Recession? Yes or no?

[rjgoos]

There is a lot of talk about the economy going into recession these days.

What do you say for your locale? Economy OK? Slowing down? In the tank?

As for me, the economy is OK where I am. Two of our basic industries (petroleum, crops) are booming, and we didn't have a real estate boom (so we didn't have a real estate crash).

But, I realize that things might be a lot different elsewhere.

How's it going?

[jamsire]

Originally posted by rjgoos
There is a lot of talk about the economy going into recession these days.

What do you say for your locale? Economy OK? Slowing down? In the tank?

As for me, the economy is OK where I am. Two of our basic industries (petroleum, crops) are booming, and we didn't have a real estate boom (so we didn't have a real estate crash).

But, I realize that things might be a lot different elsewhere.

How's it going?

Everything stinks in NYC. All tolls are going up to an insane amount. The people who makes decisions don't pay tolls.

So there!

hmph!!:mad:

[PhoBucket]

Hard to say in Philly. Housing did rise and fall as much as some markets, but homes are staying on the market longer.

Other than that and gas, a local deli had to raise the price of his sandwiches and bread because the cost of rye flour has increased dramatically.

The radio says we're probably in or heading for a recession, but I don't see it too much yet. Hopefully it will stay that way.

[lactose]

I'm thinking yes. I don't want to be negative but I don't have a good feeling about where things are going. It is pretty obvious to me we are losing the middle class, and the corporate control of our government is warping legislation, healthcare, exporting of jobs, and other issues so that the monied interests benefit at the cost of the average citizen. Reading "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" didn't boost my confidence either.

After watching Sicko, I am now wondering if I should plan to eventually move, as having some healthcare will likely be more important as I get older.



Diebold accidentally leaks 2008 election results (http://www.theonion.com/content/video/diebold_accidentally_leaks)

[Tom Drinkwater]

Heck, here in Maine we've always been in a recession. And as for healthcare costs, I pay out well over $1K per month, that's right, $1K a month on insurance and perscription for myself, wife and two kids. Makes you wonder what the insurance companies do with all that money. It doesn't find it's way back into the American economy I bet.

[Nightmare Music]

i work for the state government in Kentucky, and there has been a hiring freeze in effect since November. it really stinks too because i'm moving and can't get a transfer because of it.

i guess that counts as recession.

[K Rex]

VA Beach has so far been sheltered by the recession by virtue of our military presence here. Housing prices have not decreased as they have in most other surrounding areas, in spite of the fact that they aren't selling... some are still on the market a year after they are put up for sale.

Lots of rentals now, and gas prices going WAY up. But the job market is steady.

Hey Nightmare, VA Beach is a dream city for government work. You might want to look into it... when you get here, you can test drive my Warr and hang out with BUZZARD.

Kev

[rjgoos]

Our political leaders seem to think (or want us to believe) that America is on the verge of some sort of economic collapse. I was just wondering if it seems that way to you, where you live.

I guess that at the end of the world (North Dakota), the economy seems to be a little slow...houses staying on the market a bit longer....but other than that, things seem to be pretty normal. My friends who work in retail say that things seem to be normal.

I was just wondering how the economy is going where you live?

[jamsire]

Originally posted by rjgoos
I was just wondering how the economy is going where you live?

I have decided that money under the mattress will never fail.

Sans a fire.

[Tom Drinkwater]

Crappy economy and loving it in Maine. We like to keep our economy in the crapper so it doesnt' hurt so bad when we bottom out. We don't need no stinking $700 billion bail out. We need some real jobs in this country. And I don't mean Walmart, big corporation, funnel the green backs to China type jobs. I have no problem with any other country or their people in the world. I have a problem with my country selling out it's own people. Don't even get me started!!!!!

[PhoBucket]

I could certainly think of better uses for $700B.

My new favorite site (http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com)

[rjgoos]

Originally posted by PhoBucket
I could certainly think of better uses for $700B.



