i am hoping if I ignore it someone else will fix it for me..  Scary times ahead..

Do any of you think the Government should bail out the companies?

If some idiots loaned money to people who can't or never planned on paying it back, then it was a gift.  Let'em sink.  Somebody smarter will pick up the useable pieces and make a go of it. 

It's unfortunate that innocent people will be affected by it, but in my opinion, it will really only affect us back to where we would have been had we not been living artificially wealthy lifestyles.  There's no reason we have to have the excesses that we live with today.  Maybe a little reset on the budget will be good for us.

God will provide.  He's given us gifts ... I've got a supply of ammo, know how to fish, and imthinkin has a green thumb.  Families may actually have to become families again and help support each other.  Neighbors may have to befriend one another.  Government may have to trim back the excess due to lost revenue.  This recession talk isn't sounding so bad.  God has His hand on the situation, so there's hope after all.

Yes.  You're leading up to...no Monster!

I understand your point, but if my husband lost his job because of this, we would lose our health insurance.  I then in turn couldn't afford my medication causing an illness that may require hospitalization etc. etc. etc.  My husbands pay is based solely on commission, no work, no pay.  No pay no money, no money no mortgage payment, no mortgage payment no house.  You see where I am going with this?

I am fairly lucky in that my company has been fairly recession proof over the 50 years they have been in business.  But... it is still scary.  I am torn between should the government bail them out or not.  I am with Fred in that if they made bad loans they should live with it, but since we are talking HUGE organizations the ripple effect will be huge also.   It is my understanding that the great depression in 30's had a similar bail out.  Did history teach us anything?  That time it took years to recover.  Why do "they" think it will be different this time around?

Those who know me, should be astounded at my lack of an opinion on this topic.  That in and of itself is pretty scary!!!!!!!!

In all seriousness, what would happen if the government did nothing and let the nature of business take it's course? I work for a bank. I really do have a vested interest in how this all turns out, but I'm serious. What would happen? I've heard talk of another Great Depression. I've heard that this is the worst drop in the Wall Street history. But I did a bit of research and found the stock market dropped by almost a quarter of it's value in 1987. And we are still here. And then there was the Dot Com bubble in the 90s. We are still here.

Is it not feasible then to think the economy would also recover from this fall, without a bailout? I'm sure it would be very very painful for awhile, but would the world end?

I am genuinely curious. Any thoughts?

In all seriousness, what would happen if the government did nothing and let the nature of business take it's course? I work for a bank. I really do have a vested interest in how this all turns out, but I'm serious. What would happen? I've heard talk of another Great Depression. I've heard that this is the worst drop in the Wall Street history. But I did a bit of research and found the stock market dropped by almost a quarter of it's value in 1987. And we are still here. And then there was the Dot Com bubble in the 90s. We are still here.

Is it not feasible then to think the economy would also recover from this fall, without a bailout? I'm sure it would be very very painful for awhile, but would the world end?

I am genuinely curious. Any thoughts?

I lived through the market crash in 87.  I was a working Joe, me and all the other working joes felt little to no affect.  There were some layoffs in the financial industry, but it didn't carry over to many other industries.  I was 21 so there might have been more that I was not aware of.