The French have a lot of experience with economic loss. Not only the kind generated by collapsing markets, but loss generated by revolutions, wars, invasions and occupations. It is thus not surprising that they have sayings, even just phrases, that tell a story of dire financial straits in dramatically straight forward and unmistakable ways. One such phrase roughly translates out to “save what you can.”
A bit of personal honesty here. When this economic crisis began I merely viewed it as a necessary and deserved comeuppance for many years of unbridled stupidity by what has passed foe leadership in this country. A deserved consequence for an American Consensus on unchecked and under-regulated globalization. The pink slip when it came to the vision of Robert Rubin and the feigned brilliance of Alan Greenspan. The natural consequence of the of-so aptly named Bush team of Paulson and crew, and the academic indolence of Ben Bernanke.
But things have gone way, way beyond that kind of thinking. What caused what is no longer worth dwelling upon. The only thing that does seem worth monitoring now is whether the sane and well designed policies of a new Obama grouping can patch up the crumbling dikes of the U.S. and world economies at the same time it erects new structures high enough and solid enough to hold back the ever rising waters.
Today the Dow lost another 4 percent. The stock of Citi, once the world’s largest bank, is trading at about a buck a share. You can now buy a share of AIG, once the world’s largest private insurance company, for the price of two cigarettes, 35 cents.
Am I scared, for myself, my family, the country, the world? Oh, yes. Because if we’ve not quite reached the “save what you can” ethos, we seem to be getting very, very close.