[1967 R50/2]

Tabs-

I enjoy your economic insights, but please consider curtailing the use of ellipses. I use them myself from time to time. However, sometimes they....make...it very.... hard....to read. Plus, when you read it out loud, it sounds like William Shatner. OK, that's kinda funny, so keep using them.

Back to the topic at hand. I do not think 911 would have precipitated a run on the bank as happened during the great depression. Even in the days immediately after the events it was apparent that the plane attacks and the anthrax attacks were isolated incidents, and not likely to jeopardize the economy as a whole.

As for the price of oil, again, DESPITE the increase in the cost of oil, the US economy continues to expand by an enormous rate in comparison to the European or Japanese economies. So I do not see high oil prices as a threat.

Likewise, this expansion happened in the face of two simultaneous wars and a plethora of natural disasters.

All of this says to me that if these any one of these depressing factors were removed from the economy, that indeed, it would be running off the rails. So if oil does come down in price, Bernanke can continue to raise rates without fear of crushing expansion.