Monday, August 8, 2011

US S&P 500 Stock Market Index

This picture from Doug Short's blog dshort.com tells the tale of the last 4 years:

Click to Enlarge

The current drop is 17.90% from the recent April peak, but it is a drop of 28.5% from the October 2007 peak. The US economy is stalled and lurching forward then falling back. It is stuck in the mud and needs a powerful kickstart via real jobs from a WPA-type program that will put 8 to 10 million people to work.

This latest collapse in the stock market is bad news for everybody in the US. Not only has a lot of wealth just gone up in smoke. The ripple effect onto Main Street will cause a recession. Hopefully not as deep as the 2007-9 recession. But it adds pain to already existent misery. This was uncalled for. It is a purely self-inflicted wound by the US caused by the political bickering in Washington. And let me be perfectly clear. The Democrats have tried to be statesmen and compromise. It is the ideological and intransigent Republicans, especially the Tea Party crazies, who have caused this stock market crash which will soon be showing up on Main Street as a sudden stall in the economy, more layoffs, and a tougher business climate. Tragedy.

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