My wife woke me up yesterday with something I had already heard.

"Sweetie!  Washington Mutual collapsed!"  Her face was a mix of satisfaction (WaMu isn't held in high regard in our household) and shock.  I quickly corrected her, and a short debate ensued.

Washington Mutual did not collapse in the traditional sense of the word.  Lehman Brothers collapsed.  Millions are out of luck with their investments.  WaMu would have collapsed, but they were bought out.  If they had collapsed, several million patrons would have walked into their banks yesterday to find their bank accounts empty.   A scene reminiscent of It's A Wonderful Life may have broken out, but perhaps something more along the lines of the end of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Economists and news stations like MSNBC and CNN broadcasted disaster.  People who heard about the problems before the rest of us made a run on the bank, pulling out everything they could, compounding the damage.

In all honesty, I am not an economist.  I took economy in High School, and my teacher insisted we could learn the fundamentals by watching and rewatching The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.   Instead several of us simply read our text book cover-to-cover and told him he was very confused.  However, my dad is a bank man.  From listening to him time and time again talk about the economy, and from paying attention, I gleaned a certain savvy about one of the most complex systems on the planet.

A few things I picked up:

-It's our own damn fault.  Well, not so much mine, since I've only been a contributing member of the economy for about 6 or 7 years, but America did this to herself.  When the words "Real Estate is EASY to understand!" get tossed around with the frequency of the phrase "Would you like to suppliment your income by working at home?", you really should take some notice.  It's called a bubble, and we burst it.

-Anything adjectives attached to the word "Mortgage" are bad.  "Adjustable Rate", "Easy Qualify", and "Reverse" are simply words for "Put all your eggs in one basket, then come on over for an omlette party".

-This isn't the end of the American economy.  Yes, for some of you, the Fed now owns your house.  Forget eminant domain.  Economists are crying doomsday.  However, remember about 5 or 6 years ago when scientists suddenly "realized" that Global Warming was an imminent threat?  Most of them tripled their income (I am not saying anything about the state of the environment, moreso about the state of experts).  The economy IS in a delicate place right now, but I wouldn't put the full weight of proof on what the guests on Hardball might say.

-Diversity is good.  Local businesses are good.  Local banks are even better.  

 Anyhow, hopefully you don't just accept this as e-Prozac and let your tensions about the state of things rest just because of this blog.  I am just a man with an opinion and a vested interest in proving to you that I am right about everything.  A lot like the guy who gives you the news on your morning drive to work.  Before you take all your assets and trade them in for gold bricks that you burry under your wine cellar, do some thinking and research.

Peace out, party people.