Bits Bucket for April 25, 2011
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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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Builders of New Homes Seeing No Sign of Recovery
The New York Times
RICHMOND, Ill. — In this distant Chicago suburb, a builder has finally found a way to persuade people to buy a new house: he throws in a car.
Kim Meier’s spring promotion, which includes a $17,000 credit at a nearby General Motors dealer, has produced seven sales since the beginning of March, a veritable windfall of business for a builder who sold only 20 houses last year. “We needed to do something dramatic,” said Mr. Meier. “The market’s been soft.”
That is one way of putting it. The recession hurt a lot of industries, but it knocked the residential construction market to the mat and has kept it there, even as the broader economy has started to fitfully recover.
Sales of new single-family homes in February were down more than 80 percent from the 2005 peak, far exceeding the 28 percent drop in existing home sales. New single-family sales are now lower than at any point since the data was first collected in 1963, when the nation had 120 million fewer residents.
Builders and analysts say a long-term shift in behavior seems to be under way. Instead of wanting the biggest and the newest, even if it requires a long commute, buyers now demand something smaller, cheaper and, thanks to $4-a-gallon gas, as close to their jobs as possible. That often means buying a home out of foreclosure from a bank.
Four out of 10 sales of existing homes are foreclosures or otherwise distressed properties. Builders like Mr. Meier who specialize in putting up entire neighborhoods on a city’s outskirts — Richmond is some 50 miles northwest of downtown Chicago — cannot compete despite chopping prices.
Chicago was not an epicenter of the housing boom with the sort of overbuilding found in Arizona or Florida, but new-home sales in the metro area are down 90 percent. There are about 65 sales a week for a region of 10 million people.
Several factors have combined to make the Chicago market so weak. There were more sub-prime loans here, which meant more defaults, which in turn left more distressed homes for buyers to choose from.
Why not lower the house price by $17,000?
No sizzle for advertisements?
Wanna bet he’s gonna get a kickback from the “nearby General Motors dealer?”
Back in the day you could have opted for a liar loan with no money down, jingle mail, and then walked away with a free new car. Boy how times have changed. Then again, I’m sure someone’s out there plotting the possibilities for doing something similar today.
Silent Spring for home builders…
Who wants a 30 year car loan?
How much a month?
What are you talking about? The car is free!
Muggy, I don’t know exactly what it means, but the local public radio station ran a story this morning saying that local charter schools were hard pressed to find qualified leaders, in part because they didn’t have the resources to do comprehensive searches to find the people they needed.
Call sign in WAMU (yeah, I know, it is run by American University, not the bank). I was listening to the NPR show Morning Edition, but I believe it was a local report.
Susan?
Polly, nobody that I know that has state credentials wants to work for a charter school. For your area and that ad, it probably means they don’t pay chit.
I had a charter teacher take a run at a public school position and he lasted a few days and put in notice. As it turns out, it’s hard to teach everybody, especially when you can’t just kick them out like charters do.
It wasn’t an actual ad (in the style of public radio). It was an actual story, though obviously of the “so and so” said this but we didn’t ask anything else about what the real issue might be kind.
And I get the whole thing about charters not being all that exciting to people with actual credentials who want the protection from arbitrariness that can happen without rules. And the people who like working in charters getting all out of joint when they find out that they really haven’t been teaching a cross section of all kids. But I thought I’d pass it along anyway. Thought it might be worth 10 minutes of your time to look it up and see what they were saying behind the words. There was clearly more in there than I was able to figure out from a 30 second story.
Oh, and if the “susan?” was for me, no, my real name is not susan. It is also not Polly. That is an on-line nic I have been using since the 90’s.
“Oh, and if the “susan?” was for me, no, my real name is not susan.”
Sorry, I was replying to Muggy’s “free car.”
I’m currently serving time in the moderator’s purgatory, so my posts take a while to appear.
US default could be disastrous choice for economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has never defaulted on its debt and Democrats and Republicans say they don’t want it to happen now. But with partisan acrimony running at fever pitch, and Democrats and Republicans so far apart on how to tame the deficit, the unthinkable is suddenly being pondered.
The government now borrows about 42 cents of every dollar it spends. Imagine that one day soon, the borrowing slams up against the current debt limit ceiling of $14.3 trillion and Congress fails to raise it. The damage would ripple across the entire economy, eventually affecting nearly every American, and rocking global markets in the process.
A default would come if the government actually failed to fulfill a financial obligation, including repaying a loan or interest on that loan. The government borrows mostly by selling bonds to individuals and governments, with a promise to pay back the amount of the bond in a certain time period and agreeing to pay regular interest on that bond in the meantime.
Among the first directly affected would likely be money-market funds holding government securities, banks that buy bonds directly from the Federal Reserve and resell them to consumers, including pension and mutual funds; and the foreign investor community, which holds nearly half of all Treasury securities.
If the U.S. starts missing interest or principal payments, borrowers would demand higher and higher rates on new bonds, as they did with Greece, Portugal and other heavily indebted nations. Who wants to keep loaning money to a deadbeat nation that can’t pay its bills?
Interesting that the Corporate owned MSM is even mentioning this. Most likely we are being primed to accept even more insane borrowing, even if it means more inflation.
It won’t matter who sits in the White House or who controls congress, the Trillion dollar plus deficits are the new normal. Both parties will give lip service about addressing them, but other than token efforts, nothing will happen.
I seem to recall FDR forced a default on bond holders early in his first administration.
The U.S. has never defaulted on its debt?
Somebody forgot to consult a fact checker.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has never defaulted on its debt and Democrats and Republicans say they don’t want it to happen now. But with partisan acrimony running at fever pitch, and Democrats and Republicans so far apart on how to tame the deficit, the unthinkable is suddenly being pondered.
The debt ceiling will be hit on or around May 16, the Treasury Department says. Unlike the threatened government shutdown, the impact would start slowly, but then build mightily until the damage would be so dire that few political leaders or economists even want to contemplate it. The day of reckoning could likely be delayed at least until early July with creative bookkeeping.
— The truth is the federal government has defaulted on its solemn monetary promises lots of times. Remember U.S. bonds prior to 1933? The government borrowed gold money and promised to redeem the bonds at a later date in gold. It defaulted on its solemn promise. Lenders got back only paper of substantially reduced purchasing power.
Recall those silver certificates of your youth? The government defaulted on those, too, in 1968 by flatly refusing to honor the promise printed on them.
Even the Federal Reserve has defaulted on its notes. From 1914 until November, 1963, each Federal Reserve note bore the printed promise that it could be “Redeemed in Lawful Money” upon demand. It has not been redeemable in anything for more than 47 years. (Unless you exchange it for copper-nickel coins, which are worth a little more than paper currency - - but not much.)
Defaulting on monetary promises is nothing new for the federal government.
I would add the refusal in 1971 to redeem for gold U.S. dollars held by foreign governments, scrapping the Bretton Woods agreement.
The FDIC lady said no one has lost a penny of their money in the last 75 years. What is the value of the penny now? Gold and silver did spike up and down in the 80s. Save your nickles before they are become wooden. Think nickles are worth more than five cents now
It depends on what the definition of default is. One should also more generally include periods after the U.S. was at war (post Civil War, post Vietnam War, etc) when inflation turned out ‘higher than expected.’ Those who were owed the most dollars ended up bearing default costs, even though they were not explicitly stiffed.
Bear, that’s always been an explicit risk of long-term lending. It’s a stretch to call it default.
I agree. But if this happens, it will not be do to any act of God or nature, but rather to a decision to use the printing press to reduce the debt burden. Clearly, this is an intermediate option between outright default and repayment in full.
Guess who said this. . .
“I accuse the present Administration of being the greatest spending Administration in peacetime in all American history - one which piled bureau on bureau, commission on commission, and has failed to anticipate the dire needs or reduced earning power of the people. Bureaus and bureaucrats have been retained at the expense of the taxpayer….We are spending altogether too much money for government services which are neither practical nor necessary.In addition to this, we are attempting too many functions and we need a simplification of what the Federal government is giving to the people.”
- It’s from the 1932 campaign for U.S. President. It was an attack on Herbert Hoover by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
As Clock Ticks on Effort, Some See a Round 3 ~ WSJ
Investors Are Bracing for Bond Program to Expire, but a Handful of Experts Say the U.S. Will Likely Have to Act Again
“QE2″ is not even in drydock, yet some money managers are preparing for the christening of “QE3.”
Investors appear to expect the Federal Reserve to wind down in June its extraordinary efforts to support the economy known as quantitative easing—currently in its second installment and therefore referred to as QE2.
But a handful say the financial markets and the economy still aren’t strong enough to stand on their own. They argue that, soon after QE2 ends, the economy, the jobs market and asset prices will stumble. The housing market, they say, is still struggling and may founder further.
Ther has to be a QE3. How else will the Federal Gov’t finance its budget deficit?
Realtors Are Liars
This is a re-post.
There is no other post stating “Realtors Are Liars”.
~Realtors Are Liars
Lliz, it is time to start putting together your evidence that unemployment benefits have been extended in a meaningful way (past 99 weeks). End of April (Friday) is the day we agreed to revisit the issue. Just a heads up.
I don’t know of any legislation currently in the pipeline, but I haven’t been looking either.
Well, I guess we just have to wait until friday then.
There’s no legislation in the pipeline for the 99ers. They’re out of luck as the mere consideration of such legislation would be an admission that there’s an enduring problem. One way or the other, the nation is moving on and the 99ers are yesterday’s news.
“the 99ers are yesterday’s news”
They will liquidate whatever assets they have left (if they haven’t already) and eventually join the ranks of the foodstamps and section 8 crowd.
“the mere consideration of such legislation would be an admission that there’s an enduring problem”
You aren’t kidding. Winston will eliminate any contradictions to the story that our economy is in recovery.
Check out the price of gold. I think that the assurance by the Obama adminstration that we would not lose our reserve currency status might be in doubt.
went to sell some last week, and the dealer wanted a premium and I could have sworn they didn’t charge it last time, even said no premium on sale..so I took my pm and left.
