Scheudenfraude is an ugly word--in any language

You are absolutely right Elizabeth! I had only one thought as I watched these poor folk walking from their offices with those cardboard boxes …. "There but for the grace of God go I”.

This was certainly a very hard week, and must have worried everybody who understands a bit about economy. And we all know the trouble is not over yet. The 700 or so billions to be poured in by the US government will have to come from somewhere, probably it will be a combination of open or hidden tax increases, budget reductions more or less hurting everybody, and simply printing more money thus driving inflation.

So reasonable people will probably refrain from Schadenfreude (a pretty difficult German word) and continue to worry ...

But it may be appropriate to contemplate a bit about the role of Wallstreet. Many more hard working blue and white collar workers have lost their jobs in the past, sometimes just because some analysts wanted to see higher profits ...

Of course we need well functioning markets, also financial markets. But war is too important to leave it only to the generals, and economy is too important to leave it only to a bunch of traders.