Cassidy in New Yorker

[Peter Kilander]

Mark Jones said:
>US prosperity is based on not paying your bills; the
>leverages which produced the Wall St bubble work as opposite-sign
>multipliers elsewhere. Those other crises are not going to go away, they
>are going to deepen, intensify and become sharply politicised. When the
>US bubble bursts it will do so in the context of an already-raging world
>deflation. The effects of an Anglo-Saxon meltdown are not exactly
>incalculable but they are more serious than you think. 1931 led to
>Hitler.  You are absolutely confident, aren't you, that no such
>unpleasant outcome will follow this crash, even tho the crash of 1999
>will be immeasurably more intense, generalised and profound. Of course,
>if you weren't confident -- if you began to fear the worst -- you would
>have to change your life, join a political party and do something about
>it.  [snip]

I'm not absolutely confident; I was just relaying what my crystal ball was
saying. I wouldn't bet money one way or the other. In the article I was
talking about, the writer said that in the aftermath of the crash of  1987,
the Fed flooded the markets with money, thereby avoiding depression. I think
it's possible the crash will happen in '98. Even though Russia and Asia are
in dire straits, Europe is not that bad off, all things considered. However,
it is possible that Russia could pull down Central Europe.

As I said in an earlier post, if Judy Davis was recruiting, I'd sign up in a
heartbeat.

Peter