And what might the replacement reserve currency be?
The Mexican Peso has been gaining on the dollar. A few years ago it took almost 15 pesos to buy 1 USD, now it takes just 11 and change.
Kind of telling when the currency of a failed state gains on your own.
A failed state who’s primary export market for
oil,drugs, vacations is in fact the US.
link about reserve currency: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-03-26-voa62-68632617.html
Price of silver at record highs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13184951
My third post but I have not seen the first two. I might have to send some “Late for the Train” coffee to Ben.
Sales of New Homes in U.S. Likely to Climb From Record Low (Bloomberg)
Purchases of new houses in the U.S. probably rose in March from a record low, economists said a report today will show.
Thanks for posting the source, wmbz, so i could look this one up.
==========
“New-home sales, tabulated when contracts are signed, climbed 12 percent to a 280,000 annual pace last month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 64 economists. Purchases slumped 17 percent in February to a 250,000 rate, the weakest in data going back to 1963.
“A housing recovery is going to be slow,” said Michael Gapen, a senior U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. “I see light at the end of the tunnel, but I see a lot more tunnel. We still have tight credit conditions, and we need plain, outright job growth to spur demand.” ”
==========
March was ‘good’ only because February sucked more than usual. But hey, since when did we need job growth to spur demand? Sounds like somebody got off the appreciation train and is now waiting on the fundamentals platform.
“we need plain, outright job growth to spur demand.”
Seriously, are these folks economists or public relations? Exactly how hard is it to see that lots of new jobs would be likely to lead to demand for houses? Do you need a degree for this?
As for the good is good only when you compare it to the previously month’s tragic, that has been going on forever. And it is used all over. I bet a lot of the recent bank bonuses have been based on improvements over previous years. Please note, that in the previous (crummy) years, they paid bonuses despite bad results to “retain talent.”
Exactly how hard is it to see that lots of new jobs would be likely to lead to demand for houses?
Economists are now admitting that we NEED jobs to find buyers, rather than relying on appreciation and HELOC economies alone. It’s a significant admission — for them, anyway. HBB has known it for a long time.
oxide wrote:
It seems that the Fed’s newer mandate to boost employment has led to all sorts of shenanigans with the currency. If the Fed had a single mandate, to maintain price stability, there would be less shenanigans - massive interventions (distortions) in markets. And then the politicians would have to do their jobs and come up with pro-growth policies that increase the demand base, stop unfair trade, and encourage job growth here.
The Fed, an unelected group of central bankers, now see it as their duty to enter markets, cause massive distortions, picking winners and losers, in an attempt to boost jobs. Command economies have been tried the world over and their history is one of failure.
MSM active today in pumping houses: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42746111//
The comments at the end of the article aren’t fooled. One anecdote about a commodities trader husband buying a 1.2 M home is not a “sign of life,” as the headline reads. And, the couple was keeping mum about where they got a half-mil in cash. That’s not a sign of life, that’s a sign of commodity trader bonus.
One comment astutely pointed that CNBC is just pimping a headine: “Many people do not even read the articles, they scan through the headlines to set their mindset for the day. “
And, the couple was keeping mum about where they got a half-mil in cash. That’s not a sign of life, that’s a sign of commodity trader bonus.
Keeping mum about the commodity trader bonus? I’d say that is a sign of progress. Might imply that, ahem, they’re a bit ashamed of it.
Or maybe they don’t want to tip off the IRS about their undeclared income.
I’d say that is a sign of progress. Might imply that, ahem, they’re a bit ashamed of it.
why should someone be ashamed of a performance-based bonus, regardless of the reason?
If you’re a commodity trader and you make your firm money, and your compensation is structured such that you get a percentage of your gains as a bonus, then you’ve earned it.
Oh, I’m sure that commodity trader husband earned it legally. But then, commidity trader husband looks around at everybody else and sees blue-collar workers laboring just as many hours, teachers taking home $45K (or $55K if they teach summer school and/or coach sports) scientists struggling for grant money even after obtaining multiple degrees (not easy, despite what the just-a-piece-of-paper crowd says) day care workers being paid squat, or the unemployed IT worker whose experience was only a 98% match to a job, and the 100% H1B got the job.
And commodity trader asks — “you know, my bonus was a half mil this year. These guys are all making 50K. Even I work harder and am somehow better, am I worth TEN TIMES as much?”
And commodity trader asks — “you know, my bonus was a half mil this year. These guys are all making 50K. Even I work harder and am somehow better, am I worth TEN TIMES as much?”
Believe it or not, one of the people who would probably share your viewpoint is Henry Paulson.
Yup, that Henry Paulson. The guy who served as President Bush’s last Treasury Secretary.
When he was at Goldman Sachs, he had some choice things to say about the conspicuous consumption among some other GS employees. Among other things, Paulson warned them that such displays did not reflect well on them personally or on bankers in general.
Source for the above: Devil’s Casino by Vicky Ward. Book is about the collapse of Lehman, but it also has plenty to say about Goldman Sachs.
With regards from your HBB Librarian…
A friend told me about those traders who used to stop in at Tiffany’s on the way home from work and buy a $10,000 necklace for the wife (or mistress), the same way J6P would pick up a 6P and a loaf of bread on the way home from work.
I found that hard to believe, until the last time I was driving in Tysons Corner (northern Virginia just outside DC). There are some granite buildings there. At the top of the buildings were names like Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. On the street level of the same building, opening to the parking lot, there was a Hermés store and… a Tiffany. I guess they come down the elevator and stop in Hermés to pick up a giftie on the way to the car.
Yeah, probably not the way J6P picks up a loaf of bread. But the way J6P picks up a large bunch of flowers - so, anniversary, V-day, her birthday, a few other holidays and maybe a few other times each year just because it caught his eye? Maybe.
Proximity doesn’t mean you go inside and buy something all the time, but the store certainly wants to be located near people who have the ability to buy there on occasion. There is a reason they are so careful with those window displays.
Sometime in the future, a report will be released, which will predict a probable increase in new-house sales during spring.
WOW!
Strategic defaulters’ pay bills on time and plan ahead, study finds
By Dina ElBoghdady, Thursday, April 21, 9:22 PM
Some borrowers can’t keep up with their mortgage payments because they’re struggling to make ends meet.
Others choose not to keep up even though they can afford their monthly payments, and a new picture is emerging about who these borrowers are and why they walk away.
A growing body of research shows that these so-called “strategic defaulters” defy the tell-tale characteristics of most people whose loans go bad. They pay their bills on time, rarely exceed their credit-card limits and hardly use retail credit cards, according to a study released Thursday.
And they plan ahead.
This relatively new type of behavior is the latest sign of just how profoundly the mortgage crisis has reshaped consumer attitudes toward their homes and their finances. It is largely driven by plunging home values, which have left nearly a quarter of the nation’s homeowners underwater, or owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.
So some do the math and walk.
A team of researchers estimated that 35 percent of defaults in September may have been strategic, up from 26 percent in March 2009.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/strategic-defaulters-pay-bills-on-time-and-plan-ahead-study-finds/2011/04/21/AFcGQSLE_story.html - -
More:
“In Virginia, Maryland and the District — lenders have the right to pursue … deficiency. [ie recourse states]… A handful of states do not allow lenders to pursue deficiencies [non-recourse]. …Many borrowers may not be aware of these laws. Instead, their decision on whether to strategically default may be tied more to emotion than anything else.
They mean to say that these strategic defaulters in MD VA DC don’t even KNOW they live in a recourse state? I predict more sob stories in the news.
The more people who default, for any reason, the tougher it will be for the housing market to recover. Foreclosures sell at a steep discount and drag down the value of the properties around them. Clearing them off the market is key to a rebound.”
Is it just me, or does this paragraph contradict itself? I guess it depends on what it means to “clear the market.” Sell in bulk to wholesale bottom feeders and flip to consumers later? Leave vacant and shadow? Bulldoze?
A team of researchers estimated that 35 percent of defaults in September may have been strategic, up from 26 percent in March 2009.
This data is 18 months old already. We are probably at 50% today…
Keep in mind the definition of “strategic default” used by the debt pushers: paying their other bills but not their mortgage. They AREN’T making any kind of reasonable analysis of whether these people can actually AFFORD to pay ALL their bills. After all, the mortgage industry did an extreemly poor job of doing that during the bubble run up. But anybody who can’t make their monthly nut, and chooses that the creditor that they’re going to stiff is their mortgage is branded a “strategic defaulter,” as if paying their other bills implies that they can afford to pay ALL their bills. Because let’s face it, many FBs have no difficulty paying the REST of their bills once they’ve decided to default on their BIGGEST monthly bill. And with HAMP, trial modifications, and slow foreclosures by banks, is their any doubt which creditor to stiff if you can’t afford to pay them all?
Correct. Skip the car payment for 2-3 months and it gets repo’d. Skip CC payments and the cards are suspended within a month.
Of course, they will eventually get kicked out of the house, and will have to rent. I guess they’ll live.
BofA CEO: Owners shouldn’t look at home as an asset
By Joe Rauch
Reuters
updated 4/12/2011 2:23:18 PM ET 2011-04-12T18:23:18
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Homeowners may need to look elsewhere for long-term investment returns as housing prices in some areas may not rebound long-term, Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said on Tuesday.
Moynihan, CEO of the largest U.S. bank, said at a state attorneys general summit that low population growth in some regions of the country indicated that prices might not rise in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The conference included many of the state attorneys general currently engaged in negotiations with BofA and other lenders about a broad settlement to allegations that the industry cut corners on foreclosures.
Moynihan said during his prepared remarks that he had spoken with the attorneys general about industry issues, but declined to comment further about the discussions.
Meanwhile back at the ranch…
Local ‘robo-signer’ alleges her signatures were forged
“The Florida Attorney General’s Office is investigating the company after allegations of backdating returns of service, improper billing practices and filing questionable affidavits with the courts.”
