The 2008 Financial Crisis

That's what future generations of people will say when they refer to the financial conundrum we are in now. Because it's apparently worse than the Great Depression in the 1930s! :O

I can see parallels and similarities between the two and why it's considered worse but I cannot seem to believe that I'm living through it now. Hmmm, maybe I romanticize it too much. But it's scary all the same and frightening to the financial industry, regardless what country you're in.

Lehman Brothers has collasped, bringing with it many companies who are shareholders and have purchased bonds from Lehman. And it's shocking, to say the least, watching a major bank -- a huge player in the financial world -- file for bankruptcy protection overnight. The modern financial system is shaped such that when one key domino falls, everyone else will be affected, with a variety of detrimental effects. Likewise, when that key player makes money, everyone will be affected, in this case, positively.

So with AIG (thinks of Man U! Lol.) presumably is quite a big shareholder (I haven't checked!) of Lehman, it is undergoing a huge crisis now. The (Bush) government has refused to bail it out and the Wall Street companies are desperately trying to save it. Because the consequences and complications of it collapsing are unimaginable. AIG = one of the, if not the largest insurance company in the world. Bah, even my family has AIG insurance. And not to mention a large percentage of the American people (life insurance, health, car, house, etc). So the effects will launch the markets into a maelstrom. It's quite scary actually. And I'm sure the American government has not done anything to prevent this from happening since the BearSterns collaspe! Gah! Stupid Republicans in the stupid White House. The next 24 hours till Wednesday are crucial for the survival of AIG apparently. ... I wonder if anyone will pick up the phone if I call and ask stupid questions? Ahaha.

Funnily enough, I have a feeling all this rubbish can be elegantly attributed to human greed. See, we learnt our mistakes in the 1930s and increased risk management and financial controls of banks after the Great Depression. But soon money calls and everything is abandoned gradually, resulting in the full-scale catastrophe that is laid before our eyes. (cue dramatic music) It's a cycle that goes on and on I think. So in 70 years time, we shall see another one of these grace the Earth.

Ah, humanity. The irony. .... Someone must be laughing at us from outer space or something.

OH yeah, these are just my rantings/musing btw, don't take it too seriously. They're fairly simple, naive and somewhat childish. My mergre research on this is still very preliminary so maybe not everything I say is true. Lol. Go read! I think it's a pretty rare thang happening here.

Moving on to other news, Sarah Palin is proving to be worse than George W. Bush. Oh yes. And you thought no one could surpass that idiot. But that's for another day.