The Economy

[AlexLady]

Ack no not this thread. Run away!




...Actually I've heard a lot about the economy getting tons better. The trains are filling up and getting longer. And we all know the trains are affected far before the rest of the market, because they do all of our shipping; including "air mail." The train thing happened months ago, so it should start affecting everyone by now.

I don't watch the media, but is it still brainwashing everyone into thinking it's dead and that they're supposed to be panicky or something? A lot of people are still really down about it it seems.

What's up, America?

 

[MonroeLee]

I've actually heard that too.
Before the end of 2011 ish it's supposed to start booming back up
Being from Canada, it didn't feel as if we were hit as hard as the USA, to be honest, I haven't notice any huge
economy crashes here other than the pricing of products going up slightly such as gas.

I'm hoping things will get better for you guys down there, and I'm sure they will Perhaps not before I invest in a second home down there first thought (I kidd) ... Kinda

 

[Mirra]

All I know is my department did our part to try and help. In the midst of us trying to recover, we hired three new people. Sadly, one was fired but that still means we're up 2 people! That's 2 out of what? 18 million people who were looking for jobs at the time? Also, where I live was growing insanely as far as Real Estate and all that goes and that completely died with the crash of the housing market. I've seen a bit of construction here and there starting to happen again. Here's hoping this can continue!

 

[galactic6]

There's always a huge lag between actual performance of the economy and a general realization of it, particularly on the upswing. Business are hiring and spending now across the country and durable goods orders (manufacturing equipment and major houshold appliances included) are up across the board.

As noted, this recession affected some area of the US (and world) much more than others. Florida, parts of CA, the Las Vegas area are so deep in it that it may be years before they really rebound, long after the rest of the country is doing fine. Their real estate markets have been wiped out.

One trick about train traffic is a large component is bulk coal moving to power plants. This is the time of year they really start stocking up.

 

[Jebbaz]

I hope the economy is picking up.... I really need a job....or two.

 

[MilaMilan]

Having lived in Thailand for almost 3 years I only have seen an increase in wealth here... Thailand at least has been relatively unaffected by any crisis... It never has been so busy at Louis Vuitton and Gucci.... But then again when I visit my homes in Vienna or Amsterdam and meet friends ..they all feel it ...I am just lucky living in paradise I guess....lol....Make my money in Europe and the US and being able to spend it in Thailand with it's $ 5 massages and $2 diners.....

 

[spankamber]

Wow your are a very smart girl mila im in awe and impressed with your knowledge and talent and beauty.

 

[luvsyou]

USA - Consulting firms and Contract Labor firms are all saying business is up......most are seeing double digit increases in business.

From what I am seeing is businesses are starting to rebound, and hiring short term help via consulting/contract labor. They are not confident enough to hire on their own yet.

I think we have dodged the double dip recession some were predicting. It's just going to be a slow recovery because many individuals still have high debt that will take years to pay off.

 

[Keithy]

USA - Consulting firms and Contract Labor firms are all saying business is up......most are seeing double digit increases in business.

From what I am seeing is businesses are starting to rebound, and hiring short term help via consulting/contract labor. They are not confident enough to hire on their own yet.

I think we have dodged the double dip recession some were predicting. It's just going to be a slow recovery because many individuals still have high debt that will take years to pay off.

Yeah, I used to live pretty debt free. However in the last year without having a job and still having medical expenses and everything, my personal debt has shot up like crazy. And since I still have to pay off my debt while I continue to have to do what I've been doing, that means in order to pay off my debt I'll have to take two jobs or make a lot more at one job. Assuming I can get a job. Back when I at least had unemployment, I could at least expect some help. Now if I can't get it fixed I might be looking at bankruptcy.

 

[LuxDahl]

My DH says that people being out and spending money is just a barometer for consumerism...which in my eyes is just more people spending money they don't have. People use EBT to purchase french tips and hair extensions. :|

DH says what we should actually be looking at as far as whether or not the economy is improving are industries like construction, and he says they're still down. It's all about job growth and since companies are still going bankrupt and laying people off...I don't see any improvement (especially in my neck of the woods where just a year ago they were lauding themselves as "recession proof". Things are shutting down left and right). Most people have just gotten better at pretending to be have-nots.