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 8:06 p.m. Sunday, April 24, 2011
West Palm Beach resident Liz Mills learned she was a robo-signer when a friend suggested she search her own name online.
On foreclosure blogs and in at least one newspaper article, the 51-year-old process server was singled out for the numerous and varying styles of her signatures on summons paperwork used to prove her efforts in locating homeowners in foreclosure.
Now Mills is coming forward in affidavits filed in three foreclosure cases, saying she didn’t sign the paperwork and never signed in front of a notary despite notary stamps affixed to the documents.
In one case, Mills allegedly signed a return of non-service, meaning the homeowner could not be found, for a foreclosure in Lehigh Acres near Florida’s west coast - a town where Mills said she has never been.
“I’m not really sure what’s going on with all of this or what could happen, but it’s upsetting because if you read the articles it’s like they are trying to make the individual process servers the fall guy,” said Mills, who became a process server 12 years ago. “I think they just wanted to move the paperwork along faster.”
The Florida Attorney General’s Office is investigating the company after allegations of backdating returns of service, improper billing practices and filing questionable affidavits with the courts.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/local-robo-signer-alleges-her-signatures-were-forged-1430142.html - -
“Owners shouldn’t look at home as an asset”
What then: More of a money pit?
Who is doing the investigating here?
“Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan”
“Moynihan, CEO of the largest U.S. bank, said at a state attorneys general summit”
“The conference included many of the state attorneys general currently engaged in negotiations with BofA”
“Moynihan said during his prepared remarks that he had spoken with the attorneys general about industry issues, but declined to comment further about the discussions.”
Local ‘robo-signer’ alleges her signatures were forged
“The Florida Attorney General’s Office is investigating the company after allegations of backdating returns of service, improper billing practices and filing questionable affidavits with the courts.”
I’m confused. I thought that the robosigner simply signed that he knew the facts of the case even when he didn’t know the facts of the case. That’s perjury. Now I’m hearing that the false statements were signed with false signatures. That’s forgery. So is it forgery or perjury or both? If you forger a perjure, do the two wrongs cancel out?
They do if you cut a deal with the state general attorney.
But really a home IS an asset. It IS an investment. But the financial industry has become so addicted to appreciation driven speculation that apparantly it doesn’t even see dividends as part of the investment decision. And make no mistake, buying a house DOES return a dividend, and that dividend is housing, and it is paid in kind. Unless an owner occupier is renting out a room, it is consumed in it’s entirety. So “buying as much house as you can afford” only makes sense to the extant that it means that you won’t feel like moving within ten years.
Let’s take a 3-bed house. Rent for the house is 1700/month. At 120:1 income, the house should cost ~200K, or $160K mortgage, which at 6% is ~$1200/month PITI. Buying an equivalent house is an investment that will pay me $500 a month, immediately. And at the end of 30 years, the monthly payment (TI) will be $500 a month, but rent would probably be $3600 by then, so that investment will pay me $3100 a month.
Now that’s a simplistic example and doesn’t take maintenance or mobility into account, but that’s not a bad return at all.
Why haven’t we heard the stagflation term more often? I was too young to remember it in the 70’s but it seems to me that we have poor unemployment, rising gas and food prices, and rising precious metals. Sounds like stagflation to me.
But the line dancing at Uncle Sam’s in Revere was a blast! Except when the guys from Southie started a brawl.
Did the economists back in the ’70s identify and address stagflation at the time, or did they choose to ignore and mis-diagnose as those of today? Is stagflation something you will only admit to in retrospect?
I think they advised the president to produce buttons labeled “Whip Inflation Now” and hand them out to everyone.
My mother saves everything, including her and my father’s pay stubs. Once I sampled them and when I got to the 70s they revealed the pay raises came steady and regular. This is a whole different animal for the average Joe this time around.
J6P is already screaming about the cost of feeding his pickup truck. Wait until he sees the cost of filling a shopping cart with groceries skyrocket as well, while his paycheck contiues to shrink.
Maybe at that point he’ll turn off Dancing with the Stars and whatever sport he watches.
Maybe at that point he’ll turn off Dancing with the Stars and whatever sport he watches.
I don’t expect him to ever turn it off. I do expect that at some point he may stop receiving it, though…unless bread and circuses also become TBTF.
My father also skipped the no pay increase part of the 70’s stagflation. In 1971 or 1972 he got out of the paper/packaging industry and into high tech/computers (both as part of marketing/advertising). That was a pretty good move in Massachusetts in the early 70’s. And since they already had a house, it was fantastic as the cost of the house stayed fairly steady (until the roof had to be replaced) while his salary kept going up. The commute was not great, and I remember him going out to wait in a gas line once, but that era wasn’t a disaster for everyone.
Yeah, mine started their careers immediately after the war. Folks, that was the sweet spot - by the time the 70s rolled around they had solid senority and were at the upper end of their pay scales - so the raises went even further. One was union, but one wasn’t - from my ad hoc pay stub invesitagtion they both seemed to fare as well in the 70s. Their senority and respective employer appeared to mean more than union status.
Needless to say, their jobs and even their employers no longer exist. That’s something I point out to her on a regular basis.
The disappearance of those jobs and employers really hurt in the 1980s that began a trend of stagnate wages and lost jobs that hasn’t ended yet.
I hope your father and mother survived.
Edgewater, I hit the job market in the 1970s.
Your father’s pay stubs were the exception. The rule was stagflation. What raises that were being given to most people didn’t match inflation.
Yes, his membership in a decent union and so probably not the best example.
No doubt there’s some workers making out okay today, just as some made out okay back then, what matters of course is what stagflation means for whole. And so far it sure isn’t looking like it will lead anywhere back to a repeat of the boom times.
FYI - just read that since last month AAA’s calls for motorists running out of gas are up 20%! The pinch is certainly on.
I am a sample size of one, but my annual pay went up dramatically in the 70s. And like most others in the D.C. area at the time, we “traded up” and moved up the housing food chain as the size of the paycheck increased.
Yes, this era was at the beginning of my professional career (engineering).
Did the %increase in pay raises match the rate of inflation? What stage were they in their career?
My pay increases outpaced inflation because I was at the beginning of my career. In 1974, I made twice minimum wage. In 1983, I made 9.5 times minimum wage.
Since then my pay rate (with some ups and downs) has held fairly steady when measured against minimum wage up until 2007, when minimum wage was increased. Not only am I losing ground to inflation, I am losing ground to the minimum wage now. That was an eye opening analysis.
Kimberly-Clark profit falls as costs climb
The Associated Press
Posted: 8:18 a.m. Monday, April 25, 2011
DALLAS — The maker of Kleenex and Huggies says its first-quarter net income fell 9.5 percent because it shelled out more for materials to make its products.
Consumer-goods giant Kimberly-Clark Corp. also says it will raise prices and work to cut costs.
Wow, that’s gonna leave a mark on the illegal immigrant families in this area. Go to Wally World or any discount supermarket in the area and you can see their shopping carts piled high to overflowing with paper products, especially disposable diapers and toilet paper, to the point where it looks like a defecation derby competition. And I don’t think they can put the paper products on the red, white and blue cards, can they?
palmetto
The ETB card in Ca, for example, is good for general mdse, and can be used as a ATM card. The money is wired into a bank account, and can even be saved up. It’s free money.
Are you sure that isn’t only if the recipient also gets general welfare benefits on the same card? SNAP can only be used for food and only particular kinds of food. That rule would be useless if you could transfer the money to a bank account.
Polly
In Ca, tThe SNAP card is a form of the EBT card system. There is also a card (EBT)that is money, and the recipient can do with it as they like or need. SNAP cards mean nothing to some. They sell them for cents on the dollar and buy sin items.
I like the concept of food banks run by private charities. Trader Joe’s supports food banks in my area.
“Wow, that’s gonna leave a mark on the illegal immigrant families in this area.”
Maybe cloth diapers will make a comeback?
When my kids were in diapers, daycares required disposables.
Two words - margin compression.
Usually it spells a down market.
But those were the days without QE1, QE2, QE3, …
The economy
Revising downwards
Growth takes a knock—from nature, as much as anything
Apr 20th 2011 | WASHINGTON, DC | from the print edition
THIS was supposed to be the year when a strong, durable American recovery finally kicked in. A volatile 2010 closed with a respectable fourth-quarter growth performance. The economy expanded at a 3.1% annualised rate from October to December, with more acceleration expected. Early indicators in the new year looked impressive, too. Industrial production grew vigorously during the first quarter, and the stock-market rose over 4%.
Most encouraging of all, labour markets have at last grown steadily enough for long enough to start to bring down the stubborn unemployment rate. Private-sector employers added 564,000 workers from January to March. In February the unemployment rate fell below 9% for the first time in nearly two years. At the end of January Macroeconomic Advisers, a consultancy, forecast an annualised first-quarter growth rate of 4.1%.
Now, however, a much gloomier view prevails, accompanied by a wave of revisions to the figures. Macroeconomic Advisers expects an annualised first-quarter growth figure of just 1.5%. Economists at JPMorgan think the growth rate will be 1.4%. Others whisper that growth below 1% is not out of the question. The advance GDP estimate will be released on April 28th, and everyone expects a dismal figure.
…
Since GDP is largely a measure of how much funny money the FedGov throws into the air, how meaningful is it?
Bullcrap unemployment rate. Bullcrap job creation.
And even if those 2 stats are were even close, that still leaves…. 14,500,000 more jobs to be created.
Don’t hold your breath.
Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors (Kentucky) report for first quarter of 2011:
Total activity decreased 14%
Residential median sales price decreased 3% for the year-to-date 2011, falling from $135,000 to $131,000.
Existing home and new construction sales decreased during March 2011 vs. March 2010, falling 5% and 33% respectively.
Pending sales in March fell by a staggering 28% compared to March 2010. “That reduction is due in large part to the tax credit incentive shifting buyers into the earlier months of 2010.”
