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.
I agree with much of what is posted.
Most Americans just aren't educated in Finance or Economics.
Heck, even personal finance basics (home mortgages, credit cards) elude a large portion of the population.
I don't like statistics. I don't like the media. I don't like politicians - D or R.
Personally, my situation financially - I am very happy with it.
It could be better - my money could be making more money.
But it could be a lot worse as well.
I know day to day, when I'm out & about running errands doing everyday stuff -
I see construction still happing, people buying. The only place I see or hear all this doom & gloom is in the media. Sure things are slower, but I think it may be more reaction than reality.
I live in Ohio of all places - a place the media would have you believe is falling apart.
I just don't see it...
Suggestion - Please buy or borrow Kevin Phillip's new book "BAD MONEY" and read it. It is a well documented, or footnoted, description of the problems facing our economy and country.
The, in my humble opinion, biggest problem is we have instituted policies that allowed financing to replace industry as our major profit center. Then we created money to allow the financiers to create even more money in an endless spiraling bubble. Energy prices are the pin that will burst this bubble.
Well, I only believe what I see and experience. My area has 3.2 percent unemployment and Help Wanted signs are up everywhere. McDonald's is paying over $9 an hour to start, according to the large sign in front of the restaurant that begs people to apply. This is a very affordable city in which to live -- rents are reasonable, housing prices are VERY reasonable and the market is steady, the economy is diverse.
BUT, we're affected by the things we can't control -- high food, energy, and health care costs. Yep, jobs are plentiful in a variety of disciplines and industries but they pay enough to live a mid middle-class life, not to amass wealth. Most people have a little bit of padding in their incomes to absorb some higher costs but it appears that the padding is wearing thin. My neighbor told me last week that her second job allowed her to have extra disposable income and was optional but now it's become necessary to keep the second job to help pay for the higher cost of the basics.
Folks here are adjusting accordingly. I see more gardens have been planted in my neighborhood. People talk about limiting and combining trips to save gasoline. They're staying closer to home and enjoying recreation options in the area or nearby Dallas/Ft. Worth instead of taking vacations elsewhere. I and others are "spot cooling" rather than running electricity-sapping central air systems all of the time. These aren't necessarily bad things!
I look for folks and communities to become more insular and thrifty. Improve their current homes instead of buying something else; entertaining at home rather than going out to eat; patronizing local businesses and attractions nearby.Those of us in the Sunbelt and in thriving economies definitely have the leg up on those who live in places where the cost of living and economy has been terrible.
Jobs are still plentiful here and the outlook is great, too, since we're fast becoming a center of wind technology. We have the highest number of wind farms in the country and a company is moving in to provide training and maintenance facilities for the wind farms. We're getting a cancer research center, as well, tied to a major university nearby. With agriculture, manufacturing, oil and wind, education, and service industry jobs, it's looking good. But this isn't a "get rich quick" area -- never has been. Slow but steady and growth in moderation prevents disaster.
Florida is in serious trouble. There's hardly any economic engine except debt and stupidity. Every piece of property is overpriced, and a natural disaster awaits in the future. We have a history of pyramid schemes and the latest one will be hard to correct.
teatime; you wrote that rents are "reasonable" and since I have a pretty good idea of where you are from the description I believe you. But, "reasonable" at $9/hour? That's $360/week, except mcdonald's doesn't have full time folks I don't think. Less than $19,000 year. I don't think rents are that reasonable, not when you have things like groceries, gas, heat and electricity to pay too.
golfgod,
I just used the McDonald's figure to show there are no minimum-wage jobs here. And, actually, on the same $9/hour McDonald's sign, they were asking for "shift managers" at a starting salary of $28K.
I was in line at the post office a few months ago and was chatting with a young man standing behind me. He had just moved here and was thrilled at the rents -- he is paying $450 for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment that he said was larger and much nicer than his place in Corpus Christi. (South Texas abounds with TRUE minimum wage jobs that people actually compete over and I really don't know how people do it there!)
I haven't done any research into the rental market here but from the stories I've heard, it's really affordable, even for folks with nothing more than a high school diploma. We have a Mrs. Baird's Baked Goods plant here and they pay over $16 per hour to start. This city is at the point where it can't grow unless we get more people. Wages have gone up because of the competition for workers.
Some of the big lies you've been told, and believe:
1. We're in a time of record prosperity; low unemployment and low inflation.
Wrong! The only reason unemployment appears to be low is because they've cooked the books on how they're calculated, once in '82 and again in '98 (equal opportunity cooking of books!). The Department of Labor said inflation was only 4.1% in 2007, which made us feel good, despite what trips to the grocery told us was the truth! But if they still calculated inflation the same way as they did in '81 it was actually 11.6%!
The Dept. of Labor tells us that unemployment is low, and if you're working, it is. But if they calculated it the same way today as they did in '81 it would really be over 12%. This really makes sense if you think about it, low unemployment forces wages up, but wages have been stagnant.
Same thing with Gross Domestic Product. Every quarter the Bush administration tells us that it' up, up and away. But if it were calculated the same as in '82, it would've been in negative territory since the first quarter of 2006.
I'm going to hold off on more of this because no one likes to read loooong OPs.
Oh, and feel free to do your own research, shadowstats dot com.
Hey beekeeper; I always like your posts, short and to the point, something that generally eludes me. But my latin "fellat". You really should post a translation for those of us who have to look at the root of the word, try to remember the phrases we learned in law classes and guess at the rest.
Not sure about a depression, but it's definetely going to get worse before it gets better...
Yea, the $600 rebate check will help
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexianPatriot
great depression 2008!!!
yes
cash and hard assets will be king when banks fail. I'll be chilling on the ranch living the way men are supposed to. Get prepared and make the best of it.
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.
