Opportunity abounds

If I were an investor (or builder) looking to the future, I'd be thinking about these possibilities:

1. Retro-fitting existing homes at modest cost with latest-tech energy-saving features;
2. Doing the same for the condo and townhouse crowds;
3. Building small "luxury" homes with intelligent (IT) systems and conservation technology.

The real election question . . .

... is answered by Saint Fulgentius, a 5th-century bishop:

In order to clarify the role of the servants he set at the head of his people, the Lord spoke this word related by the Gospel: «Who, then is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so»... If we should be wondering in what that food allowance consists, Saint Paul gives us the answer; it is «the measure of faith that God has apportioned» (Rom 12,3). What Christ called an allowance of food, Paul termed a measure of faith to teach us that there is no other spiritual food than the mystery of Christian faith. We give you this allowance of food in the Lord's name every time we speak to you according to the rule of the true faith, illumined by the spiritual gift of grace. As for that allowance, you receive it at the hands of the Lord's stewards each time you hear the word of truth from the mouth of God's servants.

An amazing metaphor . . .

. . . from a talk given last weekend by Archbishop Chaput of Denver. This is political theory at its simplest and clearest:

The ''separation of Church and state'' does not mean - and it can never mean - separating our Catholic faith from our public witness, our political choices and our political actions. That kind of separation would require Christians to deny who we are; to repudiate Jesus when he commands us to be ''leaven in the world'' and to ''make disciples of all nations.'' That kind of separation steals the moral content of a society. It's the equivalent of telling a married man that he can't act married in public. Of course, he can certainly do that, but he won't stay married for long.

A Saturday wrap-up on the economic earthquake

The heads of the EU's four biggest economies - Britain, France, Germany and Italy - held a first crisis meeting last week but were split over the need for a common plan.

It doesn't appear that unified solutions are going to happen quickly, in spite of the hopes of our president and our nation. The Europeans, when it comes down to the real issues--like their money and their long-entrenched banking institutions, won't be a union. They agree on ideology, however:

In the financial district of London, the pubs of Dublin, and on the campuses of Holland, people are citing reckless lending in the US mortgage market, unbridled American consumption, and a lack of government oversight for the financial meltdown that has engulfed Europe. Many dismiss the US bailout as an unwise and hypocritical move that rewards the greedy bankers who caused the crisis and breaches the ideals of the country that pioneered market-driven capitalism.

And it isn't like the finance ministers who met today are doing nothing. Fox News reports this morning that there are some agreements in the works. The "fiddling and diddling," to quote the great Johnny Most, may not be bad thing. The US Fed's current solutions may be starting to kick into gear, as Friday's stock market performance appeared to exemplify. It threatened early in the day to blow downward through the 8000 mark, and did, but pulled up well above the 7000. It wobbled, teetered, steadied itself, and the buyers stepped in at the very end of the day. The pattern was a reverse image of the previous days of the week. One day does not a bottom make for the economy, but I think the weekend will allow a breather, allow folks to reassess, allow the credit markets to absorb the impacts of the Federal rescue plan, allow some of that money to start flowing, and allow some of the stalled businesses to resume operations.

Some problems remain:

• Folks have been saying for a long time that the housing, automobile and speculative financial markets and the trading economy have been overvalued. We don't know if all of the bad trading has washed out of the system. Folks won't invest until there is some assurance about that. Buyers won't buy until there is money available and they feel some confidence about the future (see next point).
  
• There are fears of hyperinflation. There need to be some answers about the real and hidden tax impacts of the rescue spending.
• It appears there are some corrupt financial barons (I'm shocked--shocked!) Some prophylactic prosecutions are in order. (Round up the usual suspects!) This would not be an empty gesture. There needs to be a statement by the country that more is expected from those who would be allowed to manage money for all of us.
• I know that many will say that this horse is long gone from the barn, but we still have to know where to stop the market involvement and regulation. There's now a real danger of "creeping socialism." The federal government should be careful. Having acted decisively, there is now a need for circumspection, restraint, and public education. (Let's be careful out there!)
  
• Neither of the presidential candidates knows what he is talking about. They're flailing around to see what voters will respond to. Give me the person who will actually tell the truth in a reasoned way and commit to market recovery. The more of this the markets do on their own steam, the sounder any recovery will be. (I have a feeling this narrows the possibilities....)