Sam, maybe what we are missing is momentum…the basic law of physics that an object once moving will continue in the same direction until met by an equal and opposite force. If we think like materialists with only money in mind, growth is the only justification for happiness, so why not join the exuberance instead of being chronically pessimistic with pessimism’s inevitable self-fulfilling prophecies that would prove us right once again. Maybe it is realists that keep making bad things happen! If everything unwinds (today I read it is becoming de rigeur to borrow money to buy back stock and pay off loans and reward stockholders with dividends increasing the already high degree of leveraging) then I guess they can blame people like us!

G.Benjamin Bingham
July 2, 2007