Bits Bucket For July 30, 2010
Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Hank Paulson’s all for reforming Fannie/Freddy, but barely mentions removing subsidies such as mortgage interest deduction or capital gains exclusion.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/29/AR2010072905007.html
A significant root cause of the crisis was the combined weight of government policies promoting homeownership; these are apparent in the housing GSEs, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal Home Loan Banks, the federal tax deduction for mortgage interest and various state programs. Homeownership was overstimulated to the point that it was unsustainable and dangerous to the broader economy.
The title says states are broke. Then at the end it says none are in danger of default. In the middle, the solution: Like taxpayers themselves, they’ll just borrow “until things get better.”
States are broke. You’re on the hook.
“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The states are broke, and like many consumers, they’re borrowing big time to get out of their fiscal binds.
The amount of debt that states are carrying spiked 10.3% last year to $460 billion, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The debt is paid for through taxes and fees, making residents ultimately responsible.
The median personal share of this burden jumped to $936, from $865 in 2008.
…
Debt “is a tool to help bridge the gap between the downturn and when the economy starts to recover,” said Robert Kurtter, a managing director at Moody’s.
…
“No state is in danger of default,” she said.
Going forward, more states may have to rely even more on the bond markets as they continue to struggle with weak revenues.”
“No state is in danger of default,” she said.”
Not in danger, until they are.
“Would you call it grave danger Captain Queeg?”
Captain Queeg: “Is there any other kind?”
Strawberry fields forever.
Danger coming around the corner, “Danger Will Robinson”
BTW States won’t default because cities will layoff 2 groups of people, fire fighters and the police. In CA Bay Area Oakland fired police while San Jose fired fire fighters. If only the 2 cities were adjacent it would have been a win-win for both communities.
Yep, they never lay off administrators and assorted cronies.
You wouldn’t want lots of people on this board to lose their jobs, would you sfbubblebuyer?
“No state is in danger of default,” she said.”
Not in danger, until they are.
No one could have seen that coming.
Wait until January 1, 2011.
ALL bets are off, including states declaring bankruptcy.
Though the counties outside D.C. are flush with cash. More so than any other counties in the entire, vast United States. Maybe states without any money can siphon money from those counties.
Leeches, sucking the rest of the country dry.
Happy Friday to all …
Where is my damn welfare check…can you imagine the riots if the Ahhnold or Blind eye Patterson stopped the checks for a week.
I’ll lay off 1,000 to balance New York State budget, Gov. Paterson warns
Paterson’s layoff estimate is far fewer than the 10,000 figure administration officials floated earlier this year. The state has more than 130,000 workers under Paterson’s direct control.
Getting rid of 1,000 people will solve New York’s budget problems?
Wow. Those people are paid a lot!
How about forever exiling New York’s political class? That would solve a great many problems, not just the budgetary woes.
They can live in Zimbabwe or someplace similar, where the political class has its say always.
Well, 133,000 unemployment EFTs were delayed due to a power failure here in Oregon. No riots ensued.
The ad accompanying today’s post is FUNNY! It’s billionaire Steve Forbes for the National Right to Be Union-Free organization, expressing the horror of cops and firefighters being FORCED to join a UNION - Even in “right” -to-work states.
Wins my out-of-touch award for the week. People with jobs these days wish they HAD a union, methinks. We’ll see how well Forbes’ dog hunts.
Everybody at work is smiling because it’s Friday AND because the weather is totally beautiful. 67° and relatively low humidity.
Those of us who are not “at work” are smiling too!
Few in U.S. move for new jobs, fueling fear the economy might get stuck, too.
PALM COAST, FLA. — The recession is claiming yet another victim: Americans’ near-constitutional right to pick up and move to a better job.
Labor mobility has nearly ground to a halt in the past two years, and policymakers are increasingly worried that the slowdown is not just a symptom of the nation’s economic struggles but also a barrier to overcoming them.
With many people locked in homes by underwater mortgages, only 1.6 percent of Americans moved between states in a one-year period that ended in March 2009 — a labor stagnation not seen in half a century. Though household mobility has gradually declined for more than two decades, the recent sharp downturn has caused economists to worry that it could harm the already struggling recovery.
“In the past, people tended to move to where the jobs are,” said Assistant Treasury Secretary Alan B. Krueger, who oversees economic policy for the department. “Now it is necessary to have more of a strategy to move the jobs — and create new jobs — in areas where the people are.”
My strategy now is to run away from the jobs. That way they can’t catch me.
If they do catch up with ya Bink, tell ‘em you have a talented twin brother, it’s him that they want!
The 99 weeks of unemployment had more to do with this than foreclosures.
When unemployment ran out after 13 weeks people took jobs where they could find them. If that meant moving cross country, they did. Now unemployment lasts 99 weeks (and sure to be extended another 26 weeks soon enough). Why put up with the hassle of moving when you can live courtesy of Harry/Nancy/Barry indefinitely?
Can you imagine the conversations taking place all around the US.
Husband: “I got a job offer in XXX, should we take it?”
Wife: “But what about my career? If I leave with you to XXX I may not be able to find another job.”
Husband: “Your right. Let’s just stay put and keep looking”.
Having mobility with your job is almost priceless.
“Having mobility with your job is almost priceless.”
Also having a job that requires no mobility is almost priceless.
Somehow this non-mobility requirement should be factored into a person’s wage calculation, as in just how much is a job worth, wage wise, not to be required to be mobil?
Why sure! A totally non-mobile teleworking job is worth a wage of about $30-35K a year.
In Mumbai.
The company I work for here in California is rapidly moving those jobs that can be moved to other, cheaper states. The jobs that can’t be moved are staying put - not because the company wouldn’t like to move them but because these are the sort of jobs that can’t be moved.
If the company wanted to lure me into transferring to one of those mobil jobs from the non-mobil job that I now have then they would have to offer me something really big in the way of wages to make it worth my while. Whatever this wage offer is - over the wage I now draw - that would entice me to transfer could be considered to be the phantom wage value of my job over the actual wage I now draw.
Also, this phantom wage would be free to me of all taxes.
That phantom wage is also known as moving to a lower cost of living area without taking a pay cut. Corporate America has been doing for decades. Take your east or west coast salary to the middle of the country and you will be able to move up from a 3/2 to a 5/3 and still have enough left over for nicer cars, a country club membership and the spouse staying home with the kids.
And it doesn’t result in higher taxes except to the extent your deductions are lower because you are paying less for state/local taxes or your mortgage interest is lower.
For what it’s worth, places like FL, Ca… you get very slightly removed from the coast and prices head to flyover country levels.
It’s not just housing that is cheaper away from the coast. Everything is cheaper. Utilities, restaurant meals, vet bills, insurance (health and car) you name it, it’s cheaper in Missouri or Iowa than in NY or California. And as an added bonus some people even speak English in those states.
i need to get my mind out of the gutter…i read that as a husband and wife finding careers in the porn industry.
I wonder what portion of “non-mobility” can be apportioned to illiquid housing and what portion to two-income couples. Back in the 1950’s the joke was that IBM stood for “I’ve been moved”. That wouldn’t work so well these days.
Eff them!
NOW they want to belly ache because the FBs took the debt bait and bought into the ownership society!? What did they think was going to happen? People were going to buy $700k houses and then move out of them…oh wait…that’s happening anyway. (FPSS laugh)
Every practicing eCONomist should be sentenced to one year of working as a migrant crop picker. At least then when the sh*t comes out of their mouths it can used as fertilizer.
Oh, and that Treasury official needs to be muzzled before he blurts out any more nonsense. The jobs will materialize where they are needed - not where people are stuck in the overpriced houses that his department helped sell them!
Amen, brothah! I saw Mark Zandi on the PBS News Hour last night and had to reach for a barf bag.
I seriously cannot fathom how this jerk is becoming a national economic spokesman. First, his sh*tty advice spews out of his mouth while his employer, Wachovia, collapses around his ears. Then, he goes to work for Moody’s, who put their seal of approval on mounds and piles of toxic securities. And while the media reports on how the ratings companies were in on the scam, there’s Zandi, being interviewed and testifying on the floor of Congress. He should get a thousand raspberries every time he opens his mouth, but instead he gets rapt silence while people listen.
He’s good-looking.
This is not a joke. Looks have had the upper hand on TV from JFK to Sarah Palin. I know a woman who was almost tapped as an expert witness because of her looks.
“He’s good-looking.”
WTF? Really? I guess if you like that weenie, bloodless, feeble, decadadent metrosexual style.
Palmy:
I think the term that encompasses all those qualities is
“Wussies”
. I know a woman who was almost tapped as an expert witness because of her looks.
As in, “I’d tap that”?
“…Moody’s, who put their seal of approval on mounds and piles of toxic securities.”
The important part is they got away with it, because everyone else was doin’ it, and because things turned out so much worse than expected.
Moody’s / S& P / Fitch et al.
“…Moody’s, who put their seal of approval on mounds and piles of toxic securities.”
Detective Daffy (examining crime scene AAA stamps with a large magnifying glass): “Hey Bugsy, these look more worn-out then all the other stamps, you think that might be a clue of some kind?”
Bugs (chewing on a carrot): “Eh, could be Daffy, next…let’s go see how much ink they used…”
Yeah. Look at Maria Bartiromo.
“At least then when the sh*t comes out of their mouths it can used as fertilizer.”
As it is coming out of his mouth if you put a match to it will burn. He can work in the circus, problem solved.
I’ve been tracking different metro areas quarterly as part of my job. In the early stages of the recession, people did move for jobs. There was a big outflow from Michigan to other places. The unemployment rate increased in metro areas that were doing relatively well, such as Austin.
Since then, the movement has stopped. Why? Can’t sell the house? Or no job to move to? Why leave Michigan to be equally unemployed in Texas?
More likely the latter. The house can always be left behind, I worked with guys who lived away from their family and house for more than a decade to keep a job. (many airline workers are well versed in that lifestyle) If the peeps aren’t moving, then it’s because there’s nothing to move to - sorry, not even CA this time.
This is the “recession” without hot spots. I’ve changed careers in a few of the past ones, there was always something growing for an engineer willing to learn new stuff. My friends say it’s not so this time.
And these stats must include people who move back in with mom and dad or other family, a group that is larger than it has been for quite a while I imagine. The real mobility (voluntary moves as opposed to no where else to go moves) is probably even lower.
On our four week trip to the east, we ran into many
people who were moving, moving to a job. What
was painful was to talk to a couple of drillers and
their wives who were laid off when DC killed the
gas leases in CO and WY. 46,000 people lost their
jobs in one week.
This makes less competition for the VLPs - very flexible people, who can move to a new job within a week and thus get to the best paying jobs. Contract engineering rocks!
what’s the L stand for? Or is it a case of engineering nospell.
Engineering nospell.
VFP.
