What’s the best way to get through a debt crisis? Straight through was our advice last week. For at least a thousand years, the business cycle went round and round without help from central bankers or economists. It is only since these geniuses have been on the case that really serious problems have arisen.

As they said in the movie “Poltergeist”: “They’re baaa-aaack.”

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.

The rally in US stocks that began on March 9, 2009 has seen a 49.4% gain. And despite our deep suspicions here at Notes, it’s lasted 22 weeks. Does this mean we’re tempted to buy into stocks now?

Social Security? Not Exactly

As we all know, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guarantees depositors that they’ll get their money back if a bank fails, at least up to a certain amount. To fund its operations, the FDIC collects small fees from the banks that are held in reserve for the purpose of taking over troubled banks and paying off depositors.

The stock market is about to finish the best July since 1989. The S&P 500 is up over 8% this month, its best month since April and best July in 20 years. After yesterday’s 1% rally, the index is up to 987. Baring catastrophe today, the S&P will register its fifth consecutive monthly gain.

Retail investors had a rough go of things in the first half, but since the March lows of all the markets, the Standard & Poor’s Retail Index is showing progress toward its 52-week high of 427.13.

“Recession easing, but not over: survey.” This morning’s headline, as far as we can tell, only goes to prove that Mark Twain should be quoted far more often: “If you don’t read the paper, you’re uninformed. If you do, you’re misinformed.”

Does “stimulus” really work? Does quantitative easing work? The historical record suggests not. So what brought us out of the Great Depression? The answer might surprise, even though it shouldn’t…  A grumpy President Obama says that the $787 billion dollar stimulus package “has worked as intended.”