Best cure for a financial hangover?
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: If you woke up with your head throbbing this morning like I did, it might be the same thing: A financial headache. Yesterday’s 360 point plunge for the Dow wiped out all of the gains for this year. This month looks to be the worst June for the Dow since 1930. Marketplace’s Steve Henn hit the streets this morning looking for a cure.
Steve Henn: What’s your favorite cure for a hangover?
Woman 1: A good cup of coffee.
Man 1: Sleep.
Man 2: Water. Lots and lots of water.
Or, what about:
Ad: Alka Seltzer . . .
This morning, Wall Street was hoping the Commerce Department’s Consumer Spending Report might provide that kind of bubbly relief. Government tax rebates pushed spending up 5.7 percent last month.
But Mark Zandi at Economy.com says:
Mark Zandi: I don’t know that this is going to be enough to get us out of a pretty difficult period for the economy over the next six to 12 months.
So if consumer spending isn’t going clear our economic headache, what can we take?
Man 3: Same thing you drunk last night?
Henn: A little hair of the dog, huh.
Man 3: Yeah, there you go — a little hair of the dog.
Hmm, what would that be in Wall Street’s case? Lets see . . . more E-Z credit, laxed lending standards, maybe a pinch of poor government oversight, and an economy crippled by an incoherent energy policy.
James Bond: Shaken, not stirred.
Mmm, sounds delicious.
In Washington, I’m Steve Henn for Marketplace.
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