Hamas War

Friday, November 21, 2008

Big Fish In Small Pond



Who's that "big fish?"


Someone is flexing his muscles, and I'd really like to know who, or what group of super-wealthy people have shown that they can control the stock market.
Israel is in "pre-election season." The political parties are meeting and "primarying," vying for top positions on the party election lists.
Our economy is relatively stronger than the United States, though it's hard for me to figure out why. One idea I have is that the birthrate in Israel is much higher, especially among the educated and middle class.
Recently, with all the high profile celebrity babies, having kids is more "in." But in the 1970's fewer women, according to statistics, had children. That means that percentage-wise the US is missing a strong work-production population in their thirties right now. At the same time, the babyboomers are retiring, and many still have parents alive and needing care. Some of these "boomers" are "sandwiches," trying to help their children, grandchildren and parents, but many others are the last in their line. When they're elderly, there won't be any kids to assist them.
OK, so that's part of the American problem, but who's manipulating the Israeli economy?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

One of the reasons that Israel is sort of riding out this crisis is that most Israelis are not invested directly in the stock market. A large amount of older Israeli folks were burned badly in the Bank stock crisis (Israel 1983) thing, enough so that their kids were not educated to jump into the market and actually scared away.

Even today, most people are not in, there is no 'buzz' like in the States about the market in everyday news, and frankly, it's not as easy or cheap to trade as in the States.

So everyone here is invested in the stock market through our pension plans (of which maybe 10-20% of those are) but most of us don't own Bezeq, Leumi, or Africa-Israel.

In the States, 'everyone' is invested. The money is just too easy, the information available and easy to understand, and trading so simple too. So when the market goes down there by 40% or more, many people see their 'savings' or what they thought was their extra money disappear.

Here, the affect to our pensions has been grossly exagerated by the media and the Histadrut. At most, a relative small hit of 10-20% (relative to the major crisis around the world).

You are definitely right about our slightly improving birthrate.

Nonetheless, we are still affected by the world since we depend somewhat on exports.

But Hashem warned Israelis over 30 years ago of the impending crash of the world economy, and he will protect us by virtue of bring more of his children into the world to do mitzvahs.

Batya said...

G-d willing