Me on Finance and Investing

Well, I in no stretch of the imagination would considered myself well versed in the mechanics of economic policy, macro trends, and/or understanding exactly what the heck is going on when everyone is saying we are amidst an "economic crisis." I am an MBA so i can walk the walk and talk the talk with the best of them, but WHAT IS GOING ON!?! I cant seem to get my ahead around the fact that maybe we all should be gravely concerned; maybe this is just another cyclical downturn..... with a slightly lower bottom?

I watched the president's address to the nation about the status of the economy last night. From a luke-warm Bush supporter, I was impressed with his delivery. He apparently had a good set of hands helping him write that speech. But what did he mean when he said "our economy is not functioning properly?" What a lot of people tend to overlook is the amount of psychology in play-- consumer confidence is a big, BIG factor in the health of our economy and this needs to be addressed foremost. How do you do? I am not a policy maker, but any avid, capitalistic market economist would think government policy is not the desired helping hand. In fact regulation will have worse and lasting long term negative impacts. I do acknowledge that banks may need to be bailed out and the government is the only able body to do it, but I have to state my trepidation the policy makers on the hill walk a fine line when dealing with government expenditures and influencing free enterprise. What IS going on?

Part of my wants to start investing right now. These are the times where well see some of the lowest prices of securities for a long time. I just applied for margin trading and would like to start buying options. But are the trading companies/banks doing the exchanges going to fail too? It seems like the story of the chicken and the egg-- if no one invests they are not making money. But if people are losing their money they are not investing. But as more people pull out of the market more people lose money. Which hand is driving the other hand? Are we really that close to severe recession? Do you think maybe Bush used the words "recession" because the word "depression" is too scary for us to hear?

Again, I am not expert here, I pick and choose which articles I read about the economy. I am still not certain there is a clear-cut root cause. But I do know a thing or two about the macroeconomics and the severe inflationary risks we face, and the value margin of our our assets. I guess I just have to hope for the best... because this optimism is good for the economy after all.