The Political Whore

By Al Coryell
PoHo correspondent

RECESSIONOMICS

Question: Do you think the Federal Reserve is going to be able to guide us out of this economic catastrophe?

I’m going to tell you a story -  a story of corruption, deceit, greed and political intrigue. As it turns out, a true story, one stranger than fiction as true stories usually are. But amazingly, this story is little known by most of you, for the parties whom the story is about do a masterful job of hiding their true intentions while convincing you they are your best friends. They insist you need them, and without them your lives would be chaos. It’s all smoke, of course. But I assure you, most of you believe them because the machine they control is incredibly powerful. So powerful, in fact, that… well I get ahead of myself.

The story begins just after the turn of the 20th century, when, in 1910, seven men board a train in Hoboken, N.J.

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By Al Coryell
PoHo correspondent

RECESSIONOMICS

Question: The government economists are telling us that the economic crisis is over and things should slowly get better now. Should I believe them?

When I first heard the doom and gloom talking heads being trotted out onto the daily money shows like CNN, FOX financial, Bloomberg or CNBCs Squawk Box, I took them with a huge grain of salt like everyone else. Their arguments simply didn’t seem plausible to me. At the time (2005-06), the economy seemed fine. In fact, we were gloriously bouncing back from the 2000-03 recession caused by the “dot-com” bubble. However, the reason they didn’t seem plausible, I have reluctantly come to admit, is because I was ignorant.

Not only was I ignorant, but I simply didn’t want to believe that things could get as ugly economically as they predicted. I have finally come to accept the harsh reality that confronts us. But so many of the people around me, certainly many of you, still haven’t accepted it and understandably so. For the vast majority, what is happening to us, even as we live through and witness it first hand, just doesn’t seem real. It is so surreal, in fact, it often seems like we are living inside a Salvador Dali or a Picasso painting.

In the past two years, I have read and studied more about banking, money and financing, and particularly economics, than I could ever have guessed I would in my wildest dreams. I have become obsessed with it because the more I learn the more I realize how preventable was the magnitude of the current crisis (though not the crisis itself), and unfortunately, how inevitable is the bleakness of our future.

There are three men today whose voices I trust when I hear them speak.

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By Al Coryell
PoHo correspondent

RECESSIONOMICS

Question: We’re not headed into another Great Depression, are we?

Can you see the similarities between the chart patterns above? If I told you the left chart was a prelude to the greatest economic disaster in American history, what would you surmise about the chart on the right?

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By Al Coryell
PoHo correspondent

RECESSIONOMICS

Q: The recession is over, they tell me, and with home prices really, really low, should I go ahead and buy that house I have been ogling for two years?

So you think just because housing prices are at all time lows that they are a good bargain today? Interest rates are low, prices are low, inflation is just around the corner so … now is the perfect time to buy, right?

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!!!!! Listen to me, straight up; if you buy a house today you are a fool. Maybe I shouldn’t put it so strongly — you are a patsy. Want to know why?

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