Whose economy is it, anyway? (Metro NY)
The economy is crashing harder than Travis Barker’s plane, so why are some New Yorkers breathing a sigh of relief?
I’d say it was about 15 minutes after Lehman Brothers suffered total existence failure that I got the first instant message: “At least maybe now I’ll be able to afford an apartment.”
This wasn’t just whistling in the economic dark. It’s a sad fact that the “good times” that have now ended were great for Wall Street types and those who service them (high-end restaurateurs, yacht salesmen), but less so for the rest of us…
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
“Cheering bad times in hopes it will restore some sanity to our lives…” is exactly how I and probably many struggling workers feel about this Wall Street debacle. Don’t get me wrong, I have friends in the finance industry and do hope they’ll survive through this. It just frustrates me that our economy rises and falls with each risky bet Wall Street takes. And when there’s a win, they get majority of the pot. There’s a fundamental problem with how our economy is structured and that trickle down economics simply do not work. But good luck trying to convince our capitalist government that. I’m guessing in a few years after this bailout, the government will give back everything to Wall Street because a free-market works best…right.
One of my coworkers (I work at a NGO) chastised me when I was ambivalent about the 500 points drop in the market. “You wouldn’t be able to eat soon if this continues.” I guess this is what has come down to: In order for the rest of us to eat, Wall Street must win!!