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I disagree. Deep down, we all have the same definition. And every post on here points back to one thing, moral decay. <Laziness, greed, corruption.
Many people believe that morality is what the Bible tells us it is. Still more believe it is what the police say it is. I hasten to demur. And the deeper down we go, we get further and further apart on this.
Laziness is immoral? Well, then, the wheel is the work of the devil, because it was invented by the laziest worker at the jobsite, who was too lazy to carry all those loads on his back
3) Were people already overloaded with too much debt and couldn't spend more?
^^This explains at least 80% of it^^
The US started on the path of ever more indebtedness (government, consumer, & business) around 1980.
You can get by running up debt for a while...but sooner or later it catches up to you. It's now catching up to us.
The next chapter in this story could very well be that our government defaults on its debt (They won't use the word "defult" but that's what it will be). If that happens, 2008 will look like a walk in the park.
Then people started borrowing, more to maintain their lifestyle than out of any sense of greed.
I disagree vehemently here. Borrowing to live a lifestyle you can no longer afford IS a form of greed.
If most people had dealt with their financial realities more squarely, we would be in better shape today. I might add that f housing prices would never have gotten so out of control if more people had exercised some restraint.
In essence, the middle class has been competing with itself to see who could outspend the other guy for that house, that car, etc. All it did was drive up the prices of everything. In the end, the middle class screwed itsself.
I'm not saying the mess we're in is 100% the fault of the middle class. But the middle class, as a whole, is not owning up to its own, very significant, contribution to the problems we have, preferring instead to blame it all on the corporations (liberals) or the poor (conservatives).
Many people believe that morality is what the Bible tells us it is. Still more believe it is what the police say it is. I hasten to demur. And the deeper down we go, we get further and further apart on this.
Laziness is immoral? Well, then, the wheel is the work of the devil, because it was invented by the laziest worker at the jobsite, who was too lazy to carry all those loads on his back
From the Ancient Greeks to all of the world's major religions, there are a set of spiritual principles that show up over and over again.
I do, indeed, believe that the heart of our economic problems is, indeed, a moral problem (I actually prefer the word "spiritual").
The religion in America for the last 30 years has been to worship money and the things money can buy. Pretty much every philosophy or religion out there advises against this, but we've done it anyway. Secular adherents of the anti-consumerism philosophy include most in the school of positive psychology such as Sonlja Lyubomirsy and Tal Ben Shahar. It has brought us neither happiness, nor true prosperity (in the financial sesnse or any other). Everyone seems to notice the greed of other people but not their own.
Many things contributed to this spiraling downward, stimlus package-proof- emaciated economy.
The very first thing to mention is NAFTA.
NAFTA sent many of our home grown businesses to countries where cheaper labor could be better afforded by big business. Every political democratic pundit within the grasp of the Clinton presidential talons, echoed his plea to support NAFTA. Well, as I suspected, it failed, continues to fail, and will always fail, because it just lacks common sense.
Another problem, is lack of an educated work force. This causes extra expenses to be paid by employers because many workers either cannot read properly or follow directions. Also the earnings gap between the haves and the have nots continues to increase due to exorbitant "higher education" expenses.
Another problem, is our schools don't teach vocational occupations anymore. They also don't teach business anymore.
Another problem, is lack of governmental planning. There are only so many jobs. Why are we continuing to foster immigration like it's ok or something? We need to place a universal freeze on immigration.
So while jobs are scarce and constantly disappearing due to a poor economy, we continue to allow thousands of people per day to immigrate!
Another problem is lack of innovation. Few Americans seem to have the inventive qualities to create opportunities.
7) People not spending because of economic & job fears, weakening company income causing further layoffs or a job hiring freeze
Any more ?
Comments on each point?
These aren't causes, they're symptoms.
1) caused by government forcing loans to people not qualified.
2) caused by the weak dollar, trade imbalances, and our insatiable need to commute long distances so we can make lots of money.
3) yes
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Too much government intervention, too many hoops for business to jump through, complex tax code, and our CENTRAL BANK are the primary source of our woes.
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