tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post3712191506378319931..comments2024-01-04T07:05:27.381-06:00Comments on Immigration Talk with a Mexican American: Get Ready for the New Great Depression. Leading Economists Say: "We are in the midst of a Depression with No End in Sight."Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09583438645860375661noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-91899987313574071052009-02-23T09:54:00.000-06:002009-02-23T09:54:00.000-06:00This whole fiasco just confirms what I've been wan...This whole fiasco just confirms what I've been wanting for over a decade:<BR/><BR/>Kill The Stock Market.<BR/><BR/>It's these funds, stocks and dividends mixed with greed, purchased by consumers and retirement companies alike that killed the hopes and dreams of so many. <BR/><BR/>People gave their assets and retirement accounts to a casino, and the house always wins.......https://www.blogger.com/profile/04308481390438662506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-35399956404076101032009-02-22T13:01:00.000-06:002009-02-22T13:01:00.000-06:00There is an awful lot of craziness going on now an...There is an awful lot of craziness going on now and there has been for the last several years. We in the midwest would just marvel at the home prices in California. Something that would hardly qualify as habitable here in the midwest was going for $200-300K in California. People would tell us our 200K midwest houses would cost 1 million in California. It was all false, as we now know. In most of the midwest, with the exception of a few states, our home prices grew much more modestly and so they haven't dropped much in value either, if at all. California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, those states have some painful adjusting to do and no amount of spending and bailouts and more bailouts is going to correct that. Let's face it, the world's 12th largest economy (California) is basically bankrupt. Until they get their spending under control, they will continue to spiral down and drag the rest of us with them.<BR/><BR/>We need to let some things fail. If the big 3 automakers would have gone through a controlled Chapter 11 last year, they would have been on the way back to recovery. Instead, they're further in debt and back asking for more and we all know they are eventually going to have to file for Chapter 11 wasting all that money and time and money they could have invested in restructuring AND PRESERVING JOBS.<BR/><BR/>We need JOBS. The stimulus should have been targeted to two things - jobs and temporary assistance for people who have lost their jobs. Instead of that, we have millions being spent on programs which will do absolutely nothing to promote jobs and ALL ON BORROWED MONEY WE DO NOT HAVE. Eventually there will be no more lenders and then we will be playing with monopoly money. A loaf of bread will cost $20. <BR/><BR/>God help us all. I don't see any way out of this mess with the current programs that have been implemented.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-83580195844481288162009-02-22T12:01:00.000-06:002009-02-22T12:01:00.000-06:00Ultima,I am not for gloom and doom. I am an optimi...Ultima,<BR/>I am not for gloom and doom. I am an optimist. But I believe in facing reality. We are in a NEW Great Depression that will get worse before it gets better and I think we should all realize it.<BR/>Frank Rich says Americans are in denial and don't want to believe we are in this Depression. <BR/>I think its time we all stop kidding ourselves. It may take years for the President's economic plans to take hold and recovery begins. <BR/>I agree with you. Perhaps the one good thing that will come of this is that ALL Americans will understand it is time to change our ways. No more pricey credit cards. No more McMansions. No more easy in/predatory home loans people can't afford. We need to know what we are spending and spend what we can afford while saving enough for 3 to 6 months with no income. <BR/>I am also hoping that home prices will come back to reality, especially on the coasts.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09583438645860375661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-37004502516183471772009-02-22T11:52:00.000-06:002009-02-22T11:52:00.000-06:00Debt vs GDP<A HREF="http://www.swivel.com/graphs/show/5543118" REL="nofollow">Debt vs GDP</A>ultimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13624967903736347171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-35853120568619018142009-02-22T11:35:00.000-06:002009-02-22T11:35:00.000-06:00I would be interested in El Duque's ideas for a fa...I would be interested in El Duque's ideas for a fair tax system. We already have one that takes from the rich and gives to the poor. We merely disguise it as Earned Income Credits, graduated tax brackets, AMT,reverse income taxes,etc. How much farther down that road does he think we should go?