Contract engineering rocks!
If you like being a gypsy.I’m happyit works for you, but that lifestyle doesn’t work for everyone.
That’s why some of independent business/contractor types on this blog annoy me. Assuming that if their business model works for them, anyone who doesn’t do the same is a loser.
I’ve been an independent contractor (involuntarily) for a year now. Can’t say I like it much. Along with all the normal stuff I need to worry about, now I get to worry about actually having my invoices paid, or people wanting to sign me to a “contract” that requires I put in 35-40 hour a week, but pays me for 20, no matter how much time I put in. Or not having a contract at all, and your notice is when they stop calling.
X-GSfixr:
You have to have a different mentality. You’re stuck in the employee/union mentality. This is where your boss tells you what to do and you do it because that’s how we are taught to behave.
As a contractor, you have as much power - or should - as your client. They need you as much or if not more than you need them. Contractors are needed for short terms projects and needed quickly. Clients don’t have weeks or months to find someone. They need someone tomorrow or next week and if you’re available and qualified you have the upper hand. If they say 35-40 hours, you get that in a contract as guaranteed hours even if you only work 20 hours.
If you’re worried about getting paid, ask for 25% upfront. I do that with new clients, especially smaller companies.
And stick to your rate. If you want $150 an hour don’t settle for $120 or $130. They’ll pay $150 if they need you. If they’re offering $120 then you don’t even want it because as soon as they find someone for $110 you’ll be gone or asked to go down to $110. You want a client that values your skills and is willing to pay for them, not someone just looking to get the lowest cost body. If you want a BMW you don’t go looking tp pay Hyundai prices right?
And people will respect you a lot more and deem you a lot more valuable if you deem yourself valuable.
Depends what you do and what your competition is.
Move to… what job?
GM`s new subprime lending and the $7,500 tax credit for the Volt should fix everything.” taxpayers will lose $24.3 billion on the auto bailout.” As long as the UAW is O.K.
Obama to sell auto bailout good news in Michigan
By CHARLES BABINGTON The Associated Press
Posted: 4:21 a.m. Friday, July 30, 2010
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is going to the heart of the U.S. auto industry to push an important election-year claim: his administration’s unpopular auto industry bailout has turned into an economic good-news story.
With Americans facing a still-limping economy and potentially pivotal congressional elections in three months, the White House sees progress in the auto industry as a concrete area of improvement — and one with direct ties to the president’s own actions.
To highlight that progress, which presidential aides believe has received too little attention, Obama will stop at three auto plants over the next several days, visiting General Motors and Chrysler factories in Michigan on Friday and a Ford facility in Chicago next Wednesday. Hoping to ratchet up public notice further, the White House also had the administration’s top auto officials brief reporters Thursday.
Following the government-led bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler, the companies have shown signs of improvement.
“You now have all those U.S. auto companies showing a profit. They’ve rehired 55,000 workers. We are going to get all the money back that we invested in those car companies,” Obama said in an interview aired Thursday on the ABC daytime talk show “The View.”
He said the government is on track to recover all the taxpayer money his administration poured into GM, Chrysler, auto lenders and suppliers to avert a near-certain industrywide meltdown.
However, the White House said that proclamation referred only to the $60 billion spent by the Obama administration, not the additional $25 billion funneled to the industry in 2008 under the Bush administration. The most recent government estimate found that taxpayers will lose $24.3 billion on the auto bailout.
Then it must be a victory that he “inherited” from the previous administration?
In his defense, it would have been far worse if GM and Chrysler had closed. It might well have taken the entire supply chain down, and Ford with it. The only reason Ford didn’t take bailout money was because their CFO had previously borrowed every penny he could get his hands on.
California Democrats Propose Raising Income Taxes to Plug $19 Billion Gap.
California’s Democratic leaders plan to unveil a budget proposal to erase a $19.1 billion deficit as early as next week that may include a 1 percentage-point rise in the personal income-tax rate.
The increase would affect all taxpayers except those in the highest tax bracket, according to Senate President Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat. To make it more palatable to voters, California’s highest-in-the-nation sales tax would be cut simultaneously by 2.5 percentage points. Unlike sales levies, state income taxes are deductible from federal returns. The swap would add as much as $3 billion to the general fund.
“The idea is to increase some taxes that are already federally deductible and to allow taxpayers to take advantage of that while lowering some taxes that are not federally deductible, while the state general fund can gain $2 billion to $3 billion for education and other vital services,” Steinberg said in an interview yesterday.
Excellent. The problem is not that California spends too much money, it is that the Federal government won’t give Cali its due share. These folks are still in denial.
Well now come on — if $787 billion of TARP monies had landed in Cali instead of on Wall Street, who would be in denial now?
We’d have blown through the tarp in 1yr and been back in the toilet.
We already have high taxes. Doing stuff like this with out fixing pensions, considering impacts on employers and employment exc… all a bad move.
A lot of what we are seeing is signs of an aging country. Pensions are getting drawn down, SSN is going under faster than expected, consumption is stagnant.
Going to be a long rough decade. This recovery is about out of steam as well. Here we are 4 years into the blog and things are still a mess.
I don’t see NYers reacting any differently.
We will become Greece or like the alcoholic that drinks himself to death rather than go through the dt’s to the get to the better life. And we Americans have told ourselves all these years how superior we were. Pftt!
Oregon did the same thing last year. Seems like on the west coast raising taxes on the most productive people is a way of life. Maybe we should tax the rich at 100%, that’ll show those greedy bastards!!
I wonder if there is any correlation between high taxes and high unemployment? Hey what do you know there is!!
Unemployment rate in the 7 states with 0% income tax:
S. Dakota: 4.5%
New Hampshire: 5.9%
Wyoming: 6.8%
Texas: 8.2%
Alaska 7.9%
Washington: 8.9%
Florida: 11.4%
Nevada: 14.2%
Average for those states: 8.5%
Unemployment in
California 12.3%
Oregon: 10.5%
It’s 8.3% in Colorado and we have a flat income tax (just shy of 5%)
Probably has more to do with
States that have low populations and jobs predominantly based on natural resources.
Florida and Nev aren’t fairing too well.
Let’s look at some others
New Mexico income tax 5.3%, unemployment 4.3%
Nebraska tax 6.84% unemployment 3.7%
Iowa 9% unemployment 4.3%
N. Dakota income tax 5.54% unemploymnt 3.3%
Nice Cherry picking Eddie
Nothing I like better than an uninformed loud mouth.
“Nothing I like better than an uninformed loud mouth.”
Yep…. and that’s the beauty of our resident tard.
loud mouth ???
We have our own mouth-from-the-south….
Funny how you’re comparing apples to oranges and calling the OTHER poster a retard.
I wonder - what would the unemployment rate be In North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and New Mexico if they also had 0% state income tax?
What seems to be the real trend here is that the states with the lowest unemployment rates seem to be the states that the Political Class can’t be bothered with.
Ok…. you’re a retard too.
Feel better now?
“Funny how you’re comparing apples to oranges and calling the OTHER poster a retard.”
If you read my post I’m not comparing anything. I’m pointing out that there are plenty of states that have high income taxes that also have lower unemployment, thus pointing out the weakness of Eddietards post.
CoSpgs “I wonder - what would the unemployment rate be In North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and New Mexico if they also had 0% state income tax?”
Well thanks for informing us about what you are wondering about????????????????? Is that your arguement that lower income taxes lead to lower unemployment, because if it is, it’s extremely weak. Even weaker than Eddie’s
CoSpgs “What seems to be the real trend here is that the states with the lowest unemployment rates seem to be the states that the Political Class can’t be bothered with.
”
Well why don’t you inform us about this trend
1. I assume you mean Political Class in Washington?? Dem Repub who?
2. How is the political class ignoring low unemployment states??? Money? visits? bed time stories? If their goal is to reduce unemployment shouldn’t they focus on areas of high unemployment?
You’ll never get coherent answer from the BroncoTard.
Measton-
Political class is the political class. Political orientation (democrat, republican and whatever else any of us can dream up) matters little. The players are the same.
To “disprove” eddie using the same argument he makes is meaningless. Why did you stoop to that level?
What is interesting about the current unemployment stats is that the states with the LOWEST rates trend heavily toward the enter of the country. Now, why is that exactly?
You could argue that no one wants to live there. Fine. If that’s the case, then businesses should be moving out. But, that cannot be as they are looking for workers.
So, why don’t businesses want to leave these states?
Hmmm….could it that corporate taxes are more onerous in other states? Hmmmm. Could it be that those running coastal states are so red-tape oriented that conducting business there sucks? Hmmmm.
Could it be that the costs of business are higher in states with higher unemployment?
Could it be that the reason why those costs are higher is due to government and financial institutions that are siphoning their money?
No it’s racism. Because as we all know questioning the wisdom of a socialist is racist these days.
Using Barrack math, rising unemployment = lots of new jobs.
Losing $24B on the GM take over = a profit.
Liberals can twist all they want. The fact is states/counties with low taxes do better economically than those with high taxes. Any simpleton can figure this out.
But the Forum simpleton hasn’t figured out that those back assward states he holds up as a shining example of propserity experience poverty and drop out rates higher than all the rest.
Nice try though TardBoy.
Where the hell did you get that 4.3 % unemployment number for New Mexico? We’ve been hovering around 8.5 for a year (now @ 8.2). The U6 is much higher of course. I’m actually surprised we don’t have the worst rate in the country as we are usually at or near the bottom of every quality of life metric.
N. Dakota 5.54% unemployment <5%
New Mexioc 5+% unemployment <5%
Iowa 9% unemployment <5%
West Virginia 6% unemployment <5%
Hawaii 11% unemployment 5%
Nice Cherry picking
The lefties are in full spin mode.
Let’s try again, this time nice and slooooowwwww for you.
5 of the 7 states with 0% income tax rates have an unemployment rate well below that of the national average.
The 3 states with the highest income tax rates all have unemployment rates well above the national average.
Oregon specifically raised taxes on the “rich” and their unemployment rate shot up. California raised taxes on the rich and they are bankrupt. Michigan…enough said.
Now you can use your Barrack math and pretend this isn’t the case. But reality says high tax = high unemployment.
“Oregon specifically raised taxes on the “rich” and their unemployment rate shot up.”
Um, no. I live in Oregon. Our unemployment rate declined slightly. Genentech, moving IN to Oregon, liked our tax structure and our ability to pull the necessary officials together to get permits etc. done expeditiously.
Sorry to let reality interfere with your parable.
Unemployment and immigration (legal & illegal) go hand in hand. Illegals squeeze from the bottom and legal immigrants squeeze from the top. Lets have a moritorium on both while we figure out which EXCEPTIONAL people we need to import to help grow the economy and benefit AMERICAN society not Mexican or Indian society.
“……most productive people…….”