(Lexington Herald-leader)
Houses peaked at about $165,000, so they’re down about 20% from peak. In 2000, the median house price was $110,000, median household income about $40,000 (2.75x income). Median household income is about $46,000 now (houses are 2.85x income).
(source city-datadotcom)
For my area of Maryland:
Estimated median house/condo value in 2009: $498,493
Estimated median household income in 2009: $91,064
5.47x. Lexington is richer than richy-richy DC area — IF you can find and keep a job.
I think the major driver of economic activity in Lexington, for the past few years, was the major Toyota production facility in the northern suburb of Georgetown. Toyota’s problems over the past 2 years, along with the reality that the plant is done ramping-up production and employment, means that the need for new jobs (and the corresponding housing activity) has flat-lined. It’s much easier to show volume and medium price increases when 5,000 families suddenly see a large increase in their salaries. It’s a lot harder to maintain that growth when the # drops to zero.
(I think the factory ramp-up itself completed a few years ago, but the corresponding lag in housing activity probably wrapped up in the past year or so)
IIRC, American Toyota plants start their line workers at $14hr. Or maybe it’s $12hr.
Nobody is buying a house on that kind of pay.
Toyota is the second largest regional employer, with about 7500 jobs, the University of Kentucky is the largest employer, with over 10,000 jobs. There are several regional hospitals that employ about 6500 altogether. Lexmark employs about 3500. There’s a lot of light mixed industry, especially to our immediate south in Nicholasville.
There’s also a lot of Big Money here from the thoroughbred racehorse industry and coal. Bourbon production is a big business in the region,as is farming, of course.
eco- I think temps at Toyota make about 12-14$ an hour, full time employees make about twice that, at least on the line.
Yes, Lexington has a diverse employment base, but most of those employers you mentioned have been around for a long time and are growing at a slow pace. Toyota has been there only maybe 10 years, if that. They had to construct a billion dollar facility, hire some 7500 workers, and build a lot of housing for those new middle-class employees. I am referring to that process as the major driver of “increased” economic attivity in the past decade. Once all the economic dust settled from that activity, I’d expect Lexington to revert to a slower, more gradual economic growth pattern. So comparing today’s numbers with those of the past few years, the tail end of the growth boom, is a little misleading. One would expect activity to slow down, even if the national economy held its own.
I’ve seen this phenomina play out in a number of smaller Ohio cities as well, where a city with staid econimic environment gets a new plant, lots of construction work on the plant and then on houses for the workers, and then… it all reverts to the same staid economic environment as before, albeit at a higher plataue.
Yeah, I hope we’re plateauing. Toyota has been around for about twenty years, though. Who knows how the earthquake will affect them, it may end up boosting production here.
Bourbon is really starting to catch on worldwide, so there’s a lot of growth potential there. Farming is riding the commodities wave, as it will. Likewise coal - which isn’t really produced here, but a lot of the money flows here from Eastern Ky, where it is produced. The cheap electric we get from coal draws a lot of the light industry. Alltech, the nutritional food additives/enzyme/microbrewery/whiskey distillery/alternative energy/whatever company, based in Nicholasville, seems poised for some significant growth worldwide. As does Big Ass Fans, and Tempurpedic mattress company, other oddball companies based here.
Cincy seems to be chugging along. Last time I was up there to see the Bungles get beat by the Bills (really, now), the town was rocking- although the stadium was half-full (who can blame them though). I always have a good time up there. I used to live part-time on Mt. Hope, overlooking the river, the Cincinnati skyline, and Mayberry-like (from a distance) Ludlow. Happy times…
I was just going by the Toyota plant here in Texas, 5 years ago.
They had advertised $14hr for line work when building the plant but the reality turned into $12hr. And now layoffs last year because of the economy.
Yeah, I think the temps are the lowest paid and the first to be laid off. But people will work it to get on full-time. It’s a pretty good gig around here, especially if you live outside of Lexington, where RE prices generally drop significantly.
$50k a year is good money, if the median house price is $50k, which it is in a lot of somewhat-nearby counties, although that commute gets expensive with $4 a gallon gas.
The temps make up the MAJORITY of the line workers.
Stagflation: Obviously what we now have.
1) what is the proper course of action to reverse the effects?
2) shouldn’t our economic leaders at least be discussing the subject?
3) do they think we’re dumb, or are they just dumb?
“what is the proper course of action to reverse the effects?”
Put on a pair of high-waisted pants, platform shoes, Quiana nylon shirt, get that disco ball spinning and cue the Bee-Gees!
It’s morning in America!
“get that disco ball spinning and cue the Bee-Gees!”
First you have to imagine you are listening to a grown man with his testicles in a vice, and then…..
Whether you’re a brother
or whether you’re a mother
you’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Feel the city breakin
and everybody shakin’
and were stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive
Answers to two and three. Yes, but because they think we are dumb they don’t think they have to talk about it. Thus, they are dumb because the American public is catching on.
How, do you handle stagflation. Stop debasing the currency to begain with and get our budget back in balance. Then, in the case of oil we need to drill and we need to to do things like coal to liquids. We can produce oil at $80-95 a barrel. Technology is proven, used by both Hitler’s Germany and South Africa, not the greatest company but since we are the Saudi Arabia of coal, we need to play to our strength.
Prior to Reagan with oil at $40 at the spot market and everyone predicting $90 by 1990. We were told that there was no way oil prices could be brought down by domestic production and Reagan’s energy policy would not work. Fast forward to $10 oil in 1999. (BTW, it was the collapse of energy prices that caused the Soviet Union to fall, along with our defense buildup and waging or proxy wars.)
Can we bring down oil similarly now? No, with the rise of the BRICS and the amount of finite oil we have used up we cannot have anything that dramatic but $85 to 90, yes. The building of the coal to liquids plants will provide jobs and so will the mining, finally more money in everybody pocket will help as well as the taxes generated by the industry.
I’d a little bit of protectionist trade policies in there too.
Yeah.
good summation.
If coal to liquids is such a good deal, why isn’t the free market doing it already?
The mining equipment is all powered by oil…
So?
If solar power, wind power, and electric cars are such a good deal, why isn’t the free market doing it already?
I think they are.
Compare Prius sales to Hummer’s, it’s not really “tough math” nor does it require abstract “critical thinking”.You might be amazed and even spot a National changed-consumer-behavior “trend”… give it a try.
The Macho Boyz wouldn’t be caught dead in a small car, especially not a Hybrid or an all electric. For them its trukz or nuthin’
I was once asked by a 5′8″ F-350 owner how I (6′1″) was able to fit into “such a tiny car” (My wife’s MINI).
I told him that I fit just fine, and that there was plenty of room in the front. She gets 34 mpg driving around town, while I’m guessing that his truck gets maybe 12 under the same conditions.
Give this info a try; free market my patootie!
BTW, I am not bothering to post anything regarding solar and wind tax credits and subsidies. They are too voluminous to list and you know they are there and growing, right alongside the National Debt and budget deficit that pays for them. The Hummer is no longer in production. Compare Prius sales to oh say…F150s!
From hybridcars.com
As it stands now, buyers of plug-in hybrids and electric cars benefit from a tax credit of $2,500 to $7,500, depending on the size of the battery in the car. On the low end of the spectrum, cars with 4 kWh battery packs will qualify for a $2,500 tax credit. The credit maxes out at $7,500 for cars with a 16 kWh battery pack, like the Chevy Volt. Drivers converting a car into a plug-in hybrid, or a gas-powered car into an electric vehicle, will receive a tax credit equal to 10 percent of the conversion cost. The maximum credit is $4,000 for a $40,000 conversion. The credits were provided as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the “stimulus bill.”
“heheeheeheehee” (anonymous Yale cheer-leader riding around solo in an F-550 Super-Duty in Crawford, TX )
Buy a Hummer, Get a $25,000 Tax Break:
Shed a tear for luxury SUV owners.
Because they’re on the verge of losing a perk that comes with purchasing a Hummer or a Cadillac Escalade — getting a $25,000 tax deduction.
It’s one of the many loopholes buried within the fine print of the tax code: Business owners who purchase heavy luxury SUVs, those weighing over 6,000 pounds, get to take deductions up to $25,000.
By MARCUS BARAM / June 28, 2007 / ABC News
Gotta agree with Cracker Jim. Wind/solar are NOT a good deal, energetically or economically.
The market doing wind/solar is NOT free. Commercial production is partially subsidized by government cheese in many forms. Innovation is subsidized again by government cheese or philanthropic investment from the founders of Google etc.
However, we do need to recognize that we will not always have oil, and you can’t ramp up solar/wind in a day.
http://news.google.com/news/section?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&csid=14fefee90b07305e&ict=ln
If solar power, wind power, and electric cars are such a good deal, why isn’t the free market doing it already?
You mean the same free market that acurately guaged the risk in housing?
Could it be that people are stupid? That they don’t understand inflation and shrinking energy supplies in a world of more and more people all demanding more energy. That they can’t understand that investing money in energy conservation is a much better hedge against inflation than gold.
Could it be that the US gov finances war for oil, security for oil, gives massive tax brakes to big oil, gives them oil drilling permits for pennies on the dollar? Could it be that tax incentives are also given to those who buy large trucks for their businesses even if they are dentists?
If solar power, wind power, and electric cars are such a good deal, why isn’t the free market doing it already?
The free-market doesn’t seem to do squat on huge national interest project things.
Brazil became energy independent because of a government/private industry/nationalized industry Manhattan type project invested in for 25 years with public money.
Well, they did it. Then after they did it, they discovered a bunch of oil.
From Highway
“It’s one of the many loopholes buried within the fine print of the tax code: Business owners who purchase heavy luxury SUVs, those weighing over 6,000 pounds, get to take deductions up to $25,000″.
Smoke and mirrors. The 25k is Section 179 deduction (available in the same year as purchase) versus deduction over time (5 years). In the case of a liberal congress, taking the deduction now is NOT good as future tax rates will be higher. I am a small business owner and I KNOW what I am talking about, do you?
