Well, did the Federal Reserve do the right thing this past week, lowering interest rates by a full half percent? Who knows--the market had an initially strong reaction. It seems to me that, other than facing an unusually large number of mortgages due for a rate change in the next twelve months, the interest rate has had nothing to do with the so-called subprime mortgage crisis. That is based on loose lending standards, not the interest rate charged. If you have 1st mortgages at near-100% of appraised value, it is the lender's fault for being so careless with their depositors' money--not the rate.

It looks like the next round of presidential elections in the United States will most likely lead to some sort of universal health care here. All the candidates seem to be promising some form of this in one way or the other. My only exposure to universal health care was when I lived in Finland nearly two decades ago. We went to the emergency room one evening, which was packed with a crowd I would estimate at at least 200. We got to the front of the line with a strategic advantage--we only spoke English. I'll bet some of those poor suffering souls are still sitting there.

I cannot figure out gasoline prices--they are truly in a supply/demand world all their own. Oil tops USD 80 per barrel, yet pump prices of gasoline are no where near their highs of earlier in the summer.