Tell Me What YOU Think About This Article About The Economy...?

[Jorge]

I will link to the original article, but first I would like your opinion on what it states, thank you. __________________________________________________ ________________________________ If you listen to the mainstream media long enough, you just might be tempted to believe that the United States has emerged from the recession and is now in the middle of a full-fledged economic recovery. In fact, according to Obama administration officials, the great American economic machine has roared back to life, stronger and more vibrant than ever before. But is that really the case? Of course not. What did happen was that all of the stimulus packages and government spending and new debt that Obama and the U.S. Congress pumped into the economy bought us a little bit of time. But they have also made our long-term economic problems far worse. The reality is that the U.S. cannot keep supporting an economy on an ocean of red ink forever. At some point the charade is going to come crashing down. And GDP is not a really good measure of the economic health of a nation. For example, if you would have looked at the growth of GDP in the Weimar republic in the early 1930s, you may have been tempted to think that the German economy was really thriving. German citizens were spending increasingly massive amounts of money. But of course that money was becoming increasingly worthless at the same time as hyperinflation spiralled out of control. Well, today the purchasing power of our dollar is rapidly eroding as the price of food and other necessities continues to increase. So just because Americans are spending a little bit more money than before really doesn’t mean much of anything. As you will see below, there are a whole bunch of other signs that the U.S. economy is in very, very serious trouble. Any “recovery” that the U.S. economy is experiencing is illusory and will be quite temporary. The entire financial system of the United States is falling apart, and the powers that be can try to patch it up and prop it up for a while, but in the end this thing is going to come crashing down. But as obvious as that may seem to most of us, there are still quite a few people out there that are absolutely convinced that the U.S. economy will fully recover and will soon be stronger than ever. So the following are 25 questions to ask anyone who is delusional enough to believe that this economic recovery is real…. #1) In what universe is an economy with 39.68 million Americans on food stamps considered to be a healthy, recovering economy? In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that enrollment in the food stamp program will exceed 43 million Americans in 2011. Is a rapidly increasing number of Americans on food stamps a good sign or a bad sign for the economy? http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6465E220100507 #2) According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in the month of March. This was an increase of almost 19 percent from February, and it was the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report back in January 2005. So can you please explain again how the U.S. real estate market is getting better? http://thehomeforeclosurehelp.com/ar...re-not-working #3) The Mortgage Bankers Association just announced that more than 10 percent of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one payment in the January-March period. That was a record high and up from 9.1 percent a year ago. Do you think that is an indication that the U.S. housing market is recovering? http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mortga...70452.html?x=0 #4) How can the U.S. real estate market be considered healthy when, for the first time in modern history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together? http://endoftheamericandream.com/arc...you-own-really #5) With the U.S. Congress planning to quadruple oil taxes, what do you think that is going to do to the price of gasoline in the United States and how do you think that will affect the U.S. economy? http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1 #6) Do you think that it is a good sign that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of the state of California, says that “terrible cuts” are urgently needed in order to avoid a complete financial disaster in his state? http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aMHZOCQK9hC4 #7) But it just isn’t California that is in trouble. Dozens of U.S. states are in such bad financial shape that they are getting ready for their biggest budget cuts in decades. What do you think all of those budget cuts will do to the economy? http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/05/news...e_budget_cuts/ #8) In March, the U.S. trade deficit widened to its highest level since December 2008. Month after month after month we buy much more from the rest of the world than they buy from us. Wealth is draining out of the United States at an unprecedented rate. So is the fact that the gigantic U.S. trade deficit is actually getting bigger a good sign or a bad sign for the U.S. economy? http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_trad..._05122010.html #9) Considering the fact that the U.S. government is projected to have a 1.6 trillion dollar deficit in 2010, and considering the fact that if you went out and spent one dollar every single second it would take you