yikes!

so much for my retirement account. if you want to know what is in it start with x and then add 7 years worth of interest at 9%. then subtract all that interest and all of x as well. did you end up with zero? if you did, then you are good at math and also understand the us economy right now.

here's an illustration by the bbc that helped me understand the buy out deal that congress rejected over the weekend:

i can't really decide how i feel about all of this. my "invisible hand" and adam smith lessons from econ 201 are pretty rusty. i HATE the idea of rewarding greed and unethical banking practices especially to white men (predominantly) who make ungodly amounts of cash. conversely, i like being able to access my checking account and withdraw money. i agree that something has to be done. my biggest hope is that whatever we do, it'll teach us a lesson we don't soon forget. i am strongly convinced that the gas crunch and our economic struggle will force us to examine how we live as fat, unhealthy americans and that in the long run will be a good thing. i also think that it's God's way of correcting our country. the sooner we stop pretending that we somehow deserve to use the majority of the world's resources and are somehow more loved by God than other countries the better.