The Looming Threat To Our Economy

There have been rumblings in the media lately about the sub-prime mortgage industry. They have not been strident enough, nor have they been taken seriously enough. There is a snowball gathering steam against our economy you need to know about. Duncan Black (Atrios), and economist by trade, recently referred to an article by Nouriel Roubini that is flat out eye opening. I will be honest, I try to stay pretty informed on things, but I had no idea exactly how much the investment sector of our economy has been dependent on the mortgage industry, and especially the sub-prime market, lately. It is simply stunning. I knew there were serious issues with all the sub-prime lenders, but I somewhat idiotically thought that any fallout would primarily affect the mortgage and housing markets; boy was that simplemindedly shortsided. This mess is capable of taking down our entire economy. I have long had the sense that our "healthy economy" was a house of cards because the average people I know are hanging in, but just not doing that great (and the "average" people I know are far above the average citizen in the country). Clearly, a major chunk of our entire economy has likely been fueled by this quasi-Ponzi scheme involving mortgages. This may not have the gloss of the AG fiasco, Plamegate, or even healthcare for that matter; however, more people need to be aware of this issue and be preparing for a solution.

Do yourself a favor and read Roubini's article. It is sobering.

The fix will not be pleasant, nor cheap; but, the time to address this issue is now, before the situation gets worse.