more than 31,000 years to spend a trillion dollars, how can anyone in their right mind claim that the U.S. economy is getting healthier when we are getting into so much debt? http://defeatthedebt.com/ #10) The U.S. Treasury Department recently announced that the U.S. government suffered a wider-than-expected budget deficit of 82.69 billion dollars in April. So is the fact that the red ink of the U.S. government is actually worse than projected a good sign or a bad sign? http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=3018746 #11) According to one new report, the U.S. national debt will reach 100 percent of GDP by the year 2015. So is that a sign of economic recovery or of economic disaster? http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/...mo_code=9E57-1 #12) Monstrous amounts of oil continue to gush freely into the Gulf of Mexico, and analysts are already projecting that the seafood and tourism industries along the Gulf coast will be devastated for decades by this unprecedented environmental disaster. In light of those facts, how in the world can anyone project that the U.S. economy will soon be stronger than ever?http://endoftheamericandream.com/arc...s-of-americans #13) The FDIC’s list of problem banks recently hit a 17-year high. Do you think that an increasing number of small banks failing is a good sign or a bad sign for the U.S. economy? recently hit a 17-year high. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...sgX2rA0&pos=10 #14) The FDIC is backing 8,000 banks that have a total of $13 trillion in assets with a deposit insurance fund that is basically flat broke. So what do you think will happen if a significant number of small banks do start failing? http://www.mybudget360.com/fdic-tril...t-even-bigger/ #15) Existing home sales in the United States jumped 7.6 percent in April. That is the good news. The bad news is that this increase only happened because the deadline to take advantage of the temporary home buyer tax credit (government bribe) was looming. So now that there is no more tax credit for home buyers, what will that do to home sales? http://www.usatoday.com/money/econom...gnumbers_N.htm #16) Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently told the U.S. government that they are going to need even more bailout money. So what does it say about the U.S. economy when the two “pillars” of the U.S. mortgage industry are government-backed financial black holes that the U.S. government has to relentlessly pour money into? #17) 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement. Tens of millions of Americans find themselves just one lawsuit, one really bad traffic accident or one very serious illness away from financial ruin. With so many Americans living on the edge, how can you say that the economy is healthy? http://endoftheamericandream.com/arc...for-retirement #18) The mayor of Detroit says that the real unemployment rate in his city is somewhere around 50 percent. So can the U.S. really be experiencing an economic recovery when so many are still unemployed in one of America’s biggest cities? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/1..._n_394559.html #19) Gallup’s measure of underemployment hit 20.0% on March 15th. That was up from 19.7% two weeks earlier and 19.5% at the start of the year. Do you think that is a good trend or a bad trend? http://www.gallup.com/poll/126821/Un...Mid-March.aspx #20) One new poll shows that 76 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. economy is still in a recession. So are the vast majority of Americans just stupid or could we still actually be in a recession? http://www.cnbc.com//id/37116803 #21) The bottom 40 percent of those living in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth. So is Barack Obama’s mantra that “what is good for Wall Street is good for Main Street” actually true? http://www.informationclearinghouse....ticle25430.htm #22) Richard Russell, the famous author of the Dow Theory Letters, says that Americans should sell anything they can sell in order to get liquid because of the economic trouble that is coming. Do you think that Richard Russell is delusional or could he possibly have a point? http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker...&asset=&ccode= #23) Defaults on apartment building mortgages held by U.S. banks climbed to a record 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2010. In fact, that was almost twice the level of a year earlier. Does that look like a good trend to you? http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...XTPn6Eg&pos=12 #24) In March, the price of fresh and dried vegetables in the United States soared 49.3% - the most in 16 years. Is it a sign of a healthy economy when food prices are increasing so dramatically? http://www.marketwatch.com/story/who...ist=beforebell #25) 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 – a 32 percent increase over 2008. Not only that, more Americans filed for bankruptcy in March 2010 than during any month since U.S. bankruptcy law was tightened in October 2005. So shouldn’t we at least wait until the number of Americans filing for bankruptcy is not setting new all-time records before we even dare whisper the words “economic recovery”? http://www.mybudget360.com/141-milli...rules-to-file/ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/bu...ankruptcy.html __________________________________________________ ________________________________

