The Housing Bubble

We’re not broke, until you’re broke.

beautiful!

Comrade Zippy to Joe the Plumber… “ Spread the Green…span!”

Our DC (deficit card) is carte blanche..

The PTB allowed/let USA jobs be outsourced, because the concept of “jobs” is so 20th century…….

The end game of that policy is now apparant, but don’t expect anyone that supported the policy to even admit making a mistake, much less banishing themselves from public policy positions, or maybe some seppuku.

No, Mr. Dude, I subscribe to the theory that FDRs reforms brought on the greatest period of commonly-enjoyed wealth-building in history. In the eighties, we threw them off for easy answers and easy money, and it is that mistake whose consequences we are reaping today.

Mr. Sloth, do you truly believe that it was “FDRs reforms” that “brought on the greatest period of commonly-enjoyed weath-building in history.” What if any credit do you give to the theory that the USA had the only major manufacturing/export economy still going strong after WWII? Wouldn’t there have been quite some lag time for the desired results of the reforms to trickle into the economy?

Mr. Lizzy- South America was also untouched by the war, and though they had less of an industrial base, they had a great commodity base, and the world also needed that after WW2. Why didn’t they create the middle class society that the US did? Perhaps because they hadn’t instituted FDR-style reforms that assured that the wealth was shared by most of their citizens, instead of going into the hands of the few (as it did)? Canada and Australia, both commodity-based economies, created strong middle classes by instituting FDR-style reforms during the same period.

Wouldn’t there have been quite some lag time for the desired results of the reforms to trickle into the economy?

That would be the case under ‘trickle-down’ economics, Mr. Lizzy, not under the quite opposite economic policies of FDR.

Any lag time would have been in the world’s ability to get off its war-footing and get on with rebuilding. You don’t do that overnight.

FDRs policies kept us from falling into an oft-predicted post-war recession/depression. Don’t forget that the Marshall plan was an FDR-style stimulus that many conservatives of the day opposed- and that’s what really got the ‘rebuilding the world’ boom going. Without that, the world had no money *to* rebuild.

Thanks AS, I don’t agree but you are at least consistent.

Ol’ Deep Pockets Rosy was both Underrated in regard to Socialist Insecurity-
“”For perhaps 30 years to come funds will have to be provided by the States and the Federal Government to meet these pensions,” the president allowed. But after that, he explained, it would be necessary to move to what he called “voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age.” In other words, his call for the establishment of Social Security directly anticipated today’s reform agenda: “It is proposed that the Federal Government assume one-half of the cost of the old-age pension plan, which ought ultimately to be supplanted by self-supporting annuity plans,”as explained by FDR.
.. and Overrated for his economic impact-

“We are spending more money than we have ever spent before and it does not work. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started and an enormous debt to boot.”
Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Sec. of the Treasury under FDR

… in short, he was just a grade “C” politician that didn’t “ let a crisis go unexploited.”

I still think Hillary will beat him for the nomination.

Nah, he’ll quadruple down on the race card and get his second term.

I don’t think Obama enjoys being President.

My guess is the economy stays in the tank for many years, and Obama takes himself out of the running in 2012, just like LBJ did in 1968.

That gives Hillary a clear path, and she would likely face either Newt or Palin.

What change? The Republicans are blocking every attempt at change. Let Obama get some changed passed and THEN see it’s workin’ out for ya, eh?

Well, Zippy has been using the “class warfare” rhetoric and “us vs. them” positions his entire career.

Really? Anything even close to that FDR post above?

Apparently, Mr. Oxide hasn’t noticed that the democrats have a SUPER MAJORITY. The Republican’ts can’t block anything. Two things that have changed are the unemployment rate and the national debt level… which are now “hopeless.”

Sorry, Zeus, you are letting the facts get in your way.
Obama constantly laments about Republicans blocking his legislative attempts and morons buy into the story.
The Democrats have both houses and the White House. They can do whatever they want, and have done so. Even when it borders on lawlessness.
I find it simply amazing that the media can make up stories and people buy into them. The latest ramblings have been constant focus on a handful of Republican candidates, while what’s going on in the Whitehouse is ignored.
I do sincerely hope that the Republicans can be the party of NO in January, and I am going to post a new sign on my car:

Change: 01.20.2013. Goodbye Fraudster-in-chief.

