A Woman’s Guide to Our Crisis of Confidence & a Circus of Pundits

Things are tough.  There’s no doubt about it. 

Unemployment is growing, 401(k) plans are shrinking, housing prices are falling and banks aren’t lending money even after We the People gave them about $300 billion. 

We’re mad about the bonuses that were paid to brokers at Merrill Lynch after part of that $300 billion went to bail it out.  We’re mad at the Treasury Secretary nominee for not paying his employment taxes.  We’re mad at the people who were supposed to be policing the financial system that didn’t see Bernard Madoff coming.  We’re collectively in a VERY bad economic mood.

Who could blame us?

In a recent five-part series, I tried to put these issues into historic perspective.  Our unemployment rate, for example, is higher than it was at the peak of the 2001 recession, but is not nearly as high as it was at the peak of the recession in the early 80’s.  And both the capital and real estate markets are actually working off excesses in a “bubble” produced by extraordinary demand pushing prices to unsustainable levels.  While these economic times are unpleasant to live through, they are not new, and history shows that the US economy is extraordinarily resilient, and has definitely survived worse. 

Responses to these articles reflected our bad economic mood.  While I expressed no opinion, just data to show where we were with some perspective, responses were venomous. 

·         “Oh, you think we’re fine, do you?  Well, let me tell YOU something. . .”   

·         “Warren Buffett is buying?  Well, good for Warren.  I don’t have one extra cent, and if I did, I wouldn’t give it to those crooks.” 

And so on.

No one with thirty years of financial experience, especially a woman, is a fragile little hummingbird egg.  I’ve fielded angrier questions than these.  But, now that I’m (semi) retired, the one component that I don’t have is my clients’ singular, quirky, witty and laser-sharp point of view. 

Generally, my clientele were creative people: writers, directors, art directors, entertainment attorneys and the like.  They were young, successful, enthusiastic – and extraordinarily witty.  During the days of the dot com bubble, I refused to allow them to buy so-called dot come businesses with little more than a shoddy business plan and a slick presentation.  Others, who did, mocked my clients, waving their bloated brokerage statements and went on and on about their plans for early retirement, fast cars and young blonde consorts.   One of my clients, a writer, said to me, “I don’t think it’s good that all these 30 year olds become multi-millionaires, Kitty.  No good can come of that.”