Monday, September 22, 2008

The Harper Fix

Has the financial crisis got you down? Feeling blue over all the red ink crossing the stock ticker tape?

Just give a listen on WUWF-FM radio every Friday afternoon to the congenitally optimistic Rick Harper, economist at the Haas Center for Business and Economic Development on the Pensacola campus of the University of West Florida. He's cheaper than anti-depressants.

The charming thing about Dr. Harper (he's not a real doctor -- just a Ph.D.) is that he always sees the bright side. If your house were to burn to the ground, he'd see value in the glowing embers-- charcoal is wonderful for barbecues, don't you know.

Early last Friday morning, he proclaimed:
Well, the FED and the Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission now have the tools that they need to handle the crisis. So, I don't think we're at any risk of turning into a massive bank failure scenario.
We felt better right away. However, after Treasury Secretary Paulson announced later that same day that he needed a $700 billion blank check to save western civilization, we needed another Harper fix.

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