•  Investing
•  Estate Planning
•  College Planning
•  Scholarships
•  Stockwatch

The Economy

My husband showed me a graph overlaying the up and down of the DOW during the Great Depression to the up and down of the NASDAQ during today's Great Recession.  They tracked almost exactly.  So, what do we do?  To get out of the last Great Mess, we had to go to war.  I doubt any of us like that idea now.  People need jobs.  Companies won't hire until people start buying again.  People can't buy without income.  It's a vicious circle. 

So, here's my proposal.  Let's put ourselves back to work.  Look around and see what needs doing.  Does a child need your help as a tutor because he's now in a class of 40 or more students due to school budget cuts?  Does your neighbor's house really need a paint job to prevent it from making the other neighbors' eyes sore?  If so, can you get a group together to help go paint the house?  Do you have a great idea to help the environment?  If so, explore start up funding and try it.  Stop waiting to land a job, and create one instead.  There's much to be done.  Do you have a talent or valuable expertise that you can share?  Then share!  The money aspect will come along as you focus on giving instead of receiving. 

I'd also like to see some of that government bailout money coming back to the people, not just the corporations or the banks.  What about all those people who leveraged too much to buy their homes with first and second mortgages.  They now struggle to make the payments if they still have a job.  However, they can't refinance to take advantage of the lower interest rates because they now owe more than the house is worth.  What if the government paid off those second mortgages so that homeowners could refinance and lower their payments to a manageable level?  What if banks just forgave the seconds that they never should have approved in the first place and just wrote it off as bad debt under the new rules, thus passing their bailout money along?  That would help staunch the downward flow of housing prices and allow many more people to stay in their homes while weathering this financial storm. 

Do you have any other good ideas?  If so, post them on "Points of View" below and let your voice be heard!

If you want to trade some stuff you don't need for something you do, try Zwaggle for kid's out grown stuff, Swaptree for books and music, or Craig's List for everything.