facts.
> 
> This is why that no matter how hard politicians and economists try, 
> economics is not a hard science.  It is closer to the behavioral sciences.


If the economy and finances were on some sort of stable, sustainable basis, 
this might be true.  But if you create a very bad economic problem, being 
Polyanna and just having a rosy attitude won't make it go away.

Reducing it to a personal basis, if a person runs up six credit cards to the 
max, borrows heavily against their house (disguised as the emphemism of 
"taking out the windfall equity"), makes obligations and debts for himself 
... 
having a cheery attitude and focusing on the good news and being happy isn't 
going 
to stop collection activities and foreclosure on the house.  The person still 
has to meet his obligations.

Thoughts and attitudes might well have created the mess, but it won't get us 
out of it.

I keep hearing cries for the government to do something to bail out the 
hundreds of thousands that have home loans they can't pay, or to set the 
reserve 
rate so that stocks will go up.  Heck, if they have the power to do that, 
let's 
all go out and buy three houses, borrow against them to play the stock 
market, 
and THEN have the fed and the government do that magic and pay off the houses 
and give us huge returns on the stock market.  If they have that power, why 
would it only work in emergencies?  Why not do it to make all of us rich 
without the emergencies?

Or better still, let's all have a nationwide feel-good session and suddenly 
there will be fuel and food and houses for everyone.  I'm amazed that we 
didn't 
think of this before!

James



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