Financial Security Advisory System Launched!

Today, the Treasury Department issued an announcement providing for the implementation of a financial security advisory system, recognizing that the world has changed since the sub-prime crisis. The press release was clear about the driving principles behind the introduction of the guideline: “We remain a nation at risk to financial meltdown and will remain at risk for the foreseeable future. At all Threat Conditions, we must remain vigilant, prepared, and ready to take sufficient precautions.”

The government has also added provisional investment advisory subtitles to each threat alert to help ordinary citizens appreciate the changes in each level. This was deemed to be more appropriate than listing, from bottom to top, the categories as no concern, mild apprehension, nagging dread, crippling fright, and shit-your-underwear terror.

Treasury Secretary Geithner stressed that the government does not want individual behavior to be affected by the alerts, encouraging citizens to go about their business, while noting that the current status of orange is just barely this side of Red Alert, the highest level of danger possible when the entire banking system could breakdown, and when the Treasury Department warns that citizens should plant their own crops, shutter windows, and horde supplies.

Of course, there are a myriad of problems with the alert, which I’ve written about before—you can read more about them here.