<BR/><BR/>Some real ideas instead of incessant carping about the rich vs the poor minorities would make a better contribution to the discussion. The philosophy he seems to be espousing is pure communism.ultimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13624967903736347171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-34397480573746117342009-02-22T11:29:00.000-06:002009-02-22T11:29:00.000-06:00Dee's advice is good. Credit cards are a convenie...Dee's advice is good. Credit cards are a convenience we can do without. If you decide to keep them the cardinal rule is, "Always pay off the balance every month just as you would if you paid cash for everything." Don't let them charge you those exhorbitant interest rates on an unpaid balance. <BR/><BR/>The problem with the purveyors of gloom and doom among those in the dismal science of economics is that they don't help. Recessions are largely a psychological phenomenon. Positive psychology is what id needed rather than prophecies of gloom and doom. Now that everyone has been educated on the severity of the recession it is time to start emphasizing the recovery plans and a positive outlook. Handwringing by top officials and economists will not help.<BR/><BR/>In the past, some writers on these matters have suggested a six month reserve rather than a three month rainy day fund.<BR/><BR/>It's easy to criticize tax plans that seem to benefit the rich or the most productive members of society. Many of the poor pay no income taxes whatsover so giving them a tax break makes no sense. Instead of camouflaging this as a tax break, it should be characterized and treated as welfare -- which it is. The more welfare we provide to the poor, the less incentive many of them have to seek work and or apply themselves diligently to their jobs so they become valued employees.<BR/><BR/>I have little sympathy for those who became greedy and bought homes they really could not afford with interest only loans, etc. Yet, the predatory lenders and realtors are even more despicable. In that regard, the fingerpointing should stop and the problem should be fixed with strict guidelines on real estate transactions and credit card balances and criminal penalties for realtors and lenders who violate the rules.<BR/><BR/>It may be nice to think that everyone should be able to buy a home but those days are or should be gone forever. It is much harder to buy a home in Europe than it is here. Many more people live in small apartments. Americans better get used to that idea. <BR/><BR/>In the post WW II decade many people lived in apartments and rooms in private homes. Then the government, the lenders, and the realtors came along and promoted the idea that everyone should own their own home and bent the rules so more could get in over their heads. They and we are now paying the price.ultimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13624967903736347171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-7820920044935814062009-02-22T10:33:00.000-06:002009-02-22T10:33:00.000-06:00Dee :You said :"But the debt-GDP ratio subsequentl...Dee :<BR/><BR/>You said :<B><BR/>"But the debt-GDP ratio subsequently declined -- not just because post-war spending dropped but because the economy continued to grow as war production converted to the production of consumer goods. Lesson: The danger isn't too much stimulus, it's too little stimulus."</B><BR/><BR/>Of course, Dee :<BR/>"You have to risk the eggs to get the chickens."<BR/><BR/>"Who doesn't risk, doesn't cross the sea"<BR/><BR/>"The Goddess Fortune always Favors those that are audacios" - Hernan Cortes to the scared troops.<BR/><BR/>You just hit the perfect center of the Shooting Target.<BR/><BR/>The Republicans are do-nothings and tax cutters for the rich. A strategy that has failed many times to revive the Economy.<BR/><BR/>The Problem is that we pay a lot of attention to the TV Idiots and Fools that are extremely abundant. Including Prominent Politicians that are idiots or at the Service of Rich People, and want tax cuts for the Rich and zero for the Poor ( Which are in large part Minorities ).<BR/><BR/>I am trying to make a list of Intelligent and admired people and avoid and forget the idiots.<BR/><BR/>This is my list of some Intelligent Commentators :<BR/><BR/>Economists :<BR/><BR/>Paul Krugman<BR/>Jeffrey Sachs<BR/>Robert Reich<BR/><BR/>Ingelligent TV :<BR/>Rachel Maddow<BR/>Keith Olberman<BR/>David Gergen<BR/>Some of the Guys of CNN but there is one Super Dangerous Imbecile there promoting a Big Progrom.<BR/><BR/>If you want to add some intelligent persons for my illustration and education, then please do so.<BR/><BR/>I rather forget the Uncountable Fools.<BR/><BR/>I am promoting the smarts and erasing the idiots and bastards ( mostly in videos ) :<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://milenials.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow"><STRONG>Milenials.com</STRONG></A><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://prophesizing.