BIGGEST BANK IN USA BAILED OUT BY MIDDLE EASTERN INVESTMENT

Wow, just when I didn't think things could get overtly worse, Citibank, the largest bank in the US, gets an investment from some folks in Dubai to the tune of 7.5 billion USD. At least, that's what a November 27, 2007 article from AP.org available at MyWay.com reported. What I don't get here is why no one in the press is really freaking out because of this. Sure, the article's main point is that Citibank rebounded on Wall Street, so, everything's cool, right?

Wrong.

If the biggest bank in the US can falter once, it can falter again and who knows if it can do worse than falter? Our economy is tanking, even more so now thanks to the failing mortgage market. This is actually what brought on Citibank's troubles. However, before the AP reported about the Dubai investment, they reported that a "New Wave of Mortgage Failures Could Create a Nightmare Economic Scenario." Check out this cutting from a November 24, 2007 article from AP.org available at Biz.Yahoo.com:

Soaring mortgage default rates this year already have shaken major financial institutions and the fallout from more of them, some experts say, could spread from those already battered banks into the general economy.

The worst-case scenario is anyone's guess, but some believe it could become very bad.

"We haven't faced a downturn like this since the Depression," said Bill Gross, chief investment officer of PIMCO, the world's biggest bond fund. He's not suggesting anything like those terrible times -- but, as an expert on the global credit crisis, he speaks with authority.

"Its effect on consumption, its effect on future lending attitudes, could bring us close to the zero line in terms of economic growth," he said. "It does keep me up at night."

What's scary is that we already have data to confirm one bad thing that guy predicted. He said this sort of economic crisis could have a bad "effect on consumption." Now, I'm no economist, but I'm pretty sure that means "buying stuff." Turns out Black Friday sales are actually higher than expected, that according to a November 28, 2007 article at PublicBroadcasting.net. What does that mean? It means, on the surface, that people aren't letting this economic-downturn-stuff get to them and they're spending anyway.

It also means that people aren't preparing for the future. Sure, a record number of mortgages are defaulting, but does that mean you should stop racking up debt?

Uh, actually, YES.

It means you should stop spending and start planning for the long term. But no one wants to face reality these days. They just want to cling to their Xboxes and their false illusions about their SUVs and excessive lifestyles. After all, we're using up 140% of the Earth's resources just for food. But hey, that's not important. Hillary insulting Obama is way more exciting!

Or are you following Paris Hilton's exploits?

Either way we need to get greener fast.

The Environment™, it's that thing you're living in--and we can't save it if our economy is a mess.

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