Actually, that is about what it is going to eventually take to keep the FDIC in business. All investments outside of that should be allowed to go under, IMO.


And I'm with Ernie...some legal tender under the mattress probably isn't a bad idea either.

[PhoBucket]

Hmmm...Keep the FDIC running or a Megatar for every household in America

We are faced with tough choices these days :rolleyes:

[arsacane]

A little bit of british humor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzJmTCYmo9g

[rjgoos]

We were pretty smug in North Dakota...oil and crop prices were at record levels. The hard times in other parts of the country were just an abstraction to us ...but a lot has changed in the past couple months. Oil prices have plunged and crop prices have plunged as well. Good news for consumers, for sure, but bad for us.

I think the "moment of truth" will come this winter....if the credit markets have frozen to the point that farmers can't get operating loans to buy seed and fuel and fertilizer to put in their crops next spring. If that happens, our economy is fubar.

[lactose]

I have heard charges that both the spike in oil prices and this derivatives fiasco were caused by speculation. I guess it shouldn't surprise me as both Republicans and Democrats (Banking Modernization Act) have been pushing this idea that companies should be left alone and they will do the right thing.

This seems unwise. I say where there are opportunities there are opportunists. The very premise of the US govt is that power is corrupting, so you pit the three branches of govt against each other for a balance. Unfortunately business, which now runs our govt, was left out of the equation. Democracy->Corporatism->Fascism

I am surprised how much of the public have been conned into voting against their own interest. With the economic and job situation so bad you would think ppl would wake up. Even health care is so bad that 50% of bankruptcies are due to medical emergencies. Our govt (US) is failing big time.

[Tom Drinkwater]

I can't agree more. If you don't work for a giant corporation you can't get decent health care. If you do work for a giant corporation you get health care and wages that place you below the poverty line so you have to work part time at another giant corporation and never see your family. Of course most families are destroyed because of this so we can forget about all of that. The worst thing that we ever did was allow our manufacturing base to shut down or leave the country. Real jobs could be had here but we would have to face the fact that to pay people in the US to make stuff we would have to stop buying lots of junk and only buy US made products even if it meant that we couldn't have everything that we want all of the time and were prepared to pay more for the stuff that we do buy. That probably means no more Walmart and rampant consumerism. Of course it is too much to ask that consumers be responsible. We are drawn to cheap plastic shiny junk like moths to flame. Because of this trend in buy, throw away, buy more, throw it away, I heard that we had become a 'disposable nation.' Lately that term takes on a new meaning. If we don't serve the establishment than WE are the disposable items.

[rjgoos]

So, a couple months into this "financial crisis", are there any signs of recession where you live? Business/sales down where you work?

[jamsire]

Originally posted by rjgoos
So, a couple months into this "financial crisis", are there any signs of recession where you live? Business/sales down where you work?

Nuff said.

There has never been a better time for a Tapladder!

[PhoBucket]

Jay Leonhart's musical take on the executive bonuses. Too funny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAENYITszAM

[lactose]

Haha ! Too true.

It does amaze me how passive everyone has been about all this. I wonder what it would take for the average hard working people to finally have enough and forcibly fix this problem. From the oil prices, to the loans, to the credit default swaps (which WERE insurance and should have been bound by insurance rules), it all seems to be tracing back to speculators.

Ken Wilber / Spiral Dynamics speak a lot about stages of personal growth and ethics. If there were some way to test if a person was able to make good business decisions and simultaneously consider ethics, we might be a lot better off. As it is, that kind of person seems rare right now.

[arsacane]

Jay Leonhart's musical take on the executive bonuses. Too funny


Watching Jay's videos I found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXt6htVi3C4

and this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQsd2tAIgUE

I have no words :eek:. Enjoy it!

Cheers, Daniel.

