Ben Stein was wrong ,,,,We Should have let the Banks and AIG fail

Since I do speaking and some writing on economic theory and the future I was recently asked, "what if we had done NOTHING at all last fall" Should we have let banks, insurance companies and auto companies fail.

The answer is actually yes. It would have been catastrophic. Bad thing would have happened:

• The stock market would have collapsed to 3000
• Millions and millions would have been out of work
• Our economy would have looked weak and we would have been vulnerable as a result
• Life savings for most Americans would have been wiped out.
• Our currency would have become worthless.
• Credit would have stopped and our banking system would have been in disarray
  
• Social security would consist of checks that have no value
• All international trust in our soundness as a nation would be lost.
• People would despair.
• Anger and uprising would be just below the surface.

The depths of that would be about NOW. The pain would have been short, deep, painful and over.

We would now be on the road to recovery.

Instead we are going to prolong the pain. Everything outlined above will happen anyway. If you knew you had to have all fingernails pulled off, all of them, do you want one a month for ten months or do you want it done and over and by now your fingernails would be healing up.

We chose the long version. The pain is just begun.

I would have rather taken our lumps and got this thing over with.

Instead, its a fingernail today, then one next month, then one the month after that......