I am a small business owner and I KNOW what I am talking about, do you?
“…You might be amazed and even spot a National changed-consumer-behavior “trend”
1,000,000+ Prius sold in America, …BummerHummer’s not doing so hot “Long-Term”
Hey, Snap-out-of-it! Open you eyes, look in the mirror & repeat: I CAN spot a National trend, I can spot National trend, I can,… I can
Crackers:
BTW, I am not bothering to post anything regarding
solar and windHummer tax credits and subsidies.Truth by omission seems to be your mission…
It has been blocked by the Obama EPA. Until we know the cost of co2 credits that Obama wants to impose it will not go forward.
This verifys that the only thing keeping these plants from being built is the threat of a Co2 tax:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12620
woops verifies. BTW, while the PTB want a Romney vs. Obama contest Ron Paul may spoil that wish: http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ron-paul-launches-presidential-campaign-20110425
So it’s highly polluting. That could be a drawback, no?
If you consider CO2 a pollutant. Since the CO2 levels in the air are not even at the level which is optimum for plant growth, I do not.
Link: http://plantsneedco2.org/default.aspx?menuitemid=325
An unlike global warming that is shown only by computer models that have consistently failed to predict the weather, the fact that higher Co2 levels are beneficial to plants is pure science that can be replicated and can lead to accurate predictions.
Man made global warming is only a theory to justify world government and a transfer of wealth from the developed countries to the developing countries. Hence its support from the U.N.
plantsneedco2dotorg? Don’t make me laugh…
“Man made global warming is only a theory”
Only a theory?! Only?! A theory is about the best that science can do outside of a law. CO2 is only one thing that “plants crave” and it’s increase has an effect on some of the other things that they need, outside of Brawndo, of course.
Silly.
1) erect guillotine on capitol hill, erect guillotine on wall street (with free shuttle service from greenwich CT)
2) does anyone in DC, NYC, Cambridge MA, West LA, or SF/Silly Valley have a clue what life is like in flyover?
3) let them eat cake
2) does anyone in DC, NYC, Cambridge MA, West LA, or SF/Silly Valley have a clue what life is like in flyover?
This is a great argument for keeping government local. It’s simply unreasonable to expect to have a central body legislate everyday life for 350million people of varying geographical areas, urban vs country life, etc.
But the central body legislature is made up of people elected from the various states.
But the central body legislature is made up of people elected from the various states.
sure, but that doesn’t mean that the reps from 49 other states understand California’s needs, or vice versa.
Just because they have one or two people representing them doesn’t mean they have a real voice in the government.
I think the make-up of the Senate was the response to the problem of small states being ‘lost in the crowd’.
It worked all-to-well. Small states wield disproportionate power given their populations.
Small states wield disproportionate power given their populations.
Only in your universe!
“Only in your universe!”
Uh, you do understand the make-up of the Senate, right? Two Senators per state, no matter what the population? Do the math…
“Uh, you do understand the make-up of the Senate, right? Two Senators per state, no matter what the population? Do the math…”
I am a conservative so bear with me on this critical thinking crap that I am designated to not have since i am uhhh conservative, and therefore ignorant, unedumicated, and uncool.. but the 2 Senators per state for Senate representation was DELIBERATELY designed to prevent larger population states from forcing their population oriented great status (read:liberal) beliefs on lesser populated states.
Duh! Winner!
So you agree that each voter in a small state has more power than each voter in a large state. Hence the statement that “Small states wield disproportionate power given their populations” is true.
The fact that it was designed this way does not negate its truth. And alpha-sloth stated that it was by design.
I don’t understand why you are attacking alpha-sloth for stating the truth when it is a truth that you agree with.
Yeah…. agree. Keep national defense local too. Everyone should join the local militia so we can defend ourselves from nukes and jet aircraft with rifles and shotguns.
If the alternative is what we have today, sign me up any day. The biggest threat to my well being are Wallstreet and the US Government, not the Libyans and Afghans.
Libyans and afghans have nukes?
You really need to read and follow along.
I recall that the Walton family business is headquarted in Bentonville, AK, which is about as flyover as you can get. That didn’t stop them from driving millions of jobs overseas or mistreating the emplyees they have.
2) does anyone in DC, NYC, Cambridge MA, West LA, or SF/Silly Valley have a clue what life is like in flyover?
No, they don’t have a clue. How could people with good paying, layoff proof jobs (DC) even begin to fathom what life is like in economically hollowed out, where a $10/hr, no benefits P/T job is a “good job”, flyover country?
And I’m not sure that they even care or worry. I once asked a six figure attorney if he was worried about his FedGov job. He laughed and said no.
So you see, life is good and worry free for some people.
For many people… who still cling to the stereotypes of welfare queens and lazy unions and think that jobs still grow on trees and nobody is forced to take crappy jobs.
I’ve been arguing here for quite a while against outsourcing and in favor of somehow getting citizens some kind of job with a salary that allowed a low-level life.
And that was BEFORE I was laid off myself. Only after that was I lucky enough to land the gov job. And notice that I said “lucky.” Yes I worked hard, but so do millions of others.
1) what is the proper course of action to reverse the effects?
Jobs.
2) shouldn’t our economic leaders at least be discussing the subject?
That would be admitting failure of their policy.
3) do they think we’re dumb, or are they just dumb?
For the most part, we are dumb. And so are they.
Looks like Ron Paul is going to be on The View today.
Good. I’m still trying to figure out his stand on democracy.
Or on anything else for that matter. We all know what these guys are against. What are they for?
How about not bombing brown people…….
Pandering.
What are they for?
I think he’s the modern-day equivalent of a poll-taxer.
WTF? NATO Strikes Qaddafi Compound (nytimes)
I saw a “conspiracy” post about how China cashed in all of it’s fiatscos last year for plutonium and a bunch of other hard to come by goods.
I guess the gangster crony capital ethos has gone worldwide, and only the few remaining holdouts will be… killed? Maybe Qaddafi should just offer up some oil and he can get back to the business of oppression?
That reminds me, I gotta watch Three Kings and Syriana again…
Three Kings was a far better movie than I expected. I’ve watched it 3 times.
Haven’t seen Syriana yet.
I saw Syriana pre-release with Clooney taking Q&A onsite. Impressive at first, violent scenes most memorable. Quick fade to memory black or blase.
“Gangster crony capital ethos” has been around since the dawn of time.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7956362e-4437-11e0-931d-00144feab49a,s01=1.html#axzz1KZf9NzIQ
China’s holdings of US government bonds are even higher than this week’s dramatic upward revision by the Treasury Department, say strategists.
On Monday, the Treasury released its annual revision of US Treasury securities held by foreign investors, which sent China’s holdings to $1,160bn at the end of December from a prior estimate of $892bn made just two weeks ago.
The true figure, however, is closer to $1,300bn according to Michael Pond, interest rate strategist at Barclays Capital. Mr Pond’s estimate is based on revised Treasury data that shows UK buying rose from $94.5bn in June to $272bn by the end of December.
“Most of that buying in the UK will get allocated back to China,” said Mr Pond. “The revisions show that China is buying Treasuries through UK money managers.”
“The revisions show that China is buying Treasuries through UK money managers.”
Rut roh.
The hothead is making fast friends amongst the rebels. I wholly expect him to go full on Lawrence pretty soon.
O.k., moving forward with the process to move overseas. Anyone care to comment on UAE, specifically Abu Dhabi or Al Ain? My only major concern is daycare/schooling for my children.
Housing will be provided — finally I catch a break! Lol..
Personally, I highly recommend the overseas employment, but I wouldn’t choose to go to the Middle East with my family right now. The place is in a state of often-violent flux, and I’m not sure any place there is immune to it. And even if your tiny city-state is, what about its neighbors?
Agree. Go to some stable countries; India, China, Brazil, etc.
Money may not be as good, but you will experience something amazing..
Good for you! If it isnt too late you better negotiate kids schooling into your contract. International schools often run upwards of $20k/year (per kid).
Be sure and have someone who knows Arabic review your contract.
The document may very well be written in (not just translated to) English. If it is written in Arabic and you get only a translation into English, yes, you need an independent certification of the translation. In additon, you absolutely need it to be reviewed by someone who is an attorney trainined in the legal system under which it will be interpreted. And that means someone who is not paid by or even recommended by the potential employer. Can’t emphasize this enough.
“Good for you! If it isnt too late you better negotiate kids schooling into your contract. International schools often run upwards of $20k/year (per kid).”
Yeah, this is a sticking point because there is no compensation for that. The upshot is no housing costs…
You are going to be an infidel in a muslim country.
Research that.
They aren’t all like Saudi Arabia.
Comment by nickpapageorgio
2011-04-23 11:29:51
“Class warfare.” “Bring it on.”
How is that working out for the non-rich in Brazil under the rule of Ms. Marxist Guerilla and her predecessor? Class warfare works really well for those who use it to take power and other well connected fellow leftists, not too well for everyone else.
Ms. Marxist Guerilla? You mean President Ms. Marxist Guerilla…..lol. But really, let’s look at labels, the times and the situation then and now. At the time the current Brazilian president was a “Marxist Guerilla” she was about 20 and fighting against a fascist military dictatorship that cared naught for the “people”. Now putting political labels aside isn’t it kind admirable for a young women to put her life on the line fighting for her fellow countrymen against a military dictatorship that only cares for the few?
Fast forward 40 years. She’s the handpicked successor to “socialist” former president Lula (A man with a 6th grade education and Brazil’s most beloved former Pres.) and she is now the president of Brazil. Now you like labels nickpapageorgio but I think you get too caught up in words like “socialists” and “commies” and I think you lump everything in one glob and fail to see the differences in things. For example the “socialist” Brazilian Presidents of late are way different than a nutjob like Chavez, and besides, Brazil fairly elected them because that’s what Brazilians wanted and the results have been good.
