not the quote one wants to read...

Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King summarized the growing sentiment out there yesterday saying, “The world is facing the worst financial crisis since at least the 1930s, if not ever.”

This quote may be 'over the top' but it is worth pondering. The continuing saga of unsustainable leverage will provide us with volatile economic theater over the coming years. And in this age of media hype market volatility should create a never ending source of drama to entertain us.
I was asked a question yesterday about what I thought was the next 'black swan' to effect our economy - my response was the credit stress created by unsustainable levels of leverage. Even though this is an 'ongoing issue' there always comes a time when the train stops (financial crisis) and all those who are still on board end up paying the price.

truly amazing times...

We have a government that creates the problems by its regulatory vigor, doesn't bother to count the cost of their actions on the future, and then blames everyone else but themselves for the mess that we end up with!
What kind of government leads its people in that fashion? Not a very effective one - and now we are seeing more of the bad fruit of their continuing actions.

Taken from "The Market Today Online" -
The treatment of Bank of America by politicians for its decision to raise fees on its deposit accounts has been remarkable. The President lashed into the bank Monday saying, “you don’t have some inherent right just to, you know, get a certain amount of profit – if your customers are being mistreated – that you have to treat them fairly and transparently.” He added that “This is exactly why we need this Consumer Finance Protection Bureau…somebody who’s sole job it is to prevent this kind of stuff from happening.” This was an alarming statement for the President to say that it is inappropriate for a private business to set its own fee schedule based on its costs – and that the CFPB would police that.
Senator Durbin followed suit by calling for a run on the bank from the Senate floor, telling Bank of America customers they should “get the heck out of that bank.” Representative Brad Miller introduced legislation that says banks cannot charge fees to customers who close accounts, implying that he is protecting the tide of people who will want to leave the bank. In a statement, he offered his understanding of economic theory saying that “That is the way things work in a competitive, free market as unrepentant banks are still trying to rake in vulgar profits.” Bank of America’s website has been down for two days. It would not be a surprise if there were a run taking place on the bank, although the bank denies that.
Politicians undermining confidence in a corporation for political purposes would certainly not be an example of a free market.