May 21, 2010 0
Saving the moon begins next week in earnest
No sooner than I had posted yesterday: ‘Scuse me but who sprung the volatility back?, than I saw this little tidbit:
Geithner plans trip to Britain and Germany
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will confer with finance officials in Britain and Germany next week about ways to restore global confidence in the financial system on a trip.
The Treasury Department announced the trip Thursday after a rough day on global financial markets. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 376 points, its biggest point drop since February 2009.
Investors are concerned that the debt problems in Greece and Portugal will spill over to other countries in Europe and threaten to derail the economic recovery in the United States and elsewhere.
Investors are not concerned that the debt problems in Greece and Portugal will spill over to other countries in Europe as much as they’re aware that the debt problems in their own countries will be shoved into the spotlight sooner or later. Right now, sooner is pulling ahead of later and that is cause for panic. None of these administrations have the spine to deal with these debts. Why? Because these debts cannot be paid without causing a global disruption of some sort or worse a collective default.
So what now? The Euro zone is going to engage in quantitative easing aka debasing the euro – the time honored way of keeping up appearances.
Only pathos grows as small men squeeze farce out of tragedy. Remember, that the powers that be have managed to keep the sun shining for nearly a year and a half, they can and will keep the moon shining for at least half as much.
It’s time to save the moon.