Axélle01 wrote:

It affects all of us... 2 major banks in belgium are on the verge of bankruptie because of the stuff thats happening in the US . Im scared of what could happen , ppl cant pay there bills anymore , they get fired... Whats left for my kids ?? Is history repeating and are we going back to the 30's ? This is really serious... Do you know for a 1 L of gas we pay almost 1.50$ !! not jokin

Neither Fortis, nor Dexia will go bankrupt, I guarantee you that. Unlike American banks they perform hefty credit checks before handing out loans, they don't advertise for credit cards and they have a significant cash flow. The average Belgian owns what's in their house. Heck, most people don't even loan money for a car over here. You buy the car that you can afford. If people keep their cool and don't massively withdraw their savings, we will ride out this storm just fine.

We will see a minor dent in our economy compared to the mayhem in the States. Our stock exchanges will need to correct themselves for the investments we have in the American economy (and that will put a big damper on our welfare), but we are not doomed by any means. Our governments will need to invest money that otherwise could've been used to stimulate the economy, but it will only slow things down. This is, compared to what they have in the states, a minor setback.

And in the end, even the US will bounce back. Either with a full-blown free market, ready to go through this whole cycle again (there will always be corruption to bring this whole thing down again); or with a model very similar to what we have in Europe right now.

And for you US citizens, let me tell you something: Clinton didn't destroy your country, he tried to get it more in line with the rest of the Western world (which in my book, is a good idea - it's time you guys catch up). If you follow that up with a war mongering government like the one lead by Mr. George W. Bush, you're setting yourself up for massive failure. You can't be liberal on social issues and conservative on defense and economic issues. Pick one, preferably the system that has proven successful in the rest of the Western world.