Everybody has been talking about it for so long that nobody should be surprised - well maybe some of those Real Estate nitwits who didn't realize that bubbles burst. See how easy it is to destabilize the entire world economy - all you have to do is shake up the US market with a mortgage crisis, low consumer confidence and a dollar not worth the paper its printed on.
All the while the rich don't care because their brokers can sell short and make money in a bear market. Or if things get "bad" for the rich they can sell some stuff off. The poor? They have bigger problems like finding food and ways to heat their home. Yes it affects them greatly, but on the consumer side, where higher costs will keep the poor, poor. The Middle Class? we're screwed. Not rich enough to ride out the storm, not poor enough to get any help and all the while our lifelines - 401k's and IRA's are taking a beating. These retirement funds we will depend upon since there are no more pensions and Social Security is a joke - remember when GW Bush wanted to throw the Social Security system into the market? How does that look now King George?
Hey I can ride out this storm because of my age, history is on my side and I'm sure that my investments will bounce back. But what about someone ready to retire? Or worse, all those senior citizens that depend upon these retirement savings? Even if they don't have a dime in the stock market, many seniors have CDs with their bank - how does a lower interest rate help them? Higher food costs, higher home heating costs, higher gas prices, higher insurance premiums and prescriptions combined with much lower investment returns will cause a lot of suffering in 2008.
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