A Biblical view of the recession
Email 
Print
There have been a lot of analogies to describe the financial pain of the current economic recession, but CCMP Capital Chairman Gregory Brenneman evoked a more holy view.
“A prolonged recession feels a little Biblical to me. It’s like the story of Joseph — seven years of feast, seven years of famine. It feels like we’re in year two to me,” Brenneman said.
He said he expects U.S. unemployment to hit 10-11 percent before the recession ends, and real GDP (gross domestic product) will be down 2 percent.
“Recovery won’t happen until the back half of 2010. That means nobody really knows, but it’s going to be a long time from now,” Brenneman told the Wharton Restructuring and Turnaround Conference in Philadelphia on Friday.
Despite his view that the U.S. was mired in economic famine, Brenneman said it was a great time for private equity firms to buy good assets for low valuations.
“Really good companies are priced the same as so-so or bad companies. It’s a great time to buy things you couldn’t otherwise buy,” he said. ”The best P/E times have been in times like these,” Brenneman said.
Comments RSSPost Your Comment
I think that Mr Brenneman might look a bit further back in the Bible for the times. I think he might see the part about “woe,Woe” for the correct placement.
We are in some deep stuff, and people are not willing to put their money with the New York boys. I think there are better odds in Vegas now than in New York. Nuf said
How about a biblical view that is a bit more practical and helpful than “two years into a seven year famine?” If we had lived by the wisdom of the Proverbs: no debt, work hard, be honest in your business dealings, live within your means, be generous — then we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with. Here’s the good news … it is not too late to begin living a life according to the wisdom of the Bible.
This country is sick!!!! As long as the auto industry and the financial industry know they can keep getting money from the taxpayers they are in absolutely not motivated to solve their own problems. And our dim witted politicians that created this mess now think they have the knowledge and skill to fix these problems.
When will we ever learn???