Are We Seeing A Repeat Of 1929?
Partially because of the rapid growth in telecommunications and Information Technology we have seen growth parameters including the GDP rising continuously during the 1990’s any beyond. While economic indicators are naturally cyclical, the recent sharp declines on the global scale have far exceeded the expectations of economic experts analysts. In Asia as well as Europe and the USA these declines have been the steepest since 1929.
This unfortunate and however remarkable incident has proved the need of redefining and re-strengthening the current financial chemistry. For instance the biggest bail out package, cuts in CRR up to 150 bps have proved itself insufficient to prevent the steep fall in stock indexes across different global exchanges.
For instance the experts comments over the fall of one of the largest banks in US the Lehman Brothers is said to be a calculated and well predicted with time. The policies, strategy, pay role to the employees, exposure to in-calculated field, mortgages over last decade clearly indicates a poor management and policies adopted by the company. If these were so much visible to the experts then why action were not take with time? similar kind of stories lies beneath the fall of other biggies too. These have made many investors, employees and IT companies to shut down the shop or making them bankrupt.
The question arises here is how long and how many times a country or banks would be able to prevent these debacle? Is our strategy of investment or portfolio being adopted is healthy enough to promise a sustainable growth rate. Surprisingly the recent G7 meeting couldn’t find out feasible solutions.
Ironically at the present juncture economies like China and US who always stand Back to Back have without joining their had are trying their level best to save their economy which in turn, though un-intentional is helping other countries to recover from the same.
Financial rescue packages will not necessarily help the investor in the short term except perhaps to put a brake on the losses. Assuming it will take some time for financlial institutions and other affected organizations to get their houses in order, the investor must review his or her own investment strategies in hopes of regaining a pattern of sustainable growth.
So it is really up to the political leaders of the affected countries to step up and cooperate in finding the means not only to reverse the current situation but to prevent a reoccurrence as well. Until that happens the small investor, and perhaps the large investor as well, needs to be very cautions as to where they are putting their money.
All to often when we read the news about the plunging stock market we may feel unaffected unless we ourselves are players in the market. What is not always so apparent is the slowdown in the economy, noticeable loss of jobs and lowering of wages resulting from loss of share values. The average citizen needs to be aware of the effects of what is going on in the marketplace on his or her own well being. The road to recovery isn’t just about saving major financial institutions but also about educating the average citizen about what this all can mean to him or her.