Brazil has moved slightly left the past decade. It has. But the results are not what you think. The lefties seem to be pretty darn good at capitalism. Social Democracies, (capitalism and democracy structured to benefit society as a whole does a darn good job producing wealth)
Look at the Social Democracies of Northern Europe and now look at Brazil. The results for the entire country of Brazil have been good. Have the rich gotten richer? Yes. But as a percentage, the poor’s income has risen faster which was needed in Brazil because the income inequality was too great and therefore threatened even the rich.
Revolutions do not happen when the majority of a people are doing well. Revolutions happen when only a few are thriving. The past 10 years of left leaning Brazilian government has evened the playing field through private and public business cooperation and therefore secured the future of the rich in Brazil as well as the poor. Because of income and opportunity gains in Brazil, the threat of class warfare is much lower now than before the “lefties” came to power. Therefore, in Brazil, the “commies” have helped the poor and middle-class and at the same time secured the position of the rich. So what’s not to like?
But don’t take my word for it. Please look at Brazil’s progress under 10 years of the “lefties”:
Growth among Brazil’s middle class 04-14-2011
http://english.cntv.cn/program/newsupdate/20110414/108063.shtml
Brazil is the fastest growing emerging economy in the world. It ranks the highest among South American nations, and has acquired a strong position in the global marketplace. With this expansion over the last decade, one of the country’s most recognized achievements is….Between 2003 and 2009, 29 million people became part of the middle class that is now half of the Brazilian population. Although inequality in Brazil remains among the top ten in the world, analyst explain that the biggest achievement in Brazil has been the continual and large reduction in this gap for the last 10 years.
…”The income of the 50% poorest grew 6 times, or 6 fold, the income of the 10% richest in Brazil.” “What is happening in Brazil is very different from what is happening in other BRICs, in the sense that what is booming in Brazil is the bottom of the income distribution. The skewed labor. So civil construction or domestic labor, people who are in the northeast, the poorest area of Brazil. For the first time you are seeing Afro-Brazilians getting much higher income growth than whites.”
…Analysts attribute various causes to this growth. One of them is a federal assistance program called Bolsa Familia, to assist lower income families. A major factor is also formal job creation which doubled after 2004. In the first 8 months of 2010 alone 1,9 million new jobs were created.
The rise in household income has given families such as Francisca’s a larger purchasing power. Brazil is now becoming a nation of consumers, buying cars, computers, and houses with cash or credit.
Rio, is the crime problem getting any better?
Rio, is the crime problem getting any better?
Rio is a big city and has lots of crime. BUT, in my 3 years here in Zona Sul (the nicer Copacapana/Ipanema areas) I have not seen much of it and according to the locals it has gotten MUCH better than it was say 10 years ago and I believe them. The poor are making more money now so they have less reason to rob.
Just in the past year it’s gotten better because of the cops moving into the favelas and there are a lot of favelas surrounding the nice areas. Rio and much of Brazil is a 3rd world AND a 1st world country living side by side.
As the third world part of Brazil becomes richer (which it slowly is) the first-world part of Brazil is becoming safer. This is a big argument in favor of more equal wealth distribution because it not only benefits the poor but the quality of life for the rich as well. I mean what good is it to be rich if a starving guy wants to kill you all the time?
“This is a big argument in favor of more equal wealth distribution because it not only benefits the poor but the quality of life for the rich as well. I mean what good is it to be rich if a starving guy wants to kill you all the time?”
I agree with you. I know many Brazilians (mostly from Sao Paulo area) that now live in the USA and ALL of them have multiple stories of being victims of violent crimes, ie muggings, car jackings, home invasions, etc.
I know many Brazilians (mostly from Sao Paulo area) that now live in the USA and ALL of them have multiple stories of being victims of violent crimes, ie muggings, car jackings, home invasions, etc.
The home invasions concern me the most but they are MUCH more of a Sao Paulo thing and not so much in Rio.
Rio’s crime is mostly theft and mugging.
What I wanna know… is the movie “Rio” playing down there?
(Haven’t taken DD to see it. Will wait to borrow the DVD from the library.)
is the movie “Rio” playing down there?
Yes. Right now. It’s about $15 US to see it in 3D. I haven’t seen it. Has anyone up there? Good?
What’s the story on Brazil’s favelas and how does 1 in 4 living in one relate to the middle class and the rich?
What’s the story on Brazil’s favelas and how does 1 in 4 living in one relate to the middle class and the rich?
I’m not sure I understand the question but I’ll make a few comments.
The big story in Brazil is the trend of more poor entering the middle-class and the rise in income and the Brazilian economy in general.
The people living in favelas (slums) are mostly poor but even some lower middle-class, some favelas are tolerable some are hellholes. In Rio an ocean view 3bd “home” in a “nice” favela can cost 80K US dollars but in a hellhole maybe 30K.
As the poor become richer they are slowly moving out of favelas or they are fixing them up. There are some decent houses in some of the favelas. There are even some gringos living in Rio’s “nice” favelas. The big story in Rio is one by one, the police are taking over these favelas and setting up police stations in them. This is big and positive news for Rio.
But the fact of the existence of so many slums proves the history of Brazil’s income inequality and the results and one of the results is the fact that Brazil lacks 8 million housing units right now. Brazil is underhoused. Currently and as the country becomes richer, more houses are being and will be built.
If i didn’t answer your question let me know.
So the difference between a favela and a neighborhood was the lack of police protection? Or are they like an unincorporated area with no city organization at all (no political representation, no services, etc.)? In the US, if you are outside a city, you are probably covered by a county. If the police move in, do other services follow?
I guess the real question is how is the water/waste situation? Once you have a roof and food, that would be the next level of advancement.
So the difference between a favela and a neighborhood was the lack of police protection? Or are they like an unincorporated area with no city organization at all (no political representation, no services, etc.)?
I am not Brazilian and Brazil is a very complicated country so my answer will probably be about 80% correct, have some flaws, a bit of exaggeration, some attempted humor and it pertains to the Rio’s slums.
From what I understand the Rio slums started growing about 50 years ago up the sides of mountains overlooking the city. As they grew, they were there, but not officially there, and did not even appear on city maps till about 20 years ago all the while growing rapidly. Now even though the favelas “were not there” the rich couldn’t have sewage running down the mountains into their nice streets so the city along with the favelas somehow put in “free” plumbing and sewage pipes leading to the city sewage system. Maybe the city paid for the sewage pipes and ran a main water line up the hill and the favela did the rest.
Poor Brazilians are very nimble and adaptable to whatever situations they encounter and they like lights and tv and radio so they tapped into the city’s electrical wires (and later free cable tv) and the city turned a blind eye because it calmed the favela people and gave them tv to watch instead of robbing the rich. Plus Brazil is a proud country and it made them feel good that their poor people had lights and stuff.
Now remember these slums climb up steep mountains so there are no roads for the police to cruse through making access difficult and providing hiding places for drug trafficers and gangs which ruled the places until just lately and they ruled the places with an iron fist and the crime rate in the slums was pretty low, (except for drug turf wars between rival gangs constantly battling each other with automatic weapons)
The slums were not legal so you couldn’t get “title” to a house at the courthouse but people did own their own houses through neighborhood entities that kept track of that kind of thing so people bought/sold and actually owned their houses. If you tried to steal someone’s house or didn’t pay as you promised for it I’m sure a bullet in the head would right the situation quicker than a USA foreclosure or a shortsale.
Today Brazil is slowly bringing the favelas under the umbrella of the actual Brazilian laws and systems that the regular people come under including cops, courts, deeds, titles, property taxes, utilities and the like and every favela is different to how much progress in that is being made.
Yea. Complicated.
Maybe the city paid for the sewage pipes and ran a main water line up the hill and the favela did the rest.
Oh yea. I forgot an important part. And I’m sure lots of money was paid under the table here, there and everywhere on every aspect of the favela’s illegal and quasi-legal building, utilities and infrastructure.
So were the favelas original occupants squatters?
There is a similar situation in Mexico. Squatters are called “paracaidistas” (parachuters) and it was common in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s for masses of squatters to descent of gov’t owned property on the eastern side of Mexico City (the posher west side was pretty much off limits). Once they set up shop the standard illegal electrical hook ups began.
The standard operating procedure was for the government to turn a blind eye to the formation of these “ciudades perdidas” (lost cities), and eventually an amnesty would be called were the squatters were given title to their occupied parcels. Once that happened streets would get paved and water and swer lines were laid.
This behavior went on for decades as a social escape valve.
Squatting was rare on private property as the owners would hire goons to remove the squatters. My dad once owned a 100,000 sq foot lot in the then undeveloped section south of the posh Pedregal de San Angel neighborhood (of of the Ajusco highway). He regularly had to hire goons to vacate squatters from the semirural, no urban services lot (he eventually sold it as he tired of waiting for the city to reach the lot and develop it).
So were the favelas original occupants squatters?
Yes and the original hillside ones were on some kind of public park land deemed unbuildable. Rio is surrounded by the largest urban forest in the world, much of which is on small mountains.
Rio does have flatland favelas with actual streets in the poorer North Zone. Pres. Obama visited one of those (The City of God) because it did have streets. I’m sure their development was similar to what you described in Mexico.
“City of God,” great movie and good way to see the favelas.
Rio Favela pics.
Here’s a pic of my favorite nice Rio favela, Vidigal. It is the big blob of houses on the extreme left between the 2 mountain peaks and the ocean. A 3bd “house” (no yard) there is probably about 100K US dollars. The big white high-rise to the right (on the beach) is the luxury Sheraton Hotel where most Intl. flight crews sleep and hang out.
http://www.theexpeditioner.com/2009/03/17/are-rios-slums-the-citys-trendiest-areas/
Here’s someone’s pic of the rich Ipanema beach with Vidigal favela in the upper left background.
http://www.travelhouseuk.co.uk/travelGallery/index.php/South-America/brazil/ipanema-beach-rio-de-janeiro-brazil
Now here’s a pic of Rocinha, Rio’s and they say the world’s largest favela. They have a couple narrow streets going up you can take a tourist tour on but most people walk up stairs or take motorcycle taxis up. Most houses in Rocinha have ocean views.
