The World Pays for Eight Years of Republican Economics

I don't write about economic issues for a simple reason. I can't offer unique insights or useful correctives to the economic media, and I don't want to offer people financial advise when I am not qualified to do so. It's not indifference that leads me to avoid commenting on economic trends, but humility. Like John McCain, my understanding of complex financial markets and instruments is limited. Since I became a full-time political blogger, my knowledge of economic trends has atrophied dramatically, as I no longer have time to peruse business and investment literature.


But, today I have to make an exception. Today is no ordinary day. The Stock Market is tumbling with news that Lehman Brothers has gone into liquidation and Merrill Lynch has been bought up by Bank of America. America is sneezing and the world is catching the flu, as international markets match our slide. Industrial output in August was the lowest since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in September 2005. Corn and soybean crops are suffering from sustained drought, and that will create inflationary pressure on commodities. Nearly a third of the nation's top executives are looking to cut jobs in the coming months.