My visit today to Occupy Pittsburgh (Oakmont, Millvale: health insurance, mortgage, credit card)

[Woof]

"Poor work ethic" = "It's so hard to find a good servant these days! Who is going to bring me my cocktail in the lounge chair by the pool?"

[BrianTH]

Interesting post at The Pittsburgh Comet about Occupy Pittsburgh:

The Pittsburgh Comet: Wednesday: Occupy 'Till you Drop

A good chunk of it explains why BNY-Mellon is a seemingly appropriate protest target (going all the way back to an Andrew Mellon reference).

[UKyank]

I think its clear that some countries can handle large spending & austerity some can't, it's really a country by country case. As pointed out Scandanavia seems to do it fine, while Greece failed miserably & then made things worse for the EU as a whole by basically lying (using some very creative accounting with the help of Goldman Sachs) to gain membership & selling loads of debt off to other EU members. The loose federation of the EMU is not a good setup for dealing with these problems.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by UKyank

I think its clear that some countries can handle large spending & austerity some can't, it's really a country by country case.

As I understand the literature in this area, you are exactly right--it really depends on the quality of governance in that country with respect to issues like corruption, accounting practices, and so forth.

It also helps if spending is counter-cyclical, including through robust "automatic stabilizers".

[Woof]

Originally Posted by UKyank

I think its clear that some countries can handle large spending & austerity some can't.....

Scandinavia is not austere.

[BrianTH]

Not to reopen old wounds, but this is a very nice summary explaining the true underlying factors in the Euro crisis:

FT Alphaville » It’s the balance of payments, stupid

As opposed to magnitude of government spending, balance of payments DOES correlate with crisis conditions:



Noting all this . . .

Canada’s central bank governor Mark Carney . . . believes the global “Minsky moment” has arrived, and a combination of debt restructuring, inflation and growth need to be deployed.

If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a Minsky moment:

Minsky moment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Minsky moment is the economic phenomenon that occurs when over-indebted investors are forced to sell good assets to pay back their loans, causing sharp declines in financial markets and jumps in demand for cash. In any credit cycle or business cycle it is the point when investors begin having cash flow problems due to the spiraling debt incurred in financing speculative investments. At this point no counterparty can be found to bid at the high asking prices previously quoted; consequently, a major sell-off begins leading to a sudden and precipitous collapse in market-clearing asset prices and a sharp drop in market liquidity.

Unfortunately, while the needed remedy is clear--debt restructuring, inflation, and growth--the prospects for the Eurozone are grim, because the ECB is resolutely opposed to supplying that remedy.

And note since this is one central banker facing off against other central bankers, you can't just go with whatever the central bankers are saying. But Carney's view has the virtue of being supported by the actual evidence.

[Q-tip motha]

Originally Posted by Woof

"Poor work ethic" = "It's so hard to find a good servant these days! Who is going to bring me my cocktail in the lounge chair by the pool?"

Although it seems like a jab at the affluent, more often than not you are correct. Its hard to have a positive work ethic when you're being underpaid and are struggling to make ends meet by someone who is clearly comfortable financially, does not have to cope with the same level of daily problems, and could afford to pay a higher wage.

[Benzman66]

Someone stole their flag;

Occupy Pittsburgh leaders say someone stole their American flag - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

[Sealtite]

Originally Posted by Woof

"Poor work ethic" = "It's so hard to find a good servant these days!

Nah, you'd be surprised. Take-home for guys who work for me is between 500-700/wk. The work is so easy that they barely break a sweat. Free lunches, snacks, unlimited supply of water/Gatoraide/whatever. I'm lazy, so I don't start my work day until 10am at the earliest. They want a day off here and there...sure, whatever.

Granted I guess it's a manual labor job and all, but my turnover rate is incredibly high. Guys quitting / no call-no show's is a constant problem for me. The general attitude seems to be that they wanna be co-owner of the company since they're doing "all the work". They fail to realize that after their day ends and they go out drinking, I'm tying up all the loose ends for the rest of the night. Idiots. Luckily I've had a few good employees who have stuck around over the years....but I've had tons of em' come and go just the same....it's a revolving door.

[WINDCHIMES]

There is a declining work ethic today, people today seem to want big money for little work for the most part, over the generations we gotten to a place of entitlement too, but there are also greedy companies out there too who do pay low wages and expect way too much at the same time.