Squirrel Snaring
My son just called me from Portland Maine and he's worried: his peers (the 25ish crowd) are sending around emails urging each other to buy survival gear and stockpile food for the coming Armageddon; should he listen?

I assured him he was okay and reminded him of what one of his heroes, Bob Dylan had to say on the subject: "when you ain't got nothing, you ain't got nothin' to lose." No one's coming to repossess John's guitar. Besides, I assured him, I could buy some ammunition for my hunting rifles and we'd go squirrel hunting or, if unsuccessful in that endeavor, we'd pick off a few of the hysterics in his neighborhood and dine on them - tastes like rabbit.

But it can't be helpful to our economy if they media has scared even the 18-25 year-old set. If these kids are worried, what's happening with older people who are watching their pensions and IRA's melt? Are they likely to decide that today's a great time to buy a house? I think not.

As I reminded John, however, there's no useful purpose served by worrying about things we can't control and, unless he knew some trick I didn't, the two of us going down to Wall Street and yelling "stop" would be a waste of subway fare. But he should keep his powder dry.