Q3 2009: Mortgage Equity Extraction Strongly Negative
Submitted by
CalculatedRisk on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 8:30am (410 comments)
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Nothing a few more MBS purchases by the Fed can't fix.
That recovery just got longer.
OT:
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would be authorized to make assessments on large banks and other big institutions to cover short falls from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program within five years, according to a measure that was approved Friday as part of sweeping bank reform legislation. "It will also ensure that American public are not turning the page on TARP but instead sending a clear and decisive message that banks, not taxpayers, will pay for TARP shortfalls," said Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich. As of Dec. 9, the Treasury had roughly $309.5 billion in TARP funds available for new commitments and programs.
simply amazed at how equity's can still stay positive on the move in the dollar and that wonderful 30 year "auction" yesterday.
The mechanics are working overtime at the Fed.
Ciao
MS
House eats your cash now? Ghosts in the walls are whispering loudly to you:
"SHOW THE MONEY! Jack got no money! What a loosseerr! Kill the bitch and kids!
Show me the money! Jack got no money! What a loossserr! Kill the bitch and kids!"
I suppose the next report we will get from the government will show that he savings rate jumped! So we will end up with higher savings, lower consumer debt, lower wages, higher jobless and** increased consumer spending.** Is this a great country or what?
Income growth? In the US?
LoserBeachBum wrote:
Seek help-
MS wrote:
I would have expected that relationship to break down the other way- good thing didn't trade it.
CR: so any significant increase in consumer spending will come from income growth, not borrowing
And where is the income growth going to come from? It has been flat through the 00's, and may be more negative as replacement jobs are paying less.
IMO, this the deflationary factor that is being ignored and will define this era in the US: wages moving toward global averages - which will pull our standard of living substantially downward.
People got used to borrowing from the 1st National Bank of Their Home, back when they were gainfully employed, and now many have neither to fall back on, a double-whammy.
Awesome feature! Worth another tile sponsorship--if my budget allows it!
Love the term 'negative extraction'.
Like telling the soldiers to turn tail and advance.
Wasn't it Volker who called the home ATM the greatest innovation in banking in the last 25 years?
"we paid off our debt with a HELOC."
---People are Smart.
Ask Suzanne.
Could we consider the home atm open when people stop paying their mortgage and bank/spend what would have been the payment?
JimPortlandOR wrote:
deflation doesn't necessarily mean a lower standard of living. The heavily indebted consumer is slowly discovering the answer to their problems - walk away and if the deficiency judgments start coming in file for bankruptcy.
Yes ... I don't see robust income growth either. So I expect consumer spending to be sluggish from some time.
best wishes
OK - so now we see what is available to support end demand as of 3Q 2009:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pMscxxELHEg/SyGzS2Pxl0I/AAAAAAAAG_s/emdEhar9fpA/s1600-h/MEWQ32009.jpg
energyecon: Personal Income Less Transfer Payments
energyecon: Consumer Credit - Continued Declines
edit: And on a macro level, the info black dog posted last thread regarding MULT:
St. Louis Fed: Series: MULT, M1 Money Multiplier
Uncle Ar wrote:
as I said yesterday- stimulus when you put them into debt - stimulus when the stop paying . Great country or what.
Even with all the gloom and doom about housing- investing in select properties as an alternative to owning bonds and debt instruments is looking like making more sense.
FYI, the Merrill Lynch - BOFA hearing with the SEC Enforcement Director just started.
C-SPAN3 Live Stream - C-SPAN
He can't say anything about the case specifically because it's an open case so the hearing is pretty pointless.
worth noting that if you had been privy to all the unexpected "good news" on the economy last week and bought stocks in anticipation - you would be essentially flat. (actually down 10 on the SP based on the Wednesday a week ago close)
Only three weeks more and this decade will be over. 2010 probably will be even worse than this year but at the same time very exciting times
Who could disagree with this? And on what basis? Where do they think the money went?
LoserBeachBum wrote:
don't want to be picky but doesn't the decade technically end on 12/31/10
How much
equity was extracted? $ equity is a silly number.
If you start extracting your teeth,
or enamel, the rate of extraction soon crashes.
crazyv wrote:
doesn't that depend on whether you're a technie that thinks number sequences start at zero?
umop apisdn wrote:
shh! Volcker is working on the next President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board meeting.
The first and last meeting was in May this year.
12th Percentile wrote:
those who would like to believe that their wonderful monetary policies, cutting taxes on the wealthy and entering into trade deals were responsible. How much do you think all economist get paid if we said " created the biggest bubble in history and used the proceeds of that to support spending".
Uncle Ar wrote:
According to the WSJ ... yes.
I bet you partied in 2000 and not 1999, didn't you?
Didn't
rise more than 3.3% in Q3?
So it will still take more
going forward to pay off the mortgages.
crazyv, that gets debated often. It comes from acknowledging that there was no "Year Zero" on the Western Calendar - we go from 1 b.c. straight to 1 a.d.
So what to do with the Year Zero in successive decades and centuries? Is 2010 the last year of this decade or the first year of the next?
I personally say it will be the first year of the next decade, as in the 70s began with 1970, the 80s with 1980, etc. Otherwise, 1970 was part of the 60s, and that just seems absurd.
Others don't like this approach, apparently because it means that the first decade, centuries ago, only had nine years.
But I can live with that.
I am not interested in any discussion of
prices.
I am interested in a new currency. (Not
)
JimPortlandOR wrote:
lets be like all the other sheep and spend more time on something completely irrelevant
Actually I don't think it matters. If we start at zero we complete one year on the last day of the first year and so on.
energyecon wrote:
Serious question. What does 'revolving' mean in this case?
That chart looks like negMEW has predicted 35 of the last 5 recessions.
Vonbek777 wrote:
Actually you are right because I spent New years eve 1999 at a Red Cross operations center waiting for the world to end
crazyv wrote:
That's not because real estate investment is good just that bonds look very very bad. A 10yr 3.5% takes a NPV hit of 20% when buyers demand 7% instead. The claims of safe as bonds will be the next myth to fall in this debacle.
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
When you pay off your monthly CC balance they cancel your card?
so any significant increase in consumer spending will come from income growth, not borrowing.
Income growth! Good one CR, that made me laugh!
hmm, vix could go
....anybody have a take or thoughts on that dubai bond payment scheduled for sat and gold assignments on 14th, lots of open interest
could be an interesting wknd of news...
crazyv wrote:
But shorting
worked ... so far.
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
When you get your credit card statement you want to blow your brains out with a revolver.
"I spent New years eve 1999 at a Red Cross operations center waiting for the world to end"
As a patient or volunteer?