Oxide is a she. And the Dems don’t have a true supermajority in the Senate due to the handful of DINOs who reliably vote with the Republicans over anything that really matters.

Two things that have changed are the unemployment rate and the national debt level

Unemployment is due to monopolization of industries, globalization, and the lobbyists who consistently prevent the government from controlling either.

The National debt level is due to tax breaks for the rich who sat on the cash instead of hiring, and on the same globalization. Lack of jobs is a double whammy: tax revenue isn’t coming in because people aren’t working, and revenue is being spent just to keep the people fed.

Wait until Barry starts complaining about the treatment of his little dog Falla.

“What change?”

I’ll give you one, starting next year any payer of over $600 will need to issue a 1099 to the payee on even private transactions…

…and big business gets bigger.

The Democrats have both houses and the White House. They can do whatever they want, and have done so.

This is laughable. Due to the filibuster, the Dems don’t “have” the Senate. And they haven’t done whatever they want. Where’s my public option???

Just pass something, anything. Save my Presidency!

This Presidency is an abject failure by any measure. There is nothing inspiring about it at all. Not one thing.

Where’s my public option???

Yeah, mine too.

This Presidency is an abject failure by any measure.

No. Not policy wise. Whether one likes it or not, the passage of the healthcare bill was a political policy success.

As bogus as some of it is, it set the framework for a future public option and it moved healthcare a big step closer to becoming “universal” and a “right”.

The debate on the subject has been permanently altered.

Some of the bill’s aspects had been attempted and failed since as far back as Pres. Truman.

Please stop picking on Obama. There is no reason to believe that anyone in his position could do better. You are just mad because he’s not a Republican. What would you have done to improve things, beez?

Dammit Jim, he’s a President, not a doctor.

This is laughable. Due to the filibuster, the Dems don’t “have” the Senate. And they haven’t done whatever they want. Where’s my public option???

So why didn’t they make the Republicans filibuster? They’ve had enough of a majority to at least try to fight for anything they really wanted. I saw them fight for very little. Whose fault is it that they didn’t really want what their constituents wanted? It would appear to me that fans of public health care need to vote in different politicians than the current batch…most of them rolled over so fast you’d think that they secretly didn’t even want a public option. Hmmm….

I would prefer not to pick on the President actually. Once elected he is our President.

Personally, I am gravely disappointed that my boys are not stationed in the US. On healthcare, the opportunity to crush the insurers and make what we all want and need simple and less expensive was not even part of the thought process. On the broad political front, the Maverick with a Mandate could have come out against the pandering and corruption of the government by the big money interests. On the financial front, the biggest waster of our monies ever, only success is transferring from Mr. Little to Mr. Big. Oh well.

Disappointment all around. Nothing inspiring at all.

If people are disappointed, they have to ask themselves whether or not their expectations are realistic. If so, then vote the bum out of office. However, if you were expecting to get everything you want, right now, without any setbacks or negotiation, then you have set yourself up for disappointment. The question is “what are the realistic alternatives”? One must choose the best of the options available, and then go from there. You can only travel so far with each stroke of the oar.

In this case, my best hope for the short term is that the rowing stops.

So, you are disappointed that the Democratic President is moving in a Democratic direction? OK, so he’s doing a good job, then.

“Apparently, Mr. Oxide hasn’t noticed that the democrats have a SUPER MAJORITY.”

Apparently neither have you, because they don’t.

Dammit Jim, he’s a President, not a doctor.

POTD!

“You are just mad because he’s not a Republican.”

Not a Republican or Democrat, he is an African Marxist Ideologue. No Hope, no Change, just Revolution.

he is an African Marxist Ideologue.

lol

no he’s a Himalayan Pragmatic Agronomist!

or maybe he’s a Nordic Taoist Opportunist!

a large portion of republicans are liberals. they’ve been mostly one party for quite a while. the ‘liberal party’.

maine republican olypmia snowe is rated more liberal than harry reid!

getting government out of the markets is the only way we will recover.

a large portion of republicans are liberals. they’ve been mostly one party for quite a while. the ‘liberal party’.

This is not true. They are not liberal at all when compared to the vast majority of Americans.

For example most Americans favored the public option but not one Republican did.

On the issue that has been perhaps the most pronounced flash point in the national debate, 57 percent of all Americans now favor a public insurance option, while 40 percent oppose it.

