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183 Comments
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -3/+55The rise in food prices is at least partly due to the influx of billions in investment capital that was running away fro Real estate and banks. Where will all this new money end up?
It will end up further inflating the price of oil and food. - JustDino, on 05/01/2008, -10/+50This pill is not going to be able to be swallowed--the whole object is to break the United States.
That is why the 9/11 happened so we could overextend our money supply and make run away inflation. The money they will send to all of us is borrowed money from the Federal Reserve that is interest bearing money we get stuck paying for the money and interest. If congress prints our money it has no interest--it is American money--They are the only constitutional
makers of our money--the Federal Reserve is a fraud and unconstitutional. - inactive, on 05/01/2008, -7/+41Worst administration ever! Period!
Record deficit
Endless, unprovoked war
Record cronyism
Record corruption
Ignorance of history & facts
OBL still free
Katrina disaster
torture of POWs
John Bolton
Harriet Miers
Chalabi
No-bid contracts for Haliburton
Lewis Libby
Record Budget Deficits
Record Trade Deficits
Record Bankruptcies
Record Foreclosures
Record Plant Closings
Record Outsourcing
Record Tax Cuts for Millionaires
Record increase in size of Federal Government
Record amount of Civilians Killed in Attack...
...right here at home.
Record Terrorist attacks on American interests in 2001
Record broken and attacks on American interests breaks record in 2002
2002 Record broken and attacks on American interests increase in 2003
2003 Record on track to be broken and attacks increase in 2004.
Bush handles Record increase in terrorism against American interests this way: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/ ...
THE LIST IS ENDLESS.
The GW Bush Jr. table top edition will soon be out, and it will be a heavy book.
P.S. Thanks Bush voting idiots, we won't forget you, I promise - AlwaysAwake, on 05/01/2008, -7/+35See "Money As Debt" Google Videos, and realize that they are now printing green, black, and white multi-colored toilet paper. This is going to be a very hard pill to swallow.
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -3/+30The government mandated energy-negative ethanol standards for gasoline agravates this even more by taking corn production out of the food supply. Tortillas now cost a hell of a lot more than they did 2 years ago. Of course there are other factors, but just wait for these rate cuts to agravate things even more.
If you think America's wasteline is huge now, just wait until more people are coaxed into buying cheaper and starchier foods. LOL Prepare for a gradual and steady long-term decline in the standard of living.
BOHICA! - cvelusc, on 05/01/2008, -7/+25I'm not 14 and neither are many other Digg'ers. I don't understand how insulting people is beneficial whatsoever. I do wish you the very best though.
- XanderDee, on 05/01/2008, -1/+18Dude the problem is not the recession, it is actually a good thing the problem is the fed is fighting to prevent a recession. This causes prices in things we need everyday to go up. But the real issue is the USA should not have a central bank that controls the money supply and is accountable to no one but it's private UNKNOWN owners.
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -3/+15-------------"It might be a downturn but it's not that bad."---------------
Buddy, I'm glad, really glad that you are not yet affected by the realities of the New economy. It's good to know that someone is doing alright, though a little discouraging how smug so many of them are. But the truth, the verifiable with your senses truth, the truth you just don't want to hear, is that there are lots and lots of people struggling, not because they're lazy, not because they're uneducated, but simply there are just not enough high paying jobs goig around for families to face the brave new world of million dollor homes and, overpriced educations, skyrocketing medical expenses and goods and services in a state of long term inflationary creep.
My story is the story of nearly everyone I know who's lost their job in recent years. I can only find a new job if I settle downward on my salary; it's getting genuinely hard to imagine how we're going to get our kid through school, and hard to imagine that whatever education she get's will be worth the job market of deflated expectations that will await her since she won't go to a top of the line school.