Comrade Alexei Mikhailovich wrote:
As an aside, it looks like CR has extended the thick blue line to the current date. Does this mean the big man is no longer predicting a technical end to the recession in the summer?
Things that make you go hmmm....
You shouldn't worry about the end of the world. I have it on good authority that it will end on the quantex of Fondefinite in the cycle of Nexus. Of course I don't know how that translates to our current Gregorian Calendar... I didn't get the universal translator.
Look, Lockhart has a new job (and he can say what he wants now)
This data is quarterly, and I'm guessing the technical recession ended in July (and that is part of Q3). No change ...
best wishes
"The crisis in the UK employment market was laid bare yesterday after research showed that as many as 10,000 people have been applying for a single job."
they should just lower the pay scale until only ten (count'em, ten) qualified applicants apply.
Wait for the next shoe to drop. It's a baby bootie.
We aren't even going to get our usual 1.8% population tweak for the next few years. Widespread birth control and the shift to two income couples will drag on any nascent recovery.
Rob Dawg wrote:
I think right now the two most important considerations- return of money not return on money and which opportunity allows the retention of the greatest purchasing power.( I am assuming that I will lose some just trying to limit the decline).
While I think we are all celebrating the idea of banker's bonus tax we should also recognize that we are re -crossing the Rubicon (crossed it once with the windfall profit tax on oil companies) . What is to stop the next tax from being on interest payments received on bonds.
Some historians argue that while the Articles of Confederation could have been amended to create limit powers for the national government to address the weakness of Aof C the reason for a whole new constitutions was to address what was happening at State Legislatures where "ordinary people were getting elected" and the turnover went from essentially zero prior to the revolution to 50%. The Constitution that we pay so much respect to is at its core a fundamentally un Democratic document. Its whole intent was to thwart popular opinion.
copped from Drudge:
In Iran, Protests Gaining a Radical Tinge - NY Times
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Revolving consumer credit down (and accelerating downward)
Serious question. What does 'revolving' mean in this case?
I believe it refers to the absence of pre determined repayment schedule (like mortgages and auto loans) plus facilities that allow the borrower to pay down and borrow again- repeatedly if necessary.
barfly wrote:
What do you do when pay is minimum wage and number of applicants is significantly greater than 10 ?
As they pay goes down the better applicants look elsewhere anyway.
You don't want to work for a company that has radically different pay between old and new employees anyway.
volunteer
10 year yield up, I am sure we will see more articles next week about how mortgage rates are down again (Thanks, Bennie).
Gov gives bailout to bank.
Bank gives bonuses from bailout.
Gov taxes bonus at 100%.
Problems?
CalculatedRisk wrote:
Ah, thank you for highlighting my ignorance, CR. That makes sense.
I thought nova's book had tripped a breaker in your head or something
Hush...how am I going to repeal the direct election of senators if you let the masses in on the joke. Thwart popular opinion....we love the people in this country. Don't you get the nice form email responses from your elected representatives telling you they care?
Any thoughts on the bond offering yesterday, the yield curve, and such?
Our extensive Y2K preparations were: 2x 2.5 gallons of water.
bbc reporting Shell wins Iraq oil field rights.
We continue to do what we do best, spend money we don't have. Never had any doubts about the source of all these green shoots, but this loss so quickly of our frugalness virginity that everyone was talking about, even if it is fleeting and unsustainable, was extremely surprising even to me. Desperate people do desperate things. With government and domestic debt now over 450% of GDP, we are the world's leaders by far, and that doesn't include entitlements.
PS. Had an experienced and well qualified electrician over for 2 hours of work last week, and he was thrilled to be working for the first time in 2 months. Needed some plumbing work done also, so listed my phone number and city for local plumbers on the internet. My phone started ringing off the hook within 5 minutes of placement. This was around 6 am. Both jobs were done well and at very reasonable prices.
12th Percentile wrote:
Sure, as long as we've got Bill and Warren's bucks included in the averages.
LoserBeachBum wrote:
HA! New summer movie theme. The contracting house. It slowly squeezes you to death.
crazyv wrote:
Ahhh ... I kind of gleaned part of that from the snark above. So essentially creditcard debt or running tabs.
Thanks.
CalculatedRisk wrote:
If consumers pay down their credit cards, and pay off their car loans without buying new ones, it's a fountain of consumer spending ability. Of course, the other big place where additional spendable cash will come is from getting out from under expensive mortgages.
Vonbek777 wrote:
I realize the value of this document has been minimalized as of late, but:
Captain Morgan, I was being facetious. It was a reference to a suggestion made earlier by an esteemed commenter, about as realistic as it sounds.
Later all.
Gotta go to kids school and help build x-mas play props.
Uncle Ar wrote:
In effect, as taxpayers recapitalize banks through subsidies, infusions, under-priced insurance, etc., we are continuing to support the reckless overspending lifestyle of many of our compatriots.
This will end well.
crazyv wrote:
Jaw on floor. Your first sentence is the Founding Fathers' own truth. The second makes me wonder about you sometimes.
OF COURSE the Constitution is unDemocratic. It lays out the small necessary chunks that need to be carved out of a democracy to have a functioning republic. Giant watermelon of democracy, reluctant slices begrudgingly set aside to run a nation.
As to the second. No, "thwart" is most definitely not the right word. "Moderate" or "dampen wild swings" or "delay emotional reactions" yes but not thwart. It only looks like thwart because of creeping Federalism. The FFs intended for the towns and States to be the bedrock of participative democracy. A lot of out troubles can be traced back to the upward devolution of governance from cities to states to FedGov.
Employment-to-population ratio among men 25-54 hit all-time low in November - The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com
Alamo robbery suspect was about to lose home
"A 50-year-old Alamo contractor accused of shooting a jewelry-store owner was on the verge of losing his cul-de-sac home and intended to rob a man he had treated as a friend in a desperate attempt to stay afloat, a prosecutor said Thursday."
Cinco-X wrote:
Technically the bond put in a double top last week. I expect that we are going to get some very weird things happening in the yield curve. For the last 30 years we have operated on the basis that cash had no value. Case in point 25 years ago I suggested to insurance company that they might want consider using interest rate swaps to allow them to invest in Commercial paper while earning the higher rate of a term investment. This company was more concerned about the risk of the interest rate swap than they were about the lower risk of investing in commercial paper rather than a 10 years note. The amazing part of this despite having owned Texaco bonds that smacked after the Penzoil thing unlike its commercial paper that was paid off.
So as cash acquires a value in off itself I would expect the curve to be considerably steeper than most market participants have seen. It will also make the whole analysis of trying to compare Fed Funds rates to bonds meaningless which only operates in an infinite leverage universe.