If a public plan were run by the states and available only to those who lack affordable private options, support for it jumps to 76 percent. Under those circumstances, even a majority of Republicans, 56 percent, would be in favor of it, Washington Post

Shockingly, despite our vaunted prowess in computers, software and the Internet, much of our health care system is still operating in the dark ages of paper records and handwritten scrawls. American primary care doctors lag years behind doctors in other advanced nations …This makes it harder to coordinate care, spot errors and adhere to standard clinical guidelines.

This, IMHO, is the crux of the problem.

And take a look at other industries that have computerized. Law did it back in the 1980s. Finance and banking even before then. Ditto for engineering and manufacturing.

Makes me wonder why such a data-driven field like health care would be so slow to computerize itself.

Makes me wonder why such a data-driven field like health care would be so slow to computerize itself.

I suspect it’s because nobody wants to change until they have no choice. Until very recently the medical field has been making money hand over fist and therefore didn’t have to do anything they didn’t feel like doing.

I can tell you exactly why: Because they treat a computer like a critical surgical instrument that needs to be certified in a certain way and must be purchased through specific channels and assembled in a specific way and certified as such and bought from a specific vendor who has to have specific certifications.

Are you getting the picture?

The other reason? Because it would bring too much transparency to the insurance scam and overpriced services.

Are you getting the picture?

Yes. It’s crystal-clear.

The other reason? Because it would bring too much transparency to the insurance scam and overpriced services.

Far be it from me to disagree.

“We have the best medical care in the world” huh?

I used to think you were of average intelligence. Given the brainlessness of this worn out tripe, I’m convinced I was wrong about your mental fortitude.

If things keep going the way they are I will be able to use their Ph. D. diploma as toilet paper. We need a president that performs like John Wayne toilet paper and doesn’t take sh$t off nobody.

except the GOP had the House and Senate from 1995 to 2007 that’s 12 count ‘em twelve years. It’s always a good time for learning. (oh wait the Dems had one vote majority for a year and a half in the Senate.)

“(oh wait the Dems had one vote majority for a year and a half in the Senate.)”

That must be that “super majority” I keep hearing about.

Wow,

Looks like it’s one hot firefight down there on the old HBB political LZ tonight.

Errr… guys, what are the chances that you could forget this, we keep going and you drop me off some place in Thailand ?

Yeah, the guy who was appointed by Bush Jr.

that’s the one. and it happened under bush also.

that was super criminal hank immunity paulson. goldman’s henchman.

Ha! That makes me thing of “double-secret probation”

Thimk! I meant thimk!

it’s ok lavi d, we knew what you meant!

“Yale cheerleader/trustdafarian” and “Soros buttboy” both have Henry “lex Luthor” Gaulson attached to their hips/lips.

There probably isn’t any connection.s/o

Because she might actually advocate for working people instead of corporations. We can’t have any of that!

I think about the juxtaposition of J-T and K-Y, and…

“I think about the juxtaposition of J-T and K-Y, and…”

Having “got it,” Zeus would find partying with Slim a sweaty experience.

Well, that’s a little better, but it needs more cowbell.

And some “Mississippi Queen.”

If you know what I mean -

Sadly…Zeus only has so many ‘bolts in the Zapquiver. Anklebiters in third-world backwaters don’t merit the expense.
Sorry…..nothing personal.

Goodness!
I can’t feel the progressive/ liberal, inclusive and open-minded ‘love of fellow man’…like, dude, wheRE’S THE LOVE ??!!!!

‘How did you get the beans above the frank?’

I was hoping to continue riffing on the movie, in a housingbubble way. But I’m wondering if my comment about getting sticky financial and political entities out of our hair was too something?

I give that lady a lot of credit ??

I also give him credit for allowing the platform that allowed it to be said and to be able to take it unlike our former President….

scdave
I know too many Blacks that will not admit they were addicted to “hope-ium”. Say anything objective, and they defend O.
Oh yeah, W was a piece of work, alright.
(Disclaimer: I voted for him in 2000)
Since I became a Political Atheist, I see this dysfunctional govt for what it is.

Dave,
What happen with your surgery and medical tourism research? How are you feeling?

