Posted by Shyam Moondra
The losses of 5% or more in stock markets have become a sort of routine daily event. This economic crisis is man-made and the people around the world are paying an unimaginable price. They are losing their jobs, homes, and retirement savings. The first time in a long time, we now have reports of hunger among the American children.
The leaders in the government, including President Bush, Speaker Pelosi, Senate leader Reid, many of the committee chairmen in the Senate and the House, Treasury Secretary Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, and SEC Chairman Cox, failed the country beyond belief. They failed to properly regulate risky "innovative" financial products that turned out to be "toxic." They failed to recognize the scope and consequences of the sub-prime mess. Once it became evident that the world was headed towards credit meltdown, these officials failed to respond effectively. They kept trying different things at enormous cost to the tax payers at a time when we are up to our ears in terms of the national debt. It was very unsettling to hear Paulson announce that he was discarding the idea of buying-up the "toxic" securities from financial institutions, the idea that he fought for and for which he secured the Congressional nod only days prior. All of this unsteady management of the crisis led to the loss of their credibility, which in turn led to investors' lack of confidence in the financial markets. While stock markets were plummeting, SEC was eliminating the "up-tick" rule for short selling and permitting naked short selling that only exacerbated the slide of the markets. Lack of leadership and mismanagement by Cox should be viewed as criminally negligent.
At the moment, the key problem is one of leadership and lack of credibility. All of the present government officials are tainted. The day it is announced that Pelosi, Reid, Bernanke, Cox, and some of the Congressional committee chairmen are being replaced (other incompetent and failed officials, Bush and Paulson, are leaving soon), the stock markets will go through the roof. The American people desperately want these power-hungry government officials to think hard about what's in the country's best interest. If they step aside and let a brand new leadership team at all levels led by President-elect Obama address the crisis, the confidence of the people will be restored and it will go a long way to restore the normalcy in the markets.
