Comments on: just imagine for a minute http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/ thoughtful personal finance, career and health advice Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:46:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: deepali http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-29931 deepali Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:23:29 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-29931 has there been a government takeover of your state? :) has there been a government takeover of your state? :)

]]> By: escapee http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-29916 escapee Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:40:40 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-29916 really? I don't *think* my congressman is up for reelection... really? I don't *think* my congressman is up for reelection…

]]> By: deepali http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-29917 deepali Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:23:29 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-29917 has there been a government takeover of your state? :) has there been a government takeover of your state? :)

]]> By: deepali http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-29932 deepali Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:19:01 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-29932 ruth, i am hoping that if you are retiring soon, that you've been rebalancing your portfolio! ruth, i am hoping that if you are retiring soon, that you've been rebalancing your portfolio!

]]> By: deepali http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-29920 deepali Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:19:01 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-29920 ruth, i am hoping that if you are retiring soon, that you've been rebalancing your portfolio! ruth, i am hoping that if you are retiring soon, that you've been rebalancing your portfolio!

]]> By: deepali http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-25865 deepali Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:23:29 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-25865 has there been a government takeover of your state? :) has there been a government takeover of your state? :)

]]> By: deepali http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-25864 deepali Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:19:01 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-25864 ruth, i am hoping that if you are retiring soon, that you've been rebalancing your portfolio! ruth, i am hoping that if you are retiring soon, that you've been rebalancing your portfolio!

]]> By: escapee http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-25861 escapee Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:40:40 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-25861 really? I don't *think* my congressman is up for reelection... really? I don't *think* my congressman is up for reelection…

]]> By: Bill http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-29919 Bill Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:43:00 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-29919 One more thing: Do you read andrewtobias.com? I think you'd like what he has to say about personal finance, the economy, politics, and social issues. One more thing: Do you read andrewtobias.com? I think you'd like what he has to say about personal finance, the economy, politics, and social issues.

]]> By: Bill http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-29918 Bill Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:38:07 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-29918 Steve, this is a reply to your reply and also a comment on a later post you made about this -- the securities we're talking about aren't fairly-valued. They're priced far lower than a rational market would value them. Therefore, IF the market returns to sanity (and I think it will and I think it will much more quickly with a government instilling confidence in the economy and financial system), the government limited its downside risk by buying the securities at a depressed price. Therefore, it's sort of boosted the risk-reward equation over to the reward side.<br /><br />It's apparent that you're skeptical of the administration. So am I. I've been VERY vocal about that (read my Rants blog). They're careless, at best, reckless at worst.<br /><br />However, I'd begin to listen to people like Bernanke (even though I think he missed the party on this), who's academic career encompassed studying the cause, effect, and solutions of and to the Great Depression. He's finally seen the light. And I think he's terribly afraid of how clearly bright that light is!<br /><br />I HOPE I'm wrong. I REALLY don't want to say "I told you so." Because I have a lot of money in this market, too. I'm just like everyone else here: I work, pay my bills, and count on my investments to fund my retirement. Those 3 things are in jeopardy right now. Steve, this is a reply to your reply and also a comment on a later post you made about this — the securities we're talking about aren't fairly-valued. They're priced far lower than a rational market would value them. Therefore, IF the market returns to sanity (and I think it will and I think it will much more quickly with a government instilling confidence in the economy and financial system), the government limited its downside risk by buying the securities at a depressed price. Therefore, it's sort of boosted the risk-reward equation over to the reward side.

It's apparent that you're skeptical of the administration. So am I. I've been VERY vocal about that (read my Rants blog). They're careless, at best, reckless at worst.

However, I'd begin to listen to people like Bernanke (even though I think he missed the party on this), who's academic career encompassed studying the cause, effect, and solutions of and to the Great Depression. He's finally seen the light. And I think he's terribly afraid of how clearly bright that light is!

I HOPE I'm wrong. I REALLY don't want to say “I told you so.” Because I have a lot of money in this market, too. I'm just like everyone else here: I work, pay my bills, and count on my investments to fund my retirement. Those 3 things are in jeopardy right now.

]]> By: bripblap http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-25858 bripblap Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:04:52 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-25858 Vamsi, maybe I wasn't clear enough. I don't care about citizenship so much as location. Any company who hires anyone legally in America (citizen, guest worker, green card, etc.) should get preferential treatment over someone who sends work overseas. If I send a job overseas, I don't have to pay social security taxes, unemployment taxes, etc. for that employee, which in my mind amounts to a tax cut. I think someone who struggles to keep a job here is penalized for doing so, and THAT ought to change - at least until developing countries offer the same sorts of social welfare benefits we do in the US. <br><br>But I certainly don't care where anyone was born, I didn't mean to imply I'm some sort of nativist! Vamsi, maybe I wasn't clear enough. I don't care about citizenship so much as location. Any company who hires anyone legally in America (citizen, guest worker, green card, etc.) should get preferential treatment over someone who sends work overseas. If I send a job overseas, I don't have to pay social security taxes, unemployment taxes, etc. for that employee, which in my mind amounts to a tax cut. I think someone who struggles to keep a job here is penalized for doing so, and THAT ought to change – at least until developing countries offer the same sorts of social welfare benefits we do in the US.

