Count blessings as we are alive in this world.(added comment to the title above)
No matter where you bought stocks in 2008 -from San Paulo(visited in 1997) to Tokyo(visited in 1984) -you couldn't escape feeling that you were trapped in what one analyst called a contest of losers. The ripples fanned out from the United States: the housing market tanked, banks collapsed, credit markets froze - and recessions set in around the globe. Global stocks combined fell 48% for the year. "Everyone got treated with equal disregard," said Michael Woolfolk,senior currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon. The stock market gyrations were so chaotic in Russia - down 72% - that trading was halted several times.
Of Bailouts and Rebates, Bankruptcy and Job Lines: The numbers are huge and the pain is great. Here are a few telling figures from a tough year.
$61,871 Maximum amount the bailout could cost each taxpaper,based on 139 million tax returns filed last year.
$600 Maximum rebate check paid to individuals as part of economic stimulus program.
11.7 million Households that owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, according to Zillow.com
2.7 million of unemployed since December 2007,according to Department of Labor.
Source: Bloomberg.
Data from China are not available for comparisons but such figures would be less for sure due to lifestyles.
Francis Shieh a.k.a. Xie Shihao,a reader of Washington Post to share such figures with readers of Sino-American Economics. January 2, 2009 at 2.45 p.m.
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