October 10, 2008
It has been some time since I posted a new blog. I will be posting more as the days come.
Today I was thinking about my childhood and the Great Depression. That seems likely given that the stock market is falling drastically this past week. One website asked people to share their memories and current experiences. (Ireport). What the current news channels are focusing on primarily is making the banks safe. That seems so old-hat to me. Things have changed so much since people primarily put their savings in banks. When I was younger, that is what we did.
But then IRAs came along, and 401-K plans. Most of those require that one "invest." Therefore I would expect that most people's major savings today are not in banks, but rather in the market.
And what I am experiencing is a great loss in my hard-earned savings! Poof! They are quickly disappearing.
The Federal system that has repeatedly lowered interest earnings has encouraged people to invest in the market. One local bank in which I have a savings account only pays 1/2% interest. How does that encourage people to save in a bank? The inflation percentage is higher than that!
Therefore all the talk today about "protecting" people's savings in banks seems mostly wasted talk. No wonder that the citizens are anxious.
People my age do remember the Great Depression. I was a child, so my perspective was, of course, that of a child. People lost their homes because they lost their jobs. My parents lost their first home and we lived with my grandparents for 3 years. I recall as well Halloweens in those times. We didn't say "trick or treat" but rather "help the poor." Even during the WWII years, Halloween was rather sparse. Some families gave out homemade cookies, or occasionally apples. The best Halloween "treat" in my neighborhood was given out by the Czech couple that lived behind us. The man worked at Strough's Beer company, a company that also made ice cream bars. He would bring home a big box of ice cream bars packed in dry ice and give those out at Halloween. That was the best! What a treat!
I'll be getting back to this blog to discuss more important issues soon. Thanks to anybody who might read this.
It has been some time since I posted a new blog. I will be posting more as the days come.
Today I was thinking about my childhood and the Great Depression. That seems likely given that the stock market is falling drastically this past week. One website asked people to share their memories and current experiences. (Ireport). What the current news channels are focusing on primarily is making the banks safe. That seems so old-hat to me. Things have changed so much since people primarily put their savings in banks. When I was younger, that is what we did.
But then IRAs came along, and 401-K plans. Most of those require that one "invest." Therefore I would expect that most people's major savings today are not in banks, but rather in the market.
And what I am experiencing is a great loss in my hard-earned savings! Poof! They are quickly disappearing.
The Federal system that has repeatedly lowered interest earnings has encouraged people to invest in the market. One local bank in which I have a savings account only pays 1/2% interest. How does that encourage people to save in a bank? The inflation percentage is higher than that!
Therefore all the talk today about "protecting" people's savings in banks seems mostly wasted talk. No wonder that the citizens are anxious.
People my age do remember the Great Depression. I was a child, so my perspective was, of course, that of a child. People lost their homes because they lost their jobs. My parents lost their first home and we lived with my grandparents for 3 years. I recall as well Halloweens in those times. We didn't say "trick or treat" but rather "help the poor." Even during the WWII years, Halloween was rather sparse. Some families gave out homemade cookies, or occasionally apples. The best Halloween "treat" in my neighborhood was given out by the Czech couple that lived behind us. The man worked at Strough's Beer company, a company that also made ice cream bars. He would bring home a big box of ice cream bars packed in dry ice and give those out at Halloween. That was the best! What a treat!
I'll be getting back to this blog to discuss more important issues soon. Thanks to anybody who might read this.
posted by Booktalk Gayl at 8:34 AM
1 Comments:
Hello Gayl, I just found that Phenomenews has ceased publication. I always enjoyed reading your book reviews and trusted them. I miss our monthly communication although they were one sided. I hope that we can communicate online.
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