• “This has happened many times before …”.

• “… History has always repeated itself …”.

Oh, really? AXS Alphaliner writes that the idle containership fleet is on its way to reaching 750,000 TEUs, an amount equal to 6 percent of the world containership fleet. This disastrous development has never happened before and is not just a case of history repeating itself.

• “Long-held industry rules have changed or become skewed. This is because the downturn happened so dramatically that, supply/demand mechanics in all trades have faltered at the same time. There are no bright lights left for the industry.” — Drewry Shipping Consultants

That statement needs no explaining. Even Drewry couldn’t see it coming.

Nor could the 27-member bloc European Union or Great Britain:

• “BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Union said Monday it is facing a ‘deep and protracted recession’ and slashed growth forecasts, while Britain announced its second massive bank bailout in just over three months in another wave of bad economic news in Europe. …Government demand and investment will be the only source of growth – but that carries a heavy price tag. Government deficits will hit the highest level in 15 years as they borrow heavily to stoke growth in order to combat the world economic crisis that began with bank losses on securities backed by shaky U.S. mortgages.”

A while ago we quoted an Asian writer who remarked that when the US sneezes, the whole world catches a cold. Well, in this case the whole world has landed in the intensive care ward, and no one seems to know the cure.

Will the $ 850 billion stimulus program have a positive effect? Of course not, and U.S. officials know it. If each U.S. resident received an equal share of that $ 850 billion, each person would receive about $ 3,000, and within three months we’d all be worse off and the hoi polloi (that’s us) just might catch on to the scam. Those in charge have a better idea.

On the pretense of rebuilding the “infrastructure” and creating 4 million jobs, that $ 850 billion is to be directed to CCC-like endeavors, which means that those receiving and managing the stimulus money will be pretty much the same folks who received “Wall Street” bailout funding. It won’t fix things, of course – because stimulus programs have never been successful – but the top dogs will remain as top dogs. That’s what it’s all about and no change in that agenda will be permitted.

[We’ve sent more than two thousands faxes and e-mails to those top dogs in the last two years and we’ve received not a single acknowledgment. What does that tell you?]