One of the books that played a role in shaping my thinking in college was Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It's basic premise is that of rational self interest. Rand portrays independent achievers as ones whose achievements are interfered with by the state, and she argues that any state intervention — be it fascism, socialism or communism — is fatally flawed from the get-go.

I was always troubled by the completely unfettered freedom she espoused as a necessity, in the same way that free markets, left completely unregulated, never made sense to me. Though both are ideas which I believe we should aspire to (rather than a welfare state or other non-motivating policies).

With respect to where we are in financial markets, housing and now the automakers, if there's not catastrophic downside to risk taking, then we might as well risk it all, every time, right?

I must admit my wife and I are really pissed off having made decisions NOT to leverage over the past several years, pay off the house, save, invest for our retirement, and position ourselves well for the future. Others I know (many others) took out huge second mortgages to take vacations or buy cars, condos, HDTV's or boats. Some bought their McMansion with a huge jumbo mortgage, and now are under water in value, owing more on it than it's worth and are hoping for a governmental loan restructuring.

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