Cryogenic Dark Matter Search on December 17th will publish a paper claiming that the dark matter particles have been discovered:
The Reference Frame: CDMS: dark matter directly detected?
NOTaREALmerican (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 12:11 pm
HA! New summer movie theme. The contracting house. It slowly squeezes you to death.
While haunting your dreams, until eventually you can't sleep anymore.
Income growth will require employment, ideally productive employment not just government sponsored make worth financed with a trillion $ from China.
~splat
PastTense,
The stats on employment to population ratio make me wonder. I have this feeling the population numbers might not be right.
What? you ask? While I'm sure the employment numbers are down substantially, I have a funny feeling a lot of H1 visas expired with people going home, and a number of undocumented people have gone home.
HomeGnome wrote:
Yes,two problems.
100% is way too low.
Legally, they employees who lost bonuses could sue and end up pissing away more taxpayer money fighting the lost bonuses.
you're looking at the wrong stuff
Think of the impact should Iran go through a revolution.
Revolving in this case is everything but real estate, automobile, student loans etc. that have a fixed term and payment schedule. Have to back into it a bit from the footnotes from the Fed release:
Where 1 is all consumer credit (revolving and non-revolving, everything except real estate), 2 is something on percentage rate of change calcs and 3 is what is non-revolving:
(found here at bottom of page)
FRB: G.19 Release--Consumer Credit--November 6, 2009
Nice. If I understand you, you're saying that with deflation cash increases in value, so the cost of money(capital) goes up.
barfly wrote:
OK, gotcha.
I do think that lower wages are part of a long term solution to unemployment and offshoring, however I think they will come about by many years of crappy raises and slightly lower starting salaries.
crazyv wrote:
Good quote (the paragraph). There's probably no ideal balance between a government run by politicians purchased by the smartest amoral scumbags and those elected by voters (the populists). The problem is once the government snaps to one side or the other, you can't snap it back.
So, we basically got the government that was inevitable, the Anthropic principle applied to politics.
some investor guy wrote:
Some investor guy has been driving around Southern California recently. The real test comes when those that go home for the holidays don't come back.
Treasury pay czar limits pay at automakers, banks - Yahoo! Finance
I get the feeling we invaded Iraq to secure the oil for international oil Corps.
All denominated in USD's, of course.
How many souls in a bbl these days?
500,000
NOT<
I had to cover for you last thread.
Type #1's and #2's...
HomeGnome wrote:
Is Hell accepting souls denominated in US$?
Rob Dawg wrote:
Which, unfortunately, is inevitable. The EU is a good example. The individual states (countries) had power, which is now being centralized (lost) to Brussels. Centralization of loot benefits the smart amoral scumbags. Eventually, the peasants in the EU "states" will wonder where their democracies went.
Just in case I have to meet one in person one day...what is the correct etiquette to greet a czar? A curt sir...his most exaultedness...inquiring minds want to know.
So that's at least a 3/4 of a trillion swing, right?
volker the viking wrote:
All the groups, except the religious fundies, who helped the last Iranian revolution died tragically at the hands of the Mullahs. The religious powers seem to be even happier to use extreme measures to stay in power than even the Shah (!) Being able to invoke the will of allah as a justifications for you actions is a pretty good cop-out in a country with a strong religious undercurrent.
If there is another revolution it will be very hard to get going.
~splat
---Dead man walking.
HomeGnome wrote:
Excellent work! Somebody has to separate the type 1's and 2's before they hurt each other.
(break it up, break it up....)
HomeGnome wrote:
Has to be a secret handshake in there some where...
Besides, CIA is running out of revolution colors.
Rob Dawg wrote:
That will be tragic, where will the Mexican border guards get their Christmas shakedown money from if not worker returning for the holidays ? If anyone doesn't think that happens they need to talk to more Mexican nationals about the border experience and the 'special taxes' imposed
~splat
The new hud-1 closing statement. The Fedguv and its agencies at their worst.
splat wrote:
A lot of the Chinese trained Communists were used as "human shields" in the war with Iraq, so not all died directly at the hands of the Mullahs-
Just sayin'
vonbek<
A dead man walking is someone who is in great trouble and will certainly get punished, lose their job or position, etc, soon.
splat wrote:
A non starter. The next real revolution in an Islamic country will have to take place AFTER the Islamic Reformation. Have fun waiting for THAT to happen. The revolutions now are just replacing one batch of priests with another.
"On Wednesday, pro-business Democrats succeeded in making it harder for states to enforce their own consumer protection rules on national banks . Under a compromise struck with Democratic leaders and Treasury officials, states would not be able to pre-empt federal consumer laws if the state law "materially" interferes with the business of banks."
looks like both dumbocrats and repukeicrats are capable of absolutely screwing us over.
The night of Dec. 3, however, Bennett armed himself with three guns - including a .22-caliber weapon outfitted with a homemade silencer - and drove to the jewelry store in the Alamo Square Shopping Center to try to rob Herrera, Flynn said.
Herrera, 53, told investigators that Bennett came into his store at about 7 p.m., pulled a gun and said he had to rob him to save the home where he has lived for eight years with his wife, son and daughter, Flynn said.
Read more: Alamo robbery suspect was about to lose home
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
That's going to be interesting to see. There was a great SciFi story from shoot.. um.. 1998 about a future UK with an European army as a 'stablization force' in the country to ensure its continued participation in the EU as the locals decided they wanted to leave for some reason
~splat
You know what they say about Elephants and Asses.
Jim you are so right about income growth
and even though many here decry krugmans keynesian roots...sometimes he makes goodd popints
and heres an example that speaks to the issue
selected snips
krugman, "The jobs deficit NYT Dec 10, 2009"
"It was truly amazing the way last week’s employment report was hailed by many people as a sign that our troubles are over. ... and a report showing that we’re still losing jobs, but not as fast, is grounds for celebration?
I start from the fact that we’ve lost about 8 million jobs since the recession began — ...
to return to pre-crisis unemployment within 2 years we’d have to add 580,000 jobs a month. ...
(to keep up with population growth and regain lost jobs)
a more modest goal: return to more or less full employment in 5 years –
which means seven lean years of depressed employment. ...
(then we have to add) 18 million jobs over the next five years — or 300,000 a month.
So...Even if we add 300,000 jobs a month, we’re looking at a prolonged period of suffering ....
Anything less than that, and it’s bad news.
