Economic policy: bigger, bolder.

I am not an economist and those who are don't really know what to do to correct the financial system, which has been in crisis mode since September 2008, and the more recent descent of the Dow Jones industrial average to 6,763, which was last seen in 1997.  The drop in stock prices undermines confidence in a fundamental way: it hurts those who acted responsibly and saved.

I took early retirement in 1997 and thought that if the Dow reached 10,000 I was home free, that I would have financial security.  While I am not hurting I cannot do anything either.  If I needed a new car and there was one with a plug, I would not buy it.  It makes no sense to sell shares in my stock mutual funds at a big loss.  I would wait until the Dow went well over 10,000 again.

There are fall back positions such as selling my White Plains, NY condo, which has retained value, and relocating to one of the warmer states that have had the biggest drops in real estate: Florida, Arizona or Nevada.  That is not a bad plan to leverage the equity in my home, which is now too large a percentage of my net worth.  I would like to make my portfolio more balanced and have more cash and more reliable investments.  I will not do it by selling stocks.  But taking equity out of my home by either relocating or trading down here is a viable option.

President Obama needs an economic policy that is bigger and bolder.  I do not know what the details need to be but he has got to find them and make them BIG and BOLD!