The police have not taken over Rocinha yet but they say it’s gonna happen before the World Cup in 2014.
http://neglectedwar.com/blog/archives/4371
The favelas in the poor North Zone are way worse than these but are slowly improving.
IOW, Brazil and the USA are going in different directions
“Trading Places”
“…see, she wants to buy the GI Joe with the Kung Fu grip, but she can’t afford it…”
“Looking good Billy Ray!”
Filed under: “POB” Inc. (rhymes acronymically with “SOB”)
AS it focuses on patterns of behavior
IT focuses on patterns of behavior
FOCUSES on patterns of behavior
ON patterns of behavior
PATTERNS of behavior
patterns of behavior
patterns of behavior
patterns of behavior
patterns
OF
BEHAVIOR
Insurer John Hancock to return millions taken from deceased:
April 23rd, 2011 by Tony Saavedra, OC Register investigative reporter
“The controller found similar problems with John Hancock’s annuity contracts. For example, the company issued a contract on June 8, 1991 to an individual who died May 1, 1995. Company files show that it was notified by the client’s mother in 2002 that her son had died. But John Hancock continued to send mail to him in 2005, 2006 and 2007. A death benefit was not paid to the annuitant’s estate until Oct. 26, 2009, more than 14 years after his death.
Chiang noted that California requires that businesses send dormant financial accounts to the state after three years of inactivity in order to safeguard the property from being misused, lost or drawn down for service or storage fees.
The controller’s office is in the midst of auditing 21 insurance companies to determine whether the firms are complying with state unclaimed property laws.”
“John Hancock denies any allegations or characterizations of wrongdoing,” the statement said.
Hwy50’s “Squeeze-their-huevos” Ethical & Professional Panel Recommends
a Range of Remediesx1 Remedy for the Financial “TrueFinancialCult™” Et. al. Sector:Straighten up and fly right!
Hwy plays Nat King Cole singin’:
A buzzard took monkey for a ride in the air
The monkey thought that everything was on the square
The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back
But the monkey grabbed his neck and said– Now listen, Jack
Straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and fly right
This was in California right? What’s ironic is that the state’s investigation is more about making sure they get they get the $$$ if no one claims it. Similiar to the how they kept changing the laws around safety deposit boxes every few years.
From an article
California law used to say property was unclaimed if the rightful owner had had no contact with the business for 15 years. But during various state budget crises, the waiting period was reduced to seven years, and then five, and then three. Legislators even tried for one year. Why? Because the state wanted to use that free money.
“That’s absolutely correct,” said California State Controller John Chiang, who inherited the situation when he came into office. “What we’ve done here over the last two decades has been dead wrong. We’ve kept the property and not provided owners with the opportunities — the best opportunities — to get their property back.”
IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — The International Monetary Fund has just dropped a bombshell, and nobody noticed.
For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China.
IMF sees China topping U.S. in 2016
According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now. Brett Arends looks at the implications for the U.S. dollar and the Treasury market.
And it’s a lot closer than you may think.
According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.
Put that in your calendar.
It provides a painful context for the budget wrangling taking place in Washington, D.C., right now. It raises enormous questions about what the international security system is going to look like in just a handful of years. And it casts a deepening cloud over both the U.S. dollar and the giant Treasury market, which have been propped up for decades by their privileged status as the liabilities of the world’s hegemonic power.
According to the IMF forecast, whomever is elected U.S. president next year — Obama? Mitt Romney? Donald Trump? — will be the last to preside over the world’s largest economy.
Most people aren’t prepared for this. They aren’t even aware it’s that close. Listen to experts of various stripes, and they will tell you this moment is decades away. The most bearish will put the figure in the mid-2020s.
China’s economy will be the world’s largest within five years or so.
But they’re miscounting. They’re only comparing the gross domestic products of the two countries using current exchange rates.
That’s a largely meaningless comparison in real terms. Exchange rates change quickly.
Bah, bring it on. My company once invited three interns from Argentina. You know, defaulted devaluated currency Argentina. They all had better laptops and cell phones than I did, and had free college tuition. And English from when they were kids. Maybe American could use a dose of second place.
“They all had better laptops and cell phones than I did, and had free college tuition.”
And they probably lived at home with mom and dad.
I have relatives in Latin America. They wear stylish clothes, take nice vacations, etc.
But live at home, even though they are in their 30’s.
But live at home, even though they are in their 30’s.
Isn’t that happening with American kids, due to the lack of jobs and high housing prices?
Another thought: As we slip futher into the 3rd world life style we will continue to be charged 1st work prices. As for free healthcare and higher ed … fuggedaboutit.
Exporting your job to Communist Red China in the name of Capitalism.
So with 4 times the population, does that mean the average Chinese person will be about 4 times worse off than their American counterpart?
Drill baby drill won’t lower gas prices
Gas prices wouldn’t be lowered by more domestic oil drilling.The United States simply doesn’t have enough oil to move world markets. Plus, any increase would be offset by OPEC.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Every time gas prices reach record highs the call goes out for more oil drilling. This year it’s no different.
“The Gulf is ready to get back to work to help create jobs and lower gasoline prices,” Washington Republican Doc Hastings, head of the House Natural Resources Committee and a big proponent of more drilling, said last week.
The problem is this: While increased oil and gas drilling in the United States may create good-paying jobs, reduce reliance on foreign oil and lower the trade deficit, it will have hardly any impact on gas and oil prices.
That’s because the amount of extra oil that could be produced from more drilling in this country is tiny compared to what the world consumes.
Plus, any extra oil the country did produce would likely be quickly offset by a cut in OPEC production.
“This drill drill drill thing is tired,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, which calculates gas prices for the motorist organization AAA. “It’s a simplistic way of looking for a solution that doesn’t exist.”
The feds’ convenient oil market crackdown
According to a 2009 study from the government’s Energy Information Administration, opening up waters that are currently closed to drilling off the East Coast, West Coast and the west coast of Florida would yield an extra 500,000 barrels a day by 2030.
The world currently consumes 89 million barrels a day, and by then would likely be using over 100 million barrels.
After OPEC got done adjusting its production to reflect the increased American output, gas prices might drop a whopping 3 cents a gallon, the study said.
“More production from anywhere would tend to lower prices,” said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank. “But the amount that we’re talking about domestically, it wouldn’t move gas prices from $4 a gallon to $3.”
In fact, more domestic oil is just what we’ve been seeing and gasoline prices are still going up.
Drill Baby drill. Why don’t don’t we try it instead of listening to these “it won’t matter” sycophants?
““it won’t matter” sycophants”
You mean people who have a basic understanding of geology, oil resources and math?
No, I mean you.
U.S. considering sanctions against Syria
White House says targeted sanctions possible amid escalating government crackdown on protests; At least 300 killed
WASHINGTON(CBS/AP) - The White House says it is considering sanctions against the Syrian government in response to the brutal crackdowns on protesters there.
Monday’s statement from National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor was the first time officials had said publicly that sanctions were possible in Syria, where more than 300 people have been killed in an uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The United States had issued increasingly forceful statements in recent days condemning the crackdown by Assad’s government, but the violence has escalated.
Vietor said that the Obama administration is pursuing a range of possible policy options including targeted sanctions to make clear the government’s actions are unacceptable.
The announcement came Monday as Syria sharply escalated its already deadly campaign to crush the protests, sending troops backed by tanks, snipers and knife-wielding security forces into the southern city where the rebellion began.
A witness said at least 11 people were killed and others were gravely wounded in the streets. Dozens of protesters were arrested, witnesses and activists said.
More than 300 people have been killed across the country since the uprising began. But the relentless crackdowns on unarmed demonstrators have only served to embolden protesters, who started with calls for modest reforms but are now increasingly demanding Assad’s downfall.
“We need international intervention. We need countries to help us,” shouted a witness in Daraa, who said he saw five corpses after security forces opened fire on a car. He spoke to The Associated Press by telephone.
Funny how they all think we’re infidels who deserve only death on a Friday, but then they want their leader ousted on a Sunday, and suddenly they need our help. Just sayin.
Hey…how ’bout another war??
Do they have any oil?
Question:
Has anyone here seen the movie “The Other Guys”?
Watched it over the weekend and was very surprised of the graphics during the end title sequence - not at all something one would expect from such a movie. I must admit to being mystified as to why the producers chose to grind the TARP/CEO axe in such a vehicle - but quite a few HBBers would get a chuckle out of it - especially if one imagines all the J6P in theaters across the country watching it. (apparently the movie did well at the box office)
Has anyone here seen the movie “The Other Guys”?
I saw it. That end presentation during the credits rocked.
From a movie site:
You wouldn’t expect a goofy Will Ferrell comedy to be the place where you’d get a mini-seminar on the financial chicanery that’s fattened Wall Streeters’ and CEOs’ bonus checks in recent years while impoverishing the rest of us. But that’s what viewers of ‘The Other Guys,’ which opened at No. 1 at the box office this past weekend, got if they stayed through to the end.
The movie may be a silly farce about New York cops who stumble upon a Bernie Madoff-like Ponzi scheme that threatens to defraud billions from city workers. But buried in the comedy is a serious point about what really constitutes grand theft these days, a point illustrated over the closing credits by a PowerPoint-like presentation full of jazzy infographics and serious statistics outlining just how much Wall Street and corporate leaders have enriched themselves at the expense of American workers and taxpayers.
“…which opened at No. 1 at the box office this past weekend….
“… illustrated over the closing credits by a PowerPoint-like presentation full of jazzy infographics and serious statistics outlining just how much Wall Street and corporate leaders have enriched themselves at the expense of American workers and taxpayers.”
Awesome. And I don’t often use that word.
Yeah, and within in the film itself Will Ferrell’s character delivered a deceptively sheepish, yet scathing indictment, of the SEC.