It sort of puts that wonderful report that we only lost 11,000 jobs in perspective, doesn’t it?"
the crying may begin now
You mean non squid people.
rosethorn wrote:
Nothing to do with deflation or inflation- just the idea that an investment becomes cash automatically(maturity) rather than having to find another buyer of the investment. In the last 20 years (long term capital was the warning canary) the assumption (based on unlimited leverage) was that every investment would trade at its"theoretical value" and thus there was no difference between something maturing and something for which you had to find another buyer. Simply put the market regarded a ten year investment the equivalent of 40 quarterly investments.
Vonbek777 wrote:
I'd say.. "Yo, F*ckwit"
~splat
The real test comes when 12 million of them say 'we're here and we're hungry, deal with it'.
what is the correct etiquette to greet a czar ?
I'd say.. "Yo, F*ckwit"
~splat
I think he was asking how you greet a czar not how they greet you.
poic wrote:
I'm pretty sure I had it the correct way around are you projecting ?
~splat
A fairly atypical HELOCalifornia housing bubble story, they hit the ATM for $1.1 million and have nothing to show for it, 8 years later.
crazyv wrote:
Did you read Mish's posting last night re the steep yield curve?
If yes, what's your read of the smart choices over the next 6 months?
Does this have any implication on other assets within the economic structure?
mock turtle wrote:
As someone offered on here yesterday, it sounds like Krugman has been reading Mish.
Mish has been hammering on this for a while and even posted his unemployment spreadsheets for people to plug in their own numbers.
no fan of GWB in fact think he is war criminal - but having said I don't think he invaded Iraq for the benefit of the international oil companies at least not in the sense that it is conventionally understood. I believe that he and the other oilmen actually believed in "peak oil". The largest easily exploitable reserves in the world are in Iraq. A regime of keeping Saddam under sanctions thereby keeping this oil of the market was no longer an option. The choice was lift sanctions or eliminate Saddam. I think they picked the option that they thought would be easier and accrue greater political benefit.
Splat, smalltown USA. A local school bus driver who happened to be a county constable paid 90K in cash for a repo sale at the county courthouse and it was reported he had enough gold jewelry to feed him a lifetime. A friend works in the TA's office.
Perhaps he was a very good saver ?
~splat
Well, that's two things we disagree on.
Well Santa Clause just came into the coffee shop I'm sitting in to have a cup of jolt.
Another move in the sovereign default chess game:
BBC News - Ukraine wants $2bn loan from IMF
I was rereading the Declaration of Independence the other day...good for a laugh now and again...
Almost rolled in the floor over:
"He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance."
and
"He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation"
Ah good times! Those crazy guys!
Oxtail wrote:
We really need a :face palm: icon: this would be one of those moments.
~splat
HomeGnome wrote:
well will surprises never end- didn't think that SC was such a liberal bastion
Vonbek777 wrote:
A manifesto of insurgents ! You shouldn't read such things. That language in it is awesome tho'
~splat
Oxtail wrote (in reply to...) 10:38 am
mock turtle...
As someone offered on here yesterday, it sounds like Krugman has been reading Mish.
Mish has been hammering on this for a while and even posted his unemployment spreadsheets for people to plug in their own numbers.
Krugman has been hammering on jobs for over a decade
let me recommend his book the great unraveling published in 2003
Paul Krugman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
crazyv wrote:
I think the majority of the SC commentariat is hopefully smarter than to just blindly follow one or the other of the kleptocratic parties and take their spin as truth.
~splat
Don't tell anyone...I keep a copy of the Federalist Papers under my pillow.
Suzanne researched this. We'll be fine.
besides i hope the point doesnt get lost in the i like..... or i dont like krugman, angle
we need to create over 300k jobs a month to dig our way out of this hole over a 5 to 7 year period
having a green shoots celebration cause job losses went from 450k to loosing 440k is total BS
and i suspect you agree with that, NO?
as we all know, we are in deep voodoo
Vonbek777 wrote:
Careful. That kind of talk these days earns you a visit from the black
Imagine, states being able to set any old laws they wanted to in order to protect their people! Why, that would be positively un-American ... Wait. What's that, you say?
Ha! Had me worried there. For a moment, I thought you were going to quote from a document with some ongoing relevance.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
We'll they have memories, and you can't take those away -
You ever take the test yourself Cinco?
crazyv wrote:
A regime of keeping Saddam under sanctions thereby keeping this oil of the market was no longer an option. The choice was lift sanctions or eliminate Saddam. I think they picked the option that they thought would be easier and accrue greater political benefit.
As a rule, we don't like unstable tinpot dictatorships with a stranglehold on assets at levels of strategic importance unless we put the dictator there. Basically, we don't "need" the oil and had no intention to add to our reserves, it was a preventative measure in case TSHTF and to increase the geopolitical stability of the area with military presence. We have been 'projecting force' all over the world like this since at least the advent of the CIA, and when it fails, it may be war time. The idea we've had decades of peace is a smokescreen thrown over a multitude of overt and clandestine operations of varying levels of legitimacy that have kept us out of formal declarations of war. It apparently works, but... man, talk about a grey area!!
" ... stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain ... "
So if you meet me, have some courtesy; have some sympathy; have some taste.
mock turtle wrote:
we need to create over 300k jobs a month to dig our way out of this hole over a 5 to 7 year period
having a green shoots celebration cause job losses went from 450k to loosing 440k is total BS
and i suspect you agree with that, NO?
as we all know, we are in deep voodoo
There was long time that we considered 6% unemployment to be natural rate of unemployment. It was only the bubble years of the Greenspan era that convinced us that we could be at 4% without generating inflation.
Ahh...in other words no liquidity risk premium.
Mook reported:
That the fourth estate can type those words without apoplexy is sad testament to how much our freedoms have eroded.
I think it hovers permanently overhead now. With my new wild and unmanaged philosopher beard, I can't imagine why they haven't paid a visit yet. In the end, we all end up in that chair in Brazil.
splat wrote:
Is that the same as a :talktothehand: icon?
HomeGnome wrote:
Electric sheep.
Someone mentioned about how many applicant would show up for a job....well here is am example of one.
Online Recruitment - Over 9,000 applications for 1 cabin crew job
The flip side of 'Who is like God' is 'Do you the Devil's Work' both are questions and worth pondering...
Vonbek777 wrote:
No Anti-Federalist Papers? How narrow minded or you-
Well now, that requires Congress.
HomeGnome wrote:
What test?
Those are in my library. Hardbound...sort of be like a rock underneath the pillow. I don't discriminate when it comes to political philosophy. I read it all.
I see unicorns!
credit-
I think the Dubai repayment is BS. If it does get paid (% or otherwise) it won't be anything that wasn't already known prior to the actual release of the news to us plebs. Besides if a payment is made it will just come out of the left pocket.....or our wallets via a spike in oil.