You are confusing “most productive” with “wealthiest”.
+1…
No, let’s simply have a 100% inheritance tax. After all, we all favor true meritocracy, right?
The budget director of the current IL guv just leaked that come JAN 2011 there will be a 67% increase in the state income tax here. (3 to 5%) It has become quite the scandal. Bloomberg got him to quote it too.
Big trouble coming this winter for the middle class here. First, the second installment of our property taxes will be late so as not to upset voters before the elections. (there should be quite leap as 2009 reassessments kick in). Second, the Bush cuts will likely expire despite all the ranting and raving. Third, this state income tax hike will occur, only the amount is in question.
Fourth: Lil’ Opie (the Non-Hawaiian) Socialist-Muslim will REDUCE the corn subsidy for all the small IL farmers.
“…The beneficiaries of the subsidies have changed as agriculture in the United States has changed. In the 1930s, about 25% of the country’s population resided on the nation’s 6,000,000 small farms. By 1997, 157,000 large farms accounted for 72% of farm sales, with only 2% of the U.S. population residing on farms. In 2006, the top 3 states receiving subsidies were Texas (10.4%), Iowa (9.0%), and Illinois (7.6%)”
Hwy recommends the documentary: King Corn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LrCCvHFBSQ
I can’t think what’s worse - questioning the Federal Reserve or questioning farm subsidies?
Thanks, I’ll try to watch this at home later. The problem with corn subsidies is that farmers and lobbysists have inserted too many loopholes into the subsidies while capitalizing on outdated standards. Also, suppliers raise their costs to match the subsidies. Rather than layer upon layer of fixes, the program needs to be scrapped and started from the ground up.
This is the biggest scam there is.
I think there is something to supporting small farms of which there are very few, but what we have now is a tax payer give away to the elite.
You have problem with Corporate Communist Capitalism©®™, comrade?
We’re going to be seeing a lot of this. State and local governments flailing around, trying to generate revenue by attempting to raise taxes, while services deteriorate. Some of this will get cost shifted to the Feds, by raising taxes that are (theoretically) Federally deductible.
At the same time, there will be all kinds of giveaways, tax credits, and rebates given to businesses, in an attempt to increase the number of local jobs, or worse, just keep the jobs they have.
You know how sometimes when you flush the toilet, there is always one turd that floats to the top, and won’t flush? Everyone is trying to be that turd.
Too bad the toilet can always be flushed again……
X-GSfixr’s plan: Stay in the bunker (financially, if not literally). The guys that get out of the foxholes after the first artillery barrage get whacked by the second round of artillery that is sent for just that purpose. This mess isn’t even close to being sorted out.
Too bad the toilet can always be flushed again……
And next time they’re going to hold the handle down until the tank is empty :-).
I agree….
“The idea is to increase some taxes that are already federally deductible and to allow taxpayers to take advantage of that while lowereing some taxes that ate not federally deductible …”
That only works if taxpayers itemize, besides why should it be okay to push a states woes onto the federal government?
“…..why should it be okay….”
I’m not making a judgement as to whether this is “okay”. It’s just what they are going to try to do, IMO.
People have never sat down a figured out what their Schedule A deductions actually “save” them on taxes. All they know is that it’s deductible.
Try doing a Wiki search on “unfunded mandates”. The Feds have been shifting costs onto the private sector and local governments for years. They are just trying to do a little shifting back the other way.
Of course, you will soon see Congress loudly announce a plan to “streamline” the tax code.
“Streamline” = Eliminate J6P tax deductions.
I can’t get out of this state fast enough. This is but one of the many tax lawn darts soon to penetrate the skulls of Californians who choose to participate in the above ground economy.
“…who choose to participate in the above ground economy”
Hey, you know you just lit up the NSA “non-compliant citizen” target zone screens. What you thought the Fed’s were gone spend Billions $$$$$$$$$$$$ focusing on non-compliant non-citizens getting loans for real estate in AZ? Ha!
lol…education and other vital services.
Unlike sales levies, state income taxes are deductible from federal returns.
IIRC this isn’t true anymore. You get your choice: deduct state income taxes OR deduct a fixed-amount representing state sales tax. There’s a check box on line 5 of the 1040 schedule A. My Idaho income tax was so small I came out ahead claiming the $300 Idaho sales tax amount.
I am out of California next year. I’m paying almost as much state tax as I am rent, and they say it still isn’t enough. Add to that how stupidly expensive everything is and you have a place that’s hospitable only to those too rich to care or too poor to pay taxes.
Smart man. When I lived there 15 years ago I could see then the state was in trouble and headed for eventual disaster.
And yet a BIG chunk of CA’s deficit can be reduced by getting rid of the illegals……just make it hard for them to live
Dont see a lot of guts there.
GOOD!
If you’re going to vote for nanny-state provisions, then you should pay for them yourself.
Let the state income tax grow to 20% for everyone in California for all I care. They made their bed; let them suffer in it. If it becomes the equivalent of a third-world country out there, it’ll serve as the example for everyone else as to what NOT to do.
Idiot Californians.
You do know that until recently California sent much more to the FEDS than they got in return??
That is correct measton so California was subsidizing someone…Please just tell me that it wasn’t Georgia…
Actually, Newt Gingrich’s district led the nation in pork-per-capita for a time. When this was pointed out, Michael Moore (then doing a show called TV Nation) collected signatures there for a petition to end all earmarks. He got a lot of signatures.
That proves what? Californians were too stupid to vote in politicians that would protect their interests?
Yeah, that’s what that means.
All the more reason Californians ought to be taxed to the hilt by the state itself. Fools and their money are soon parted.
If Californians believe in wealth redistribution - which they heavily favor these days - then let them give their own money via taxes.
Liberals getting THEIR money redistributed - after they vote in favor of it - and then they’re whining about it. Well, that’s Socialism for you.
It’s a great system, until the other person runs out of money.
Well, guess what all you liberals? That day has come.
It’ll be interesting seeing you eat your own.
You think that the Political Class is going to protect you because you voted or even campaigned for Obama?
Useful idiots.
I don’t hear LIBERALS whining about it. On the other hand, I don’t see “conservatives” CEASE whining about it. It’s a constant refrain with them.
Robert Gibbs…the gift that keeps on giving.
Criticizes Rush Limbaugh for criticizing Obama for nationalizing GM. He ends his tirade with…
“Finally, he wrapped it up: “And then you should ask Mr. Limbaugh — I don’t know what kind of car he drives, but I bet it’s not an F-150.”
So typical of the Democrat elitist. Doesn’t even realize the F150 is a Ford, not a GM. Why should he? He has never owned one. Probably doesn’t know anyone who has ever owned one. Probably has never known anyone who has owned one. Never mind that it is the best selling vehicle in the country and has been for about 25 years.
But I’m sure the $41K golf cart known as the Chevy Volt will be really popuylar soon enough. Right Gibsie?
I think that was the point Eddie. Ford received no bailouts, so shouldn’t Rush drive a Ford?
I’m guessing the Volt will be a big seller in the “save the environment crowd”, shoving the Prius aside. Of course Toyota as a its own plug in Hybrid in the works as well.
Typical meaningless rant.
The gift that keeps on giving? Is that the best you got.
Volt looks like a disaster. Nissan Leaf looks like it has a much better chance of success - better specs, lower price. Volt is supposed to be Chevy’s last stand. What a waste of time - should have let that company die.
Today’s Happy employment report:
$1000 for a law firm job (Midtown)
Date: 2010-07-29, 10:16PM EDT
The title of this post is not a typo.
I’m a licensed attorney in need of a job as a lawyer. The economy is brutal, and I need a job. I graduated two years ago, and it’s been a rough time since. I will give you $1000 cash - $200 for an interview, and $800 when I start - if you can get me a full-time job as an attorney at any type of law firm in Manhattan or western Brooklyn. Anyone out there?
——————————
Lawyer willing to work for free (Manhattan)
Date: 2010-07-28, 4:24PM EDT
Reply To This Post
Hi,
Eager and dedicated lawyer willing to work for free for a law firm or non-profit. I passed the New York bar by studying by myself and I would love to get more experience. I am a 35-year-old male, I’ve spent all my adult life working as a journalist and really want to move into law. I love all areas of work from immigration to criminal to constitutional.
I’m bright, have excellent communication skills and, yes, I’m willing to work for free.
Thanks,
Sean
“I’ve spent all my adult life working as a journalist and really want to move into law.”
Maybe Harvey Levin could give him a job over at TMZ.
“I’m bright, have excellent communication skills and, yes, I’m willing to work for free.”
He just needs to find the female version of Denny Crane.
I passed the New York bar by studying by myself and I would love to get more experience. I didn’t think that NY was one of the states where you could “read for the law,” like VA and CA.
Vermont allows people to read for the bar and even there you can’t just study on your own and take the exam. You have to study with an admitted attorney over a series of years. I think the person who mentors you has to jump through some hoops in order to be allowed to do it. My uncle took a long while to do it (while working full time and raising 3 kids), and he successfully completed a Phd program so brutal that the school changed it a few years later when they realized how few people could finish (and that all the applicants they wanted were going to other programs).
If there’s one thing this country needs, it’s more lawyers.
Can’t have too many, you know.
Why would anybody hire a lawyer who is unclear on the concept of “job.”
I bet this guy voted for Obama.
I bet he regrets doing so.
When have realtors ever said “it’s a horrible time to buy”?
When have realtors ever said “it’s a horrible time to buy”?
About as often as Eddie says, “[some republican] is an idiot.”
Here we go.
This article was reported by Lisa Scherzer for SmartMoney.
Believe it or not, a housing shortage
Yes, even with months of inventory languishing on the market, some real-estate experts see a day coming when demand for new homes will exceed supply.
By SmartMoney
With all the talk of excess inventory and a flood of foreclosures, the idea of a looming housing shortage sounds unrealistic, if not downright fanciful.
After all, data from the National Association of Realtors showed a 5.1% decline in existing-home sales in June. Meanwhile, total housing inventory increased 2.5%, to 4 million homes available for sale — an 8.9-month supply, up from an 8.3-month supply in May.
Foreclosures, too, are an issue, with a vast backlog of distressed properties and “underwater” loans sitting just below the surface, according to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace. The company forecasts that more than 3 million properties will get hit with foreclosure filings by the end of the year.
But if you step back from the doom and gloom of foreclosures and declining sales and focus on the low construction levels of the past few years, some economists say a housing shortage might be in the offing. A 2009 report by Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor William Wheaton says that despite the glut of existing homes, with current depressed levels of construction, there might be “excess demand” for new homes.
“…demand for new homes will exceed supply.”
Where will they hide those 18.9 million extant vacant homes?
“Where will they hide those 18.9 million extant vacant homes?”
Next to the 3.6 million jobs that were saved or created.
+1
Right?