We live in a plutocracy. Merit and experience are useless. The public's dreams are popcorn fed with idolatry; athletes with ridiculous salaries lure kids into believing impossible live can be gotten easily,singers and musicians have no work and can only hope to get picked in a stupid tv roman circus lottery, writers had better be gorgeous and wealthy and ready to crank out crapola to get published and hard working, inventive scientists increasingly find the only work out there involves cranking out worthless trash for corporate propaganda,
You can sit there thinking all is well; doesn't affect you. I know the steamroller just hasn't found you yet. Give it time, The system has no place for any but the profoundly corrupt and the self serving wealthy. If you haven't noticed reality, you are might be one of these, but since I encounter you on these boards you are more likely one of the brainwashed zombies who still believe the superwealthy are going to pee some pennies your way. So I suppose you should keep a cup handy for the trickle down.
Me, I'm going to keep trying. But I will not be told by any smug Republican that I cannot point out the nastiness, and call like a plainly see it. If hearing the real story bugs you, there's always total sensory derivation. Nothing will touch you there. Wallow in your lack of feelings.
And then we won't have to listen to you whining about how everything is "not so bad" when all we're doing is speaking aloud that which your political gods would rather remain unsaid. - ColorBlind, on 05/01/2008, -0/+11*Walks to work while eating a plain eggo waffle*
- Meekus, on 05/01/2008, -4/+15As I said before: "The Fed is simply the vehicle by which the middle class and poor give their earnings to the rich. To think otherwise is to delude yourself.
Fed lowers interest rates = more money gets loaned to middle and lower class = paying all that interest for years = profit for lenders. If the lenders become intertwined too much with the government, then we may (do?) pay twice for the same money we borrow by way of paying taxes.
Given the apathy of the American people, I don't foresee this changing for the better. Perhaps I should just quit my day job and see about becoming a banker."
For those that are insisting there are no economic issues right now, I ask you to simply look at the value of our dollar and compare it to the value of other currencies. Look at the trend for the past 100 years, and if you still say there is nothing wrong with our economy then you are simply burying your head in the sand. - inactive, on 05/01/2008, -2/+12Question 9: In Chapter 9 you state that “The over-indebted American economy has entered a recession that is likely to be as extreme and prolonged as the economic boom that preceded it.” These are very strong words. Do you really feel that a strong recession is inevitable and if so why?
Answer: Economic cycles generally exhibit a considerable degree of symmetry. Big booms are generally followed by big busts. The excesses of the 1980s and 1990s were unlike anything witnessed since The Roaring Twenties. The savings rate of the public has fallen to the lowest levels every recorded. A rapidly inflating property bubble has enabled American consumers to extract huge amounts of equity from their homes so that they can continue living beyond their means. When interest rates bottom, home prices will stop rising, equity extraction will cease, consumption will fall and the second phase of the New Paradigm Recession will begin.
http://www.business-in-asia.com/books/dollar_crisi ...
We can thus conclude that the banking system is far from being in healthy shape as suggested by Greenspan, but on the contrary it is very vulnerable to a sudden weakening in economic activity.
Also, contrary to Greenspan's view, the banking system is not well positioned to expand credit since there is very little savings left. Any further bank credit expansion means an expansion of credit out of thin air. Obviously, this type of credit expansion will only further undermine the health of the economy and ultimately the bank's own health.
In fact, since a large chunk of credit was created out of "thin air" there is high likelihood that it will evaporate back into "thin air." It seems to us that against the background of rapidly deteriorating real fundamentals the Fed will be forced in the not too distant future to reverse its stance, thus setting in motion the inevitable liquidation of various artificial forms of life that currently comprise bank balance sheets.
http://mises.org/story/1480
you go back to sleep now, k? - theculchie1, on 05/01/2008, -1/+11This is the economic equivalent of a father making the son smoke a whole carton of cigarettes when he catches him smoking.
The banks and large investors have got you into this mess with poor lending practices and cheap credit. What does the fed do? reward them with more cheap credit. Inflation and a debased currency is the result which will lead to stagnated growth and inflation. Remember all those manufacturing jobs your bosses shipped to china to save money? That will bite doubly hard with these rate cuts.
