You know what? I bank at WaMu. I didn’t even bother to move my checking account, EVEN after I read that WaMu had a 2 out of 99 (or whatever it was) a couple of weeks ago. I trust that FDIC coverage means something. Besides, most of my cash is in my credit union account; WaMu is just where I keep my checking. So today I log on to check my balance (having heard that WaMu finally bit it) and I’m directed to JPMorgan Chase. They’ve bought my bank account. Everything is fine. If I had over 100k, it would still be fine. (Boy, would it, but I guess that’s not the point) My direct deposit? No problem; I don’t have to change a thing.
There is NO OTHER country in the world where this would happen (well, okay, the British Pound is really strong for a reason). I have a Portuguese classmate from high school whose parents used to be rich and are now middle class because their money was in a SWISS bank that failed. A Swiss bank!!! We take so much for granted. Don’t get me wrong; I worry about the erosion of our civil liberties under the stupid brat who smirks from the Oval Office. I worry about the insane lending practices that screwed us big-time (not to mention the until very recently ever-increasing moral imperative to overspend or be considered less of a human). I worry about our grotesque infant mortality rate, and the fact that people still starve in a country where everyone I know routinely throws away food. And I worry about our apparent refusal to comprehend that we can’t all drive giant vehicles any time we want to go anywhere. (Really! It isn’t feasible.)
But still– 6% unemployment and we consider it a recession? 20th Century economists set full employment at somewhere between 93 and 98 percent, meaning 2-7% unemployment constitutes full employment. I’ll quote an English guy I dated a couple of times: “You Americans have no idea what a recession is. Recession is: you lose your job; you lose your house. Everyone you know loses their job, loses their house.” It’s so true. We need a good president, definitely. We need responsible citizens who live within their means. We need corporations that don’t knowingly operate on Ponzi schemes. But we’re still really freaking lucky.
