Economic laughs and realities

The Financial Post has a compilation of "The best financial jokes of 2008" gathered from e-mail messages that made the rounds throughout the year.

These were some of my favorites:

"Get my broker, Miss Jones."
"Yes sir. Stock, or Pawn?"

The market may be bad, but I slept like a baby last night. I woke up every hour and cried.

The credit crunch has helped me get back on my feet. The car's been repossessed.

This was funny too.

President Bush said that he is saddened to hear about the demise of Lehman Brothers. His thoughts at this time go out to their mother as losing one son is hard but losing two is a tragedy.

Bush isn't the only clueless leader in Washington. Fortune Magazine reminds us of the "21 Dumbest Moments in Business 2008," including this one:

At least he warned us: On the morning of Sept. 15, as Lehman Brothers declares bankruptcy, Republican presidential candidate John McCain declares "the fundamentals of this economy are strong."

By day's end, the Dow falls more than 500 points, the date becomes known as Black Monday, and McCain starts backpedaling fast.

Maybe we should have seen this coming: In late 2007, McCain admits "the issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should," adding, "I've got Greenspan's book." -- By Nina Easton, Fortune Washington editor

Don't feel bad, John. The issue of economics is something your fellow Republicans don't understand either.


(Cross-posted at BFM.)