You give her credit for what? Complaining to the President that life isn’t better for her, after she voted for him?
Please.
What I heard was another government parasite, wondering why she didn’t get more from the government. Did she not say she was working for the Veteran’s Administration?
She’s already a recipient of government money, and I suspect she is already paid much more than she is worth.
What she expected was “more money”, and she hasn’t got it.
While everyone in the private sector has been forced to cut back, the government has been expanding (not all sectors).
She thinks the government should do more so she can get more.
This is the “entitlement” mentality that has taken over the entire country. you are either entitled, or you are a victim.
I day of reckoning is upon us.
There is no more money. There are too many debts, and no one has the wherewithal to say so. It’s all Bush’s fault.

I think Obama blew the response.

First he says people like her are the bedrock of America

Then he says, “As I’ve said before, times are tough for everyone”.

“As I’ve said before” infers that she must not have been listening to him previously.

“Times are tough for everyone” isn’t necessarily the case for those who continue to receive large bonuses at firms that were bailed out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhUX_B0ZAL4

What I heard was another government parasite, wondering why she didn’t get more from the government. Did she not say she was working for the Veteran’s Administration?

She works for a private organization called AmVets.

BTW, this incident reminds me of an earlier happening that involved Ronald Reagan. Back in 1983, he visited Pittsburgh. Turned out to be his only visit to the ‘Burgh as president.

Could have been because of the throng of angry unemployed people who weren’t happy to see his motorcade as it passed through Downtown. They threw tomatoes at it.

A friend who was there said that she was almost crushed by the crowd pushing its way toward the motorcade. She feared for her life.

What was nationally reported was the scene at the job retraining center. An unemployed guy came out of the assembled group and handed his resume to the president.

While that gesture did land this guy a job, he was laid off from that job a while later.

What happen with your surgery and medical tourism research? How are you feeling?

awaiting wipeout,

I have already had surgery on both knees but I need them cleaned up with a scope to stop the irritation and then swelling if I do certain things…Problem is there is no way the insurance company would pay for it because it is not effecting my daily life and they consider it elective surgery so, I will look into medical tourism to get it done and pay for it myself..To expensive in the USA…likely $15-20k per knee…

Dave,
Thanks for the update. I mentioned medical tourism to you a week ago, and was curious what was up.The nerve of them to consider it elective surgery. Scumbags.

I’m sick and tired of people who ask “Why wasn’t this on the evening news?” or “Why wasn’t this in the paper?” Just because you didn’t see it doesn’t mean it wasn’t reported!

It was on the evening news that -I- watch:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2010/09/woman-asks-obama-is-this-our-new-reality.html

Why don’t you use google for half a minute before you post?

edgewater -LOL
HBB’ers are on a roll today

Yes they are….Funny…

LMAO! Egad.

Shiny-head Cramer says gold is going to $2k/oz.

If I had a dime for every huckster calling for $2 large an ounce, I’d have an ounce of gold!

oh great..time to sell.

Could well be.

Gold was fend by inflation expectations. What killed that was Volcker’s 17% fed funds rate spike in 1980, then a 19% spike in 1981.

Anyone here think that’s feasible again, while keeping the DJI north of about 500, raise your hand.

(sits on hands)

“I don’t think the ever-present risk of losing a job has ever had much of an effect on people’s spending or savings habits.”

My god what a sheltered life you must have led.

eco.. I didn’t see you come in. You’re off work early.

Steady job, flaky job, no job.. it doesn’t matter. Some people save, some don’t. Some spend money like it was water, and some pinch pennies.

Bingo!!! It really is that simple.

Everyone should have six months savings as a financial cushion for their fixed monthly expenses.

Everyone should have six months savings as a financial cushion for their fixed monthly expenses.

no doubt about that.. but an idea just occurred to me. How much money is that in total?

6 months of expenses for everyone in the country.. What’s the average living costs per month? $2,500? I have no idea.

2,500 x 200,000,000 (adults) = $500 billion…. 6 months = $3 trillion in savings.

That would be $3 trillion not invested in anything.

That would be $3 trillion not invested in anything.

Yeah. And we currently have $49.6 trillion in debt. What’s your point?

P.S. no one said it couldn’t be invested in things. No reason why it couldn’t be invested in somewhat liquid things and/or rolling long-term savings (CD’s, treasuries, etc.).