[Taosaur]

Moved to Extended Discussion. The Ask/Tell forum is intended for sharing or soliciting knowledge on a specific subject. Re: If you listen to the mainstream media long enough, you just might be tempted to believe that the United States has emerged from the recession and is now in the middle of a full-fledged economic recovery. Erm, no, not really. We see encouraging and discouraging stories from one day to the next, suggesting things are still very much touch-and-go. My experience of the economy in my city is that it has rebounded considerably from last year, but is still very troubled.

[Spartiate]

I think that the US economy is at the very least in a lesser recession. The stock markets can attest to that. The US inflation rate is only hovering at just above 2% too, nothing to be worried about.

[Odd_Nonposter]

The inflation rate is heavily adjusted from what is reported. Inflation does not take food and fuel into account, and it uses an elaborate system of "hedonics" to skew the final result. It is no longer an accurate measure of "cost of living," but rather survival. Anyway, that's beside the point. It's never too late to invest in a firearm for those statebound. Shit is going to turn ugly sooner or later.

[Spartiate]

It's never too late to invest in a firearm for those statebound. Shit is going to turn ugly sooner or later. WTF is it with you Americans. I have no idea how such a self-hating, violent nation has lasted so long. "Ahh the economy's bad... guess I need to go stock up on some guns." How on earth is that supposed to help anything. Are you planning on killing people? Are you expecting people to come kill you, pillage your property, enslave your women? Why is it that all the people in all the other developed countries don't plan on blowing the shit out of each other when times are rough... Here's some food for thought. If I'm in trouble, I can count on (most) of my neighbors and fellow citizens to help me out, even if they don't know me. Now doesn't that sound better than locking yourself in a basement with an assault rifle? The whole paranoia/weapons/violence culture in the US has got to stop.

[EW09]

WTF is it with you Americans. I have no idea how such a self-hating, violent nation has lasted so long. "Ahh the economy's bad... guess I need to go stock up on some guns." How on earth is that supposed to help anything. Are you planning on killing people? Are you expecting people to come kill you, pillage your property, enslave your women? Why is it that all the people in all the other developed countries don't plan on blowing the shit out of each other when times are rough... Here's some food for thought. If I'm in trouble, I can count on (most) of my neighbors and fellow citizens to help me out, even if they don't know me. Now doesn't that sound better than locking yourself in a basement with an assault rifle? The whole paranoia/weapons/violence culture in the US has got to stop. Actually it's called a revolution. People are going to get pissed and it's better to be prepared and have self-defence. The government isn't gonna come and help you when the country is corrupt. There is crazy people in the country that are going to be angry and break sooner or later.

[Black_Eagle]

WTF is it with you Americans. I have no idea how such a self-hating, violent nation has lasted so long. "Ahh the economy's bad... guess I need to go stock up on some guns." How on earth is that supposed to help anything. Are you planning on killing people? Are you expecting people to come kill you, pillage your property, enslave your women? Why is it that all the people in all the other developed countries don't plan on blowing the shit out of each other when times are rough... Here's some food for thought. If I'm in trouble, I can count on (most) of my neighbors and fellow citizens to help me out, even if they don't know me. Now doesn't that sound better than locking yourself in a basement with an assault rifle? The whole paranoia/weapons/violence culture in the US has got to stop. I couldn't agree more. Although it seems to be more prevalent on the internet. I wish people would keep their heads screwed on. Things really haven't been going that badly in America compared to pretty much everywhere else. Edit: @Alric That's not true. The government had to bail out the banks or else they would have failed and we would have had another great depression on our hands. I'm not saying the government isn't somewhat responsible for our economic troubles right now, but not in the way you're saying.

[Descensus]

If you listen to the mainstream media long enough, you just might be tempted to believe that the United States has emerged from the recession and is now in the middle of a full-fledged economic recovery. In fact, according to Obama administration officials, the great American economic machine has roared back to life, stronger and more vibrant than ever before. But is that really the case? Of course not. What did happen was that all of the stimulus packages and government spending and new debt that Obama and the U.S. Congress pumped into the economy bought us a little bit of time. But they have also made our long-term economic problems far worse. The reality is that the U.S. cannot keep supporting an economy on an ocean of red ink forever. At some point the charade is going to come crashing down. It's about time people realized this.

