The first public retirement pension scheme was created by Otto von Bismarck in 1880 Germany. Fifty years later, during the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt followed suit in the United States. As we’ve seen, the number of people expected to reach the retirement age of 65 was not considered to pose a threat to future funding.

Markets slip again on weak housing data, economic outlook, Greenspan speaks: what the great contrarian indicator had to say this time, and plenty more…

In the currency market, the dollar moved higher again vs. the euro. Late Monday, the euro was trading at $1.2641 vs. $1.2751 on Friday. “There is still strong underlying demand for the U.S. dollar,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman.

Kohn gives the wink and nod… GDP is revised up to .09%… Dollar Bulls dancing in the streets… Oil prices fall…

Volumes of debt underwriting — he process by which investment bankers raise investment capital from investors — have fallen by more than $1.3 trillion in the US since the credit crisis kicked off last July.

According to an Oppenheimer research note picked up by Dow Jones MarketWatch: “As more than 80% of corporate funding came from the capital markets during 2007, we can’t help but believe that such a massive extraction of liquidity from the market will have a profound impact on the U.S. economy.