Ciao
MS
Rob Dawg wrote:
A "Minority Report" meme? I'm getting more confused. Please help an old fart out
How to fold the UNICORN
What are you, a skinjob?
---Blade Runner.
Cinco-X wrote:
Announcement comes less than a week after BOA got out of TARP. Luck them!
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
I think the lefts attack on this through the prism of colonialism was just completely misplaced - showed a basic lack of knowledge about global markets. The US doesn't need to control the oil- what they need is for the oil to be on the market thereby driving prices down/ limiting the price increase. Whether the oil was produced by international oil companies or the Iraqi government is irrelevant to that basic view- clearly having it produced by your friends was an added bonuses but not an essential requirement. I think if an when the global economies recover we will as consumers of energy be thankful that Iraqi oil is on the market rather than under sanctions.
My problem with the Iraq war was not that it was fought - I also understand the reason not to make oil the issue since the American people have this great hypocrisy - not willing to cut their use of oil but being opposed to fight for oil. The Bush administration screwed up the Iraq war because they were trying to make ideological point about a small deadly force being able to effect regime change as a lesson to others. Deploying the necessary troops - like GW1 would have made repeated use of force impossible.
HomeGnome wrote:
Philip K Dick. And Rob's remark was about another of his stories. Makes more sense now, I guess-
REBear wrote:
Fate is not without a sense of irony-
Mook (profile) wrote on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 10:51 am
"On Wednesday, pro-business Democrats succeeded in making it harder for states to enforce their own consumer protection rules on national banks"
yeah those few, blue dog "pro business" democrats...joined with nearly 100% of the republicans to thwart the stronger consumer protection provisions proposed by the majoprity of democrats...the blue dogs and republicans want to prempt (take away) tougherstate regulation and let the banks run wild
mock turtle wrote:
That's better-
mock turtle wrote:
remind me again which party made a big deal about believing in states rights
Cinco-X wrote:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was the basis for Blade Runner. Same story, even the same names Deckard and Nexus-6.
crazy
i know i got you when you change the subject
So, this is now a political blog ?
When the terms of the 'global market' are dictated by the US military, it does rather smell of colonialism.
Don't you asshat political buff have lots of actual political sites to blather on ???
House leader says government needs to borrow at least $1.8 trillion more - washingtonpost.com
Errr...another $1.8 trillion?
"House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said Friday that the government needs to borrow at least $1.8 trillion more next year to avoid defaulting on its debts."
When he puts it that way it sounds serious
"Such an increase in the nation's debt ceiling is much larger than Democrats had contemplated earlier this year."
Cinco-X (profile) wrote (in reply to. mock turtle on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 11:06 am
yeah those blue dog "pro business" democrats [that want to be reelected]...
That's better-
yeah , be re elected to republican districts so they act like republicans
make no mistake...a majority of dems want to pull the bankstas up short with regs
nearly all republicans and a few blue dogs want to let the bankstas continue to run wild
you can try to cloud the issue if it makes you feel better
but on this piece of legislation, this time...i side with the dems
next time i might be defending the repubs
dont get slippery on the issues please
dum luk (profile) wrote on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 11:09 am
reply ignore user
So, this is now a political blog ?
[cue you can discuss economics without discussing politics speech]
Thank you for insightful economic comment.
Mortgage and Real Estate Fraud - Home Page
a nation of crooks, I tells ya ~
heres the story about how republicans and blue dog dems
dont want derivatives regulated
and dont want consumer protection
"On Thursday, amid wrangling within the Democratic Party and intense lobbying by the financial industry, the full House began debating the "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009," a package of bills largely authored by Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) Lawmakers are considering three dozen amendments--some that could substantially alter the bill--and the package likely will be voted on by the House on Friday. Few if any Republicans are expected to support the reforms.
The Senate Banking Committee, led by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), has crafted a single broad bill for systemic reform. Dodd, however, has yet to corral bipartisan support and the bill likely will be reconfigured before the committee takes it up early next year.
Central to both chambers' efforts is the creation of a new agency that the Obama administration has characterized as a must: a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
The agency would consolidate oversight authority now divided among a range of federal regulators. It would have the power to write new regulations of financial products such as mortgages and credit cards. But some key sources of consumer loans--auto dealers, smaller banks, student lenders--would be exempt from enhanced oversight in the House bill. Late Wednesday, pro-business Democrats also forced compromise language into an amendment that prevents states from enforcing tougher standards for national banks."
Financial Reform Moves Forward, With Many Loopholes
We're so sorry uncle albert, but we haven't done a bloody thing all day. Uncle Albert
It's Friday!
Foreclosure rate in the Portland (OR) metro area: Top 5: PDX foreclosure rate doubles in October from year earlier | Front Porch - OregonLive.com
Vonbek777 wrote:
Greeting: Please come into this basement room where we want to take a family picture. Don't mind the gunmen, they're for your protection.
barfly wrote:
Deja vu all over again....
House votes down bankruptcy cramdowns.
Buyers are stuck with their over-priced homes.
JiminPortland.....Hehahehaheha
CaptainMorgan wrote:
including pensions in that observation?
Whohoo! Mo money, mo money (for the bankstas)
dum luk wrote:
Politics an economics are linked. No?
Foreclosures outside Portland especially southern OR must be getting worse...
Highly over-leveraged economy + rapidly deleveraging consumer + velocity of money below 1 and decreasing again means it's a little early for Benny (and the equity mkt) to be declaring mission accomplished on the averting a deflationary economic collapse front.
TBTF have politics and economics working for them.
Equity extraction ? I'm sure this stat was not related to any change in behavior. You need equity in order to extract, and there isn't any. No surprise.
I guess this is deflationary.
US import price index up 1.7% in November | IBTimes
"The price index for US imports advanced 3.7% for the year ended in November, the first time the index increased over a 12-month period since a 4.9% advance for the October 2007-2008 period."
.....the incessant bickering isn't
Political Blog
Doomer Blog
Real Estate Blog......Ect. Ect.
Oxtail wrote:
I predict that it changes from being chess, to some other game. I can't find who the quote is from, but "Bankruptcy happens slowly at first, then all at once."
U.S. House rejects mortgage cramdown measure
| Reuters
Don't forget football!
low ambition wrote:
I don't think the terms of the global market dictated at all by the US military - if it were so we would be paying a lot less.
My point is simple- if you believe that Iraqi oil is necessary to keep global prices low - there were only two choices lift sanctions or remove Saddam Hussain. Lifting sanctions would have required making the assumption that Saddam Hussain was a rational economic actor plus would result in all sorts political headaches - removing Saddam was easier (there is no argument about that it took less than six weeks). Iraq IMO was a prime example of mission creep.
