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- CEOs that do not act in their investors (as a whole) best interests an/or society's (as a whole) best interest.
- Those with potential to stop leaching off the economy and handouts, which are too lazy to do so.
- Individuals who spend their entire life taking up jobs instead of creating jobs.
That last one upsets me the most. I feel it is the most critical of them all in terms of getting this economy to grow.
The notion of a perpetual "growth economy" is at best a pipe dream that has been shown to be an unsustainable theory, in the practical world what is sustainable is a very do-able give and take of wealth distribution. The US economy has grown to become a pyramid like construct that sucks the wealth to the top while the mass populace at the bottom gets the short stick.
I couldn't agree more that those who leach off of the masses are indeed a lazy lot, corporate welfare has reached unsustainable heights today, the other type that is so bothersome to you is of little consequence when the total distribution of such money is compared to that of the tight circle of corporate whores who ship their money and jobs to foreign shores to evade their fair share of the tax burden.
"Job creation" is a very complex part of all economic theories, as such it really deserves more than a cursory remark that shows a very fundamental lacking in understanding economic basics. As for those CEO's who aren't following some kind of golden rule I can only say that here again a fundamental misunderstanding of the economics of the capital system is very obvious. Business is what it is, an unforgiving construct that levels all human interaction to a principle of numerical equations without heart or soul, it's SUPPOSED to be that way, and we are SUPPOSED to mitigate it's worst tendencies by the establishment of laws that reign in those principles without destroying the profits of corporations. A tricky balance but a necessary one.
The biggest mistake we all make in evaluating our economic system is that we tend to allow business interests to overshadow the human consideration, ultimately it's up to the mass populace to determine what system works best for the majority of the populace, instead we have a tiny minority of elites that make that call. America has been this way for a long long time, maybe we'll see the future as a time of redetermining our priorities, people first, and corporations being a thing that responds to this maxim.
Goody good for you that you bought a fixer upper and restored it yourself. Not everybody has the skills to do that nor the time. Also depending were you live in the country, fixers are in bad neighborhoods. Anyway, they aren't always worth buying because they can become a money pit.
The fact is that things keep going up and paychecks don't. That's why it's becoming harder for people to stay ahead. Just because things are ok for you now, it doesnt mean that it will stay this way forever. Pride comes before the fall.
I keep saying this and no one seems to believe me. I am NOT bragging. I do not think my "accomplishments" are particularly special, nor do I feel like I necessarily had to work very hard to get where I'm at. Really, all this: "good for you, you talented, cheeky bastard" stuff is just silly.
It's like congratulating a bird for flying and/or being disgusted that it is actually flying.
Acquiring the skills to find good deals, do your own maintenance, find (and keep) employment and the ability to budget should be a standard skill set for every young adult who leaves home, and up until about 10-20 years ago it pretty much was that way.
What happened? Why didn't we teach our kids how to live?!!!!
The US economy has grown to become a pyramid like construct that sucks the wealth to the top while the mass populace at the bottom gets the short stick.
David Icke goes into great detail about the pyramid like construct in his most excellent, recent book titled:
Chango, you see things in black and white. You cannot clump everyones life in what they should do because this is how things worked out for you. It is not a bad thing for others to learn extra skills but not everyone will be able to do every skill that you think they should be able to do. That's why not everybody is a DR, lawyer, carpenter, etc. Everybody has different talents. You are stilll young and you have no idea what your future is and what will happen to you. It's arrogant to assume that you have all the answers.
Chango, you see things in black and white. You cannot clump everyones life in what they should do because this is how things worked out for you. It is not a bad thing for others to learn extra skills but not everyone will be able to do every skill that you think they should be able to do. That's why not everybody is a DR, lawyer, carpenter, etc. Everybody has different talents. You are stilll young and you have no idea what your future is and what will happen to you. It's arrogant to assume that you have all the answers.
There goes the arrogance accusations again!
I don't know what the future holds, and I don't pretend to have a "one size fits all" answer...
...But there is a big difference between open heart surgery and fixing a leaky roof or changing the oil.
It wasn't too long ago (on the scale of human history) that pretty much everyone built their own houses, grew their own food and were gererally independent. Today anyone who is independent is an oddity who is ridiculed as a "survivalist" or other whack-a-nut.
Our world is NOT so complicated that people cannot live more independently. Dependence is fostered by those who make money by doing any number services and keep their business by convincing people they can't do it themselves... it is not a requirement or result of our more technologically intense world.
Dependence leads right to the whining and complaining I brought up in this thread, and it's past time for everyone to put on their "big-boy pants" and become more independent. It's never been easy to start a life near as I can tell, and I think the root of my "success" is because I approach life from an independant, "do it yourself" perspective . That is what I'm trying to say here.
It's one thing if you're talking for the average American, it's another if you're representing the average American douchebag who is fortunate enough to ride the good and bad times and STILL get to make investment decisions...
...wait until it's all on your shoulders, Mr. Tool!
If you are in your 20-30-40's then you have time to ride the down market which benefits in higher capital when the market goes up.
You're right....Greece has the U.S. by the proverbial ballsack -- oh how I forgot! Why didn't we go to war with GREECE instead of Afganistan the past decade
Let's face it...America is in the pits (right now) for a reason: America. It's not always somebody elses' fault, despite what they teach you in Texas.
USA is in the best economical situation then any country on the planet by far.
And if you use the average investment banker's life expectancy, it's more like retire at 35, die at 49. Nobody goes into investing at 18 professionally unless they are destined to be part of the industry or they are trust fund babies. It's more like (49-23 = 26) years of investing (for a 12% return that you grinded you a$$ off for), or (67-23 = 44) years of investing for the average Joe, who pays commissions to his/her "professional" and get a mediocre 10% or less for his/her efforts over that time period (not adjusted for inflation), because they don't have your attention because they aren't "whales", so to speak.
Make your own living or become an expert -- or this is your fate.
....my $0.02, or $0.03 if annualized at 12% for 3.5 years.
I started the Year I turned from 14 to 15. Nether apply to me.
And there's been LOTS of talk about that return being dependent on 'Market timing' vs your life.
The thing that's going to be interesting to us 'youngns' is the fact that the US stock market is based on perpetual growth. More and more money chasing the same number of stocks.
"Heck" there are more mutual funds than individual stocks!
I wonder what is going to happen when the larger population (Baby Boomers...NOTE, I'm NOT blaming them!) start 'cashing out' or "Heck" just don't keep pouring money in!
Which is why I am expecting decent returns from US large caps for at least the next 18 months and staying out of foreign markets for the time being. I believe we will end 2011 up 12% on the Dow and S&P. And another 10-12% for 2012. No money in bonds (high inflation) or fixed income (low interest) and very good P/E's on large caps.
The current downturn is what dollar cost averaging is all about!
A lot of my portfolio is in the international emerging markets.
IFF you have money? Who had money in 2009? If you did AND you invested, you are rich, period.
That's not true at all.
The vast majority of people were still working during the recession, it isn't like suddenly everyone lost their jobs or got their salary slashed. I'm certainly not rich but I invested the about the same amount every month thru 2009 as I did in 2008, 2010, and 2011.
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