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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
If any entity wants this so called "Depression" to happen, it is the Media (Capital M). Be a little creative for once! How about a story about how the media can create its own socio-economic phenomenon.
The causes of the current economic meltdown are complex and manifold, to be sure.
However, no where in this article is the greed of the American 'poor' mentioned as a direct cause, which it most definitely is. In my own experience as a middle-class 'saver', I am continually appalled at how the lowest-income people seem to be the ones who own flat-screen tv's (which I don't), drive new (leased) vehicles (I drive an older, used car I paid cash for), carry expensive handbags, own Wii's and on and on. At the same time, these people 'can't afford healthcare' (yes, it is outrageously expensive; especially if you are self-employed as my husband and I are. Hence the reason we can't AFFORD flat screen tvs, luxury handbags, etc.) We find a way to afford healthcare and don't buy things unless we can actually afford them--with cash.
You'll get no argument from me that the income disparity in our country is sick and wrong. But let's be honest here: the problem of greed is much deeper and wider than that. An addiction to consumption and living beyond our means is very much at the heart of this crisis as well. Many people could afford healthcare and other such things. They just don't choose to. They are too busy watching American Idol on their flatscreens, instead of reading about how to manage their money wisely.
I read this article and totally agree with it the people on capital hill need to pull their heads out of there you know whats and deal with this problem. Instead of spending billions of dollars on a war we cannot win, spend it hear at home. Their over there fighting waisting money so the big ass holes on capital hill can continue to line their pockets just to fight for oil. It has never been about winning the war to free Iraq it's about oil, I also heard from a friend of mine who was in the first Iraq war that they had Hussein the first time and were told to let him live or not arrest him I am sorry but that is a bunch of garbage. The next issue by letting mortgage companies go on a sliding interest scale they self handedly ruined themselves and letting people take these non fixed interest rates and now they are ending up with all these houses that they cannot get their money back out of them, if they would have been up front with people who had no buisness buying a house in the first place they wouldn't be in this perdicament. How long can we keep this recession from happening it is going to happen it is inevitable anyone who knows economics knows that. Quit screwing with interest rates and let it happen instead of putting it of longer and longer they are just gonna make it worse, Just let it happen. The government that is.
Informed Reader
Maybe all is not lost, but I agree with some of the previous posters that even people who lived through the Great Depression have forgotten how bad it really was, and have chosen to forget all the "bodies" left behind.
My parents were children during the Depression, but their parents and aunts and uncles were not. I remember the look of absolute dread and panic that would flit across the face of some of them when the Depression was mentioned. For some reason I was privy to some of the more haunting stories from that time - the crop failures (many had been farmers), near starvation, children who died from minor infections and sicknesses who might have survived if they had not been so malnourished, or if their parents had been able to afford medical care. I have nothing but the deepest respect and sympathy for the people who survived that time, but I wouldn't wish it on anybody, and I still cringe when people even suggest that we might be in for such a terrible disaster again.
But the thing I dread the most is the political and social instability that might follow. Face it, many people would have no idea how to cope if suddenly confronted with no job, no job prospects, no home, and maybe no hope. And if the the top money earners of the country keep on keepin' on as if nothing has happened, things will get even worse. One aspect of the Depression that has definitely been forgotten is the intense political instability of that time. Not all people were sheep during that time and thank whatever they weren't. I still think Roosevelt was right to pass some Socialist-lite programs, because the move toward Socialism was very strong in the 30s.
But do you think we could maybe have just a teeny tiny revolution before we repeat history again so soon?
In case anyone has not noticed the US dollar is dropping like a rock taking with it our standard of living. Americans don't get out much so they may not realize that you can buy a house or apartment cheaper in the US than in many Third World countries. You can also live better in many of these places than you can here. Many people resident in the US are going back to their home countries because things are getting worse here and better there. The writer offers hope that things will change in November but nothing will change. Americans are too stupid to realize what is happening to them and they run like lemmings right over any cliff their leaders take them. Our patriot ancestors must be puking in their graves! Like Great Britain and the Roman Empire we had a nice run - now it's down to the bottom for us.
The Q4 .6% real GDP growth was based on an inflation rate of about 4%, so nominal growth was 4.6%. As John Williams of Shadow Government statistics points out inflation is, in 1980 terms, underreported by 7% given us a contraction of 6.6%. Q3 07 would have been negative 3% --that's .4% away from calling this a depression.
The federal reserve is flooding the system with money. M3 is estimated to be growing at 18%. This is of course what chopper Ben (and Milton Friedman) think the Fed should have done in 1929. Fiat money lets us inflate our way out of a liquidity crisis. But the cost in inflation and debt is going to be massive.
The underlying economic problem of an overbuilt housing sector won't go away overnight. 50% of Ca job growth during the last recovery was real estate related (construction, finance, sales, insurance etc.). It was similar in other parts of the US. By holding interest rates so low, so long Greenspan revved up the real estate engine to create growth. Now the engine has seized up. Foreclosures are generating housing inventory, job losses and credit standard tightening are reducing the number of potential buyers. The residential sector is going to continue to drag us down for some time.
The credit crisis is bigger than just the real estate problems. Whole classes of derivatives may disappear. One Goldman Sachs economist estimates two trillion in losses over the next couple of years. How much tax payer money will be stuffed into that debt hole to "stabilize" the system?
When they report an official contraction of 1-3%, that if we measured it the way they did in 1929 it would be more, a lot more.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
Salon headlines in your mailbox
