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The economy is in such good shape, Ben "always wrong" Bernanke kept rates at zero.
He kept it at zero to give the recovery more time to take hold. No one on this board has been saying the economy is great (well, aside from the Obamabashers - who are being sarcastic) - only that it's turned the corner, beginning to improve and that next year will be better yet.
Keeping it at zero right now is the right move. Once the recovery is more entrenched THEN the Fed can start easing rates upward.
To the OP, I hope that news is right but here in MI it just isn't going to happen anytime soon. Hell I don't think we've seen the worst yet.
Sadly, I agree with you - and I REALLY mean "sadly" since spent nearly 5 wonderful years of my childhood in/near Battle Creek and love Michigan VERY MUCH.
The issue is that Michigan's problems are MUCH deeper than the current recession. For all intents and purposes Michigan has been experiencing "recession-like" economic conditions for many, many years - and that's not going to change even after the recovery takes hold.
That's a real shame because it's a very beautiful state (much under-rated in my opinion).
And yet the stock market has shot skyward, and month by month jobs losses are dropping, and manufacturing is picking up and retail sales are improving...
Hmmm
Sounds to me like you are wrong.
Ken
Can you provide some proof of what you say? Manufacturing "picking up"? Where? Retail Sales "picking up"? Where?
The stock market is up one day and crashes again the next. It is not a very good indicator of anything right now. It is still nowhere close to where it was 18 months ago.
Our money is virtually worthless, thanks to Obama and his administration.
Banks are being threatened (those that haven't taken any TARP money) to reduce pay of officers (unconstitutional and illegal — it is a form of extortion) They are being threatened with FICA audits if they do not comply.
Nothing that this administration is doing is or can stimulate growth in the private sector.
Sounds like government stimulus programs in overseas countries is not only boosting job creation in their own countries but also here in the US:
NEW YORK - The US trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in August as exports climbed to the highest level of the year and oil imports plunged...
...More than $2 trillion in government stimulus programs are reviving demand from Asia to Europe, ensuring that US factories benefit from growing sales overseas as the dollar weakens. Production gains and the need to replenish depleted inventories mean imports will probably also grow, preventing the deficit from narrowing further."
And in return we are starting pick up our orders for Chinese goods:
European Union and U.S. buyers thronged the show, a barometer of foreign demand for local products, from Oct. 15, boosting visitor numbers by 14 percent, he said.
“There’s been a notable rebound in the number of buyers and the amount of orders especially from Europe and the U.S.,” Chen said at a Guangzhou press conference today. “That’s laying a sound foundation for next year’s export recovery.”
The recovery - driven by government stimulus programs across the globe is sparking a global economic recovery. It's happening here, it's happening in Asia, and it's happening in Europe.
For something that "doesn't work" government stimulus sure seems to be working.
Ken
Well some people will believe anything, right? Gullible. They say ignorance is bliss. Is it?
Can you provide some proof of what you say? Manufacturing "picking up"? Where? Retail Sales "picking up"? Where?
Right here, in America.
The recovery in manufacturing strengthened in October as the PMI registered 55.7 percent, which is 3.1 percentage points higher than the 52.6 percent reported in September, and the highest reading for the index since April 2006 (56 percent). A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting.
The retail industry posted solid sales increases last month compared with the previous year, according to data released Thursday, but performance among chain stores was uneven as shoppers become increasingly picky about where they spend their money.
The stock market is up one day and crashes again the next. It is not a very good indicator of anything right now. It is still nowhere close to where it was 18 months ago.
"Nowhere near close to where it was 18 months ago" - Gee maybe you should consider blaming the goober who was President when it was going down, down, down 18 months ago - instead of the guy who's been President for the last 9 months as it's gone up, up, up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
Our money is virtually worthless, thanks to Obama and his administration.
Oh don't be such a silly Drama Queen.
Our money is NOT "virtually worthless". The dollar is worth roughly the same now as it was December of 2007 (2 years ago - where were your complaints THEN?) and worth MORE than it was last summer (again, where were your complaint's THEN? - oh yeah, there was a GOP guy in the White House so clearly a weaker dollar didn't mean anything ). You are aware aren't you that EVERY TIME the global recovery looks like it's going to stall and the recession get worse, the dollar STRENGTHENS as people snap it up. At one point during the height of the financial crises the US was paying negative interest on Treasuries - and STILL foreigners were buying it up as a "safe haven". That's hardly the behavior of people overseas who don't want the dollar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nononsenseguy
Nothing that this administration is doing is or can stimulate growth in the private sector.
And yet, stocks are up, corporate profits are recovering, multiple business surveys have indicated companies plan to resume hiring next year (and several CEO's have said so themselves - including the head of Cisco just today), and housing prices have stabilized. Clearly your economic philosophy is JUST PLAIN WRONG.
Ken
Last edited by LordBalfor; 11-05-2009 at 06:20 PM..
Well, you've got to start somewhere, and in comparison to the freefall that carried into the beginning of the year, the current situation is a very significant, even if still somewhat tentative, improvement.
pssst. Hope doesn't get in the way of facts. Lasted unemployment figures -- 10.2%. How's that change?
pssst. Hope doesn't get in the way of facts. Lasted unemployment figures -- 10.2%. How's that change?
From over 700,000 layoffs in January down to under 200,000 last month - that's a pretty good change. At the rate we're going it will be reduced to ZERO by spring.
Ken
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