This housing shortage sounds like the “land shortage”
of five years ago. Land prices were skyrocketing, giving the impression that all the outlying farmland was already paid over. What really happened is that prices jacked up because builders were just fighting over options for future building.
Oh, and when was this housing shortage supposed to hit? Five years from now? That’s hardly news…since this housing bubble pulled about 5 years of demand forward. Just wait until five years from now when the new crop of people want to buy houses and find that the only available housing was low-qual to begin with and falling apart from foreclosure neglect. After all, the first of the five-years-and-they-fall-apart Toll Brothers luxury homes are already 15 or so years old.
Five years Oxide? Perhaps the demographics will stretch that out to a generation.
Neither demand nor supply is some kind of monolithic thing that can easily be measured. Thus there isn’t just some magical crossover point where you can just say “Well, I guess demand exceeds supply now!”.
And the supply-demand thing is all local. The national number does not matter.
We could easily have an excess of housing where we don’t need people, and a shortage where we do need people.
We could easily have a large over-supply of housing in Detroit, Los Vegas and Phoenix, but a shortage in growing places like Nashville and Cincinnati.
And even within growing places, we could have an oversupply of small, run-down 1950s ranches in the inner suburbs, and a shortage of housing in the outer suburbs where all the jobs have moved.
Remember, once you get away from the coasts (or any city that is ‘anchored’ to a natural geographic item like an ocean) , then cities are free to roam around, move jobs to the distant suburbs, etc.
Which is part of the reason that there was so much argument and confusion on this blog in the early days when people quoted real estate agents talking about a “buyer’s” or “seller’s” market. Those terms never implied that prices were at a level that was good for buyers or sellers. Rather they were a squishy, impression of supply vs demand as revealed by things like months of supply, and how tough buyers or sellers could be at the negotiating table.
Americans Buy IPads While Broke in New Abnormal Economy
(Bloomberg)
In March, Ralph Ronzio went to a warehouse in a seedy part of Orange County, California, and watched a man auction off his condo for half what he’d paid for it. Ronzio had bought the place for $329,000 in 2005, when he moved to Southern California from Rhode Island to take a job at a data-storage company. It was the first place he’d ever owned.
“It was totally my bachelor pad,” he says. “Not much inside other than the usual leather couch and the big screen TV. My fiancée made me sell the couch.”
That wasn’t the only thing that changed when Ronzio got engaged. His fiancée had two young children, and there wasn’t enough room in the condo for all four of them. So last year, Ronzio bought a house nine miles (14 kilometers) away and they all moved in. He figured he could rent the condo and cover his costs. He figured wrong, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its Aug. 2 issue.
The more he thought about the money he was losing, the more it stressed him out. Finally, Ronzio enlisted the help of a firm called You Walk Away and did exactly that from the remaining $319,000 on his condo mortgage. When the bank foreclosed, he says he felt a sense of relief. He also had more cash. He and his fiancée took the kids to Disneyland. Ronzio, 31, gave himself a treat as well.
“I bought myself an iPad,” he says.
“Americans Buy IPads While Broke in New Abnormal Economy”
Kind of fascinating how broke people always seem to find a way to buy expensive crap they don’t really need, isn’t it?
So, the mentality of our nation’s political and business leadership has trickled down to J6P, what’s the big freaking deal?
Wow, you’re on a streak today, edge. But I like to see it. You’re what, in your 20s or 30s? You give me hope for the upcoming generation. Soldier on.
(Also you make me laugh sometimes)
Nah, 41 Palmy. But I look younger than my gf (30s) and she hates it. We took a bunch of pictures a couple weeks ago on a day at the park - and she deleted them all before I could see them.
Seriously, though - let’s all do what we need survive and thrive. Step 1 - rejecting the pigeonholes the PTB is trying to stuff us into.
“let’s all do what we need survive and thrive. Step 1 - rejecting the pigeonholes the PTB is trying to stuff us into.”
Testify, brothah!
I love to ridicule the PTB, it’s becoming a nasty habit with me. Tools, all.
+1 Edge. How is Ronzio’s $500 iPad different from Lloyd Blankfein/Dimon’s multi-million bonuses?
Apples and oranges. In case you haven’t noticed JPM and GS are massively profitable right now.
The problem is the JPM and GS profits in the first place, being achieved on the taxpayer’s backs. Get rid of those public-support-based profits and then it’d be apples and apples, if Dimon and Blankfein were making big bonuses while their companies were losing money.
OK, what about the banks and mortgage brokers who were making huge bonuses while they were losing money (and I mean losing “real” money, not accounting-trick profits)? They lost “real” money on every NINJA loan they approved.
OK, what about the banks and mortgage brokers who were making huge bonuses while they were losing money (and I mean losing “real” money, not accounting-trick profits)? They lost “real” money on every NINJA loan they approved.
They should’ve ended up on the streets, but didn’t due to a dozen or so Fed and government programs to keep the banks and housing afloat. All in the name of protecting our supposedly-fragile economy.
Disaster politics. It can be very profitable if you know how to play the game. The really good ones can make money both causing the disaster and benefiting from the reaction to it.
What do they say, “doctors bury their mistakes, but brokers get a second (and maybe third) commission”
Bingo…nobody seems to buy these items with the premise of using it to make money, like I would.
Is that even possible with an iPad? Its a toy.
Well, he’s not exactly broke. He freed himself from an alligator, providing more disposable income.
“I bought myself an iPad,” he says.”
And for Ronzio and others like him, American servicemen and women were killed and maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kids, it’s not worth it.
“And for Ronzio and others like him, American servicemen and women were killed and maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kids, it’s not worth it”
??
Tank gun loaders / cool sunglasses / Botox…it’s all there… being patented in “The OC”
Blogger: O.C. wins 200 patents a month
July 28th, 2010, by Jan Norman, small-business columnist OC Register:
“…So far, the patent that has attracted the most attention is for a tank gun loader by Meggitt Defense Systems in Irvine. “I have no idea why,” Itchkawitz confesses.
He has plenty of ideas from which to choose. In the first half of 2010, approximately 1,2000 patents have been issued to O.C. entities, Itchkawitz says. The county accounts for roughly 1% of the patents being issued.
“About a third (430) were issued to Broadcom Corp., which is far and away the most prolific O.C. company in terms of issued U.S. patents.” Some of the others:
* Allergan Inc., 51 patents
* Western Digital Technologies Inc., 44
* Qlogic Corp., 23
* Oakley Inc., 21
Itchkawitz has been in Orange County since 1999 and specializes in complex technologies. He earned a PhD in physics from the University of Pennsylvania and was a research physicist in the area of experimental solid-state physics.”
“……tank gun loader……”
Don’t know the specifics of this particular item, but if it is a retrofit to existing AFVs, might be worth some bucks.
Most tanks carry a fourth crewman, whose main purpose is to load the main gun. If you can eliminate that crew position, you have reduced your personnel costs by 25%.
The trick with an autoloader is designing it to allow the gunner to be able to select what type of ammunition he wants to shoot.
That, and keep the autoloader from malfunctioning, and trying to load crew members who are in the immediate vicinity of the autoloader (as the Russians found out back in the 60’s)
IIRC there was a Russian tank that required a left-handed gun loader that was under something like 5′5″ tall or he wouldn’t fit in his space. Talk about a bad design.
An iPad is cheap compared to a new car. Or granite counter tops. Or a koi pond.
“I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.”
-Thomas Jefferson
From Jefferson’s quill to Reagan’s telepromter.
Jefferson reduced the total Federal debt from $83 million in 1800 to $57 million at the end of 1808– even while purchasing land that doubled the size of the country and fighting a war in Africa.
And– whereas Newt Gingrich and Jack Kemp spouted pipe dreams about abolishing the IRS– Jefferson actually DID it. Against strenuous opposition from the Federalists, he dismantled the entire internal revenue gathering apparatus of the Federal Government.
mises dot org/daily/4473
Jefferson was in debt to bankers all his life. He kept buying real estate and would not be able to make the payments. Just refer to a biography or two.
So even though Jefferson was a great statesman, one of the greatest, he tended to speculate in real estate and was always in financial trouble. He gave away his library and all of that but when he died, there was no fortune left once the banks were paid.
I am not knocking Jefferson, just pointing out that while he hated banks, he tended to ask for loan after loan.
my boss fully understands these concepts and raises his kids this way:
- slow and steady wins the race.
- a penny saved is a penny earned
- etc.
but…he is a speculative nightmare. lost an asston in the dot.com and real estate bubbles.
Good point. The only reason the banks didn’t throw Jefferson’s butt out of Monticello was because he was…well, Jefferson. After he died they swooped in like vultures.
So if Jefferson had lived in these times, Monticello would have had granite countertops, maybe?
“So if Jefferson had lived in these times, Monticello would have had granite countertops, maybe?”
Shhhh… the historical society around Bedford, VA is still renovating his Poplar Forest house.
If he lived in these times, he’d be broke paying child support for all of his on-the-side-nookie children.
He’d be on Maury Williams for “Who my Baby Daddy?” at least once a month!
Love to see the Jefferson celebration dance, when the test comes back negative.
In yo’ face!!!!!
Thanks for the best laugh I’ve had in a while.
And once he got caught, he’d appear on The View.
Hey we have ads on all the news stations you can die broke, and still leave your assets to your family.
So I guess we HBB’ers won’t settle any of our debates until we all [posthumously] compare our personal financial histories?
“public debt as the greatest of dangers.”
Thank you sir, may I have another.
UAW head: GM to file paperwork in August for IPO
The Associated Press
Posted: 3:57 p.m. Thursday, July 29, 2010
DETROIT — General Motors Co. will file paperwork in mid-August to start the process of selling stock to the public, the head of the United Auto Workers union said Thursday.
LMAO Isnt funny how these comapnaies go into bankrupctcy and wipe out existing shareholders.Then they emerge and issue more stock to pay off their debts.This is the most rigged system I have ever seen.Why would anyone buy stock in this company ever again?You are simply a fool if you do.
“Why would anyone buy stock in this company ever again?”
A little bit of lipstick, some rouge, a wee bit of padding here and there, and …
Presto!
Sheesh, first we bitch about “Govenrment Motors”, then when they try to privatize it, we bitch some more.
I’m not bitching, I’m laughing.
He is going to Michigan to bask in the glory symbolized by this IPO.
Why would anyone buy stock in this company ever again?
Because their pension or mutual fund manager will put their money there and they won’t even know it.
Exactly.
Must — have — Viagra!
GDP jitters sideline bulls
Indications
July 30, 2010, 7:32 a.m. EDT
Stock futures fall ahead of U.S. second-quarter GDP data
‹ Previous Column
Stock futures gain strength as jobless claims fall
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Investors’ nerves were on edge Friday ahead of the release of U.S. second-quarter economic growth data, as futures pointed to opening losses on Wall Street.
