SOME FINANCIAL ADVICE for the current unpleasantness. Not sure I agree with the Home Equity advice, but I like the Monty Python reference. And there’s this: “If you want to worry about anything, worry about your taxes. The worse this crisis gets, the more they will end up putting the taxpayer on the hook to prevent a meltdown.” Alas, yes.

The “don’t panic” advice is probably good, too. I remember the 1987 crash — I was working at a Wall Street law firm then — and people were scared spitless as stocks dropped something like 25% in one day. But it wasn’ t the end, and we’ve seen nothing like that drop so far.

UPDATE: Reader John Pranikoff emails:

I remember the 1987 crash vividly too. I was right in the middle of it, working as a derivatives trader for a large global bank. Yesterday market sold of sharply, but it didn’t bear the slightest resemblance to 1987. Trading was orderly, the market was down 4.4% vs. 25%, there were no trading halts, and there was plenty of liquidity- if you wanted to sell, there were bids, unlike on that day almost 21 years ago.

The left knows that its in their interest to make the current situation sound as dire as possible (shades of “the worst economy in 50 years”). They will try to paint this as a failure of the markets, but in reality its the result of government meddling in the mortgage markets.

On thing’s for sure. There will be a renewed emphasis on economic policy in the campaign. In that light, John McCain should read this editorial over at NRO and take it to heart. It offers some sound advice.

Yeah, and today the indices are all up a bit at the moment. I’m not saying things are rosy — in particular, there are lots of hidden problems like underfinanced public pensions and ballooning entitlement programs — but it’s not 1987, and even 1987 wasn’t a new Depression, though they tried to make it sound like one for a while. I’m actually more worried about inflation as a result of low interest rates and too many bailouts.