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow"><STRONG>Prophesizing.com</STRONG></A><BR/><BR/>Vicente DuqueDefensores de Democraciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01990488344886411353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-2580861931114216052009-02-22T10:25:00.000-06:002009-02-22T10:25:00.000-06:00Mikel,I agree. Soros' comments are particularly sc...Mikel,<BR/>I agree. Soros' comments are particularly scary. <BR/><BR/>I also agree that now is the time for all Americans to evaluate their spending practices and rip up those credit cards. Just writing down what/how you spend each day and tallying the totals for a month can be a life changing experience.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09583438645860375661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-72403491941627345432009-02-21T23:16:00.000-06:002009-02-21T23:16:00.000-06:00The George Soros quote is especially unsettling an...The George Soros quote is especially unsettling and the Reich remarks bring to the point the biggest problem i see: we should NOT return to previous spending levels. a) they are what created the bubble which burst and dropped us into this problem in the first place. b) our previous customer level of spending was based on false overextended spending, the kind of spending that causes both parents to abandon their children to daycares and leads them to take on 29% interest to use plastic because they don't actually have the cash to live the way they are expected to. America should not have been reasonably spending the way we did but despite the best efforts of blamelaying by the media it wasn't bad eggs on the bottom of the economic ladder. It was the message our elites insisted we be indoctrinated in so they could harvest all the available dimes from the rest of us.<BR/>They made the depression so again they could further enrich themselves with our lives.mikel weisserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13644961718170520511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-67411003061768343382009-02-21T18:02:00.000-06:002009-02-21T18:02:00.000-06:00One more from Robert. I love how he chastises the ...One more from Robert. I love how he chastises the Republicans:<BR/><BR/>One of the oddest of right-wing claims is that FDR's New Deal didn't pull America out of the Great Depression, so Barack Obama's "New New Deal" won't, either. While it's true that the New Deal didn't end the Great Depression, three points need to be impressed on the hard-pressed conservative mind:<BR/><BR/>1. The New Deal relieved a great deal of suffering by establishing social safety nets -- Unemployment Insurance, Aid for Dependent Children, and Social Security for retirees. Most have remained, a worthy legacy. But because the structure of the economy has changed (a much higher percentage of the working population is now employed part-time in several jobs or as independent contractors, for example), there are gaping holes in the safety net which a New New Deal should fill in order that the Mini Depression we're experiencing not cause excessive harm.<BR/><BR/>2. FDR's public works spending did help the economy somewhat. By 1936, U.S. the economy was showing some life. Unemployment was declining and consumers were beginning to buy. But FDR cut back on public-works spending, and the economy sank back into its former torpor. A warning to Obama: Don't worry about so-called "fiscal responsibility" when aggregate demand still falls far short of the economy's total capacity.<BR/><BR/>3. The Second World War pulled the nation out of the Great Depression because it required that government spend on such a huge scale as to restart the nation's factories, put Americans back to work, and push the nation toward its productive capacty. By the end of the war, most Americans were better off than they were before its start. Yes, the national debt ballooned to 120 percent of GDP. But the debt-GDP ratio subsequently declined -- not just because post-war spending dropped but because the economy continued to grow as war production converted to the production of consumer goods. Lesson: The danger isn't too much stimulus, it's too little stimulus.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09583438645860375661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548695401579410439.post-10353428847010812492009-02-21T17:57:00.000-06:002009-02-21T17:57:00.000-06:00More from Robert Reich:The stock market reached a ...More from Robert Reich:<BR/>The stock market reached a six-year low today. Why? Some blame loose talk (including that of former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan) about nationalizing the nation's banks. Others blame Obama's new plan for helping homeowners who may not be able to pay their mortgages. But the real culprit is the accelerating decline in aggregate demand -- consumers, businesses, and exports. Companies are losing money because their customers are disappearing. That's precisely why the stimulus is so important -- indeed, why many of us fear it's too small.Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09583438645860375661noreply@blogger.com