FIRE stands for finance, insurance, and real estate

[free4now]

The following article does a good job of explaining why the bailout is no good for main street, and along the way redefines one of our favorite acronyms.
Economic Main Street Manifesto: 10 Reasons how this Bailout Fails the Middle Class American Worker. » Dr. Housing Bubble Blog

FIRE Economy FIRE stands for finance, insurance, and real estate. What a shocker that the government has bailed out Bear Stearns (finance), AIG (insurance), and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (real estate). Amazingly these are chump change in comparison to what is unfolding. We are now on the hook for over a trillion dollars in these few industries. Now why doesn’t the government bailout P.F. Changs or Best Buy since they are hurting this year as well?
The thing is, the crony capitalistic model has become dependent on these four areas. In their myopic world view, the pinnacle of an economy is a legion of over paid investment bankers sitting in their Manhattan offices while a fleet of people trade homes to one another comparing notes on what is the best kind of granite for your counter-top. Since 2000 nearly 30% of our employment growth has been in the FIRE economy.