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Whalen believes that by July 1, 2009, 110 banks with $850 billion in assets will have failed. (Ibid) And that’s optimistic. New York University Professor Nouriel “Dr. Doom” Roubini believes that a third of the nation’s regional banks will go belly up:
Another financial observer of such pessimistic, bearlike qualities that he's dubbed "Dr. Doom" is New York University economics professor Nouriel Roubini. He's the guy already with the reputation of calling — in 2006 — today's financial car wreck, from the housing bust and oil shock to crippled investment banks and a diminished Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In an August New York Times magazine profile, he predicts a $1-trillion cost for the housing crisis, the end of a third of the nation's regional banks and foreign indebtedness so high it "might be the beginning of the end of the American empire." (Robert Trigaux, “Alarmists Sounding More Like Realists”, St. Petersburg Times, 9-21-08)
Many of the ‘conspiracy theorist’ crowd believe the whole thing is but smoke and mirrors, that the “crisis” is manufactured. Bet that as is may, whether this meltdown is manufactured or is the culmination of greed, financial piracy, deregulation and lax regulation enforcement, the end result is the possible meltdown of the US economy and the loss trillions of dollars in real estate, investment and retirement assets, not to mention jobs.
