KEY POINTS:
Never mind that Friday was the worst day that markets in this part of the world have yet seen in this financial crisis - we need to look through the gloom.
Why?
Because it is the only logical response.
Forging on through adversity is a behaviour innate to all life forms, even single-celled organisms.
But panic and fear - alarm systems that humans have finely tuned - can hijack this process.
They can send us fleeing in the wrong direction and amplify our problems. We saw that on world markets yesterday
At its root this is a credit crisis - not a stock market crisis. At least it should be.
But even in the absence of fresh bad news from the banking sector - and after some bold, positive steps by central banks - equity markets have continued to plunge. They are in the grip of a destructive and futile panic.
To their great credit, NZX chief Mark Weldon and the NZ Institute's David Skilling have taken the lead in this country by publishing their own plan of action.
The details of the plan will be contentious to some. But regardless, they have sent a message that this country needs to stop watching from the sidelines and start working to lessen the pain this crisis will bring. We need a plan that will deepen and strengthen our capital markets.
When greed once again replaces fear in the minds of investors - as it surely will - our listed companies will be more vulnerable than ever to offshore raiders.
We also need to move faster to get away from reliance on commodity exports. The global boom that lifted our wealth through the past decade is now over.
So, we need leaders to drive this debate with some measured urgency. Unfortunately, our politicians remain locked in an electoral race that is now being fought on the issues of a bygone era.
Who can deliver the middle classes the most small change by way of a tax cut?
Who cares?
This is not a debate that Alan Bollard can lead. That New Zealand's banking system is not yet in crisis is a point that can't be made often enough. Bollard has to balance the need for aggressive action with the need to avoid fuelling panic.
He has no choice but to keep playing Captain Sensible.
So inside today we are looking to our business leaders. Those who've made money, those who've led companies through the turmoil of 1987 and the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s.
These are people who don't panic, who look with a sense of resolve at the circumstances in front of them - what ever they may be - and deal with them.
That's the challenge for all of us. Whether on a personal level, a corporate level or a national level we need to keep facing forward. This is a bad situation but we need to make the best of it.
That's the sort of hokey advice our grandparents used to give - but then that generation forged their cliches through some tough economic times.
This doesn't need to be a Great Depression. We are far better equipped in 2008 to avoid an economic meltdown. As a population we are better educated, healthier and have the benefit of far greater technology. We can communicate more easily and we can implement change faster.
We just have to do it.