S&P 500 futures fell 4.20 points to 1,092.80 and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 6.50 points to 1,850.70.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 33 points to 10,376.
The Dow (DJIA 10,467, -30.72, -0.29%) fell 0.3% on Thursday, dropping for a second session.
Asian stocks ended mostly lower Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.6%. The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:SXXP 255.12, -1.14, -0.45%) fell 0.4% in afternoon trade following a flood of earnings news from major French firms.
The Commerce Department will release its estimate for second-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Economists expect growth to slow a bit to a 2.5% rate in the April-June quarter, compared to 2.7% growth in the first quarter.
“Watch today’s numbers and also watch out for the annual revisions that are released,” Deutsche Bank strategists wrote in a note. “It could change a lot of perceptions about the shape of the recession and subsequent recovery.”
…
Gold bugs get swatted (in sidebar video link)
Is gold’s rally over? MarketWatch’s Money & Investing editor Jonathan Burton reports.
“…Gold bugs get swatted”
No worries, Glenbeckinstan is placing a shoulder fired weapon loaded with a “FEAR!” missile and has his “target audience”…in his sights!
“This just coming into our studios…it’s being reported that Faux News & WSJ (MUrDoch’s “True Chupacabra™ wire service), have discovered the truth about…”
But first, a few words from our Corporate sponsor:
MUrDoch’s “TrueProvoker ™” Faux News
(Hwy thinks the LA Times is starting to resemble its old “investigative-journalism” self.)
Breaking news!:
Is gold dealer using fear to steer buyers into more expensive purchases?:
ByDavid Lazarus July 30, 2010 / LA Times
What SoCal authorities are focusing on is whether Goldline and Superior pushed people into costlier collectible coins by preying on customers’ fears that the government, as Beck has said, could “take all your gold,” except for collectibles.
For instance, Beck has cited on his radio and TV shows a 1933 executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizing the government to buy people’s gold as a way to prevent deflation and put more money into circulation.
The order permitted U.S. citizens to keep about 5 ounces of gold in their possession. It also exempted gold used in industry, jewelry, art and antiques, which could include collectible coins.
Despite alarmist claims to the contrary circulating online, Roosevelt’s order did not result in Gestapo-style, house-to-house searches for gold, and only one person was prosecuted for violating the order — a New York attorney who failed to register 27 gold bars stored in a bank.
Seven Faces of “The Peril”
James Bullard
Preprint
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review
September-October Issue
Abstract
In this paper I discuss the possibility that the U.S. economy may
become enmeshed in a Japanese-style, deflationary outcome within
the next several years. To frame the discussion, I rely on an analysis
that emphasizes two possible long-run outcomes (steady states) for
the economy, one which is consistent with monetary policy as it has
typically been implemented in the U.S. in recent years, and one which
is consistent with the low nominal interest rate, deflationary regime
observed in Japan during the same period. The data I consider seem
to be quite consistent with the two steady state possibilities. I describe
and critique seven stories that are told in monetary policy circles re-
garding this analysis. I emphasize two main conclusions: (1) The
FOMC’s extended period language may be increasing the probabil-
ity of a Japanese-style outcome for the U.S., and (2) on balance, the
U.S. quantitative easing program offers the best tool to avoid such an
outcome. JEL codes: E4, E5.
“Abstract
In this paper I discuss the possibility that the U.S. economy may
become enmeshed in a Japanese-style, deflationary outcome within
the next several years.”
Questions from peanut gallery:
“Was Japan fighting x2 Foreign Wars during that time period?”
“Didn’t Japan run out of land in 1568?”
“Do old Japanese “savers” move very often?”
Details, details…
Questions from peanut gallery:
QfPG II:
“The people who have done well in Japan during the extended downturn - what do they do?”
Another dead “entertainment” thingy.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/as-baywalk-sits-empty-major-tenant-muvico-blasts-complexs-neglect/1112014
How many of these are there across America? The flats in Cleveland, Shock O Bottom or whatever in Richmond… I think Buffalo was going to try something like this, too.
Syracuse tried. I don’t know how that’s going. Last I checked they were greening up the mall, which totally oxymoronic in every sense of the word. You can’t make an entity that sells cheap (oil-based) plastic junk and (oil-based) sweatshop textiles transported by oil-based shipping from 10 thousand miles away into something green, even if you make the entire walls out of solar panels.
As if solar would work in Syracuse anyway. Did these crackpots even look at Syracuse’s climate?
Shockebottom? I was just in Richmond VA last night visiting their hackerspace. I think the shocke bottom thing flooded a few years ago after a heavy rain. I thought it was just some restaurants and such down there.
My god that place is fugly! No wonder nobody wants to lease there.
Build it and they will come…oops…
Over the last few weeks as I talk with vendors, customers and other business men and women, I have been searching for a tipping point. What I mean by this is when conditions will improve and get back to reasonable levels. This downturn is the longest by a factor of two for us in the twenty five years I have been involved with my company. It is actually getting worse and I don’t see it improving anytime soon. I’ve always tried to be optimistic, I can’t seem to muster that anymore.
I guess this feeling is the “new normal”?
The problem isn’t the new normal - the problem is the “old normal” - the past 20-30 years, which wasn’t actually normal at all. It was fueled by ever-growing debt.
“It was fueled by ever-growing debt.”
Bingo! And an ever growing debt creates and ever-growing money suppply.
And once this ever-growing debt stops to grow and starts to shrink then the ever-growing money supply also stops to grow and begins to shrink.
Correct.
Currently we’re under a debt contraction - from 357% of GDP to 340% over the past year.
The last time there was a significant (as such) contraction in debt relative to GDP was 1980*, when it went from 155% of GDP to 150%.
After that, it promptly went to 210% by 1987.
So - stay tuned.
* Note that during 1980 we also had 14% price inflation. Shows that there can be a tremendous disconnect between monetary inflation and price inflation, at least in short time periods.
“Note that during 1980 we also had 14% price inflation.”
Also note that this price inflation was a CONTINUATION of the price inflation incurred during the previous high-inflation years. Soon after 1980 (and Paul Volcker) the inflation rate dropped way down.
“Note that during 1980 we also had 14% price inflation.”
Also note that this price inflation was a CONTINUATION of the price inflation incurred during the previous high-inflation years. Soon after 1980 (and Paul Volcker) the inflation rate dropped way down.
Kind of - in 1978 we only had 8%; in 1979 we had 12%. So the 14% was a new peak in 1980. Inflation was going up as the amount of debt was decreasing, during that first half of the double-dip recession. (Very similar to this one actually, where we had significant inflation in 2008)
My key point was that I think there’s potential for big debt / monetary inflation ahead, similar to what we saw in the late 1980’s. In both cases government deficit spending was used to get us out of the recession. The government doesn’t like so much debt though, and the best way to bring it down is to transfer it to the private sector like it did in the late 80’s. Problem is it takes as lot of new private debt in order to reduce the government debt.
The problem isn’t the new normal - the problem is the “old normal” - the past 20-30 years, which wasn’t actually normal at all. It was fueled by ever-growing debt.
A situation that left J6P behind while making Wall St. obscenely wealthy. A slight problem in a 75% consumer driven economy.
A slight problem in a 75% consumer driven economy.
Yep.
Solution: if J6P isn’t willing to consume any more, get the federal government to be your consumer, (or to force consumption).
Hey, it worked for the insurance companies! And single company utilities. And car mfgs because of lack of public transport for over 80% or this country. And airlines because what other choice do you really have?
This is why I laugh when people talk about gov restriction of free market forces. because the reality is that it’s the corporations themselves that are creating these restrictions. Predatory pricing ring any bells? Not to mention regional monopolies.
This downturn is the longest by a factor of two for us in the twenty five years I have been involved with my company ??
State & Industry ??
“FOMC’s extended period language may be increasing the probabil-
ity of a Japanese-style outcome for the U.S.,”
If that’s the worst that can happen, so what?
They are quickly becoming aware and afraid of the duration of this event. They can monkey around with the headlines/numbers but the deleveraging will take its own sweet time - and it’s starting to drive ‘em nuts.
“the deleveraging will take its own sweet time - and it’s starting to drive ‘em nuts.”
They were already nutz, now they’re being driven around the bend.
Ah, yes, the deleveraging. It is the leveraging in an economy that drives inflation, the leveraging that creates money from out of thin air by borrowing it into existence.
So what does this deleveraging thingy do? Just the opposite, no? Money that was leveraged into existence is deleveraged out of existence, is it not?
So what does this deleveraging do to the value of the money that is left after this relentless money-destroying deleveraging has finished with it’s long-overdue job? Does it not make any remaining cash scarce? Does it not make the holder of this remaining cash the shotcaller in any financial transaction?
School’s in session… Professor combo presiding.
Your homework assignment, Grasshopper, is finding a way of making sure the money you now have is not in any way part of the money that will vanish because of this deleveraging.
This problem will be presented to you on the Final Exam. And there will be no make-up sessions.
Something about this guy gives me the willies. I guess he wants to be close to his NYT investment.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-estate/carlos-slim-buys-manhattan-mansion-townhouse/19574075/
Hey he can walk across the street to the Met and meet my GF she works there, maybe he will be so impressed her personality, that he checks out her website and buys all her artwork for a million dollars .
More likely he’d try and get her on a date to an expensive restaurant…
I don’t care what they say, if you value your life, don’t eat seafood from any part of the Gulf. That Corexit dispersant is poison and is banned in England, but of course it’s OK for the Yanks, right?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-30/louisiana-reopens-some-gulf-fishing-areas-after-fda-tests-confirm-safety.html
I repeat, do NOT eat any seafood from the Gulf of Mexico.
How can you tell if it came from the Gulf?
When you try to cook it it bursts into flames and acts as a smudgpot.
LOL…
The meat counter where I buy fish says exactly where the fish came from and how it was caught (everyone is so damn “environmentally sensitive”).
How can you tell if it came from the Gulf?
It will be wearing a shiny beaded necklace and holding a trumpet.
Stocks drop after 2Q GDP growth slows
By STEPHEN BERNARD The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Stock are falling and interest rates are rising in the Treasury market after the government reported the economy grew at a slower pace than expected during the second quarter.
The Commerce Department says the gross domestic product grew at an annual pace of 2.4 percent from April to June. That’s less than the 2.5 percent economists had forecast.
The report Friday is confirming investors’ belief that the economic recovery is weakening as unemployment remains high and government stimulus programs end.
And the DJIA came right back up to the flat line. This bull cannot be stopped!
I find it unbelievable that so many people hang on the teeny tiny details of the economy, that aren’t even outside of the range of error, while ignoring all the elephants in the room (ballooning debt, prospect of disruptive inflation/deflation, etc.).
