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But our goal is progression, not regression, right? I mean if we are at the place where we can't find something to compare to that was "worse than now"...that'd be a pretty terrible place to be in :/
Fish, you are a peculiar one Here's the deal, we have been hearing for month's on end all the moaning and nashing of teeth about how bad the economy is and the rescession and blah blah blah, and to that I would always respond, as long as people are still lining up in the morning to get their 3 dollar double fancy with whipped cream at starbuckles, thing's cant be that bad!! Well, I still say the same because every where I go in the greater Seattle area, there are help wanted sign's, people are looking for good help! The point is, people need that gallon of gas,that cup of coffee was buying!!
I'm with sanrene, I don't set foot in the starbuck's!
I don't believe the economy got bad until gas hit $4/gallon. The subprime crisis isn't a pretty picture but it is overblown and the greater economy can withstand it. It can NOT withstand the subprime crisis and also $4 gas (or $5, $6, however high Goldman Sachs wants it to go). If these gas prices don't go down before the Christmas holiday season, look for a VERY ugly start to 2009, with unemployment getting up above 20% by March-April.
I don't believe the economy got bad until gas hit $4/gallon. The subprime crisis isn't a pretty picture but it is overblown and the greater economy can withstand it. It can NOT withstand the subprime crisis and also $4 gas (or $5, $6, however high Goldman Sachs wants it to go). If these gas prices don't go down before the Christmas holiday season, look for a VERY ugly start to 2009, with unemployment getting up above 20% by March-April.
20% unemployment eh? uuuuunlikely. high energy prices won't make companies lay off THAT many people.
I stop at the little store down the street and get my caramel cappuchino for 99 cents and use my coffee card so after 10 cups, I get a freebie! I like Starbucks occasionally but just can't see paying that every day. It's a splurge not a necessity for me.
Times are tough for a lot of people today - especially the lower rungs of the economic ladder. I read of one place in Alabama or Mississippi, can't recall which, where people were spending (as of 3 weeks ago) 16% of their income on energy costs. That is very, very sad. Lots of people there chosing between an empty gas tank and an empty stomach.
Be thankful if you're living comfortably - there are lots who aren't....
HubbleRules
Western Mississippi, Holmes County, I believe, one of the poorest in the nation.
I think an emerging trend (like it or not) is we are going to witness smaller towns that were formerly based on extraction industries, such as timber, agriculture, or fishing, begin to contract, with continued migration towards cities. For instance, I was in Oregon earlier this week, and read an article about how a small town such as Grants Pass, formulated on timber subsidies, is no longer going to receive such subsidies from the federal government because the government is essentially broke. Generations of people who lived there, and settled 100 + years ago because of an extraction industry, are now being confronted with today's economic reality. Rural electrification, in the form of the TVA, for instance, is no longer going to be teneable. Getting back to my original premise, the folks in Grants Pass Oregon are being told essentially to arm themselves, because their county sheriff's personnel is going to be gutted. All the libraries in the county are going to be forced to shut down. Incidentally, here is the article: Cutoff of timber money pinches rural Oregon - OregonLive.com
You are going to start witnessing further removal of subsidies from other similar rural areas that are based on single industry economies. This is very unfortunate, but it is the new reality. Blame it on 50+ years of federal malfeasance whereby social programs (such as Section 8, medicare, WIC, food stamps, etc) have been instituted without raising taxes to pay for them. Entitlement programs are going to persist down and cause an economic cascade effect to these smaller rural towns. It's all logically linked in together.
Seems to me that loosing the Federal entitlement to a timber subsidy IS causing the mess. Do you think that subsidizing industry because it creates jobs and prosperity is OK but subsidizing individuals, so long as they don't own the subsidized company, is not? Northern New Hampshire first lost all the farmers, then the factories and now the pulp paper industry. This area has been going broke for a century and may get they sooner than expected.
I knew it was a matter of time before this happend. I think they just overbuilt and got a bit greedy in an oversaturated market. There are at least 3 Starbucks that opened within the last two years in my town that I am sure will close as a result of this downsizing. I remember even 10 years ago one had to look hard for one, now they are everywhere.
I brew it at home, now and only get SB once in a while. I never accquired a taste for their specialty drinks, but stuck with the coffee, save for an occasional hot chocolate during the winter. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the majority of their profit is made from the specialty drinks and merchandise, and not the coffee?
This may be a positive thing for the smaller and independent chains who struggled during Starbucks rapid expansion.
20% unemployment eh? uuuuunlikely. high energy prices won't make companies lay off THAT many people.
Well, to be honest... gas prices in US are still less than half of those in Europe.
However, distances are often more than double in US... cars spend more, too. There is almost no public transport... what I can now again do by simply walking, would be almost impossible in US... everything is too far.
This is why Americans are very hard hit by gas prices. Also, the dollar is in dump now... as Euro, franc etc. hold steady, we do not have such rises.
20%... I don't think so, but 5.5% or whatever is unreal... US govt has shady practices in measuring unemployment, real unemployment in US is around 9% at least.
I know that at least in Germany, even those in part time WORK, with income are often counted as unemployed... many others, too. I have worked in US for ten years, as an economist, and know this.
The problems in US economy are not new... gigantic deficits, overspending of government, living beyond real means, no savings etc.
REAL production jobs and industry would help... US goods are simply not competitive enough on world markets, even compared with countries that pay much higher salaries. This is also caused by extreme health insurance costs, which are passed to products, and it just gets worse...
Thus, living standards of 0.001% top in US and average American are not the same thing... but as real middle class in US is dropping in western rankings(already low), if this continues, even countries in Eastern Europe could surpass it one day... which is sad.
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Here's the deal, we have been hearing for month's on end all the moaning and nashing of teeth about how bad the economy is and the rescession and blah blah blah, and to that I would always respond, as long as people are still lining up in the morning to get their 3 dollar double fancy with whipped cream at starbuckles, thing's cant be that bad!! Well, I still say the same because every where I go in the greater Seattle area, there are help wanted sign's, people are looking for good help! The point is, people need that gallon of gas,that cup of coffee was buying!!
