Slow Motion Express

A Must Read about the economy from Larry Reinhart.

"But what was most extraordinary, to me, was how long it seemed to take. How time slowed while we slid forward and sideways, heading onto the shoulder, then past it...it seemed as if we had all the time in the world, yet there was nothing we could do to get off the ice, alter the trajectory, slow down...nothing...until we crashed.

As I read the economics news, I'm having that exact same sensation, that we're in a slow motion crash. Each week, sometimes daily, we slide by a new warning sign, by another wreck that's already off the road. The new one is Lehman Brothers. Before that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Before that Bear Stearns. In August, "one in every 416 U.S. households entered the foreclosure process." In spite of a 2005 law that made personal bankruptcies more difficult and that allows creditors to squeeze money out of people even after they've gone bankrupt, personal bankruptcy rates are soaring. General Motors stock has been trading at 1950s prices. Like GM, Ford is laying off thousands of workers. Both of them are asking for federal assistance to survive. Pension funds are routinely failing.

Then there are my personal experiences."

Bullet Time writ large.