Day traders and market manipulators like GS care little about investing.
ignoring all the elephants in the room (ballooning debt, prospect of disruptive inflation/deflation, etc.) ??
Those are not Elephants those are hippo’s…The Elephants are in N. Korea & Iran or one backpack bomb at a mall on U.S. soil…
A GM Volt babble for the day. So the price tag is set at 41k. I did some spreadsheets and noted the car is about 6k more expensive than a Prius after 4 years. You get 1200-1400$ in savings on fuel over that time. Still a 20% premium but not as bad as first looked.
If California included the Volt in their tax break it would break even a lot faster. Not that I expect California to do that. Big Japanese lobby here, via Toyota headquarters and Japanese americans.
Now if there is some kind of hiccup in the supply of gas, say china recovers or internal demand goes up, or the dollar goes down more. We could easily be looking at 5$ a gallon gas. All of a sudden saving about 1 gallon per day makes the math a lot more even.
All in all I’m giving consideration to the Volt. I expect it to be a POS and probably will not waste the money however it looks like a valid product for those of us that could use the tax credit.
Secondary babble… what would the price have been without the tax credit?
Well, I informed Mr. Cole (age 8), that Nissan is selling a fleet of its Leaf vehicles to Enterprise car rentals…he’s excited to become a “bitter-renter” for x1 or x2 days!
People are going to buy this car for the image, which is the same reason they pay 10K more for ther 50 mpg Prius than for a 35 mpg econobox.
Also the same reason they buy solar panels to put on their roof, rather than implement conservation and/or reduced consumption measures that are much more beneficial both economically and environmentally.
Remember you are buying the car in todays dollars, you will be paying for energy in 5 years with 2015 dollars. You are paying for oil now before peak oil, where will oil prices be after peak oil. 200/brl. There is no better investment now than energy efficiency. Guaranteed tax free return.
Or you can just keep driving what you have now and buy version 2.0 or 3.0 of the Volt, or the Watt, or the Amp, or whatever is the most efficient car for the dollar when it matters.
…and buy version 2.0 or 3.0 of the Volt, or the Watt, or the Amp, or whatever…
The “Joule”
ta-dump!
“There is no better investment now than energy efficiency.”
Absolutely correct, except an all-electric vehicle is one of the worst ways to make that type of investment.
Hybrids are starting to make economic sense, if one drives 20,000 miles per year or more. All-electric vehicles probably will never make sense in most of our life times. Most of what you hear about EVs is good ol’ fashioned hype. The battery technologies are not ready for prime time, nor will they be for at least another decade at best.
What kind of figures did you use for the electricity consumed? A flat KWh rate and a percentage efficiency for the battery charger?
Batteries for the Volt are made in Korea, globalism is a wonderful thing.
And this perfectly illustrates the problems of our knee-jerk “Industrial Policy” or lack thereof.
The market wanted/demanded hybrid like cars two-three years ago. Back then, you could find a lot of experts who were convinced that $4-5/gallon gas was here to stay. Too bad the market has changed so much in two years.
It takes 3 years to design, engineer, and tool up to build a conventional car, at best. The Volt is pushing into new territory. And they weren’t given a pass on all the Federal regs that they have to comply with on new cars.
If the thing even remotely works like a normal car, it will be a pretty impressive engineering achievement. All you have to see is what the “We’re the new paradigm” guys at Tesla are planning to ask for their piece of crap.
Tesla isn’t “planning” anything. They are actually selling product. They are also gearing up for production of a more affordable sedan. They just cut a deal with Toyota and it’s very likely they will reopen the closed Toyota CA plant to produce them, thus bringing the cost down.
For the Big 3, it’s the 1970s all over again.
GM is a day late and a dollar short to this party. It’s the EXACT same thing that happened in the 1970s and sealed the Big 3’s eventual loss of market domination.
Toyota, Honda and Nissan now have (somewhat) affordable hybrids and soon to be 60/40 electrics.
GM has ONE SUV hybrid and ONE soon to be 20/80 electric. And neither are really affordable.
Christina Romer and Baghdad Bob must be related.
Christina says todays GDP report shows steady growth, stimulus working, recovery continues.
I wish Barry would hire Baghdad Bob and dump the idiot Gibbs. Bob was full of sh!t, but at least he was entertaining.
Trolling Trulia makes for fun Fridays. Realtors are so dishonest, incompetent and stupid.
So are unions. You don’t hear me complain about them, ever!
Another desperate, hiding Palinite. :):):)
HBB gang, how many “problems” can you find in this Sit-U-Ation?: Ready, set, goooooooooooooooooooo…….
77-year-old on verge of losing home over $1,600
July 30th, 2010, by Teri Sforza, OC Register staff writer
After some seven decades of living, Gilma Gurdon bought her own home on Sandra Street in Garden Grove.
A modest home, to be sure — two bedrooms, one bath, 800 square feet. But it was hers.
Gurdon worked at Mervyn’s, until the retailer ran into difficulty. Then she helped with her son Louis’s construction business, until that ran into difficulty, too. She babysits where she can, but that isn’t quite keeping body and soul together.
Now, some eight years after buying her house, Gurdon is on the verge of losing it. A foreclosure sale is slated for noon Aug. 11 at the County Courthouse.
Gurdon paid GMAC Mortgage as long as she could, but the well ran dry in December. Her son Louis — who is having his own problems — got a job with Home Depot and is helping Gurdon as much as he can. They offered to settle her outstanding bill for nearly $7,000 a few months ago, only to find that penalties had swollen things to nearly $8,000.
There is equity in the house, so Gurdon decided that a reverse mortgage would be the way to go. Bank of America is willing to do a reverse for $210,000 — about $1,600 shy of what GMAC Mortgage says she owes, with penalties — but so far, GMAC has been unwilling to budge, Louis says.
“She’s 77 years old, she doesn’t’ really have a place to go, my own place is in foreclosure proceedings and I’m going through loan modification,” Louis said. “All we’re trying to say is, Bank of America is willing to do a reverse, saying ‘We’ll cut our costs,’ trying hard to make it happen. But GMAC is not budging on penalties. They know there is equity in the house, and they can sell it and charge the owner $60,000 for foreclosure costs. They would rather have someone 77 years old lose her equity, her house, rather than relinquish $1,600. I even thought of writing to President Obama.”
Gurdon can’t take advantage of loan modification programs, because she can’t provide a profit/loss statement from her babysitting “business.”
These things are always pretty complicated. GMAC is investigating the case for us, and we expect to hear back from them on Friday. We’ll post again with its side of the story as soon as we get it.
Let me go with the simplest.
1. If there is equity in the house, then sell the damn house and pay off your creditor.
+1. Why do these people believe that GMAC should get less than their contract legally entitles them to??
Indeed. Seems like if she did that, she’d have a little nest egg to pay her rent for the next few months/years.
Maybe you haven’t noticed it’s kind of hard to sell a house these days.
But that’s okay, it’s quite acceptable to kick grandma to the curb these days, so don’t let your (lack of) conscientious bother you.
If they can’t sell the house, there is no equity.
Exactly. Just because the son says there is, doesn’t mean it’s true. If the reverse mortgage won’t cover a (comparatively) measly $1600, then there is obviously no real equity.
If having a conscience means that we house everyone where they want to live, in the manner in which they are used to living, regardless of their ability to pay for that life, then the existing bailouts are not nearly enough money.
Now, I think it foolish that GMAC is going to foreclose, because for $1,600 it makes no sense to go through the hassle. As a business decision, they should make a deal with the woman–and not because of their conscience, because it doesn’t make economic sense to push through the foreclosure for a difference of $1,600.
Per Zillow, her home is estimated to be worth about $296k, with the value being supported by sales on her street in 2010. With very few, if any, other homes for sale on the street. She bought the home in 2002 for $232k. This is not Detroit–with the notice she was given on the default and foreclosure (CA takes at least 100 days, and often more), she could have sold her home, and very likely for a profit. Coastal markets in CA have been quite strong (up double digits year on year).
This is a matter between a borrower and lender, with the borrower choosing to NOT sell the house and payoff the lender, and the lender choosing to NOT give a break on their penalties.
The government has no place for involvement.
Funny how all the “anti-war” editorials and protests vanished as soon as the Democrats assumed power.
Makes me think that all the editorials and protests were engineered to portray Bush as the problem and any Democrat as the solution. Now that the Dems are in charge, there’s no reason at all to question the motives of the Military-Industrial Complex:
At least 63 American troops were killed in Afghanistan this month, making July the deadliest month in the nine-year-old war, The Associated Press reported.
U.S. and NATO commanders had warned that casualties would rise, particularly in the Helmand and Kandahar provinces where the latest “surge” is taking place. Prior to this new milestone, June had been the deadliest month for U.S. forces, at the cost of 60 lives. To date, more than 1,100 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since 2001. Another 7,149 U.S. troops have been wounded in hostile action.
According to The BBC, there are currently more than 146,000 foreign troops fighting in Afghanistan. By the end of August, that number will rise to 150,000. At least 100,000 troops will hail from America; however, the other 50,000 will come from 40 countries, including the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Taliban are said to number only 20,000-strong, but they are battle-hardened, well-organized and focused on removing the foreign troop presence in Afghanistan. If they win the war, the insurgents promise to restore peace and security and enforce strict Islamic law. During the past 90 days, 350 Taliban figures have been captured or killed by coalition forces.
I think many were more against the war in Iraq, when we knew that the leader and ideology that lead to 9/11 were in Afghanastan, and Pakistan. The lies that were used to lead us into Iraq. Now Afghanastan should have been a destroy Osama and Kick the Taliban in the head nad then get out quick, Changing to emphesis to stabilizing Afghanastan is a sure looser, but it started a long time ago. We will eventually pull out and it will revert to what it was.
I keep making the same points to my “stay the course” friends.
We would have been better served by going into Afghanistan with whatever force it took (instead of using Afghan surrogates, whose loyalties are suspect at best), find OBL, bring his head back on a pike, find the highest mountain and plant a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, then GTFOO Afghanistan.
All we have done with our extended stay is prove the same thing that we should have learned from Vietnam. The longer we stay involved, the more time we allow our opponents to figure out how to circumvent our technological advantages.
That’s the John Derbyshire approach. Go into the enemy’s country, flatten it, kill their military, and then turn right around and leave, telling them “and don’t do it again!” There are advantages to that approach.
The problem with Iraq and Afghanistan is that once in there we developed “mission creep”.
Yes, we should have gone in and kicked Al Qaeda and the Taliban’s butt, brought our boys back home and thrown the biggest parade we have ever thrown. Political correctness and American guilt prevented this type of plan…sad.