PS: A little bit off topic, sorry ;-)

[Tom Drinkwater]

That was cool. Very nice bowing. Check out Edgar Meyer and Stanley Clarke if you like upright bass.

[atimholt]

I'm getting USD$1200 back in my tax return, so I'm feeling thoroughly un-recessiony:D
I'm doing traktor's layaway plan, and my goal is to have $1000 dollars more than I need at the 6 month mark (I've made 2 payments so far). Looking relatively good, even with my recent car impounding.

[K Rex]

I'm no fan of Barak Obama, nor Bush 1, nor Bush 2, nor that W.C. Fields lookalike guy Bill Clinton, nor any income-stealing pirate in general. I think that, recession or not, whether you're left or right, black or white, we're in for a world of horse poo.

I'm also not a fan of amnesty for law-breaking immigrants, nor of global currency, nor of increasing federal authority over the states, nor of privately-owned institutions which have stolen the authority to print currency from the treasury.

I also don't relish the thought that our representatives routinely cast votes on huge pieces of legislation that they never read, and that these laws are increasingly detrimental to my constitutional rights.

I'm not sure enough about global warming to warrant giving up my lawnmower, and I sure don't want to be fined or jailed for using incandescent bulbs in my home (the fluorescents hurt my eyes). I'd prefer not to have my mileage taxed in addition to what I paid for the roads on which I'm driving and the various licensing, stickering and property taxes.

I especially cringe when I think that my own property might be taxed and/or impounded upon my death in addition to substantial fees imposed upon my children when I submit to the worms in the ground.

I get downright angry when I think that the first 750 billion that Bush had us pay was followed so closely by Obama's 1.3 trillion, none of which I have seen a proper accounting for despite promises of transparency by both Obama and Bush. I think they just want to pay off their own lenders and satisfy their own debt. I think they have their hands in a great, big candy jar that we are legally required to provide for them.

No more manufacturing, those jobs are in Asia now. The government wants to be able to seize any corporation it wants when it doesn't perform to the standards they set. That's called fascism. Look it up in any dictionary. They want to nationalize the banking system, as if the government has done a wonderful job at everything else they have done and we'll be grateful when they fix those rascally, hooligan bankers to whom they just handed all our money.

Oh, incidentally, I've just been classified as an "extremist" by Janet Napolitano, the head of Homeland Security (you know, the largest bureaucracy in the history of mankind) for believing and speaking about these things. Bummer. I always thought I was pretty meek. That's what I get for thinking.

When I think of these things, not having any money in my pocket seems kind of inconsequential, as if anything I do with what's left of my money might one day get me into a great deal of trouble with the guvment. It makes me want to move to the frozen tundra, perhaps next door to RJ, where there aren't really any rock bands, and it's just too damned cold 9 months out of the year to go outside for anything at all.

In any case, the recession is not the problem. Our government is the problem, along with the people who keep giving them power every time an election comes around.

K

[Tom Drinkwater]

I have been waiting for that post!!! You're like Dennis Leary with a Warr Guitar.

PS. You didn't mention the 'Tea Parties'.

[K Rex]

I didn't mention tea parties because, like everything else that could be used against the government, they have been hijacked and turned into an infomercial for the Republican Party. What started as Ron Paul's libertarian idea to protest the IRS and Federal Reserve has become a caricature of itself, complete with Hannity's sniveling face and a stage for country music stars to sing pro-family anthems. Pathetic. To illustrate how effective the tea parties were, mine in Va Beach began at 11:15 and ended at 1:00. Some tea party... I guess folks were in a hurry to get home to watch Fox News.

There simply isn't we can do about any of this. I really think it's too late and that the system needs to collapse under the crass weight of its own dysfunction. If we rebel, we'll be crushed by highly-trained riot police.

Not looking forward to that.

k

[rjgoos]

There is a map on this web page that makes a little animation of job gains and losses by county in the USA over the past couple years:

http://www.slate.com/id/2216238/

It's a sobering little movie to watch.