Elrico Hurley

I would like to introduce you to the REAL BANK OF THE PEOPLE: The United States of America. Let's take a look. Through our tax dollars we now owns most of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their $5.2 trillion in guarantees/portfolios. WE owns 80% of American International Group's $70 billion or so in "credit default swap" contracts on subprime bonds. (This is not a good thing to own.) WE also own 80% of AIG outright (a $1 trillion company) including a once-top-ranked mortgage insurer, United Guaranty. WE own AIG's two mortgage banking subs, which were shrinking anyway, (not a big deal in the scheme of things.) WE own $30 billion in Bear Stearns' risky bonds. Meanwhile, Congress, Treasury and the Fed's Ben Bernanke are going to write legislation to create a "Mortgage RTC." This strain of the RTC will buy mortgages and bonds no one else wants. Now that WE own Fannie and Freddie, can WE call the shots on foreclosures? You guessed it: Nope! Not on your life! You would probably fire your investment advisor for putting you on the hook and in the tank for all of this debt right? So Wall Street must think that Congress and the Government are nuts right?! WRONG! Thursday and Friday the Dow Jones shot up almost 800 points! Of course, the ban on short selling probably helped a bit.

I just have to wonder how supposedly we have the world's best economic structure regarding capitalism...and yet what is OUR taxpayer dollars going towards? Not education, health care, or job creation...bailing out companies who's "invicibilities shone brighter than the sun in California." Or were they part of the "get extremely wealthy quick schemes?" I'm just curious about one thing though...is the US Government or my state government going to buy me out for millions and billions of dollars if I make a financial mistake running my business? I guess I now have two questions: how can we go overseas and teach other countries our way of global economics as the only way...when obviously our system can't completely handle the race to invent the new global economy itself?!

Don't You Dare Call Them Old!

Don't You Dare Call Them "Old"
Baby boomers and silver surfers are still rockin' online.

Many marketers, particularly online, concentrate on reaching younger users. But that could be a multibillion-dollar mistake. Overall, older Americans make up the most affluent segment of the US population. And they are online.

"Internet usage by baby boomers-and over-60s-is projected to continue rising well into the future," says Paul Verna, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, Baby Boomers and Silver Surfers: Two Generations Online. "Coupled with the discretionary income they have at hand, this creates an irresistible opportunity for online marketers."
eMarketer projects that, over the next five years, the number of US baby boomers who use the Internet at least once a month will grow by more than 5 million, from 58.2 million in 2006 to 63.7 million in 2011.

"Baby boomers are diverse, notoriously difficult to pigeonhole and sometimes overlooked by marketers, who are generally more interested in catering to younger and more active consumers of goods, services and media," says Mr. Verna. "But boomers wield enormous economic clout and are increasingly turning to online and mobile channels for a wide variety of needs, including e-commerce, financial services, travel, entertainment, health and wellness information, news and user-generated content."
Silver surfers, or over-60s, are also a large segment of the US Internet population, growing from 17.7 million Internet users in 2006 to 25.3 million by 2011.

"Silver surfers-also known as ‘the silent generation'-are also typically passed over by online marketers because most of them reached retirement age before computers and broadband access became ubiquitous in homes and offices, so their online habits are not as ingrained as those of their younger counterparts," says Mr. Verna. "Nevertheless, their spending power and growing presence online should serve as a wake-up call to marketers who might have their sights set elsewhere."

Over-60s may not be as numerous or influential online as younger generations, but they are determined to use the Web to further a broad range of interests, hobbies and professions.
"And what no marketer should forget," says Mr. Verna, "is that these two demographic groups have money to spend-lots of it."

Taking boomers as an example, The Conference Board found that boomers, on average, have more discretionary income than any other segment of the US population-over $24,000 a year per household.

"To focus on younger demographics at the exclusion of boomers and over-60s, as some marketers have done, is to miss a potentially huge opportunity to tap into a large, vibrant, diverse and fast-growing segment of the US Internet population," says Mr. Verna.