The Economist recently pointed out that our housing woes are actually much worse than the previous worst: 1932.  What that newspaper did not point out, however, is the difference in how our economy functions between then and now.  Home ownership was much less common then; today it is the backbone of family finance.

Hungry people living in tent cities tend not to be very rational.  Yet we had better start thinking/working our way out of this with a great deal of rationality.  And by that i do not mean foisting the problems off on younger generations.

Every time I read something like this, I am SO GLAD my wife and I sold our house in San Francisco and emigrated in 2006, when homes and the U.S. dollar still had some value. We did it mainly because we didn’t want to keep paying taxes for President Cheney’s genocide. But we also saw that the housing bubble would burst and the U.S. economy would implode.

We weren’t sure, and we hoped we were just being alarmist, because we envision some baaaaaad things happening. So far, our predictions have been borne out. I’d mention what else we expect to happen in the U.S., but it would be too depressing. All I can say is, have some food and water set aside, and be sure you know which friends you can depend on. And make a plan for what you will do when it hits the fan…