Although only a few students own stocks in anything, there's nothing wrong with staying informed. Last week, the stock market took a plunge whose effects surprised the nation. There's a funny thing about the crash though, it was influenced by the Asian stock markets.
The Asian stock market, the Shanghai market in particular, took a plunge. The Shanghai index dropped 9%. Luckily, the crash was not that serious, considering the fact that their stock market is about one-fifth the size of the American stock market. The crash has made us face an interesting issue: do Americans truly control the stock market and the American economy in general?
The U.S. Government has put out a lot of bonds, like IOU's, to finance its many programs since taxes do not cover the American expenditures. The problem with that is that the IOU's collect interest and can be cashed in too. If there was an emergency, the bonds could serve as economic weapons. Cashing in the bonds, many of which are held by foreign interests, like foreign (read, "Asian" in this little analysis) companies, could certainly startle and shake the American economy. We must prepare for this disaster by buying gold and stashing food and water (just kidding).
People have lost confidence in the stock market and the American economy in general. We must realize that although there are certainly days of loss in the stock market, like the incident last week or Black Friday, the stock market, in the long run, increases and grows. Foreign interest and governments have no interest in destroying the American economy. Rest assured, we might see dramatic drops in the economy, but we will always live to see another day of buying, selling, and consuming in general.
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