Tom Walker wrote:
>
> I
> guess I'm becoming frustrated with the complacency of "waiting for the
> bubble to burst". The reason the bubble won't burst is that if the stock
> market falls violently, we will be called upon by governments to make
> tremendous sacrifices to pump it back up again.
I'm waiting too! And governments can't make chicken salad out of chicken
----.
When the bear re-appears, it will not go away quickly IMHO. Savings
accounts have become mutual fund accts. People will think hard & long
before jumping back in.
> We are told by classical economic analysis that the money that
> goes into the market is "discretionary" -- a free choice between consumption
> or savings. That is a lie.
Some is, some isn't.
> Money going into the market is compelled to do so by the tax code. The
> choice is not between consumption or savings but between paying higher taxes
> on current income or deferring receipt of that income in hopes of reducing
> the total tax bite (pensions, RRSPs, 401Ks, etc.).
The composition of the retirement accounts is *not* limited to stocks. The
money can go into bank deposits, corporate, municipal, or national gov't
bonds, real estate trusts,
mortgages, commodity funds, etc.
Steve Kurtz
