Next Great Depression or Next Great Boondoggle?

Get in on the top floor of the Next Big Bailout!

Its the end of the world, the economy is in ruins, the spectre of the Next Great Depression looms. Unless, of course you are on the 'take' end of the apparently inevitable bailout. The old feeder has been out of town for a few days, but all I heard on the TV and radio is that this credit crunch, combined with the collapse of the Fannie and Freddie mortgage rackets threatens another depression.

I cant' see it. The stock market hasn't collapsed. Gasoline prices continue to decrease. I still get junk mail from banks offering to lend me stupendous amounts of money for sub-prime rates.

The best analysis I've seen so far is at the Marginal Revolution. Read these posts: Where is the Credit Crunch?; Questions that are rarely asked; and A Supply Side Approach to the Crisis for a view that is a bit less dramatic than the one pumped up by the slavering media and our presidential contenders.
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If WaMu is going broke, how come I got an offer from them in today's mail to lend me $10,000 at 1.66% interest, said rate guaranteed through June, 2009? If I deposit the enclosed check, the money will be mine. Of course, the only reason I get such offers is that I have always paid these types of loans back promptly. But at the offered rate, I could hedge inflation by putting the loan proceeds into a CD.
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Them as are going broke from making bad investments or ill-advised loans should suck it up on their own. Let them sing along with John Lee Hooker: Serves me right to suffer.
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A bit of comfort and perspective from via Genevieve at Prairie Bluestem:

Capitalism is not the free world.
Capitalism is a term devised by Marxists to describe what they thought were the worst aspects of our freedom.
We should never let any corporation or bank or computer company pose as the embodiment of our freedom.

James Healy, The Heelers Diaries.