Two Ways To Play-Kevin Depew of Minyanville.
Thursday, March 12, 2009SUZANNE PRATT: Who's to blame when it comes to the worst recession since World War II? Tonight's two ways to play has some answers. Here's Minyanville's Kevin Depew and Kevin Depew of Minyanville.
KEVIN DEPEW, MINYANVILLE: As we adjust to a harsher economic reality, everyone is getting a turn in the blame light. First there was the quantitative analysts, the quants as they're known on Wall Street, financial engineers who promised they could unlock the secrets of the market using mathematics and physics. Now it's the economists' turn. Having been so wrong for so long, many are beginning to question the so-called dismal science. "Newsweek" magazine recently suggesting we're seeing an overall decline in economic expertise. Perhaps it's true. Like the old joke goes, how many economists does it take to change a light bulb? Seven, plus or minus 10. I'm sorry but this isn't about a decline in economic expertise. There's simply a decline in common sense coupled with the hubris to believe we can always fix things. But we're not living in an episode of "McGuyver." One of the best characteristics of Americans, our inherent optimism, can sometimes be one of our worst, masking the truth that not every ending is happy. Not all problems get solved. Not everyone can be rich. Today, what we need more than new economic tools and forecasts, is to grow up and accept reality. As a society we took on too much debt and now it's time to pay it back.
