By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff Friday, December 19th, 2008

How amazing is it to wake up morning after morning to headlines telling us that what was unthinkable yesterday has happened today.

To punctuate a remarkable four-month period in the history of the markets, the Federal Reserve set a target for short-term interest rates at as close to zero as you can get. A $50 billion Ponzi scheme devastated charities and family trusts from coast to coast.

And the fate of the Big Three automakers hung in the balance with the White House pondering a $14 billion cash infusion.
In an effort to add some perspective to these epoch-making developments, here are some thoughts:

Global events always have local implications.

Consider the case of Special Devices, the Moorpark-based maker of explosive triggers for car airbags and other applications. Once the 15th largest private company in the Tri-Counties, it sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 15, citing the flagging car market and global economic turmoil for creating what CEO Christopher Hunter called a “tsunami” that forced it to seek protection from creditors.

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