Open Thread

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: is the so-called financial crisis being reported as much worse than it really is in order to help Obama?

Slipping under the radar yesterday was the best pending home sales stat since June 2007. This number was based on August purchases, which means it represents housing activity before this "crisis" hit a head roughly four weeks ago.

Might this suggest that before this recent barrage of bad news consumers were feeling good enough about their own personal finances to make a huge longterm commitment? If that's the case, mightn't this crisis be largely institutional in nature meaning mostly a Wall Street problem that has yet to impact Main Street and might not if quickly solved? Might it also indicate that McCain was actually right weeks ago when he said the fundamentals of the economy are sound?

Is it possible that we will look back on this entire meltdown as more hype than substance much like we do the October 19, 1987, stock market crash?