And these are the Days of Our Lives…
Reality TV? The looming default. The deadlines (August 2? August 10?). The soaring VIX. The reach for aspirin and antacid. The Boehner Bill vs. the Reid Bill. The hope for a bipartisan agreement. The shifting landscape: when, what, who, how? The fear of implications: for Social Security, jobs, 401K, mortgage interest rates. The threat of a stranglehold on fragile economic growth. The likely downgrading of U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA. The Dow’s worst weekly decline in almost a year.
The need for unbiased news – and explanations. The frantic search for safe haven – gold? cash? corporate bonds? – or inertia? The grab for the Business Section – and someone to translate. The end of the fantasy of any sort of reasonable plan to retire…
The erosion of faith and the lack of control. The difficulty distinguishing what to expect from what to worry about. The stress of trying to prepare for the unpredictable. The reactions to looming but poorly understood threat. Free-floating anxiety, summer of 2011 style. Is it any wonder that anxiety seems to have gone through the roof? Crashed through the debt ceiling, as it were?
Copyright © 2011 Marlin S. Potash. All rights reserved.
