"WHAT DOES "FED PUMPS $68 BILLION INTO BANKING SYSTEM" ACTUALLY MEAN?"
 
I am not a financial guru. But I have gained in knowledge through the school of hard knocks and the experience of managing my own retirement portfolio for the past 20 years. As with all investment choices, there will some good ones, and some bad ones. Though I do not consider myself a Bogleite, I do tend toward the conservative side of investment decisions. This approach has worked out very well for millions of Americans who have invested in this man's financial approach through the Vanguard Group of investment. What is scary in our day, is the ability we have, through the Internet, to pick up on anyone's advice, and accept it as true. I checked out the article through the link provided, and, as I read, just shook my head.
 
Though the problems we have in our financial system are serious problems, to declare that "the sky is falling" is not only not true, but such extremism tends to exacerbate the depth of the problems we are presently experiencing.
 
Take, for example, the short sited conclusion of lowering the interest rates! Lowering the interest rates to provide easy money is actually one of the contributing factors that got us into this problem: That along with a middle-class that wants to live beyond its means, living in houses that 40 years ago would have been considered the ultimate in luxury, and driving around in cars that cost as much as a house cost forty years ago. What happened to focusing on raising children and teaching them by example that raising a family means first and foremost living within one's means.
 
Take a look at exactly where a good portion of the cry  for lowering interest rates is coming from? Some of those who are clamoring the loudest are in the group who placed all their "eggs" into the most volatile of investment vehicles - that of equities - stocks. Why such clamoring? They know that easy money could possibly reverse the trend and cause those cherished eggs that vanished from their portfolios in a matter of months to reappear. Luckily we have a FED chairman with more wisdom than some are willing to give him credit for. His response was exactly the opposite of a knee jerk approach that would compound the problem in the long term. He chose to inject money into the financial system to provide some NEEDED short term liquidity.
 
I am not going to make a lengthy thesis out of this. But I did check out a few of the links in the article - to examine their validity. Overall, I was not impressed. I'll address just the one on hyperinflation. Taking a third world country's financial woes, and using to make a comparison to of one of the soundest and most stable economies in the world, is like comparing a used car on a dealer's lot with 100,000 miles on it to the brand new one sitting next to it. But hey! in life, some people, after listening to the salesman's pitch do buy the former; even though it won't last long, and has no warranty.
 
I do sense there is a whole lot more of emotion and misguided conclusions in the article than sound reason and facts. But this is not surprising. Just as the Bible declares, the world is becoming more and more engrossed with the lusts of the flesh. As these lusts continue to overwhelm the behavior patterns of the people in our societies, the result is a foregone conclusion: If these people's lusts are not satiated, the emotions of the flesh will naturally follow on the heels of unmet expectations; being manifest through mistrust, disappointment, and anger.
 
I don't have a quick answer for all those involved in this crisis - those who stand to lose their American Dream. We all go through a most precious thing called life. As we do, we are supposed to become wiser as we gain in experience. This process is often referred to as the school of "hard knocks." Why? Learning valuable lessons can be, and often is, a costly process. Indeed, in some cases where the wrong decision is made, the affects can and do follow for an entire life. I guess the main point I am trying to make is that with regard to the present financial volatility, the sky is not falling. It is part of a world system that always has had, and always will have, its ups and downs, its valleys and peaks, its bulls and bears. I will offer this: I encourage and pray, that those who have, or will, sustain financial loss, might gain in wisdom to see that the American Dream is just one of a multitude of enticements Satan offers to draw us away from Christ. (I say this from my one bedroom apt.) The more we learn to trust Christ, and repose in Him, the better we are able to weather the storms of this world's adversities.
 
Perspective is what is really needed when the FED pumps 68 billion into the banking system. The question is, "Do you have it?" Christ offers perspective; there is only blindness without Him.
 
Your brother,
 
Sentinel