IIRC…SEC guy: “we’re right on it” (when handed evidence of fraud) Ferrell’s character: (earnestly) “yes, like you were all over Madoff, and Eron, and World Com, and Lehmann Brothers, and AIG, and…”
Will we finally get rid of the dollar bill and go for a dollar coin instead?
According to the organization lobby Congress for a $1.00 coin to take the place of the paper buck, it costs SIX times less to process the dollar coin than the dollar bill. Other countries have already recognized the cost savings and benefits of the dollar coin including Canada, Japan, and members of the European Union.
See: Dollar Coin Alliance.
It’s up to the House Financial Services Committee. The chairman is now Spencer Bachus of Alabama. Barney Frank of Massachusetts used to run the show and leaned heavily toward keeping the paper dollar because the paper for it is made by the Crane Paper Company in his home state.
Jeez, again?
Who here remembers “Carter Quarters?” Then there were the Sacagawea dollars, which apparently are still being minted. What will it be this time- Hope and Change Dollars?
BTW, when’s the last time a cashier gave you a dollar coin as change?
Ugghhh, the car-washes change machines around here dispense dollar coins and it sucks. But now they’re starting to take plastic so all the coin hassles are going away.
I remember the Susan B. Anthony $1 was minted from ‘79 to ‘81. Wasn’t exactly embraced.
Get rid of the penny first. I hate to break it to you but change is rounded to higher denominations even in India and China than the equivalent of a penny (0.44INR, 0.065RMB).
$5 equivalent coin (500 Yen) as well as 100 Yen coin so totally convenient when we go to Japan every year.
Record U.S. Gun Checks Show Economic Doubts: Chart of the Day
By David Wilson - Apr 25, 2011
Americans are telling a “less upbeat story” about the economy’s prospects as they attempt to buy guns in record numbers, according to Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at BNY ConvergEx Group LLC.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows the average monthly number of background-check applications increased to 1.25 million in the 12-month period that ended in March, according to data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The figure has been setting records since January.
Spending on guns, ammunition and other sporting equipment rose 9.9 percent in the 12-month period that ended in February after adjusting for inflation, according to U.S. Commerce Department data. The increase was almost four times faster than the 2.5 percent rise in all personal consumption expenditures.
In this year’s first quarter, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System processed 4.25 million requests on prospective gun buyers. The total increased 16 percent from a year earlier. The law-enforcement agency started its current tracking system in 1998.
The FBI is likely to carry out more than 15 million checks in all of 2011, Colas wrote. The projection is at least 4 percent higher than last year’s 14.4 million, and would amount to the seventh straight annual record.
The next bubble - get them while they are hot (pun intended
)
Rising Gas Prices Leave More People Running on Empty…Literally
~Foxnews
HOUSTON — Gasoline prices in the US have risen to the point where some consumers are getting caught with an empty tank, The Wall Street Journal reported in its Monday edition.
Staffing administrator Joshua Petit said he had spent so much time cruising around in search of gasoline cheaper than the $3.70 a gallon at stations near his northwest Houston office that he spent all his remaining fuel in the effort.
A roadside-assistance service filled his tank by a quarter, he said, enough to get him to a business meeting downtown. There he sheepishly filled his tank, paying $3.89 a gallon for regular-grade gasoline.
“It’s a problem,” Petit said as he put $58 worth of fuel into his Dodge Stratus sedan recently.
Christie Hyde, a spokeswoman for the automotive club AAA, said the number of calls the organization has fielded from members stranded on the roadside has climbed as drivers cutting back on fuel spending forget to cut back on driving.
Prices will remain high for the foreseeable future as unrest in the Middle East keeps the cost of crude oil elevated. Crude oil closed at $112.29 on Thursday and has been above $110 a barrel throughout April, a level not seen since September 2008.
Also, in the spring, technical and environmental regulations force refiners to switch to their more expensive summer blend, which is cleaner-burning but adds to the price facing consumers at the pump.
Houston resident Fallin Whitt said rising prices have caused her to fill the tank of her 2003 Lincoln Aviator only at discount gas pumps such as those at Costco, Sam’s Club or the local Kroger Signature.
With a fill-up costing her $83, Whitt, a student, said she has started struggling with other obligations. “It’s affecting my ability to pay bills,” she said. “I’ve had to ask for more time to pay.”
People who drive for miles to save a few cents on gas mystify me. I can’t tell whether they can’t do the math, or whether it’s an emotional issue for them and the math doesn’t matter.
Driving an extra half mile puts me over the county line, where gas is routinely 10+ cents cheaper per gallon. So its worth it. Driving around randomly trying to beat a price (per the example in the article) is plain stupidity.
Agreed. I will go to the cheapest place in the immediate area if I know what it is, but I won’t drive more than a few minutes to get there. Even if the spread is $0.15 a gallon, how far should you drive (more gas and more time) to save $1.50?
They spent 2000-2010 looking for the lowest mortgage rates, will they spend 2010-2020 looking for the lowest gas prices?
She has a Lincoln Aviator and she’s a student:
http://www.cars.com/buy/?make=lincoln&model=aviator&market=Syracuse-ny&KNC=LocGogMODnsWmdNAPsyrIP&domainid=49&detid=8a8ae4cc2c74cfd0012c7d54165451ab&aff=gogsemb
To this I say, oh cry me a river whining about the gas prices. When I was in college we all drove beater Civics and the like. Only the students for who gas prices were no object drove bigger, newer, blingier.
When I was in college, most of the kids rode bicycles. Seriously. In Ann Arbor, Michigan. Even during the winter, there were those who just wouldn’t ditch their bikes.
Those who didn’t bicycle used their feet to do this thing called walking. That’s what I did until I graduated. Then I got a bicycle with my graduation present money.
Those who didn’t bicycle used their feet to do this thing called walking
For those who are unfamiliar, this may help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking
Staffing administrator Joshua Petit said he had spent so much time cruising around in search of gasoline cheaper than the $3.70 a gallon at stations near his northwest Houston office that he spent all his remaining fuel in the effort.
Gasbuddy dot com
It costs me $30 to fill my tank.
“his Dodge Stratus”
I drve a Dodge Stratus!!! I’m an important person!!
Commodity Inflation to Ebb, Gluskin’s Rosenberg Says:
Bloomberg - Apr 25, 2011
Inflation will be contained to commodity prices, which won’t be a “lasting source” of price increases, according to David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates Inc.
“I’m looking at this as one of those more temporary phenomena as opposed to a lasting source of inflation,” said Rosenberg in a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene and Ken Prewitt. “Once commodities settle down, we’ll see headline inflation come right back down again.”
Consumer prices rose in March for a ninth consecutive month, led by increases in food and fuel costs that didn’t filter down to other goods and services. The consumer price index gained 0.5 percent last month, matching February’s increase, the Labor Department reported April 15. The core index, excluding food and energy, advanced 0.1 percent after rising 0.2 percent in the prior month.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke reiterated after a speech in Stone Mountain, Georgia, on April 4 that the acceleration in inflation will be “transitory” and said that the central bank would act if he’s proven incorrect.
The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of raw materials has increased 10 percent this year, with crude oil rising 23 percent as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa spurred concern supply will be disrupted. Gold rallied to a record high today as investors sought an inflation hedge.
Inflation will stay contained to the commodity sector as 8.8 percent unemployment discourages consumer spending, according to Rosenberg.
Weaker Dollar
The U.S. currency is slumping as monetary policy at global central banks diverges, according to Rosenberg. The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, has dropped 6.3 percent this year.
“The dollar is responding to what’s happening globally,” said Rosenberg, whose firm in Toronto requires a minimum investment of $3 million. “Other central banks are raising interest rates to combat inflation, and in the U.S. interest rates are kept to the floor.”
There they go again, searching for that sweet spot. Goldilocks all the way, huh?
So the rate at which prices increase will slow down. When? Without a time frame, anybody can accurately make this prediction.
How high will the inflation rate spike before it drops? A rising tide floats all boats, but there are still waves in the rising tide.
Worthless happy talk.
“Ebb”? Now that’s a five-dollar word for you. My desire to read this article is ebbing. Ebbers never prosper. The number of comments on Ben’s topic-specific posts has ebbed.
Well that’s an interesting post on my FB from The Telegraph in London:
The Telegraph
Keep an eye on The Telegraph’s WikiLeaks page for new revelations tonight. We have just published accusations from leaked files that the BBC is part of a ‘possible propaganda media network’ http://tgr.ph/evg45u
More soon… Wikileaks
Possible?
As if we don’t know we are being sold a bill of goods. The emperor has no clothes.
Dudes:
A giant tree branch just fell on the kid next door. I feel that this, coupled with the dead morel mushrooms I found in my back yard the other day, is some sort of omen. Residential vegitation falling in unusual ways. Perhaps someone left their St. Whatsisface statue buried upside down for too long. Trouble is a stirin.
No, not next door, I meant to say “across the street”. And “stirrin”.
How is the kid? I had a big oak branch fall on my car one time. Almost totaled it.
He’s OK.
Trouble is a stirin.
verses: “Things-is-a-shakin!” …Yikes!
Check the tree branch for mushrooms.
Manipulation of gold to keep it under $1500?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/russell-endorses-gold-manipulation-thesis-2011-04-25?dist=afterbell
BTW, watching Ron Paul on Fox right now.
“BTW, watching Ron Paul on Fox right now.”
Is he for, or against, democracy?
If you mean pure democracy in which a group of people can vote away my natural rights, he would be against it. If you mean people get to vote within a constitutional framework, he is for it.
Does he favor allowing all adult citizens to vote? No tax-paying requirements?
John Boehner: Oil companies should pay their ‘fair share’:
By DARREN GOODE | 4/25/11
“Listen, everybody … wants to go after the oil companies. And frankly, they’ve got some part of this to blame,” he said.
“I don’t think the big oil companies need to have the oil depletion allowances.”
The duck
shooting“turn-n-shoot’ invite with Cheney is already in the mail!BWAHAHAHicHAHAHicHAHAHAHAHicHAHAHic* (DennisN™)