"dum luk (profile) wrote on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 11:27 am
reply ignore user
Politics an economics are linked. No?
.....the incessant bickering isn't"
You touch on a very important point. The incessant bickering plays right into the hands of those shepparding "financial" reform through congress as we bicker.
shill wrote:
Getting closer to my $860 target. Sold 1/2 of my GLD puts today. Saving the rest.
lawyerliz wrote:
How so, lawyerliz?
""The price index for US imports advanced 3.7% for the year ended in November, the first time the index increased over a 12-month period since a 4.9% advance for the October 2007-2008 period."
Increase in prices for what you need. Decrease in prices for what you want.
So dum luk whatcha want to talk about?
mock,
On the discussion last night about possible doom scenarios, we already have a centralized command economy of sorts...I don't think we'd want this bunch of bubble blowers and bubble sustainers running even more of a command economy than it already is...
While I like to make fun of HELOC abusers as much as the next guy, I have a question. How many people would have refi'd for large amounts or taken out HELOCs if they had been told that there was a very high chance home prices would drop, and they would be underwater?
I think somewhere around 40% of the people would not have taken the bigger loans.
dum luk wrote:
Politics is bickering. You bicker until your opponent gives up. There can never be agreement about any of the "ism" ideologies. The "ism"s are very primal, and non-negotiable as they are the part of the fundamental attributes of each individuals brain.
Turbo wrote:
Turbo, what's a good quick-glace source for velocity ?
mock turtle wrote:
IMO they have made a serious miscalculation- there are many Republicans and Independents who will not thank them for that vote and they are certainly going to lose a big chunk of the democratic base. My guess is that many of the 30% of Democrats who are planning to sit out next years election (Daily Kos poll) are likely to be in Republican districts with democratic members behaving like Republicans.
I am much willing to accept the big tent idea when it comes to issues such as gay marriage, choice, guns etc than I am when it comes to issues of the people versus big business.
justaskin wrote:
Yes, but pensions are kind of out of sight, out of mind so not as big of a deal.
I worked for a company that had older employees who were on a pension plan, new employees that were only offered a 401k, and a few in between employees that were given a choice of pension or 401k.
The 401k had pretty good matching by industry standards, so it was hard to say which was "better" if you stayed long term.
I still have the money from that 401k rolled over into my IRA, and had I been a pension plan employee wouldn't have it.
The only complaining that I heard was from the in between employees who felt like they made the wrong choice, but it was their choice.
the stock market, the commodities market, the economy, the velocity of money - stuff that helps us trade
Did notice the Republicans especially want home price contracts to remain in the unpayable bubble zone (no cramdowns)...many buyers can't make the bubble price payments generally or don't want to...
Vonbek777 wrote:
"He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation"
Sounds contemporary and relevant to me.
John Boehner has wrote a letter to O wanting him to promote in his "State of the Union" speech the Free Trade Pac with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
some investor guy wrote:
Other evidence would not support your contention. How many people who do drugs know of its consequences how many people who smoke know of its consequences. The attraction of a fancy new kitchen is no less addictive. I think too many people are making excuses for j6p. They were greedy, lacked any sense of self control , were too addicted to material possessions etc. That is what made them prime targets for the crooks on Wall Street and that is why they are and deserve to be victims.
Business & Technology | House kills mortgage relief in Wall Street bill
| Seattle Times Newspaper
dum luk wrote:
I sensed a major shift in Nov, like an inflection point. Thiking it's headed for slower, stall speed and all that.
So far the latest moves I see just in the last week are:
Mortgage cramdown voted down
Ability for states to set consumer laws voted down
Consumer agency almost voted down
Derivative language in bill watered down
No government option in healthcare bill
Healthcare bill modified to allow companies to set "reasonable" lifetime caps on coverage.
To say I am letdown by the change I was promised would be a wild understatement.
The Iraqi oil is theirs to sell when they wish, or keep under the sand for all time as they wish. Unless the US military says otherwise.
I always wanted to do a velocity test...paper vs coin...which goes faster...
crazyv wrote:
Of course. That is its genius. We respect it precisely because it once stood between us and mob rule.
Politics an economics are linked. No?
Everything is linked, but between politics and economics the link is especially strong. Politics - economics - commerce...
Do you know of any serious investor who doesn't consider political facts and realities? Who are the big economic players who don't maintain lobbyists in Washington?
mock turtle wrote:
> we need to create over 300k jobs a month to dig our way out of this hole over a 5 to 7 year period
The only way I can think to be this job prolific is to forbid all product imports to the US from China.
Vonbek777 wrote:
Be sure you have a good wind screen if you do.
some investor guy wrote:
What difference does it make if people took out a HELOC for a kitchen relative to putting it on a credit card? or car instead of getting a car loan?
I realize the difference between between secured and unsecured, but the issue was easy credit in many forms.
crazyv wrote:
Not so sure. I was talking yesterday with a co-worker who is a very pragmatic Republican (government is bad, bidness is vertuous (mostly), the environment is important, unions are bad, global warming is real but government solutions aren't the answer, there are limited social-class barriers - uses Google as an example and the janitor who is now a billionaire, he's not a overt racists).
He thinks the banksters just got "carried away". This is just a liquidity problem. The Fed saved the country. There's no point in letting the socialist Democrats ruin the financial system with over-regulation.
I differ. I think the velocity already stalled and is starting to sputter out of it.
NASDAQ is really underperforming today. Weakness in the momo stocks.
He thinks the banksters just got "carried away".
Maybe, but there isn't a lot of information in that statement.
Could always test gravity too, and see which one drops the fastest.
LAS wrote:
I've commented before that during the 70's nobody really saw the PC revolution and everything brought with it, like we probably don't now.
I do think it's worse this time around though, but think something yet to be invented or newly invented will be the driver of jobs, not something old coming back again.
I also half joked that requiring all goods sold in the US to meet minimum wage, safety, and environmental regulations would bring back most offshored jobs.
volker the viking wrote:
As the gov't (Fed) programs wind down, and the 'green shoots' meme gets less believable, folks, privately and for their biz, are hunkering lower - even if consumer confidence is improving. I believe 1Q10 will be the tell, overall. We plausibly are heading for any of three short term scenarios: modest (below trend) growth, flatlining, or more declines. I can't choose between them until more of the noise is abated.
merchants of fear wrote:
More hypocrisy from Republicans. Either you believe in home ownership or you don't. I think there is a better case to be made that the value of home ownership is overstated. But if you believe in home ownership than the issue of cram down is self evident. Firstly, we are talking about cram down in bankruptcy. The issue really boils down to " do we force the home owner into a rental and allow the foreclosed home to find its way to a homeowner through the normal process of foreclosure or do we get a judge to figure out what the normal foreclosure process would result in and give the foreclosed homeowner a chance to remain a homeowner at that price". To me as a public policy question if we are going to provides 100's of billion in mortgage subsidies directly and indirectly not to allow cram downs is just dumb.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
yes but was that person willing to vote for Democrat to start with.
dum luk wrote:
Somebody here was posting a velocity (multiplier?) each month. I thought it was reducing slightly each month. (the 2nd derivative was a buy signal tho).
