And is still going on. Most of the companies they own shares in will disappear, sooner rather than later and the true value of dubious paper assets will finally become apparent. Greatly diminished stock portfolios will not pay the mortgage, or the credit card bills, or the car payments. Being unemployed won t help either. The financial debacle which is unfolding before our eyes will cause a lot of damage.
Bubbles look great on the way up, but are hell on the way down.
This one was substantial, the wealth effect it created was also substantial and the fallout will be no less substantial. What the authorities were doing, apart from being asleep on the job, will remain a mystery for a while. I suspect, then a witch- hunt will begin. Those that have been fortunate to survive the Nasdaq crash and cashed out early are now appearing quite smug. Perhaps it s a bit soon for smugness, since sitting on a pile of cash may look good at present, but what happens when the US dollar finally tops out and joins the decline, the one that will demolish the value of most US dollar denominated assets.