“Savings” doesn’t have to mean mattress-stuffing or hole-digging.

no point.. just dreaming about $3T floating around..

but for one thing, that’s $3T which would not be spent at stores and wherever, during the time it takes people to save that much… which is probably years at least.

the various impacts of people saving 6 mo of living expenses might be worth exploring…

Assuming everyone applies themselves to saving, anyone or anything that exists by way of non-essential spending will be hurting for a long time. That alone might cause a temporary recession.

Smaller GDP? Negative growth? That wouldn’t reduce the cost of living.. or would it? Expenses might not decline but average income sure would.

If saving has to battle it out with declining incomes, the time might never arrive when everyone has save 6 mo worth.

“Everyone should have six months savings as a financial cushion for their fixed monthly expenses.

I agree. Damn shame perpetual lifetime layoffs and constantly decreasing wages stop that from happening.

It makes no sense to me either. Maybe people who aren’t “handy” buy them so they have less to fix?

People like Az Slim and I find it thereputic to fix things around the house. Many people can’t handle this. So maybe they buy condos? But it still would make more sense for such people to simply be renters.

Even worse: those 2-story with stair “condos” or “duplexes” or “townhouses” which are sold expressly for “retirement houses”. Ahh….climbing stairs isn’t exactly “senior friendly”. Cripples like to call normal people “temporarily able-bodied”.

I think i know why a lot of building are converted to condos.. It jacks up the value of the building as a whole. If it’s done right to a 2-unit, the sale might generate close to twice the original value.

i researched elevators and a little one-person Otis kit was like 10 or 15K, plus a permit and a contractor to install it.
Looked fairly straight forward. I think a competent homeowner plus a helper could do it. Attach it to the back of a building, or in a light well. Open a wall for the elevator door.

My point was the Germany may have achieved its prosperity in spite of its unions and social programs - not because of them.

My point of public policy being an important tool to override or at least influence cultural aspects touches on your point. The article addresses your point as well from the different angle.

Germany, whose economy grew during the past quarter, has remained the world’s largest exporting nation despite strong labor unions and a regulated labor market. “But hey, why despite?” Franz asks. “Now comes the shocking part: Could it be that Germany is successful for that very reason?”

In Germany, unions are in constant contact with politicians, including the German chancellor. Policymakers listen to the concerns of workers and their suggestions, it goes on.

Thus another society which doesn’t have as strong of engineering abilities may be misled to believe that such policies may result in the same success in their society.

True but an obese man who loses 60lbs because he was “misled” that he could lose 80lbs shouldn’t be that upset.

I would say the “same success” should not be the goal but rather a success resulting in substantial improvement. Public policy, strategic needs educational grants could also influence America’s engineering abilities as well.

Heaven:
The cooks are French
The mechanics are German
The lovers are Italian
The police are British
The government is Swiss

Hell:
The cooks are British
The mechanics are French
The lovers are Swiss
The police are German
The government is Italian

In Hell The police are German

Maybe in hell, nowadays, the police are American. I was talking to an 18 year old German exchange student in USA last June.

She could not believe that the Mid-west town cops went out of their way to bust minors with beer and pot. She got cut up running through the woods in the dark because the cops busted up a teenage bonfire in the middle of nowhere and arrested minors for possession of BEER. The cops yelled on a bullhorn no one would get arrested if they turned themselves in. They lied.

She said in Germany they would take the drugs and beer and maybe take the kids to talk with the parents.

She said the last thing the German cops would want to do is get a kid an arrest record for minor stuff.

Oh please, packman. You’re a smart dude, and we love your charm and wit.

I thought it was right brained (left handed) people that were strong with math, music and technical stuff.

Die Art ist lang, aber das Leben ist kurz.

Die Alte Pinakothek

I did say “Germanic” . Back then there was no such thing as “Germany”

they are not allowed to have formidable army

there’s that too - forgot about that. It helps if you don’t spend 6% of your entire GDP every year on defense.

The USA could make that 6% up. How? Easy. Go to single payer health care. Canada spends 10% of their GDP but we spend almost 18% per year on healthcare. (Difference being Canada insures EVERYONE and we have 50 million with no insurance and 50 million with joke insurance)

We could still spend 12% and still would have made up that 6% that we spend on defense.

The money is there people.

It is there, but an entrenched system that is designed to fleece us, combined by a proud populace that is unwilling to see how other countries do better with less virtually guarantees that nothing will change, except perhaps a lower standard of living.