Then again, I'm not an economist, nor do I really follow the news all that closely because they stay trying to tell people that we're all going to die because of this and that, lol. So if I'm off about anything, whoops.

 

[Bocefish]

So far....history is repeating itself, and NOT in a good way. I have ZERO faith in the current U.S. administration.

http://renohayek.com/2010/10/chilling-c ... ry-repeat/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... ay+Clocks'

 

[Comrade_1917]

Glad to see such informed and reasonable economic discourse. I agree the economy is going to improve. Industry has squeezed all the profit out of productivity increases, to continue to grow they will need to hire. However depending on the political situation things could change. If the GOP takes over the house and pulls out the safety net by stopping unemployment benefits or food stamps demand will crash and so will the economy. Same deal if the GOP tries to de-fund the A.R.R.A. (stimulus) which will again sink demand. Demand is the one thing the economy lacks right now. Thats why it makes no sense to cut these programs and instead spend the money on a tax cut for millionaires. A little known fact about that tax cut. Under the Obama plan people making 250k a year would still get a tax cut on the first 250k. Only the income above that would be taxed at the new rate. The Bush tax plan is simply unreasonable and it is a glaring example of the influence of the plutocracy that it is even discussed.

 

[Sevrin]

And all those unemployed need something to masturbate to, amirite?

 

[Comrade_1917]

And all those unemployed need something to masturbate to, amirite?

WIN

 

[Mirra]

Wish they hadn't gone from counting up 1 year at a time to counting up 10 years at a time. Really scews the graph quite a lot.

Made a stupidly quick edit to the graph just to illustrate slightly what I mean. With the scale I used from 2010-2040 it is still increasing approximately 2.25 times faster at each tick than it was when the graph was counting 1 year at a time.

 

[AmberCutie]

Either graph, it looks like I need to market myself to some more semi-employed people ASAP.

 

[TashaDutch]

here in holland i think panic is the main reason for the economy colaps...
and here we like to act the debts we make have to be gone asap...
with a new goverment coming up... the things their saving on are pretty much idiotic...
ofcourse the biggest save is in the health care department...
and yet we spend thousands on "culture" "music" and more things that seem less important

i think the economy is a very hard thing to put your finger on..
my dad is some fancy kinda account... so i always got some knowlegde from his side...
but even highly trained economics cant predict what exactly will happen..

 

[Bocefish]

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

At the time of this posting...

 

[mrballou]

I think it is gonna be a long hall before the economy gets any better. We need the right people in office first.

 

[SweepTheLeg]

I don't want to cause an argument but who would be the "right people" to put in office?

Do the Republicans want to do anything else other than to return to the days of Reagan, where we just give rich people money in hopes it'll some how trickle down to the middle class and the poor?

Its a rough time right now, I'd like to think that we've seen the worst and it is starting to get better- I'll believe it so when I get a new job. Been a month so far competing with other people in job interviews for me but there are people much worse off than I am.

 

[Bocefish]

How is that hopey-changey thing working so far?

 

[SweepTheLeg]

He bailed out the automobile industry and they have paid off their loan ahead of time because of how much profit they have made each quarter since. But I guess he still fucked up there and instead should have let them go bankrupt.

So who would be the better person to have in charge? What should we be doing differently? What should we have done once we had 2 unpaid wars going on, the real estate industry bubble burst, and the tax cuts for the rich not helping what so ever? What should we be doing now instead? every time those questions get asked the only response I see is a snide remark about Obama.

Or is the answer to break unions and end medicare?

 

[Lydia_Deetz]

How is that hopey-changey thing working so far?

I'm still hoping for the change, haven't seen it yet though :whistle:

 

[pyrite1965]

Or is the answer to break unions and end medicare?

I'm all for the first one!!

We had a Ford truck plant in my area, and people would get paid crazy money to do stupid things, all because the Union said they should get paid that much (ie. the person who wiped the trucks down at the end of the line was paid $10.00/hr starting, and that was 10 years ago.) The foreign auto manufactures don't have to have auto unions and they get by just fine. Unions had a purpose way back in the day, but now generally suck and are useless.

edit: Oh and I love Hope and Change, as well as his new slogan: