Beware friends; we are not out of the financial wilderness yet. Despite what we are being told we are very close, once again, to financial destruction worldwide.
If this is worrisome, as Al Jolson sang, “You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet”. What is happening in the United States and especially Greece as I write this could be far worse! In the United States the Senate is debating (translated arguing) about raising the debt ceiling of $14 trillion so that the American government can continue doing business. Without raising this ceiling, the public employees, pensioners, and unemployed will not be paid. And for the world economy the United States will be in default of their bonds and debts around the world. At present it is strictly a political tug-of-war, with the Republicans wanting to cut costs and the Democrats wanting tax increases. Both sides are pandering to their political base in this colossal game of chicken. They are likely to come to some kind of agreement as soon as one side blinks. If they don’t, the United States faces concern by investors as to how reliable their treasury bills and bonds will be in the future. In the interim, stock markets are fluctuating because of the uncertainty. This could have major implications on the world financial markets. Fortunately for the United States their financial fate is in their own hands. The same cannot be said about Greece.
Events in Egypt and throughout the Mideast have dominated the news headlines. The popular revolt in Egypt against President Hosni Mubarak is especially important, since his regime is the only one in the Mideast that has a peace agreement with the Israeli state. The calls for “democracy” and free elections sound innocent, even moral, yet the leading Egyptian faction is the Muslim Brotherhood, with ties to the Palestinian radical movement. This faction has been labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. As I write, Mubarak has already announced that he will not run for re-election in September, and over a million protestors in the streets are demanding his immediate abdication. The United States has provided one and a half billion dollars in annual aid to Egypt to help strengthen the regime there and ensure its peaceful intentions toward their neighbor, the Jewish state. It is now clear, however, that no amount of money will keep Mubarak in power. Christian observers are rightly wondering where this will all lead to?