One could almost argue that the two examples show that the ideal economy is free market with a strong safety net, no?

One could. Or one could argue that Germany would have been even better off than they were if they didn’t have that safety net.

Since the Germans are not foolish enough to try running a country of 80 million people with an advanced industrial economy without a decent safety net, I guess we will never know.

So, how did the latest 8 years of GOP leadership work out? Is your country better off than it was ten years ago?

I bow to the wisdom of the great Germany.

(That’s been around 1/4 the period of time of the U.S., and… never mind.)

Or one could argue that Germany would have been even better off than they were if they didn’t have that safety net.

Odd that such a bunch a brainiacs can’t figure that out for themselves. Or maybe they’ve thought it through, and found it unlikely.

Perhaps they’ve decided that their current quality of life is much more pleasant, even if it means they have to pay a bit more in taxes. Could you imagine such a trade-off?

You know - I haven’t really looked deeply into it - not really a German political/society buff - but something tells me Germany’s not quite the utopia you folks make it out to be.

Be that as it may, I honestly can’t argue one way or another, except to state what I already have - I don’t think it’s valid to assume that Germany’s apparent prosperity is because of its welfare policies. There are too many other factors.

Germany’s not quite the utopia you folks make it out to be.

utopia buzzword shuumopia No one said it was a Utopia, we’ve eaten their food.

And who cares if their prosperity is because of their “socialism”. It just proves that a “socialist” society can be very prosperous.

Germany is the world’s second largest exporter with $1.170 trillion exported in 2009 (Eurozone countries are included).[2]

Yes, looks like China just passed Germany. Thanks to America maybe.

Bummer.

Some think Germany’s healthy economy is the result of it squeezing the the rest of the EU dry.

That could be part of it. That and they save so much money as the article points out.

This partially touches on one of my point of yesterday. Germany is a country not a business. The country of Germany enacts policies that benefit it as a country. In away, they would rather protect their own than sacrifice everything on the alter of profit for the few. They are protective of their sovereignty.

I think the USA should act more like a country than a business. I also think it was you Joey, who likened globalization to a game. It looks like Germany is playing the game a little differently than the USA’s game of giving away the farm to enrich the few.

The article you posted also argues strongly for more Euro stimulus and not austerity. What do you think of that?

The right policy response to that — along with the very real threat of price deflation in Europe — isn’t to put the entire continent in a fiscal straitjacket that makes the recession even worse.

With the creation of the EU, Germany had virgin territory to conquer. Growth was a piece of cake.
—————-

they would rather protect their own than sacrifice everything on the alter of profit for the few.

They would rather sacrifice the health of the EU for the profit of a few (themselves).
——————
I think the USA should act more like a country than a business.

I know you do… but it never has and never will.
—————-

The article you posted also argues strongly for more Euro stimulus and not austerity. What do you think of that?

I think they have the right to try whatever methods they see fit. Stimulus might work.. might not.
Severe austerity measures invite social disorder and pose a real threat to the survival of the EU. It’s liable to break up.
Borrowing time (money) carries no such threat (It threatens other things).
So, the recovery method chosen partly depends on what the goal is.

..The country of Germany enacts policies that benefit it as a country……They are protective of their sovereignty.

i don’t know how that would fly in the USA.
We are already considered the world’s bully and us becoming even more aggressively protective of what we already have (immense wealth and power) makes our politicians nervous.. because it makes many of us nervous.

With the creation of the EU, Germany had virgin territory to conquer. Growth was a piece of cake.

Germany is booming because of exports to China, not to Greece and Portugal.

i’m just going by what the article’s author claimed..

“What Germans won’t accept is that they wouldn’t have been able to sell all those beautifully designed cars and well-engineered machine tools if Greeks and Spaniards and Americans hadn’t been willing to buy those goods and German banks hadn’t been so willing to lend them the money to do so.”

I suppose you’ve got something to back up your statement..

I suppose you’ve got something to back up your statement..

Always:

German exports boom on back of China, Brazil orders
Earth Times
Berlin - German exports raced ahead by 17.1 per cent during the first half of the year, powered by booming foreign orders from the world’s leading emerging economies, data released Tuesday showed.

Exports from Europe’s biggest economy to non-European Union (EU) states bounded ahead by 26.2 per cent during the first six months of the year, the German statistics office said.

