Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The middle class needs a bail. Lower taxes and more supports right now. i.e. more deficits and more National Debt!
This has been going on for several decades. And, it hasn't worked. In fact, worsens everything you say is wrong. The outcome is precisely the OPPOSITE of what you want.
And, no, inflation IS NOT NECESSARY.
The only reason for avoiding "deflation" is that we're in so much debt, that it will immediately result in massive and conclussive default.
So, your solution is to rob the lenders slowly, rather than quickly, preserving the worst aspects of ALL the things you're complaining about... economic contraction, intractable recession, industrial collapse, unemployment, etc.
<< bangs head on monitor >>
The sad part is, you won't care that you're wrong, until you've destroyed everything everyone has worked for, save a few lucky souls who own what will be valuable in a post-crash world. All for the sake of hoping to improve your portfolio a smidgeon.
He uses a great example. Ink cartridges. I use a couple of printers including a fancy epson wide body. The cost of Epson cartridges have gone up at least 10% per annum for the last five years. Guess what? I don't use Epson ink jet cartridges. I use a system of refillable cartridges which has lowered my cost to about 10% of what Epson charges. So tell me...has the cost of my ink jet cartridges inflated or deflated?
Having assiduosly worked at cost containment the last 7 opr 8 years I would guess are costs are done over a third...the big one being a refi....So again are we inflating or deflating. A major thing we care about is the cost of gas. Right now $3.39 and we use 25% less than 5 years ago...deflate or inflate...
I do not buy that inflation is zero either. But skillfully played it is low.
That is somewhat misleading. The sums involved paled in comparison to some of the other financial problems...and much if not all could have been recovered from the banks making the original mortgages...and then you have the interesting question of whether Fannie May and Freddie Mac were public or private. The really big one was FHA which has only recently had to reach to the treasury for a rather small sum.
Actually the ultimate Keynesian, Paul Kruger would I think point out that if we had primed the economy with the 3 or 4 trillion we should have we would already be out of the deficit mode and reducing national debt. But we skimped and are now paying the price.
I do not believe there is any argument that we need to reduce the debt when times are good.
But what's really scary, what makes a fixed-rate mortgage seem like such a good idea, is the loomingthreat to the federal government's solvency.
... the conclusion is inescapable. Without the Bush tax cuts, it would have been difficult to cope with the fiscal implications of an aging population. With those tax cuts, the task is simply impossible. The accident, the fiscal train wreck, is already under way.
How will the train wreck play itself out? ... my prediction is that politicians will eventually be tempted to resolve the crisis the way irresponsible governments usually do: by printing money, both to pay current bills and to inflate away debt. And as that temptation becomes obvious, interest rates will soar.
I am very impressed. I have never before met anyone who could not find out how the multipler works. I hope you do not misplace your backside in a phone booth.
Again, the "multiplier" is total fiction. You've not presented one iota of evidence that such a thing exists.
Nor can you explain HOW it supposedly "works".
When I asked for your explanation, the only thing you could give me was insults. Which means you have no freaking clue.
He uses a great example. Ink cartridges. I use a couple of printers including a fancy epson wide body. The cost of Epson cartridges have gone up at least 10% per annum for the last five years. Guess what? I don't use Epson ink jet cartridges. I use a system of refillable cartridges which has lowered my cost to about 10% of what Epson charges. So tell me...has the cost of my ink jet cartridges inflated or deflated?
If you quit eating steak and start eating hot dogs, yes the costs to you goes down but inflation has not.
Quote:
Having assiduosly worked at cost containment the last 7 opr 8 years I would guess are costs are done over a third...the big one being a refi....So again are we inflating or deflating. A major thing we care about is the cost of gas. Right now $3.39 and we use 25% less than 5 years ago...deflate or inflate...
I do not buy that inflation is zero either. But skillfully played it is low.
Again you are arguing to buy generic over name brand to combat inflation but for those who have been buying generic all along they don't have that option and their costs have gone up.
yes, my favorite economist is Thomas Sowell. Who, BTW, will point out for you, that utter absurdities of everything you say are nothing more than fancy theories to justify government actions. The 'we've found new realities to enable us to do what we want to do" meme you keep blabbing about.
I don't engage in contradictions. If you think I contradict myself, the only one mistaken is you.
That explains it...should have known.
Sowell an economist? And you don't think you contradict yourself...
The private sectors were collapsing and the Feds did what I would vote for them to do to prop things up. But even a few $T were very difficult to create and spend.
It would not have been politically feasible to do what you're saying. But in theory it all could have been made good. Too much time and complexity, too much politics and too many moral hazards to even start to go there.
No. The Bernanke, et al had to do their best at what they do, pick and choose the TBTF, punt and go from there with their fingers crossed.
I didnt suggest it was politically feasible, I suggested THAT WAS REALITY..
As you stated, the private sector was collapsing.. We lost a small number of banks, the the nation went to ****.. Imagine what would have happened had government not stabalized the economy (or even worse, not been able to), by printing up more debt to keep the liabilities from continuing to grow?
He uses a great example. Ink cartridges. I use a couple of printers including a fancy epson wide body. The cost of Epson cartridges have gone up at least 10% per annum for the last five years. Guess what? I don't use Epson ink jet cartridges. I use a system of refillable cartridges which has lowered my cost to about 10% of what Epson charges. So tell me...has the cost of my ink jet cartridges inflated or deflated?
Having assiduosly worked at cost containment the last 7 opr 8 years I would guess are costs are done over a third...the big one being a refi....So again are we inflating or deflating. A major thing we care about is the cost of gas. Right now $3.39 and we use 25% less than 5 years ago...deflate or inflate...
I do not buy that inflation is zero either. But skillfully played it is low.
No, "skillfully played" means finding exceptions in the economy to do better than everyone else.
The fact is that people are working more hours to get less. The hourly rate may be up, but the amount of time you work which benefits beyond your fixed costs and necessities continues to fall. We're getting less return on our hours of labor than we have in quite some time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
