what things are fundamental to a prosperous economy
what do we produce as a society and a nation
GD9000, gov reflation aside, the issues are fundamental
we should ask ourselves
are we producing more of the kind of products people want and need,,, and better quality
are we beating back fraud, corruption and criminality.. scourges that destroy business opportunity and a society
hows are trade with other nations
hows our resources base
are we allocating capital effectively so that we invent and create good jobs
i think (guess) the grade we are earning is.......................F
F.......... for........ efffed
seriously effin..... effed dont you think??

oh yeah i left out one biggie
we as a society are in debt up to our eyeballs
other than the above half dozen fundamentals
we have every reason to be optimistic...(snark needle pinned into the red)

outsider
you may well be right...
im terrible at calling the markets
and i come here because most of the people here are much smarter than me about housing, business finance etc
but im learnin and believe im a decent historian and a macro guy
mid term to long term i continue to believe we are in very very deep voodoo
btw
i agree with mel and others that ben, obama and others are trying to save the system because they fear mad max society
and i believe they have been corrupted by the banking oligarchs
whether they are entirely justified about the doom and gloom scenario, im not knowledgeable enuf to know for sure
but
i do believe the" just let it fail crowd" has not fully plumbed the depths of the mayhem that would ensue this time
this would be much much worse than the great depression...again for reasons of fundamentals...
ie,, people are much more dependent today on society and lack skills to be self sufficient