From a philosophical point...I am beginning to think existence itself is hypocrisy of a kind. There she goes again, whispering in my ear, Entropy.
CaptainMorgan wrote:
anything new will have even higher productivity / labor ratio and eventually exacerbate the current employment problems.
Allowing mortgage cramdowns would bring sanity back to lending standards incredibly fast.
dum luk wrote:
> Don't you asshat political buff have lots of actual political sites to blather on ???
Trouble is economics has a lot to do with politics and power, and vice versa. Vice had a lot to do with the decision to invade Iraq.
CaptainMorgan wrote:
How do the Europeans manage to keep "small manufacturers" going? Or do they? Seems to be many there. Do they have "import restrictions"? I know they do on food.
LAS wrote:
not likely, but a privately organized 'buy American' plan could work wonders.
Example: I recently decided to get some US made shoes: it was very hard to do, but finally ended up with a pair of SAS (that I like a lot). When consumers start putting this on their mental checklist, change will come.
"It was only the bubble years of the Greenspan era that convinced us that we could be at 4% without generating inflation. "
yup - boomer triumphalism/narcissism/projection when joe b was peaking in earnings - the good old days, gone too soon
http://web-xp2a-pws.ntrs.com:80/content//media/attachment/data/econ_research/0912/document/dd120809.pdf
Economist Mark Zandi: On stimulus, jobs, state finances, inflation and the year ahead
crazyv wrote:
Oh no, never in a billion years (even adjusted for inflation).
"Trouble is economics has a lot to do with politics and power"
fiat $ is a political entity, not an economic one
energyecon posted the link to the st louis fed near the top of this thread. I honestly find the failure of the velocity of money to move back above one since it plunged last year, plus it's now decelerating even further, to be very troubling. The giant black hole of deflation is still defying the fed's printing press.
dum luk wrote:
sure, could be, all markets are local
broward wrote:
Our problem is that we haven't shared the productivity gains across the board. We have this silly notion that anybody can be a brain surgeon. So we get rid of all the jobs that those without below average IQ's could fill and then decide that we don't want welfare either i.e. share in the gains of higher productivity. To the basic fallacy with free trade is that it only looks at aggregate wealth but ignores important attributes such as the self worth and societal stability derived from people having jobs even if they are low value added jobs. A transfer payment from the government can not provide that. We need those value added jobs that we have lost through free trade.
broward wrote:
Don't be so negative Mr. Horne. Room temperature superconductors. Adiabatic combustion engines. A 2x price /performance improvement in photovoltaics. Anything in batteries. The contributions to QoL will be so great that employment will be that much less important.
At least CA has some equity extraction left at its disposal!
Bankrupt State Of California Starts Selling Office Buildings, CB Richard Ellis Markets Largest Office Portfolio In America | zero hedge
LAS wrote:
Personally, the best explanation I saw for the reason to invade Iraq, was Rumsfeld and Cheney wanted to avenge the shame of Vietnam and restore Merica's dickness.
Las, maybe Boehner knows something about China imports, why oh why would any person in Congress be screaming for New Free Trade Pac's with as many as 20 million now unemployed. Bush cried on up till the day he left office about this Free Trade deal with Colombia. GangBangers All, Barney, Boehner, Dodd and Baucus.....Bow Wow you piece of shits.
broward wrote:
Absolutely, but I'm talking long term, not a quick fix or change by any means. A PC is a commodity product these days, that wasn't true for quite some time.
There are college courses offered on topics that didn't exist not that long ago, and I'm sure that will continue.
poic wrote:
Do you think FHA will change its standards?
JimPortlandOR wrote:
As near as I can tell, the meme kicked off a lot of churn but there's not much meat behind it.
I'm getting 500% more hits on Dice.com from August but 90% of the calls/emails are meaningless.
Definitely have more interviews but most of those jobs just keep recirculating.
I get quite a chuckle from all the whippersnappers who are majoring in video game programming or some other video game related degree.
Could always test gravity too, and see which one drops the fastest.
In an economic vacuum, they fall at the same speed.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
because they haven't built their social safety net on employment. Imports pay the price as do domestic goods. In the United states because we pay for our social safety net through employment imports get a free ride and domestic goods pick up all the costs. Is it any surprise that everything is made in China. It just amazes me how many people are unable to grasp this basic truth.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
I honestly don't know, other than that they have made agreements to build parts for big manufacturing across many countries of the EU. I thought this was true of the Airbus, but could be thinking of the wrong product.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
Of course.
We're the only dumbasses, everyone else manages their trade.
A lot of out troubles can be traced back to the upward devolution of governance from cities to states to FedGov.
Centralization of loot benefits the smart amoral scumbags.
Combine these two wonderful themes with the idea from yesterday's thread where families have abdicated their powers to Uncle Sam and there isn't much left to explain.
CaptainMorgan wrote:
> I also half joked that requiring all goods sold in the US to meet minimum wage, safety, and environmental regulations would bring back most offshored jobs.
What makes you think it is so much safer being made here? It probably won't be that.
Man, you are on to me.
Rob Dawg wrote:
You should stay in Disneyland.....it suits you
We already have incredibly improved knowledge and QoL......but human nature is still hunter-gather (actually, it's deteriorated from that level of ability), and distribution is still a bit of a problem......room temp superconductors won't do F all to help that problem
broward wrote:
That's the way it is for everybody save the critical need types. We all in a stew pot of opportunity.
December 10, 2009, 11:24 am
The new Larouchies
Hmm. I’m fairly accustomed to having speaking events disrupted by Larouchies (when I was in Cambridge a while back we had a guy yelling about banana fungus, among other things, who had to be shouted down by the audience).
But last night at Baruch the problem was Austrian economics/Ron Paul people who just wouldn’t stop talking.
On the whole, I might prefer the banana fungus.
The new Larouchies - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com
I want to pet him and give him taffy.
Didn't work out so well.
crazyv wrote:
exactly.
nobody wants to talk about that, though, do they?
