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You Can't Legislate ConfidenceJack Leniart Turning points throughout history, be they economic, social or military in nature, are more easily detected when viewed in hindsight. That's not very helpful to those who find themselves living in the moment when history itself is being made. We can study events throughout the centuries and wonder why the people and the leaders of that time seemed oblivious to the dangers at hand. What's that saying? Oh yeah, "Can't see the forest through the trees." Folks, we're standing in front of a Redwood. I read a speech several years ago by Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve Chairman. The speech was about the economy skating on increasingly thin ice. In it he said, "It's never a crisis until it's a crisis." What I believe he was referring to was the nature of people and government to ignore or put off taking action until they had no choice but to take action. That seems to sum up our economic woes of today. There have been countless individuals who in recent years have been warning us of impending danger. You'd be surprised. The list of names is actually quite long and their credentials impressive. Unfortunately, the warnings fell on deaf ears. That's too bad, because rarely are good decisions made when we're in panic mode, and we are in full panic mode. There are plenty of people and institutions that we can point fingers at, and I'm sure there are going to be plenty of subpoenas issued, congressional hearings and maybe even some public hangings (figuratively speaking) to show the angry masses that something is being done to right the mess we find ourselves in. But what about an understanding of how we got into this mess in the first place? Not much talk of that. Americans are smart, but at times we can be lazy. We are woefully deficient in our understanding of how our economy and banking system work, and that, in my opinion, is the root of our problem. I'm talking Economics 101. I'm talking about a basic, rudimentary understanding of The U.S. Constitution and what exactly our Founding Fathers had in mind when they set up this grand experiment called Democracy. No one knows for certain how this is all going to play out, but can we please stop listening to all the pundits who did not see it coming in the first place, but are all to quick to tell us what needs to be done to right our sinking ship. Please, tell them to just go away. Our confidences are shaken, and try as they might, our leaders can not legislate confidence in a failing system. Yes, it's failing! And yes, there will be a tomorrow. If we're fortunate it will be better, because we will have learned a great lesson. We as a nation need to get an understanding of the basic tenets of economics, of how our economy works, and why it's failing. Most importantly, we need to get an understanding of 'sound money' and we need to do it quickly, for our children's sake. Then, and only then, will we begin to fully appreciate the enormity of our current economic dilemma and lay the foundation from which we will rebuild. That Redwood ain't gonna move. We have to. Jack Leniart 321gold Ltd |