You can't expect the fed to look after the economy when the banks are in trouble. The Feds priority is a stable banking system. It is a bank, run by bankers and that is where its priorities lie.
The other option what occurred regularly in the past was a hike in interest rates. The aim is to control inflation, stabilise the currency and pop any speculative bubbles. Unfortunately in this climate it would mean a recession. More large banks would fail, foreclosures would sky rocket.
The Fed are damned if they do damned if they don't. - ColorBlind, on 05/01/2008, -0/+10He wasn't voted in to office....lol
- Ganja420, on 05/01/2008, -2/+11Great news for oil barrens and cartels everywhere!
- V3n0M, on 05/01/2008, -0/+9With the government subsidizing farmers and putting import quotas on foods and ingredients, the idea that you "choose what you eat" is largely an illusion.
- XanderDee, on 05/01/2008, -1/+9He is the only one talking about it, the only one who would let people like me save and not have it get stolen by the banks via inflation.
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -0/+8"The Fed lost control of inflation in the 1970s by pushing interest rates too low and boosting inflation expectations," said David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors. "The Fed more than anything else wants to avoid a repeat of that episode."
the Fed wants to avoid a repeat of the 1930s a little more, don't you think Mr Jones? What the hell are you idiots getting paid for? - ColorBlind, on 05/01/2008, -1/+9not the disaster you smuck...the week afterwards where nothing happened.
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -0/+8Agriculture policies and subsidies have made processed junk artificially cheap while making healthy local food artificially expensive. It is another case of Big interests hijacking American policies. Archer Daniels and Swift have great representation in Washington. John and Karen Smith's organic farm doesn't.
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -0/+8Inflation is way higher than is being reported. The basket of prices has been changed again and again to pick items that reflect low inflation. They are running out of such items (except real estate).
The only hope to work our way out of this crisis and to rebuild strength in the dollar is to produce and export. But we produce very little in the United States anymore. Most of it is gone, and much of our production is so focused on our markets that they don't sell overseas.
We are heading into unknown territory. We have not seen the combination of recesion, inflation, giant trade deficit, giant Fedral spending deficit, enormous accumulated debt and devaluing currency.
So who is the dope?
Maybe its the idiot who believes Paulson and Bernanke - manstein01, on 05/01/2008, -4/+11The game is up for the federal reserve. Greenspan's never-ending inflation policies have hit the wall, hell they went on for much longer than many economists predicted.
We need higher interest rates to help with people who actually save money, and to keep commodity prices low. Instead, we get low interest rates to help a ridiculously over priced real estate market, and Bear Stearn's executives. - skidooer, on 05/01/2008, -1/+8Ethanol consumption hasn't gone up enough to triple the price of corn. I think it's reasonable to assume that the oil companies are buying up all the corn. I mean, why wouldn't they? Kill the ethanol industry now before it has a chance to mature into crops like switchgrass.
- wunderdog, on 05/01/2008, -0/+6What happens when there is no more rate to cut?
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -0/+6Funny thing. If this is the lowest point in nearly four years, what was the price of all these commodities four years ago?
Oil $30-40 / barrel
The dollar has trended down approximately 10% yet oil has exploded 80%. So investors are covering a 10% drop with the purchas of commodities that have risen on average 80%. Just the next bubble in action. - inactive, on 05/01/2008, -1/+7The cut is inflationary. 2.25 was low enough but the Fed is frightened because the US is on the edge of recession. It would have been better to pop the commodity bubble with a stronger dollar that would result if the Fed stood firm. That alone would prevent US recession. Interest rates are already low. That is not the problem.
- kirk06, on 05/01/2008, -2/+8Wow. There was more name calling in that comment than a 5th grader out on the playground. Recess is over.
