A Mortgage Banker In Amish Country  It's Your Recession.  We're
just blogging it . . .  Americans have been hearing for months
now about the devastating problems facing U.S. financial
institutions. But in at least one corner of the country, the
banking system is doing just fine.  In the Old Order Amish
community of Lancaster County, Penn., most people use credit
only when they buy a farm. They live within their means, and
borrow from people who expect to get paid back. For many Amish
here, their first major piece of property is a horse and buggy.
One day this year, hundreds Amish men clumped around an
auctioneer. Calling through a portable loudspeaker, he moved
among dozens of buggies lined up in a muddy field. Each buggy
has a big sign in the window announcing it as a brand-new 2008
model. Amish teenagers kick the tires and check out all the new
extras, like the fiberglass wind screen and retractable cup
holders carved out of maple wood.  One young man tells me a
typical Amish kid gets his first buggy at 16