The figures showed deliveries to Brazil surging by 61.3 per cent and by 55.5 per cent to China. Exports to Turkey rose 38.8 per cent.

This compared with a 12-per-cent rise in German exports to its EU partners. Exports from the nation to the 16-member eurozone gained 10.9 per cent.

Foreign orders have been the key driving force behind Germany’s rebound from recession with the European Commission joining other economists in predicting that the nation’s economy will expand by 3.4 per cent this year.

Exports to the US jumped by 14.1 per cent and to Japan by 24.3 per cent.

alpha.. that looks like very recent data and I don’t dispute it’s accuracy.

My statement:
“With the creation of the EU, Germany had virgin territory to conquer. Growth was a piece of cake.”
…is in regards to past history, beginning with the creation of the EU.

I thought you disputed that statement.

In the context of this thread, you seemed to say that exports to Spain and Greece were not an important part of Germany’s growth.

how great Japan was doing in the 1980’s

Unlike Japan in the 80’s and USA now, Germany did not have a housing bubble either.

money.cnn.com/2007/08/28/news/economy/ceo_pay_workers/index.htm

If you just consider the average compensation (wages plus benefits) of full-time year-round workers in non-managerial jobs - roughly $40,000 - CEO pay is more like 270 times bigger than the average Joe’s. That’s still a far cry from days gone by. In 1989, for instance, U.S. CEOs of large companies earned 71 times more than the average worker, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

The IPS/UFE report also compared U.S. CEO pay to that of leaders in other fields and other countries. The top 20 CEOs of U.S. companies made an average of $36.4 million in 2006. That’s 204 times that of the 20 highest paid U.S. military generals, and 38 times that of the 20 highest-paid non-profit leaders. They also made three times more than the top 20 CEOs of European companies who had booked higher sales numbers than their U.S. counterparts.

The pay gap numbers don’t include the value of the many perks CEOs receive, which averaged $438,342, according to the report. Nor do they include the pension benefits CEOs receive.

If it’s not, Steve, then what IS the most likely reason she’s having a third one?

She Catholic. Enough said.

“But we should remember who did what and when, cuz the big boys are as exposed and hated as they’ve ever been in my lifetime. ”

I’d not be surprised if there was an “incident” against one of the super rich or perhaps Wall Street. They were a target in the past. There was a very large bomb in 1920 or so. It was the Anarchists(?).

Forget Munger. What an arrogant, narcissistic fool. Social unrest? You can count on it. Clean house? What I still fear could make Waco and it’s aftermath - Ruby Ridge, Oklahoma City, etc. - seem mild. I’m afraid I was not only good in math and science in school, I also liked history.

My bad.

Roidy

I’d not be surprised if there was an “incident” against one of the super rich or perhaps Wall Street. They were a target in the past. There was a very large bomb in 1920 or so. It was the Anarchists(?).

The 1920 Wall Street bombing case is still unsolved.

Does anyone at all doubt that at this point?

Let me just go on the record as saying, “No, I don’t doubt this”

I only defend the Democrats against people who virulently insist the Republicans are better.

“I only defend the Democrats against people who virulently insist the Republicans are better.”

+1

“I only defend the Democrats against people who virulently insist the Republicans are better.”

It’s fun being Captain America at our family Thanksgiving Feast, …laughing at ‘em and their silliness of their self-absorbed “TruePurity™” / ““TruePatriot™” “Democrapts are “Anti-American!” porngnostications.

…to promote home ownership and other wealth-building strategies and more than half of that benefited the wealthiest 5 percent of taxpayers, said the study sponsored by the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED).

Let’s note also that the top 400 earners in the US pay an effective tax rate of 16% vs the middle class and upper middle class that pay well over 20%.

Marvin the Martian: “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, that fills me full of “TrueAnger™”!”

Did the purchases rescue an otherwise failing economy and therefore preserve middle class jobs and quality of life?

no, it saved those who should have failed at taxpayers expense who had nothing to do with it. nothing really bad happens when a business fails. a new business will take its place, or a similar business will buy the inventory on the cheap and put in a higher quality and probably cheaper version in its place.

nothing really bad happens when a business fails unless you work for that business.