But I certainly don't care where anyone was born, I didn't mean to imply I'm some sort of nativist!

]]> By: bripblap http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-25857 bripblap Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:01:15 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-25857 Bill, I hear what you're saying, but I think THIS bailout took the wrong form. Even with the addendums there were so few protections against massive new powers for the Treasury Dept. that it was doomed to fail. To expect a former chairman of Goldman Sachs to go to Goldman Sachs and negotiate a fair price for supposedly worthless securities without any other approval or authorization needed is not realistic. I think a lot of the money would have gone to the biggest, most well-connected (politically) firms and since there is no market for these securities, the US would have been stuck with them for years. All of the downside would have been shifted to the US, and none of the upside would have been shifted (I don't believe these particular types of securities will ever recover their full value).<br><br>Everything you say will happen, may, but this is what happens when you have decades of mismanagement culminating in eight years of insane recklessness. The bill was going to come due eventually. It's going to be hard (trust me, I work on Wall Street and my prospects have become very, very grim) but I would rather see it happen now than see the US take on more crippling debt it simply cannot afford. <br><br>To use your analogy, the patient will live - our biggest concern has got to be avoiding introducing an infection into the system. Bill, I hear what you're saying, but I think THIS bailout took the wrong form. Even with the addendums there were so few protections against massive new powers for the Treasury Dept. that it was doomed to fail. To expect a former chairman of Goldman Sachs to go to Goldman Sachs and negotiate a fair price for supposedly worthless securities without any other approval or authorization needed is not realistic. I think a lot of the money would have gone to the biggest, most well-connected (politically) firms and since there is no market for these securities, the US would have been stuck with them for years. All of the downside would have been shifted to the US, and none of the upside would have been shifted (I don't believe these particular types of securities will ever recover their full value).

Everything you say will happen, may, but this is what happens when you have decades of mismanagement culminating in eight years of insane recklessness. The bill was going to come due eventually. It's going to be hard (trust me, I work on Wall Street and my prospects have become very, very grim) but I would rather see it happen now than see the US take on more crippling debt it simply cannot afford.

To use your analogy, the patient will live – our biggest concern has got to be avoiding introducing an infection into the system.

]]> By: bripblap http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-25856 bripblap Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:52:09 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-25856 And escapee, there's also the even simpler action to vote against your congressman in about 6 weeks on election day, when all 435 are up for re-election. And escapee, there's also the even simpler action to vote against your congressman in about 6 weeks on election day, when all 435 are up for re-election.

]]> By: Bill http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-25860 Bill Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:43:00 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-25860 One more thing: Do you read andrewtobias.com? I think you'd like what he has to say about personal finance, the economy, politics, and social issues. One more thing: Do you read andrewtobias.com? I think you'd like what he has to say about personal finance, the economy, politics, and social issues.

]]> By: Bill http://www.bripblap.com/just-imagine-for-a-minute/comment-page-1/#comment-25859 Bill Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:38:07 +0000 http://www.bripblap.com/?p=579#comment-25859 Steve, this is a reply to your reply and also a comment on a later post you made about this -- the securities we're talking about aren't fairly-valued. They're priced far lower than a rational market would value them. Therefore, IF the market returns to sanity (and I think it will and I think it will much more quickly with a government instilling confidence in the economy and financial system), the government limited its downside risk by buying the securities at a depressed price. Therefore, it's sort of boosted the risk-reward equation over to the reward side.<br /><br />It's apparent that you're skeptical of the administration. So am I. I've been VERY vocal about that (read my Rants blog). They're careless, at best, reckless at worst.<br /><br />However, I'd begin to listen to people like Bernanke (even though I think he missed the party on this), who's academic career encompassed studying the cause, effect, and solutions of and to the Great Depression. He's finally seen the light. And I think he's terribly afraid of how clearly bright that light is!<br /><br />I HOPE I'm wrong. I REALLY don't want to say "I told you so." Because I have a lot of money in this market, too. I'm just like everyone else here: I work, pay my bills, and count on my investments to fund my retirement. Those 3 things are in jeopardy right now. Steve, this is a reply to your reply and also a comment on a later post you made about this — the securities we're talking about aren't fairly-valued. They're priced far lower than a rational market would value them. Therefore, IF the market returns to sanity (and I think it will and I think it will much more quickly with a government instilling confidence in the economy and financial system), the government limited its downside risk by buying the securities at a depressed price. Therefore, it's sort of boosted the risk-reward equation over to the reward side.

It's apparent that you're skeptical of the administration. So am I. I've been VERY vocal about that (read my Rants blog). They're careless, at best, reckless at worst.

However, I'd begin to listen to people like Bernanke (even though I think he missed the party on this), who's academic career encompassed studying the cause, effect, and solutions of and to the Great Depression. He's finally seen the light. And I think he's terribly afraid of how clearly bright that light is!

I HOPE I'm wrong. I REALLY don't want to say “I told you so.” Because I have a lot of money in this market, too. I'm just like everyone else here: I work, pay my bills, and count on my investments to fund my retirement. Those 3 things are in jeopardy right now.

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