I am intruiged by this, indicating that on Sept. 18th, $550 Billion was withdrawn in an electronic run on banks, that, had the fed not shut it down upwards of 5 trillion would have been gone and, supposedly, "the end of our economic and political system as we know it."
To paraphrase Seth and Amy... REALLY? Threats were made to Dodd, Schumer and others privy of "martial law". REALLY? I believe 'em, and I get why Dodd & Co. weren't about to let it happen. But... REALLY... wouldn't that have been the best thing for everyone?
In extended...
Right now, we have a Republican party devoid of credibility playing politics with what tiny percentage of the GDP can actually be spent to help people. What would have happened if the system simply, fully collapsed?
I seriously doubt they would institute "martial law"- maybe an "economic martial law" as in freezing all assets valued over x amount. Most companies in the U.S. and the world would be, on paper, insolvent. And, suddenly, all this wealth that has been transferred to the top 1 percent, is completely meaningless. You and I, with our sub-$100,000 FDIC accounts, would be fine. But the massively wealthy, it would all come crashing down. It would be yet another in a series of illustrations beginning with the robber-barons of the late 19th century, that this kind of greed-based-crony-capitalism DOES NOT WORK.
It would also have been the END of the unelected Fed presiding over the U.S. monetary system. Remove monetary policy from the Fed, and place it back in the hands of the people (through the House and Senate), and suddenly when main street suffers, politicians suffer. It changes everything.
It would also be the end of the IMF, etc. as there would be no money left to help deploy crony capitalism to the third world.
People worry about Bush being punished? Bush and his whole lot would have been punished. And good riddance.
Yes, I know we'd have 30% unemployment, and retirees savings and stocks would be wiped out. But I sense that unless and until that happens, this crowd will be back.
So maybe we shoulda let it all go. Let the chips fall. Isn't that what they want? Government to "get out of the way".