And you don’t just pluck a load of new businesses off some tree when the economy collapses..

yes, it’s bad for those who are involved in the business that failed.

and you’re also right that the business climate is terrible these days. we need to roll back socialist policies to get a better business climate. we need climate change!

i talked to one lady.. small business owner.. about stimulus and where the money should go. She said “I don’t care! All i want is some customers!”

Buisness didn’t have to fail.

Gov could have taken over failed banks.

Stock holders and Bond holders of failed banks get nothing. The gov could have lessened the burden on the unknowing middle class by giving some sort of break to people who held these stocks in retirement funds.

Management gets the ax.

Loans are still made to businesses that need money.

Bank is eventually sold to prudent people who didn’t cause this f’n mess.

Gov could have taken over failed banks.

yes, but they shouldn’t. failed banks should go out of business. smaller regional banks, the ones that weren’t stupid, would pick up their customers and get stronger.

——-

Stock holders and Bond holders of failed banks get nothing.

they should get nothing. maybe next time they will be more care with whom they invest. the market punishes stupidity and carelessness.

——

The gov could have lessened the burden on the unknowing middle class by giving some sort of break to people who held these stocks in retirement funds.

no breaks. lessening the burden on the ‘unknowing’ middle class increases the burden on the ‘knowing’ middle class. the burden should remain where it is deserved.

measton,
Your solution would reaquire a whole lot of tax payer money… easily more than has already been spent… not to mention govt nationalizing the bnking system

Government is reluctant to relinq

Government could have done nothing at all. That’s the least expensive way to deal with it.

hmm.. Evidently, some key-combination activates the “Add comment” thing. My mouse cursor was nowhere near it.

The 2nd line was to be something like:

“Government is reluctant to relinquish power once they have it. I don’t trust them running the banking system.”

” the relative complained about it not being the Sony brand”

Well yeah, he’s the “rich American” relative.

Az Slim
Thank you for the insight from the book. How did he write the scene? Critical of such behavior or an apologist, because after all, they were po folks, unrefined, uneducated? I am curious.

My own family makes excuses for everything within the inner circle of a-holes, instead of admiting someone has bad behavior.

Az Slim
Thank you for the insight from the book. How did he write the scene? Critical of such behavior or an apologist, because after all, they were po folks, unrefined, uneducated? I am curious.

He wrote it from the perspective of an American relative who went all the way to Africa to visit the family and encountered a family member who wasn’t satisfied with the brand of tape player he brought as a gift. It wasn’t like the player was broken, it just wasn’t the correct brand. And our narrator was rather miffed.

BTW, in his next book, The Audacity of Hope, he wrote about another trip to Africa that he and Michelle took right before they were married. Both he and Michelle were struck by the people, relatives and non-relatives, who came into his family’s village with a huge case of the “gimmes.” Their requests/demands/what-have-you were directed at his relatives, who were supposed to provide whatever the gimme-seekers wanted.

Az Slim
Thank you for the both book’s perspective. I was pleased to read your reply, on “O”’s disapproval of such entitlement behavior.

“Thank you for the both book’s perspective. I was pleased to read your reply, on “O”’s disapproval of such entitlement behavior.”

As was I. And it did go a long way towards explaining why BO didn’t offer his aunt a room in his Chicago digs.

And it did go a long way towards explaining why BO didn’t offer his aunt a room in his Chicago digs.

Something I should have said up above. It relates to what I read in The Audacity of Hope:

After their Africa trip, while Barack and Michelle were flying back to the United States, Michelle remarked about all the people with their hands out that they’d met. She wasn’t too pleased about all the “gimme” mentality that she saw in Africa.

And she isn’t the only African American to feel irked.

A college friend went on to work for the Washington Post, and, AFAIK, he still does. In the early 1990s, he was the Post’s bureau chief for Africa.

He wrote a book about his experiences called Out of America, and, in it, he ranted and raved (at great length) about the “gimme” mentality that he encountered.

“As was I. And it did go a long way towards explaining why BO didn’t offer his aunt a room in his Chicago digs”.

All ‘it’ explains is that Barry doesn’t want to pay out of his ‘own’ pocket, he wants everyone else to pay. It doesn’t bother him in the least that he has poverty stricken relatives, as long as the tax payer foots the bill, it’s all good. He is all for welfare and ‘free’ handouts. His actions and voting record have Never shown other wise.

Thanks to you all, for the perspectives. Kudos Slim, your reading is much more diverse than mine. I admire that.