"Mortgage Equity Extraction Strongly Negative"
Dry hole comes to mind.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
Bingo! This pair were bed-sharing buds for 30 years, each stroking the other. Bush was the perfect vessel for them since he shared the frat boy overlordship need even if he didn't know what the fuck he was saying.
Vonbek777 wrote:
> From a philosophical point...I am beginning to think existence itself is hypocrisy of a kind.
But will you think that way in your own life or death situation???
poic wrote:
Allowing mortgage cramdowns would bring sanity back to lending standards incredibly fast.
Do you think FHA will change its standards?
No but we won't have a mortgage market other than FHA. FHA will simply crash faster and then we can get back to the job of fixing this mess. We all know FHA is gonna crash anyways. I'm all for anything that hastens the move back to sanity.
Were not going to get it until it's forced onto us by external forces.
No, I'm special
Rob Dawg wrote:
Except for electric vehicles, do we really need better batteries? Cordless tools are pretty good, and most laptops go long enough for most flights. I would think hybrids will be a bigger percentage of the market in a few years than EV's ever will be.
NOTaREALmerican wrote:
that is my point- these pro business democrats will lose both core democrats as well socially conservative but anti- business republicans. They are making the calculation that they can pick some marginal Republican voters through their pro-business stance without losing their base Democratic voters. My bet is that they are making a mistake.
JimPortlandOR wrote:
> not likely, but a privately organized 'buy American' plan could work wonders.
Wouldn't be enough. Would be like the church soup kitchen during the great depression.
Agree crazyv.
Cramdowns would be one response to unsustainable home prices blown up on suspect (to say the least) and shaky foundations.
Why the banks wouldn't prefer to try and keep people in their homes doesn't make sense...banks don't really need more foreclosures and REO's...they will have to write off losses on inflated mortgages one way or another...why destroy the rest of the consumer base by cramming bubble-priced mortgages down their throats...many of which were based on suspect (to say the least) and funky lending PRACTICES AND LOAN PRODUCTS...
Vonbek777 wrote:
of course you are
Rob Dawg wrote:
This COULD be true IF you can find something to keep the Average people occupied. Productive for the Average people just puts them out of work. The smarter people for SURE benefit, no argument there. But there's GOT to be some way for the middle 2/3rd's to grab some of the loot that comes FROM the increased productivity.
justaskin wrote:
Your proposal for a great leap forward is noted with appropriate historical reference.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Oh, right, you want me to frontload the skills again after not getting paid back for the first and second frontloadings.
Forget it.
I'm done with that scam.
broward wrote:
not nobody, but it ain't much for getting a party rolling that much is certain...
chart
Good big batteries will make solar and wind baseload sources.
LAS wrote:
thank goodness for trial lawyers-
America runs the printing press.
We could have purchased Iraq oil at any price but didn't.
I wonder why?
Did the invasion foreshadow the decline of the USD?
Or was it simply that Saddam wanted to sell oil in Euros?
Or some weird combination?
Will "peak oil" (if you believe) doom the USD and petro dollar/ treasuries recycling?
Would freeing ourselves from foreign oil do the same?
"but a privately organized 'buy American' plan could work wonders."
Oh hell, that's not good enough! I say we need a buy only stuff produced in your own household! Just think of all the employment THAT would bring. Merica's just too dang big, hell, so are counties. We need to get seriously local! Screw division of labor and marginal utility!
mock turtle wrote:
unlike Dodd and Frank from those highly Republican bastions of CN and MA-
I'll pay for a silver icon tile, since I've made money on silver this year. But I'm too dumb to know how to do it.
GWB invasion of Iraq--just a macho thing.
LAS wrote:
Irrelevant to my point, it would drive up the cost of off shored production, making it more likely to be done in the US.
I've seen some pretty bad things in the US, anyone who watches the news should be aware of some of them.
That's deflationary .... right ?
LAS wrote:
It is easier to regulate here. Enforcement should be easier.
CaptainMorgan wrote:
The single most important thing for a new level of growth. Seriously. The biggest problem of renewables is the uncertainty of production which makes it unsuitable for base load power or even surges. Cheap large batteries solves that problem which has the ability to propel is into a complete different energy economy.
CaptainMorgan wrote:
Imagine being able to ditch "the grid" worldwide. That's what better batteries can do.
Grow personal food anywhere between the 50th parallels? That's what better batteries can do.
Fossil fuel independence? That's what better batteries can do.
LAS wrote:
Usually, yes. But consumer trends can switch rapidly. Example: Big Ass SUVs and Pickups as status symbols. If US makers prominently displayed and promoted their contributions to US jobs, lots of folks would pay 20% more for their 'conscience'. A marketing opportunity. Even for bankers: "We loan and invest only in the US job producing companies".
poic wrote:
Been over this before. If the politics is pertinent to the economics, then yes, it can be discussed. Does the brouhaha over cap and trade affect the economic situation? Check; it's fair game. Does opensecrets.org indicate that one party benefited from donations by bankers? Check; it's fair game. Don't try to separate what cannot be separated-
low ambition wrote:
Dude. We won. We kicked their asses, dude. Totally dude, we're the big dog, dude. Totally dude.
(Personal perception is reality).
Rich, Thank you for admiting you could not figure it out either.
Vonbek777 wrote:
> I get quite a chuckle from all the whippersnappers who are majoring in video game programming or some other video game related degree.
Has some good to it - they're probably learning some programming, graphics, engineering and math while trying to make something they like. Kind of like leaning to read by first reading anything you like.
In all seriousness...I have had two minor confrontations with death. One was when I was very young...I was playing on a merry-go-round...older kids came in and started spinning it really fast, and I fell off and underneath the thing. Had I moved, the loose metal spike would have probably been embedded in my brain. Was under there for a good twenty minutes before teacher realized what was going on. Shortly after I met my wife, we were out walking in Barstow...got beset upon by a pack of dogs.. mix of mutts and pit bulls. Wife said I physically turned into a bear before her, pushed her out of the way and looked like I was about to rip the dogs apart. Whatever I did worked because they all turned tail and ran off howling. I don't have a clear memory of what I was thinking other than that the first dog that reached me was going to lose its throat. I wasn't going down without a fight. Hulk smash.
crazyv wrote:
Gotcha. I had the "they"s reversed in your first post.
It's a better background and degree for future employ-ability than sports broadcasting or journalism.
I didn't get a degree in journalism, even though I was a professional sports writer from the time I was 16 through my 20s. I majored in English and have always been glad I did.
The don't teach anything in journalism school you can't learn better on the job, and journalism jobs have been shrinking steadily for 20 years.
Nowadays, I think English and Spanish would be a good combination.
broward wrote:
nobody wants to talk about that, though, do they?
We poor people do. But we don't get invited.