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Venezuela today is a picture of out worst fears for this country. They have it all: hyperinflation, rampant crime, gun control, and an overwhelming government presence. Watch the video, then consider what many politicians here are advocating.
The end may come soon. I'm sure that the perennial naysayers will deny it, but facts are facts.
Watch the video, then consider what many politicians here are advocating.
"Many" politicians? Or Bernie Sanders? (Who won't get elected....).
Consider the source - there's Jeff Berwich standing there, of The Dollar Vigilante website, chain-smoking as he tries to get viewers to believe that we are going to be Venezuela by October of this year. Berwick, who claimed at this time last year that we'd be buried by the Shemitah by October 2015. And next year at this time, he'll be predicting...what? for October of 2017.
NO, the US is not another Venezuela-in-the-making. I do feel that we're headed for hard times (heck, we're IN hard times), but those types of conditions will not occur here during our lifetimes, if ever.
Relax, and take a deep breath. And be careful whom you vote for in November!
Even if Bernie were to get elected there's a congress who would reign him in. Who doesn't realize that? We are the most ardently free market country on earth that's a player of any size. That's not going to change in our lifetimes.
We are the richest country on earth. Any comparison to Venezuela, which even during the heights of their free market periods was dirt poor and corrupt, is foolishness.
European countries that mix capitalism and socialism via democracies are the comparison if you want to honestly make one. I think we're better off, but they're not Venezuela and they're pretty happy people.
The guy runs over 400 businesses. Takes a bit of competence, experience, and savvy to do that.
Actually it only takes a $100M inheritance and hiring competent people to run things. I rather doubt he has any original ideas.
Socialism/communism has failed terribly in every country in which it has been tried.* It was in all the papers. Bernie just doesn't keep up. He has this romantic daydream that he's one of those young intellectual revolutionaries in Europe a century ago. His day dream is our nightmare.
We have been heading to the left since Roosevelt I, accelerated under Roosevelt II and then slowed during WWII when we needed to return to our founding principles of rugged individual strength and willingness to sacrifice to get ahead and now accelerating again with the Entitlement Generation.
We'll crash quickly once the natl debt gets over $21 -23T. Nobody will buy our bonds and the welfare checks will stop arriving in the mail. The Baltimore riots will seem petty then.
*You're thinking "What about Germany?" Right? Well a front page article in yesterday's Die Welt newspaper stated that 85% of Germans have ZERO net worth. Work hard and get ahead? Only in America, and we're losing that fast.
*You're thinking "What about Germany?" Right? Well a front page article in yesterday's Die Welt newspaper stated that 85% of Germans have ZERO net worth. Work hard and get ahead? Only in America, and we're losing that fast.
Can you show us this article? I cant find it. I'm sure it's wrong. It's true that the wealth in Germany is very uneven distributed. The wealth of almost 3/4 of the population is below average.
The average gross wealth is about €240,000, average net wealth is about €215,000. The lower half of the population own just 2.5% of the net wealth. The upper 10% own 59% of the net wealth. But that makes clear that your statement (85% of Germans have zero net worth) is wrong.
The correct answer is obviously, "So what?" Standard survival supplies: gold, guns, and food along with a good location almost guarantee a happy outcome. We're not discussing TEOWAWKI here; we're discussing events that have been occurring at irregular intervals for centuries. I didn't post the above video to express abject fatalism but rather the opposite. I'm disappointed that no one discussed his prepararations as I thought that to be a large part of S-S & P.
Can you show us this article? I cant find it. I'm sure it's wrong. It's true that the wealth in Germany is very uneven distributed. The wealth of almost 3/4 of the population is below average.
The average gross wealth is about €240,000, average net wealth is about €215,000. The lower half of the population own just 2.5% of the net wealth. The upper 10% own 59% of the net wealth. But that makes clear that your statement (85% of Germans have zero net worth) is wrong.
If your data is right (and it might be older data), then it is entirely possible that a number close to 50% is accurate. If only 2.5% of the wealth is in the lower half, then maybe most of that is in the, say, 48-50% bracket and almost none in the lowest 48%--still a huge ( or do you say "yuge?") portion of the population. I wouldn't call that a very prosperous country or successful economic system.
Also, remember that "net worth" is not equivalent to "wealth." Net worth involves not only assets, but also debts.
If your data is right (and it might be older data), then it is entirely possible that a number close to 50% is accurate. If only 2.5% of the wealth is in the lower half, then maybe most of that is in the, say, 48-50% bracket and almost none in the lowest 48%--still a huge ( or do you say "yuge?") portion of the population. I wouldn't call that a very prosperous country or successful economic system.
The statistical authorities in Germany doesn't collect data about the wealth distribution. The Deutsche Bundesbank interviewes a few thousand households. But who knows how reliable the replies are? The latest data seems to be from 2014:
The average gross wealth is €240,200, the average net wealth is €214,500.
The median gross wealth is €77,200, the median net wealth is €60,400.
BTW, very low debt levels.
Quantile by net wealth (median):
0-20%: €0
20-40%: €10,800
40-60%: €60,800
60-80%: €175,300
80-90%: €352,000
90-100%: €722,200
I would say, about 20% of the population own literally nothing. The second lowest quantile seems to have at least some savings.
I think it's important to note that it's far less important for people in Germany to build up wealth than it is for example in the U.S. Many if not most Americans need to build up wealth for retirement. Many Germans don't see a need for this, because the pensions are public funded. But these pension rights aren't counted as wealth.
About half of the population live in rented accomodations. Most of them normally don't own real estate. They have maybe a few thousand Euros in saving accounts, but that's all. But that doesn't mean that they don't live well. Most Germans don't have debt and many don't have considerably wealth. As long as people are able to cover all living costs and are able to cover unforeseen expenses. I don't see a problem.
Absurd high real estate prices mean allegedly more wealth. But it would be useless if people can't find buyer for the real estate in the future. A house is a house, it's designed to live in it, not to accumulate wealth.
I would call Germany a very successful economic system. The well-being of the population depends far less on virtual wealth like stock or real estate prices like in some other countries. The well-being is rather unaffected by economic crises. The huge current account surplus makes Germany financially very stable. Germans don't have an obsession with getting rich. It's rather different compared to the American mindset.
I would call Germany a very successful economic system. The well-being of the population depends far less on virtual wealth like stock or real estate prices like in some other countries. The well-being is rather unaffected by economic crises. The huge current account surplus makes Germany financially very stable. Germans don't have an obsession with getting rich. It's rather different compared to the American mindset.
If mediocrity is your goal, then Germany has a very successful system.
And you probably think MacDonalds serves good food.
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