- 10ofDiamonds, on 05/01/2008, -0/+6For those of us who aren't chicken littles; GDP was up(if only slightly) and the dollar strengthened against the Euro. If the Fed keeps its word and halts rate cuts, we should see some increased stability.
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -0/+5Yeah the percentage rate cuts the Fed has made this year are completely unbelievable and unnecessary. http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2008/04/30/22/5 ... tells the story. Seeing steep drops like that should scare the pants off any honest taxpaying citizen because the value of the dollar tumbles with it.
- insanebrain, on 05/01/2008, -7/+12- "....on the edge of recession"
Dream on, it's already a secession, America is on the edge of depression. - yodaj007, on 05/01/2008, -0/+5I don't give a ***** about your arguments when you're acting like a little child. Keep the discussion civil or don't participate at all. Those who can't keep things civil don't deserve to comment at all.
- lolinyerface, on 05/01/2008, -0/+5OBVIOUSLY it was a terrorist hurricane. But, it's okay...we water boarded it good.
- InferiorWang, on 05/01/2008, -0/+5Just try going a week without any corn products. It's used in almsost everything now.
- PeppermintPig, on 05/01/2008, -0/+5hexydes does have a point here (people must take responsibility for the situation and cast off the yoke of corrupt governance), but government and corporate fascists are trying its hardest to ***** things up and remove our freedom of choice.
- okzilla, on 05/01/2008, -1/+6The last rate cut was already priced into the dollar, and the dollar has risen (even after the news) for the last 5 weeks becuase it is commonly believed that the fed is done with rate cuts for now. This means some price stability for commodities in general. The prices now should fluctuate on externalities such as expected supply/demand, political stability, weather, ect... but for now at least interest rates and dollar shouldn't be a driving force in price.
- inactive, on 05/01/2008, -0/+5The feds priority is shifting debt to the American worker and consumer by manufacturing inflation and devaluing their fiat money.
Yes, that was a good King of the Hill episode where Hank made Bobby smoke that carton of cigarettes, if you recall all three Hill's got sick and required external intervention to help them.
Are you saying the Fed is making us all financially sick and addicted and we need external help? I'd agree. - BigPapi, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4I agree, they should've just put an end to all the rate cuts. It would've made the dollar stronger and pushed commodity prices lower, which is one of the main causes of the recession. By cutting the rate further, the oil bubble keeps getting bigger and bigger due to the fall of the dollar and investor speculation. Hopefully they'll stand firm.
- skidooer, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4While I'd love to see the subsidies removed as much as you, $5/bu. is roughly the cost of production for corn. How is putting corn in a free market going to reduce that amount? It's only been cheap this long *because* of the subsidies.
And corn is the ideal crop in the short term for various reasons which I've discussed at length before. - fokov, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4NO. It is because you would have to kill at least two other people or the country would get even worse (Chaney and Pelosi). I can't think of which one is next after that.
- insanebrain, on 05/01/2008, -4/+8You are so right, but WHY THE ***** did you spoil it by adding RonPaul-spam ?
- SilverBlade2k, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4Obviously, the Fed has yet to realize that cutting rates WILL NOT 'boost' the economy because the price of oil goes up every time rates go down. Any 'savings' a family might see is swallowed up by gas.
- MacEnvy, on 05/01/2008, -2/+6On the bright side, my debt is going down in value too :)
- joerod, on 05/01/2008, -1/+5i want the fed to start lending me money for free!!!! Goooo inflation!
- miscreantt, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4Personally I think it should be legal to run every single car that has a W sticker still on it off the road. Nothing puts me in road-rage more than seeing people who are still proud of voting for that jackass.
Someone told me the other day...the only reason he hasn't been assassinated is because all the gun-toting crazies who would do that sort of thing are republicans! - inactive, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4You are rude, and if you think that helps your argument, I am afraid that you are mistaken. It gives the impression of a bufoon with his mind made up who will make personal attacks instead of a reasoned debate. Similar to George Bush.....
