Who sees a recession? I don't. - Page 7 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

barry123400 · #91 10-03-2012, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Air&Road

That was a well thought out and well written post Barry!

I have thought about such things alot in the last few years since the wheels started falling off the economy.

In the USA the average household income is off by several thousand dollars while the debt is up DRASTICALLY. Owing more and taking in less is NOT a good thing and this SHOULD be obvious to everyone, but it apparantly is NOT, since half the country are cocked & primed, ready to go vote to continue down the same path.

I saw a stat a few mornings ago, that 67% of US households or individuals, I don't remember which one, are living paycheck to paycheck. That seems to indicate that 67% of the people in the US have a negative or nuetral net worth. Since the $16T US debt represents something on the order of $50,000 of debt for every man, woman and child, this SHOULD be very alarming to everyone, but it appears that WAY too many people are living in La La land and don't have a clue what is going on right in front of their faces.

It's very sad (and scary) to think that something like half the population of the US is either too stupid, too math challenged, or too out of touch to even care.

We are forced by our very existance to live in the times as they are. The individual cannot influence anything really outside their own existance. Finding some comfort level if possible and staying balanced is perhaps the best option in any situation.

Debt is a tool of the economy. Used with certain constraints it works well. Used irresponsibly it is otherwise. It always extracts a price to some extent. At one time serious laws dictated it's application. Man was smart enough to realise the dangers of loose credit policies at one time.

To enable the tool to still work usage fees(interest) have been reduced to the lowest level possible today. This has to be further upsetting the applecart. The financial component of our society is just too large I suspect. Also this has fueled unrealistic expectations for too many.

There has been a lot of brainwashing applied over many years to reach this point in time. Credit commitments are still growing in Canada by both individuals and governments even though the finance minister has appealed for people to cool down a little in their percieved needs and wants many times.

t walgamuth · #92 10-03-2012, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Air&Road

That was a well thought out and well written post Barry!

I have thought about such things alot in the last few years since the wheels started falling off the economy.

In the USA the average household income is off by several thousand dollars while the debt is up DRASTICALLY. Owing more and taking in less is NOT a good thing and this SHOULD be obvious to everyone, but it apparantly is NOT, since half the country are cocked & primed, ready to go vote to continue down the same path.

I saw a stat a few mornings ago, that 67% of US households or individuals, I don't remember which one, are living paycheck to paycheck. That seems to indicate that 67% of the people in the US have a negative or nuetral net worth. Since the $16T US debt represents something on the order of $50,000 of debt for every man, woman and child, this SHOULD be very alarming to everyone, but it appears that WAY too many people are living in La La land and don't have a clue what is going on right in front of their faces.

It's very sad (and scary) to think that something like half the population of the US is either too stupid, too math challenged, or too out of touch to even care.

Good thing you are so superior to all those people who are too stupid, too math challenged and too out of touch to care...(about what?)

Edward Wyatt · #93 10-03-2012, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Good thing you are so superior to all those people who are too stupid, too math challenged and too out of touch to care...(about what?)

If the shoe fits......

At least Larry promotes being a good tax paying citizen, all Obama and his minions do is buy votes from the greenies and the unions and the moochers.

They all have one thing mostly in common, they have never known what it's like to meet payroll every pay period while facing the uncertain future made worse every day by the left wing nut jobs.

A great first step towards recovery would be to eliminate the unions, the teachers strike a few weeks ago was a prime example of moochers gone wild.

Edward Wyatt · #94 10-03-2012, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Your attitude is low class.

It's called:

CAPITALISM

Hatterasguy · #95 10-03-2012, 10:02 PM

What recession? I can't put concrete in the ground fast enough at the moment.

t walgamuth · #96 10-03-2012, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Wyatt

It's called:

CAPITALISM

I am a capitalist myself, what I find offensive is an attitude that takes glee in other people's suffering.

barry123400 · #97 10-03-2012, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Air&Road

That was a well thought out and well written post Barry!

I have thought about such things alot in the last few years since the wheels started falling off the economy.

In the USA the average household income is off by several thousand dollars while the debt is up DRASTICALLY. Owing more and taking in less is NOT a good thing and this SHOULD be obvious to everyone, but it apparantly is NOT, since half the country are cocked & primed, ready to go vote to continue down the same path.

I saw a stat a few mornings ago, that 67% of US households or individuals, I don't remember which one, are living paycheck to paycheck. That seems to indicate that 67% of the people in the US have a negative or nuetral net worth. Since the $16T US debt represents something on the order of $50,000 of debt for every man, woman and child, this SHOULD be very alarming to everyone, but it appears that WAY too many people are living in La La land and don't have a clue what is going on right in front of their faces.

It's very sad (and scary) to think that something like half the population of the US is either too stupid, too math challenged, or too out of touch to even care.

For a sizeable part of our population in north america it takes all they earn and all their energy or even a little more just to basically survive. If parents attempt to do a better job of geting our children or grandchildren to think in alternative and wide ranging fashions. This can eventually really help them avoid that particular trap. Parents should not consider the educational system an adaquate source of learning for their offspring in the new economy. Parents will have to increase their participation with more direct education of their children. Especially in areas not serviced well by general eduction.

barry123400 · #98 10-04-2012, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

What recession? I can't put concrete in the ground fast enough at the moment.

