Economy update (job, business, art)

[Classic Satch]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I've never lived in Cali, but I had my first legal drink in the Vesuvius Cafe in SF. We got drunk and called up Charles Burkowski and guess what...he was tipsy too.

Some of us used to go down to Palm Desert in the winter for awhile.

Living in Cali though... I could see how it would suck.

Yeah, California is the home of idiots like Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, and Diane Feinstein. The funniest part is that most people who don't live in the urban centers such as loony-bin San Fran, LA, San Diego, and others are extremely conservative. However, this state is run by those who want to let the illegals run rampant in the hope that they'll eventually gain the right to vote and keep the Dumbocrats in office.

I'm not joking.....

[User 2]

Worst job growth during a period of expansion? .....Check

The economy is crumbling into a recession created from a unique stew of governmental malfeasance, corporate greed and investor myopia.

George W. Bush’s all-purpose "solution" is the same as we’ve seen since those heady early days of 2001,

....give businesses and the wealthiest amongst us more ridiculous tax breaks,

and send everyone else a check equivalent to a fraction of one month's expenses.

That'll do it.......
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In other news, General Motors posted it's biggest loss ever,

GM posted a record net loss of almost $39 billion in 2007.

....and so now GM wants to buy out it's entire union workforce....

GM's latest (what they call their "special attrition program"), covers all its 74,000 hourly employees...

The company has already cut nearly 40,000 U.S. jobs in the past two years.

They say they can hire new workers at half the current pay rates.

As GM Goes, So Goes the Country.

Variations of that saying have been around a long, long time....

If there's still any truth to it, ........
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[User 2]

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gives his assessment of the economy while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008, before the House Budget Committee.



Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke appears before the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008, to discuss the state of the economy.


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[Alice2]

Depression risk may force US to buy assets
Depression risk might force U.S. to buy assets | U.S. | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fear that a hobbled banking sector may set off another Great Depression could force the U.S. government and Federal Reserve to take the unprecedented step of buying a broad range of assets, including stocks, according to one of the most bearish market analysts.

The ones who print our money, at no cost to themselves, are going to help buy us out of a looming depression. I'm just curious -- do people who understand this a little better than I do see this as a good thing?

[forgetwho]

Originally Posted by Classic Satch

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Makes you wonder how far behind personal bank accounts can be...

BTW, I don't post often, but I want to take this opportunity to thank you, USER 2, for your posts and links, especially on the economy, climate change, and the environment. You are right on target, and you document your sources. I make a point of reading your posts for information.

Don't make a habit of it. You'll regret it. User 2's references might as well come straight from the DNC's talking points. Plus, his "documentation" is cherry-picked. MSNBC has as much credibility as the former Pravda when it comes to propagating an ideology. Just ask Hillary Clinton. Amazingly enough, the far-Left was savaging the Left. It was truly mind-boggling to see.[/quote]
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Thanks for your concern, but I have my own criteria for assessing the credibility of sources, as well as what is contained in those sources. In fact, as part of my work, I teach methods of doing that. Don't shoot the messenger - especially before even listening to the message.

[User 2]

Originally Posted by Alice2

The ones who print our money, at no cost to themselves, are going to help buy us out of a looming depression.

Don't get too excited about this 'article'..... This 'scenerio' is fantasy.

True, the inept bankers who are tanking would love someone else like the government relieve them of the risk positions they've put themselves into, Bernard's pipe dream isn''t likely or legal.

While the present administration has, and will continue to manipulate the Fed in order to bail out the private financial institutions which are in the tank, or on the verge of failing through their own malfeasance and greed, Bernard Connolly is only one man selling financial products in England.

He is the only one in this 'article' who is saying anything about his opinion that the Fed may have to do what he suggests, (should be identified as an op-ed).

As the article notes, it's illegal for the Fed to buy assets or stocks.

I'd not get too exercised about this, ...there would be strong opposition should anyone in the US government actually propose this.

And that has not happened......

Read the article again, alice, ....you'll see you've jumped to some conclusions not supported by anything within the article itself.

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[Alice2]

Originally Posted by User 2

Read the article again, alice, ....you'll see you've jumped to some conclusions not supported by anything within the article itself....

As always.

I saw the statement about required changes in the law for this stuff to happen, but it's like, the Fed can't lose anyway. The upcoming depression is not going to be prevented, only possibly forestalled, but probably not for very long.

If you'd read all the stories about our country's infrastructure already being sold off anyway, what do we have to bounce back to, this time, when it (the economy) fails?

What I mean by "we" is, our country.

[User 2]

Originally Posted by Alice2

As always.

I saw the statement about required changes in the law for this stuff to happen, but it's like, the Fed can't lose anyway. The upcoming depression is not going to be prevented, only possibly forestalled, but probably not for very long.

If you'd read all the stories about our country's infrastructure already being sold off anyway, what do we have to bounce back to, this time, when it (the economy) fails?

What I mean by "we" is, our country.

Depression, ..of the sort most people won't admit they suffer from is quite different than a recession.

A recession, of the sort in the news today, is quite different than an econmomic depression like what transpired in our past.

Recessions aren't prevented or 'forestalled' by taking some kind of remedial action, by it's definition, a recession can't even be called a recession until long after we are in a recession.

Monetary policy and fiscal responsibility can be practiced so that growth occurs, ....but that's not been a priority of the present administration.

What we have to 'bounce back' to, is crippling national debt and a depleted Treasury that will have to be corrected.

Our children, and their children will still be paying for the malfeasance of the current mis-administration long after we've done anything to mend the current fiscally irresponsible policies.

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[User 2]

HOUSTON - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday night the American economy is “clearly on the edge” of a recession, and he pointed to the depressed housing market as a primary culprit.

His prediction came several hours after his Federal Reserve successor, Ben Bernanke, told Congress the economy is deteriorating.

Bernanke warned Congress the economic outlook has worsened.

The collapse of the housing market, sour mortgage investments and much harder-to-get credit are weighing heavily on the economy. Foreclosures have hit record highs, and banks have racked up multibillion-dollar losses.

Greenspan said he thinks the housing market will continue to erode until the cause of the deterioration ends.

When asked when might the housing crisis hit rock bottom, Greenspan responded:

The country still has “a long way to go,”

Bernanke said US employers in January cut jobs for the first time in more than four years.
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[User 2]

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday night the American economy is “clearly on the edge” of a recession, and he pointed to the depressed housing market as a primary culprit.

His prediction came several hours after his Federal Reserve successor, Ben Bernanke, told Congress the economy is deteriorating.

Bernanke warned Congress the economic outlook has worsened.

The collapse of the housing market, sour mortgage investments and much harder-to-get credit are weighing heavily on the economy. Foreclosures have hit record highs, and banks have racked up multibillion-dollar losses.

Greenspan said he thinks the housing market will continue to erode until the cause of the deterioration ends.

When asked when might the housing crisis hit rock bottom, Greenspan responded:

The country has a long way to go.

Bernanke said US employers in January cut jobs for the first time in more than four years.