Economics

Quoting from www.thegartmanletter.com:

Dennis Gartman, the editor and publisher of the Gartman Letter,  has been in the markets since 1974. Born in Akron, Ohio, Gartman received his BA from the University of Akron and MA from North Carolina State University.  After finishing his graduate work in the mid 1970s, he worked as an economist for Cotton, Inc. analyzing cotton supply/demand in the US textile industry.  From there he went to NCNB where he traded foreign exchange and money market instruments.

In 1977, Mr. Gartman became the Chief Financial Futures Analyst for A.G. Becker and Company in Chicago, where he also served as an independent member of the Chicago Board of Trade, trading in treasury bond, treasury note and GNMA futures contracts. In 1985, Mr. Gartman moved to Virginia to run the futures brokerage operation for the Virginia National Bank, and in 1987 began producing The Gartman Letter on a full-time basis. 

"...we are more frightened now for the future of the global capital markets than we have been at any time in our thirty+ years of watching, commenting upon and taking part in them. We are fearful... and we mean this fully... that we have passed the tipping point; that things are now spinning out of control; that forces have been unleashed that cannot be stopped without some truly massive, truly strong-handed, governmental action including the closure of markets and limits upon bank withdrawals, et al. These are troubling times, and our fear is palpable and growing. Worse, these concerns are giving rise to the likelihood that the Left shall be in ascension, and that manifestly left-of-centre, interventionist government lies ahead here in the US and in Europe. Higher, rather than lower taxes will be the end result. Greater... indeed very much greater... intervention in the capital markets lies ahead. Trade and act accordingly."

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I'm not sure what to think.  I think that there is a lot of "spin" being placed on the news.  I think a LOT of companies did some VERY questionable things.  I think that a lot of companies should fail.  I think that quite a few executives should have their "Golden Parachutes" forcibly removed.   I also think that a result of the turmoil will be that Government will become bigger and more Socialist in nature (alreeady happening as the US begins to run more (formerly) private companies).  I also think that anyone who thinks that the US government can run a company more efficiently or effectively than they were run before has their head up their a*s.  

I have quietly wondered for some time if there was a revolution in the making.  Goverment has taken over more and more of the power constitutionally reserved for the People.   And the People have been vocal about it.  And the Government has doled out pacifiers to quiet the People, and has also taken some forceful measures to quiet the People who would not be satisfied.

But, in times of Economic hardship, People do not revolt.  They are too busy trying to feed their families and maintain their homes to revolt.  Oh, they may revolt at the end, when they have nothing to lose, if they are not too weak from hunger.  However, I suspect that the current combination of crisis, with the Financial Markets collapsing, food supply chains being broken, crackdowns on terrorism, and the general curtailment of personal freedom and the lack of personal responsibility, will combine to bring something like the Dark Ages back. 

The Dark Ages?  I refer to the general demographic decline, limited building activity and material cultural achievements in general.  I think that we will see a loss in our standard of living.  I think that we will not be able to travel as much.  We may be able to interact more in a virtual fashion (unless the tech police have their way).  There will be less freedom to choose our own path in life.  The creative arts will be curtailed.  

Check out this blog posting here on MSN Money.

Maybe it's the weather, but I do think I am being very pessimistic today, don't you?