How anyone thinks that one can stabilize an illiterate triabalized, hyperreligious society with warring neighboring countries using surrogates within the country to attack each other, and one neighber (Pakistan) providing human bombs and a base for training and indoctrination all in the name of keeping US money flowing to them is beyond me. Pakistan uses the same plan as N. Korea. We have crazies and nukes and if you don’t pay us money who knows what might happen. The only way to stabilize Afghanastan would be to start dropping very large bombs on the cities of suicide bombers and Taliban supporters and continue for a very long time. This plan would create a whole host of other problems as in war with the entire Middle East, Pakistan, and of course China.
Sorry Measton this is exactly the WRONG policy. Its a Religions Jihad we need to bomb all the mosques when they are on their prayer cloths at haj
This is why we can’t win, we go after the innocent citizens and the military.
———————–
The only way to stabilize Afghanastan would be to start dropping very large bombs on the cities of suicide bombers and Taliban supporters
There are Japanese who want us out of Okinawa.
Occupations lose their freshness very quickly.
The war protesters went to the same place as the masses of homless. Did Cindy Sheehan die or something?
Funny how all the “anti-war” editorials and protests vanished as soon as the Democrats assumed power.
I think it had more to do with a simple-minded assumption on the left that, because it was a Republic™ administration who lied to get us into the war, it was up to them to get us out.
On the other side of the aisle, how would it look to party faithful if the GOP started hammering on Brock to “bring the troops home” after McGramps campaigned on “100 years in Iraq, if necessary”?
Let’s face it, between the two, we’re stuck with it for now.
The real reason we’re in Afghanistan is because Pakistan has nukes and is a very unstable country.
Perhaps you haven’t noticed Russia and China’s near silence of protest of our being right on their doorstep.
Then there’s the oil and minerals…
“Funny how all the “anti-war” editorials and protests vanished as soon as the Democrats assumed power.”
They went back to their real jobs…Acorn, Unions, Colleges, public schools, the media and anarchy. Gods work.
States go deeper into debt
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The states are broke, and like many consumers, they’re borrowing big time to get out of their fiscal binds.
The amount of debt that states are carrying spiked 10.3% last year to $460 billion, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The debt is paid for through taxes and fees, making residents ultimately responsible.
The median personal share of this burden jumped to $936, from $865 in 2008. (To see how much the tab is in your state, click here.)
And it’s likely that states will turn to the bond markets even more this year as federal stimulus money dwindles, experts said. After all, officials face an additional $12 billion shortfall for the current fiscal year and a $72 billion gap for fiscal 2012, which starts next July 1.
Debt “is a tool to help bridge the gap between the downturn and when the economy starts to recover,” said Robert Kurtter, a managing director at Moody’s.
States are relying on the debt markets in a variety of ways. With less cash on hand, some state officials are borrowing more to fund capital projects. Other states are engaging in so-called deficit financing, where they issue bonds to cover their budget shortfalls or restructure their debts to lower their monthly payments.
“… they’re borrowing big time to get out of their fiscal binds.”
Lol. And I’m fighting my alcholism by drinking myself into a stupor. Later on I plan on shooting up so I can kick my heroin addiction.
Debt “is a tool to help bridge the gap between the downturn and when the economy starts to recover,” said Robert Kurtter, a managing director at Moody’s.
Only in your textbooks, Bob, only in your textbooks.
Bob
Debt is crack cocaine.
Debt is a bridge “assuming” the economy recovers AND recovers to a level that can retire the debt…
BIG assumptions…I don’t think it will happen particularly California…See Greece & Spain for the play book solution…
Debt is a bridge “assuming” the economy recovers AND recovers to a level that can retire the debt…
Would love to see one single instance where that actually worked, in any managed economy (e.g. the U.S. since about 1930).
The closest we came was building up 120% Debt/GDP during WWII and then trimming it back down to 32% after a few decades. However it was never cut in nominal terms, and lessened in GDP terms largely due to the physical destruction of most of the rest of the world.
Will the same method be required again?
Debt “is a tool to help bridge the gap between the downturn and
when the economy starts to recoverthe next downturn”Rio…When is the best time to visit Rio and Brasil in general…???
Rio…When is the best time to visit Rio and Brasil in general…???
When you’re buff, 24 and single I think.
Rio…When is the best time to visit Rio and Brasil in general…???
But seriously. It depends. The seasons are reversed. Rio is about 75 during the day and 60 at night in the winter. I love it then but it gets dark around 5. There are less tourists then too.
If you are looking for the Beach scene come in the summer. (America’s winter) It gets hot. New years has about a million people on Copacabana beach and fireworks.
Carnival is a madhouse scene. Crowds, lots of skin and fun. And beer.
South Brazil is more European. North Brazil (Salvador) is more African influenced. Rio is a mix. I don’t like Sao Paulo, too big and gray. Foz do Iguaçu is a must see. Really.
Cheapest time is spring or fall and might be the best all around time for price/weather.
The winter’s in Rio are dryer than the summer.
I think you would like Brazil any month. Let me know if you ever need to know anything else. Happy trails.
I don’t like Sao Paulo, too big and gray.
However Sao Paulo has world class dining, clubs and nightlife but it’s expensive.
Sad face above was response to the “Buff & 24″ comment…
I have been itching to go for some time now…Thanks for the info and the offer for future follow up…
Ain’t that the truth.
Obama Making Sales Pitch for Auto Bailouts to Skeptical Voters
President Barack Obama flies to the heart of the U.S. auto industry today on a mission to convince taxpayers that their investment in the bailouts of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC will bring a return.
Heading into a congressional election season in which polls show the public skeptical about the $84.8 billion rescue and anxious about economy, Obama is using the backdrop of Detroit- area plants owned by GM and Chrysler to promote what he says is an industry revival that has saved more than a million jobs.
Obama previewed the argument he’ll make in an interview broadcast yesterday.
“We are going to get all the money back that we invested in those car companies,” Obama said on ABC’s “The View” program. The industry’s resurgence “tells a good story” about the U.S. economic recovery, he said.
“…to convince taxpayers…”
Like there was choice?
Recession inflicted more damage on economy than previously thought, government data show.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The recession was deeper than the government previously thought.
The Commerce Department, in revisions issued Friday, estimates the economy shrank 2.6 percent last year — the steepest drop since 1946. That’s worse than the 2.4 percent decline originally estimated.
The economy’s plunge underscores why the unemployment rate surged to 10.1 percent in October, a 26-year high.
The revisions in gross domestic product, or GDP, now show zero growth in 2008. That compares with a 0.4 percent gain previously estimated.The economy also grew less in 2007 (1.9 percent) than earlier thought (2.1 percent).
For all three years, consumers spent less and home builders cut more deeply than had been thought. Those factors help explain the downward revisions on the economy.
The revisions also show that struggling state and local governments cut spending more last year than previously thought. And they spent less in 2007 and 2008.
The economy slid into its worst recession since the Great Depression in late 2007. Many economists think the recession ended last summer, although a panel of academics that dates the start and end of recessions hasn’t declared when this one ended. The panel usually does so well after the fact.
A little editing, if you will sir…
Recession inflicted more damage on economy than previously admitted, government data show.
Hey cankerbearstucco, how do you do the strike-out thingy without mussin’ up this pretty board?
edgewater….you should get the joshuatree plugin (link in my name) - makes it trivial.
the html tag is “strike”, so do:
<strike>text to strike</strike>
and you will get this:
text to strikelabor unionThanks, drum - gotta get with the program!
More “unexpected” in our “not-depression.”
From Barrons
Most U.S. households own the dwelling they live in, and that isn’t likely to change. But demographic and economic forces, together with some perversities of government policy, are combining to push the share of ownership back to where it was in the early 1990s. Already, in the wake of the housing bust that brought on the Great Recession, the share of U.S. households owning homes has slid steadily—from 69% at its peak in 2004 to 67.2% in this year’s first quarter. And the rate is likely to fall to its 1993-94 level of 64% by 2015.
The great recession of 2007-09 halted the growth in the number of households led by people under 35. The financial stress also led to the dissolution of some households that those in this age group previously had formed. Net result: The number of younger households fell, even though the ranks of younger Americans continued to increase.
Many of the missing young householders were “boomerang kids.” As economist Greg Kaplan of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve has found, these individuals tend to move back with their families—thus dissolving their own households—when they lose their jobs. Others never left the family home, often because they simply couldn’t afford to do so.
xxxx
The great recession of 2007-09 halted the growth in the number of households led by people under 35. The financial stress also led to the dissolution of some households that those in this age group previously had formed. Net result: The number of younger households fell, even though the ranks of younger Americans continued to increase.
Many of the missing young householders were “boomerang kids.” As economist Greg Kaplan of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve has found, these individuals tend to move back with their families—thus dissolving their own households—when they lose their jobs. Others never left the family home, often because they simply couldn’t afford to do so.
Sounds like something you might have read on the HBB oh say years ago.
I wonder how many of these younger folk are Obama shills.
I wonder if they’re out shilling as stridently as they used to.
Obama has been a complete failure in terms of slapping down the Wall Street Elites, and there’s probably plenty of other stuff to bash, but to blame him for the current economic collapse is a bit ignorant. There is just no way we’d be better off with McCain/Palin. McCain voted for TARP 1 and 2, he would have bailed out Wall Street just as Obama did. He would have borrowed and driven us deeper into debt just as Reagan and the Bush did. Try posting something of substance, this angry vacuous ranting is just annoying.
+1 +1 measton
It’s not angry. Nor am I.
I make a two-sentence statement that those young folk who initially voted for Obama now may be regretting their action suddenly makes me a vacuous and angry poster?
It’s a fact that young people are starting to turn away from The Messiah cannot be refuted.
That huge swaths of the country disagree vehemently with numerous actions of Obama and Congress is well known. His approval figures have been in the toilet for a long time, and will get worse after January 1. Not that he cares.
That some of those who disagree vehemently are in their 20s cannot be denied. Their prospects suck for the immediate term, and possibly the intermediate term. And they know it. And, they’re sick of it.
They were fooled by their hippie-era elders. Wait until they band together with Gen-Xers to solve the problems they themselves didn’t create.
When they do that, you won’t like life much, measton. Your visionary, socialist dream will fade into obscurity.
They’re experiencing first-hand what 70 years of socialism has laid in their laps, and they don’t like it. Much like today’s Gen-Xers resent it.
It’s a fact that young people are starting to turn away from The Messiah cannot be refuted.
You shouldn’t call Obama the Messiah. For Christians it’s taking the Lord’s name in vain or in the least it is blasphemous.
The second commandment forbids the abuse of God’s name, i.e., every improper use of the names of God or Jesus Christ.
Americans are not Europeans.
“There is just no way we’d be better off with McCain/Palin. McCain voted for TARP 1 and 2, he would have bailed out Wall Street just as Obama did.”
I wish we had an option C. Right wing progressive vs. left wing progressive, not much of a choice.
We know there are many reasons (excess debt, joblessness, divorcee with a baby to name a few) that offspring continue living with their parents, or move back after living some time on their own.
