TOTAL LICENSING
will close this section by respectfully desisting the spread of gloom and doom? regulated the bank-
from offering a solution for this situation - like The awesome power of the media is often dis- ing system. The only
so many others I don’t mind being a listener but cussed but when we all listen to the endless way for banks to grow
I would not want to be the conductor. pronouncements of TV’s talking heads, we read was to open more re-
blogs and personal reports of hardship on the tail branches to move
HOW TO STIMULATE THE web and tell each other stories of misery we closer to potential
ECONOMY? ARE GLOOMY become psychologically depressed. depositors and some-
FORECASTS THE MOST POWERFUL The still publishing American newspapers (Just times throw in a free
FORCES TO MAKE US BELIEVE IN THE think, big cities may be left with one big news- toaster or alarm clock
RECESSION? paper only. Even the Chicago Sun Times and as a bonus for opening an account. Even by 1960
Of course, there are the poor – who in these Chicago Tribune, as well as the Philadelphia In- banks and insurance companies together were
times become the very, very poor and our quirer and Philadelphia Daily News have filed only 4% of the GDP. There was no financial
hearts must go out to them: People who have for bankruptcy protection) serve us up back- company ever a part of the Dow Jones index
fallen through the cracks of society – suffering ground stories to boost their newsstand sales. until 1982.
from massive layoffs at so many major and even The recession is a hot topic and every journalist At the beginning of this crisis finance was up to
global firms. Chapter 7 bankruptcies have in- and writer, including George Medina, give the 8% (double) of the by now much higher GDP.
creased 43% in the year ended December 31st, public what they think will stimulate their audi- The financial products had exploded from just
2008. Individuals filed 19.5% of all the chapter ence. Lou Dobbs, Suze Orman, and many others loans and deposits to credit card debt, subprime
11 cases in 2008. There were just over 10,000 give you well meant advice. Even the venerable mortgages and car loans, all mixed into deriva-
chapter 11 cases in 2008 as compared to only AARP tells its millions of members and readers tives (mixed investment securities) to be sold to
6,200 in 2007 for an increase of 61.5% how to survive. other financial institutions. This is called secu-
The Dow is almost 50% below its all time high The dry and respected Consumer Reports ritization and this practice, notwithstanding its
and destroyed some 12 trillion in wealth. counsels you. I reproduce their advice, in case sweet-sounding name, increased investors’ risk
Ten trillion has disappeared in the drop of real you are interested: – and after the collapse these properties are
estate values. Banks own empty houses that de- now called “toxic assets”. No one really knows
cay because no one wants to buy them; their Dos and Don’ts for dealing with financial for sure how to find an antihistamine or antibi-
former owners are bunking with families or liv- distress otic that can surely cure the global poisoning of
ing in rented quarters in neighborhoods they DO contact your lender immediately if you can’t the financial system.
would never even have visited before. pay your mortgage. I spent two months to study for and write this
People are glad when they find the cheapest DON’T borrow against your 401(k). column. However, events don’t hold still, they
places to buy food, and they try to raise their DO take advantage of your employer contribution keep moving. Just recently we have gratefully
own food if they live in the country or suburbia. to your 401(k). heard President Obama and others in his admin-
I repeat – everyone knows someone who suf- DON’T take a refund anticipation loan. istration speaking of the green shoots of better
fers. Small businesses are closing up. Students DO consider raising your insurance deductibles. news that influence the stock market. Recently,
must turn down openings in top universities be- DON’T take any cash advances. the Dow has moved from 6900 to 8000. Presi-
cause they cannot afford the tuition. Colleges DO cut what you can from your budget. dent Obama’s bully pulpit and the chorus of re-
for the first time in recent memory compete DON’T sign up for a car loan with a term longer ports trumpeting the good news have helped to
with scholarships to attract even mediocre stu- than four years. reduce a doomsday panic of the herd. Still, let
dents because they are themselves faced with DO consider generic drugs over brand-name rem- us beware of an euphoria that ignores the fact
the need for funds or else face the cutting of edies. that employment and business and real estate
tenured professors. Planned new libraries, (Consumer Reports, Jan 2009) improvements customarily lag behind finance by
dorms or sports fields must wait. In contrast, a year or two.
community colleges whose purpose it is to How can we turn a deaf ear and fight our per- Of course, a little bit of good news cannot still
make education affordable for all students in vasive depression? pain – but it will give us what we need the most
their geographical location, are being over-run Well, you can but you must be determined and - a certainty of a better future! That more than
partially by those unemployed who see this as remember that through history recessions have any other method will reverse this mad spiral!
a time to study, to the point where the class- come and gone - and as soon as we and oth-
rooms cannot accommodate the quantity of ers like us learn to battle the herd’s instinct to
View from America is a Total Licensing
students they try to jam into them. stampede and remember “that as a nation we magazine column written regularly by George
Hotels and motels are cutting their room rates are unbelievably resilient and wealthy” we may
Medina of New York-based Intercontinental
to try and stay in business. Vacation travel is be- regain our cool judgment and sanity, and rebel
Licensing. The column is intended to give our
ing cancelled. Old cars are being fixed to run against the pied pipers (usually well-paid) of de-
readers worldwide some idea of the American
another year! Yes, our hearts must go out to all struction.
mind set and incidentally his own opinion to
help them understand key issues in today’s
these sufferers!
world. If you have any questions, comments
IS FINANCE REALLY SO
or opinions on the column, do please contact
BUT YET – NEGATIVITY IS IMPORTANT IN THE TOTAL
us at Total Licensing or, alterntively, contact
CATCHING! PICTURE? George directly on (212) 683 5830. email:
How much does spiritual malaise contribute to After the Great Depression the USA tightly interny@intercontinental-ltd.
157
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160