If you would have taken the time to read my post you would read "The only hope to work our way out of this crisis and to rebuild strength in the dollar is to produce and export." That means that, yes this is the moment when we sould be able to take advantage of the low dollar to produce and export and thereby rebuild strength in the currency.
US manufacturing has not held a constant percentage. It is in serious decline "Manufacturing’s percentage of GDP has declined because GDP has grown faster than manufacturing value added. Manufacturing’s percentage of GDP dropped from 18.7 percent in 1987 to 14.1 percent in 2001. In contrast, the services industry, which includes health, busi-
ness, and legal services, grew over the same period, increasing from 16.7 percent to 22.1 percent. Other industries that increased from 1987 are the finance, insurance, and real-estate sectors, which combined rose from 17.5 percent to 20.6 percent. " from the report "High-Technology Manufacturing and U.S. Competitiveness" by the Rand Corporation http://rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2004/RAND_T ...
Yes, we have a very productive workforce, the trouble is that it has shrunk tremendously. The US manufaturing workforce is WAY down and I don't have time to get the statistics, but it is down by around 40% from 20 years ago.
The fact is we do not have manufacturing in this country that is capable of exporting our way out of trouble.
Now learn to be polite and you won't seem so stupid. - mOdQuArK, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4The only "value" of the government bond is its dollar value. The value of each dollar goes down when more dollars are printed. The Fed prints more dollars in return for government bonds. Where, exactly, in this circular game is "real value" being introduced?
- spikehay271, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4You're exactly correct. Oil is being used as an inflation hedge, as well.
In 2001,10 billion dollars were invested in oil commodities. Now the figure is above 300 billion. - insanebrain, on 05/01/2008, -1/+5- "and the dollar has risen for the last 5 weeks"
What have you been smoking lately .. the dollar only goes down. - Pssdoff, on 05/01/2008, -1/+5What do you mean by "deliberately screw it up"?
It makes perfect sense to me, the political elite essentially siphon money from the rest of us. The fed is just there to make sure they don't siphon off too much at once.
Its not a conspiracy because this is actually happening, commodities cost more and a dollar buys less. The median income in the US is also decreasing year after year, which makes inflation all the more hurtful. - inactive, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4The Bank of Japan nearly did this back in the 1990's when Japanese banks chose to keep bad real-estate loans on the books. Japan lost a whole decade economically. The US should learn for this in dealing with bad subprime loans. Let the fires of foreclosure burn the bad lenders (and holders of overpriced mortgage bonds) to a charred cinder!
- rizla420, on 05/01/2008, -0/+4What I mean is that 911 wasnt planned in order to achieve the destruction of the US via the siphoning off of money from the people. It's been occuring for quite some time now, but it is all finally starting to manifest itself to the point that we all see the effects of it. Its a bunch of people doing things, not just the 'illuminatie' types that "run" the show.
I think they're able to get away with this because the people have fallen asleep. The piper has done his job successfully and lulled us all by our comfortable lifestyles. Why rock the boat when you've got a roof over your head a car in your garage and things to entertain you. Things arent that bad right? So why fight? Why try and change the system. That idea is what the majority of people still hold true. Yea its ***** up, but i still have my creature comforts, why am i going to risk getting all up in arms about what these people are doing? If we rise up and destroy the institution as is, what will come in its place? That is the scary part for a lot of people, that uncertaininty. People are creatures of habit and maintaining the status quo, even knowing that your getting dicked is still better than the 'unknown'.
I think i went off tangent, but thats where i'm coming from. I'm all for some major change, but me and my band of RP types are in the minority.
Its all a matter of time. If the market tanks and real problems that face the "everyday" american start to crop up everywhere then people will start to react. Some say we're coming out of this recession, who knows, we'll have to wait and see. I personally think the worst is yet to come given all the failing aspect of society and government. -
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