But I wonder if there are “kids” who continue to live with Mommy and Daddy because they never learned the skills to be independent. The rise of “helicopter parents” would certainly cause some kids to stay dependent and live at home. But then, those parents may be very happy with that situation; they can continue to run their kids’ lives.
From firsthand observation, the kids who have “Helicopter Parents” are the ones most likely to move out on their own, at their first opportunity.
Pretty much like the kids who grew up in conservative/religious homes, who go ape$hit crazy when they go off to college for the first time.
A lot of kids who formerly able to move off to college and live on their own are now staying home and attending local schools. Mainly to save money. Nothing wrong with that, in my book.
Bill, those types are a very, very small percentage. The reality is the economy sucks and is far worse than being reported by MSM or that people will admit to.
The recession is getting undue blame here. The structurual forces that led to this predicament should be placed more on the shoulder of the bubble, not the contraction - and that too is but a piece of a larger puzzle (demographics, globaization, etc.).
A comparison of household formation patterns from modern Europe and Japan would be most helpful here. Despite what the REIC would like us think, at some point people will put living before buying.
finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/110173/renter-nation?mod=realestate-buy
Marc Faber Questions if Dow Could Hit 1,000
30 Jul 2010 ~ CNBC
In the August edition of the ‘The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report’ Marc Faber questions whether the Dow could hit 1,000 as predicted by Robert Prechter, based on his interpretation of Elliot Waves, Fibonacci numbers and socioeconomic trends.
Prechter, who has written 13 books on finance, believes that the stock market is historically overvalued in terms of dividends and earnings, because of a “great rise in positive social mood.”
But the mood changed in 2000 and the “trend toward negative social mood will lead to an economic contraction,” according to Prechter.
“Small bear markets lead to recessions, big bear markets lead to depressions. The current bear market will be the biggest in nearly 300 years, so the depression will be correspondingly deep,” Prechter said.
Prechter goes onto to suggest the bear market is of super-cycle degree, the biggest since 1720-1784 and will therefore see a decline for equities deeper than the decline during the great depression, which saw the Dow fall 89 percent.
“The trend toward negative social mood that has been in progress since 2000 and which is about to accelerate will continue to curtail lending and lead to a tidal wave of defaults and a terrific deflation,” he said.
“The amount of outstanding credit today is so large that system-wide defaults could lead to as much as an 80 percent –90 percent decline in the volume of dollar-denominated credits worldwide,” according to Precther.
“In such an environment, surviving dollars and dollar credits, representing the denominator of the DJIA, will rise in value, and the Dow —along with everything else not used as money — will fall in dollar price,” he added.
Shoot, combo already told us all about that.
“…surviving dollars and dollar credits…will rise in value…”
Oh, and Bernanke wasn’t alive in 1720-1784. heh, heh, heh
“The amount of outstanding credit today is so large that system-wide defaults could lead to as much as an 80 percent –90 percent decline in the volume of dollar-denominated credits worldwide,” according to Precther.
Bad times and markets yes but I just don’t buy the end of the world stuff. The debt bought “stuff” and a lot of that stuff is productive. A lot of debt bought stuff that is meaningless too so if that debt disappears or is defaulted on, what does it matter if the debt for meaningless stuff isn’t paid?
If we can make up all these number out of thin air, why does the world end when “thin air” money disappears into thin air? That’s where it came from. There is real wealth in the world and if the world needs it badly enough, people are going to know where to find it.
Brazil’s currency failed three times the past 25 years and they are rocking economically. Why? I don’t know but I do know that their world did not end.
People need to eat and buy stuff and have fun and work on stuff and drink beer sometimes too. I just don’t think that will end because a lot of numbers with a bunch of zeros disappear. But I also believe if a restructuring needs to happen, it will happen.
U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Fell to 67.8
Bloomberg
Confidence among U.S. consumers fell in July to the lowest level since November, posing a threat to the biggest part of the economy.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment declined to 67.8 this month from 76 in June. The preliminary measure was 66.5.
Employment growth has been slow to take hold and lower home prices are depressing wealth. The lack of confidence may further restrain consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy, and limit the pace of growth.
“Consumers have a lot to be concerned about,” Eric Green, chief market economist at TD Securities Inc. in New York, said before the report. “Private job growth is showing signs of slowing, not accelerating,” he said, and stock prices have declined since peaking in April.
The library is where we’ve been checking out movies for years…Love the comment from the netflix moron.
More People Getting DVDs From Library Than From Netflix Or Redbox
Why rent the cow when you can borrow the milk for free? That seems to be the mindset of many Americans, as a new study claims that more DVDs are borrowed from libraries each day than are rented via Netflix, Redbox or Blockbuster.
According to the survey released by the Online Computer Library Center, public libraries in the U.S. lend an average 2.1 million videos/day, which edges out the 2 million discs shipped by Netflix and almost as much as the combined total of DVD rentals at Redbox (1.4 million) and Blockbuster (1.2 million).
Netflix shrugs off the idea of libraries as competition to their business. “I think of libraries as places for books,” explains a rep for the company. “It’s free, so it’s a whole different model.”
Another recent report says that libraries have doubled the size of their movie collections over the last decade — and library users have taken notice.
“It’s free, so it’s a whole different model.”
Said Netscape to Microsoft.
My local library makes Starbucks look like the over-priced pretentious place that it is.
Free computers. Free wi-fi. A full on cafe. Movies. Free conference rooms. Inter-library lending that is fast. Renewal by Internet. Request by Internet. Free weekend mini seminars on real and useful topics.
Hell, I built a quick website by using the library’s free computers while I was still working at a crappy job and trying to start my business.
They also have small business assistance office! (but they don’t do lending. Just advice and networking)
I love that place!
Sounds like my ex-mother-in-law’s Mega Church. (one of those “God wants you to be wealthy” places)
Book store…….video store (G-rated/religious stuff only),……..Starbucks-like coffee bar.
It is now possible to live your whole life with people who think exactly the same as you do, watch/listen to MSM that says exactly what you want to hear, and attend a church that tells you that everything you do is okay with God’s plan.
It is now possible to live your whole life with people who think exactly the same as you do, watch/listen to MSM that says exactly what you want to hear, and attend a church that tells you that everything you do is okay with God’s plan.
Any chance that just like 1945-1980 not being “normal” economically, it also wasn’t normal socially? Perhaps it’s normal in the big scheme of things for people to just stick with their tribes and follow the tribal wisdom wherever that leads…
What’s with this dude?
Stupid politics, irrational fiscal policy drag the nation down
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2012484823.html
In every other serious democracy, conservative political parties feel at least some obligation to match their tax policies with their spending plans
That could never happen here because the fairy tale of supply-side economics insists that taxes are always too high, especially on the rich.
The simple truth is that the wealthy in the United States — the people who have made almost all the income gains in recent years — are undertaxed compared with everyone else.
Consider two reports from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. One, issued last month, highlighted findings from the Congressional Budget Office showing that “the gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths of the country more than tripled between 1979 and 2007,” the period for which figures are available.
The other, from February, used Internal Revenue Service data to show that the effective federal income tax rate for the 400 taxpayers with the very highest incomes declined by nearly half in just over a decade, even as their pretax incomes have grown five times larger.
The study found that the top 400 households “paid 16.6 percent of their income in federal individual income taxes in 2007, down from 30 percent in 1995.” We are talking here about truly rich people: Using 2007 dollars, it took an adjusted gross income of at least $35 million to get into the top 400 in 1992, and $139 million in 2007.
The notion that when we are fighting two wars, we’re not supposed to consider raising taxes on such Americans is one sign of a country that’s no longer serious. Why do so few foreign-policy hawks acknowledge that if they lack the gumption to ask taxpayers to finance the projection of American military power, we won’t be able to project it in the long run?
Our discussion of the economic stimulus is another symptom of political irrationality. It’s entirely true that the $787 billion recovery package passed last year was not big enough to keep unemployment from rising to over 9 percent.
But this is not actually an argument against the stimulus. On the contrary, studies showing that the stimulus created or saved up to 3 million jobs are very hard to refute. It’s much easier to pretend that all this money was wasted, although the evidence is overwhelming that we should have stimulated more.
Then there’s the very structure of our government. Does any other democracy have a powerful legislative branch as undemocratic as the U.S. Senate?
When our republic was created, the population ratio between the largest and smallest state was 13-to-1. Now, it’s 68-to-1. Because of the abuse of the filibuster, 41 senators representing less than 11 percent of the nation’s population can, in principle, block action supported by 59 senators representing more than 89 percent of our population. And you wonder why it’s so hard to get anything done in Washington?
Because of the abuse of the filibuster, 41 senators representing less than 11 percent of the nation’s population can, in principle, block action supported by 59 senators representing more than 89 percent of our population.
Um… no. This assumes that 100% of the residents of the 59 senators’ states support their senators, which is not true.
(Not disagreeing with the rest of the article - just thought I’d point out this math/logic flaw.)
You know, as I recall, this is the way they designed the system to work.
It’s the payback the so-called “best and brightest” have to pay for moving to California or the Northeast corridor, and leaving Flyover Country to (as they might describe them) the Neanderthals.
And yet the lower,middle and upper middle class lap dogs that bark when anyone mentions taxing these elites (many of whom produce nothing and are wealth strippers), continue their yapping.
Toldja.
Only the stupid rich pay their full tax bracket rate. But those don’t stay rich for long.
‘nother reason to avoid tract home development housing in the high desert.
Fire prompts evacuation of 2,000 homes north of LA
Fri Jul 30, 2010 5:45pm GMT
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A fierce brush fire nearly doubled in size overnight as it threatened power lines that supply electricity to the greater Los Angeles area, but evacuation orders for 2,000 homes were lifted, officials said on Friday.
The blaze, dubbed the Crown Fire, erupted Thursday afternoon and quickly spread across 4,500 acres of tinder-dry chaparral and scrub in rolling hills near the city of Palmdale, about 35 north of Los Angeles.
…
Saw an ad for Citigroup last night. Showed a newly married couple depositing their checks, by taking a picture of the checks with an I-Phone app.
Man, the answer to our problems was right in front of us the whole time……
+1 It really is amazing isn’t it?
So does this mean I’m a member of the clergy?
“Southwest: Breakdown is now an Act of God”
http://tinyurl.com/3×8gcdu
China Passes Japan to Become World’s Second Largest Economy (CYB)
http://www.benzinga.com/global/10/07/404544/china-passes-japan-to-become-world-s-second-largest-economy-cyb
China is on course to overtake the United States and vault into the No.1 spot sometime around 2025,
Follow-up to my post yesterday about transnationals betting on China.
Al Qieda has a flag?
Al sharpton better quit half steppin!
(Al Bundy too)
http://www.newkerala.com/news2/fullnews-10491.html