That is not suprising. Some of us are very busy while others are stressed out with seriously under preforming areas of north america or the economy.

That is one problem in this economy. It does seem to vary a lot more from individual to individual or from area to area than usual.

Detroit for example has been hit with a sledge hammer. There have to be many other areas as well seriously impacted. It is doubtful if you would be pouring a lot of concrete in many of them.

Dudesky · #99 10-04-2012, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alamostation

I realize that I'm looking at one small part of the elephant, but I just don't see all the gloom and doom that the news networks and politicians are talking about.

Just finished my tax return and 2007 was the third best financial year of my life (I'm 50 something). The two better years were 1985 and 1986 when I was a bankruptcy lawyer during the oil bust. Remember $11 a barrel?

So far this year (in one month!), my self-directed IRA is up 150% using common sense instead of emotion when looking at opportunities. This is in an IRA, so no shorts, no options, just buying long positions in the stocks that panic sellers are dumping. It seems like most investors are listening to the fear-mongers and dumping good stocks at pennies on the dollar only to see them rebound a day or two later. I have just been taking advantage of the pessimistic media.

The company where I work now as as a chemist (I burned out on law) is so buried in orders that I'm looking at 50 to 60 hour weeks until April, even though we just added 10 new workers to a workforce of 60 this week.

Within six miles of my house, there are at least a dozen major construction projects. A new mall, six new subdivisions, two car dealerships, a Lowes, three places where they are leveling at least 20 acres of ground with no signs, and two places that are under construction with indication of what they will be. Costco just finished their new store.

My brother in rural Michigan told me things are going well with his businesses. He would hate to be in Detroit itself, Flint or Pontiac, but suburban Detroit isn't that bad and the rest of the state is OK. In the highest unemployment state, unemployment is still under the national average for the worst part of the 1970's.

Even in places where everyone's house is getting foreclosed, like LA, Las Vegas, Stockton and Miami, people aren't losing their jobs, they are just suffering the consequences of bad purchasing and financing decisions.

Do you see a major loss of jobs in your area? Are we really in a depression?

Kill the unemployment 99+ and put food stamp eligabilty back
to where it was and I guarantee you will have a depression.

cullennewsom · #**100** 10-04-2012, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dudesky

Kill the unemployment 99+ and put food stamp eligabilty back
to where it was and I guarantee you will have a depression.

That post was two years ago. But, I live not too far from him, and I can tell you; this area is so poor that nobody who lives here can tell the difference.

spdrun · #**101** 10-04-2012, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I am a capitalist myself, what I find offensive is an attitude that takes glee in other people's suffering.

Not glee. Just complete indifference to the suffering of people who were so stupid as to buy into the "must...own...home...now" propaganda back in 2005-2007. Besides, if you bought your house with 0% down and have to give it back to the bank, are you really "suffering" or is it just like moving to a less expensive apartment from a more expensive one?

My family was foreclosed on in the early 1990s due to some bad decisions on my father's part. Everyone survived and ended up wealthier than before; it's just business.

Botnst · #**102** 10-04-2012, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I am a capitalist myself, what I find offensive is an attitude that takes glee in other people's suffering.

I get it. If I feel really bad about kicking grandma out of the tenement onto the winter streets to sell matches, then it's okay!

barry123400 · #**103** 10-04-2012, 01:02 PM

No compassion for others in lesser circumstances is shortsighted. Most people that do okay in a complex way extracted it from others..This is part and parcel of the so called capitalist system.

When it gets down to some people really suffering from it is another thing. We are not all created equal is the reality. You cannot in most cases blame the poor for being poor. I personally feel it is far more complex issue than that.

At the same time I am not proposing a total change of system. There is plenty of evidence that the current one in north america could stand some serious work though.

That people suffered today mattering a hundred years from now may or may not matter one way or another. So why allow the suffering now? How will history percieve the way we acted and functioned as a society in our times I wonder.

In fact serious well thought out efforts to erradicte some of the more serious issues could help drive the new economy. This every man for himself is not working out that awfully well in my opinion. If money has not been made an almost absolute god I do not know what has. How an item of exchange evolved into what it has become raises other serious questions as well. It todays world the expression it's all about money has too much sway. The attempts to expand the meaning further damages too many people.

retmil46 · #**104** 10-04-2012, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry123400

That is not suprising. Some of us are very busy while others are stressed out with seriously under preforming areas of north america or the economy.

That is one problem in this economy. It does seem to vary a lot more from individual to individual or from area to area than usual.

Detroit for example has been hit with a sledge hammer. There have to be many other areas as well seriously impacted. It is doubtful if you would be pouring a lot of concrete in many of them.

Indeed. Here in NC, the official unemployment rate is still hovering around 10%. And the past few months there's evidence that the economy overall has entered another slowdown period - the order log for Class 8 semis at work has dropped from nearly 40,000 at the beginning of the year, to less than 17,000 currently - and next week we're getting a forced vacation because there's no trucks on order to fill the production slots - with more days off for the remainder of the year already scheduled.

engatwork · #**105** 10-04-2012, 01:32 PM

I imagine we are over 10% around here too.