A Silver Lining

An economic crisis is gripping the nation, and threatening to spread globally. Eight years (some say longer) of lax regulation in the financial markets has led inevitably to widespread greed and corruption. Almost a million Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure, and millions have seen their retirement accounts shrink to almost nothing.

The silver lining that I see is that finally, FINALLY, the incredibly ridiculous trickle-down, Reaganomics, free-market economic theories that have ruled our financial lives for so long will die. It has now been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans does not create jobs or grow the economy. It simply makes the rich richer and leaves the rest of us with the crumbs. It is now obvious that deregulation and leaving the markets to run themselves offers too much temptation to a greedy few who would take advantage of the many to enrich themselves.

It will be an extremely painful lesson, and a long one. But with a new president who is focussed on the needs of the middle class over those of the ever-increasing number of billionaires, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A new green economy, the restoration of essential regulation, increases in the minimum wage, and other proposals can't come fast enough.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, George!