[Dannon Oneironaut]

I feel the same way. Why try and pursue a career as a professional musician? For what? Better to head for the mountains and grow food. But also I don't like performing in smoky bars to drunk crowds. You and your family know where to go. Southwestern Colorado near the border of Utah in the mountains. You can find community there and make your art. Your art will inspire future generations of mutant cavemen to try to do things the right way. I am going to Oregon to write epic ballads of the downfall of Human Civilization and the destruction of the Earth. But this is not the first time this happened. Humans have done this over and over again. Next an ice-age will come and cleanse everything and we all start over. A few survivors will go to Egypt with some of our scientific knowledge that we managed to keep and it will become the beginnings of a new superstitious religion. There will be myths about our culture. And we will be forgotten. @ArcanumNoctis: The problem is the chemical dispersants they are using. The dispersants don't clean up the oil, they spread it out and make it un-gloopy so that it won't just float on the top but mix in with all the water, get in the gills of the fish, saturate the coral reefs. It makes the oil 5 times more toxic and it is 5 times more toxic than oil already. The oil cannot evaporate, but now it can, with the dispersants, and rain down on North America east of the Rocky Mountains and kill every single plant. With no plants we will live in a desert, even if it rains, everything will turn to mud and wash away. A cold wind will cover the continent with snow in the winter and everything will die. That is the worst case scenario. The best case scenario is that we will slowly be poisoned by our food and water and eventually die of horrible cancers and we will go sterile and no more children will be born, if they do, they will be mutant zombies. Then European soldiers will be deployed to hunt zombies in North America. Not to mention that the Carribean, Northern South America, Latin America and Mexico will suffer just as bad or worse. All the Mexicans will relocate to Arizona and New Mexico...and California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Oregon and it will all be renamed New Mexico. And we will be trading for pesos. Then the Japanese will unleash their secret army of robots in North America and take it over, and they will have Hawaii. Sarah Palin will become president of Alaska and invade Siberia but she will get eaten by bears.

[ArcanumNoctis]

I feel the same way. Why try and pursue a career as a professional musician? For what? Better to head for the mountains and grow food. But also I don't like performing in smoky bars to drunk crowds. You and your family know where to go. Southwestern Colorado near the border of Utah in the mountains. You can find community there and make your art. Your art will inspire future generations of mutant cavemen to try to do things the right way. I am going to Oregon to write epic ballads of the downfall of Human Civilization and the destruction of the Earth. But this is not the first time this happened. Humans have done this over and over again. Next an ice-age will come and cleanse everything and we all start over. A few survivors will go to Egypt with some of our scientific knowledge that we managed to keep and it will become the beginnings of a new superstitious religion. There will be myths about our culture. And we will be forgotten. @ArcanumNoctis: The problem is the chemical dispersants they are using. The dispersants don't clean up the oil, they spread it out and make it un-gloopy so that it won't just float on the top but mix in with all the water, get in the gills of the fish, saturate the coral reefs. It makes the oil 5 times more toxic and it is 5 times more toxic than oil already. The oil cannot evaporate, but now it can, with the dispersants, and rain down on North America east of the Rocky Mountains and kill every single plant. With no plants we will live in a desert, even if it rains, everything will turn to mud and wash away. A cold wind will cover the continent with snow in the winter and everything will die. That is the worst case scenario. The best case scenario is that we will slowly be poisoned by our food and water and eventually die of horrible cancers and we will go sterile and no more children will be born, if they do, they will be mutant zombies. Then European soldiers will be deployed to hunt zombies in North America. Not to mention that the Carribean, Northern South America, Latin America and Mexico will suffer just as bad or worse. All the Mexicans will relocate to Arizona and New Mexico...and California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Oregon and it will all be renamed New Mexico. And we will be trading for pesos. Then the Japanese will unleash their secret army of robots in North America and take it over, and they will have Hawaii. Sarah Palin will become president of Alaska and invade Siberia but she will get eaten by bears. Nice imagination. What I don't understand is why people act on a one tracked mind. If the world economy is going to collapse, so what? You don't change your interests or what you love, you continue pursuing them while at the same time multi-tasking in-case it does happen so that the initial shock from the system doesn't crush you. In my opinion, the probability is high, but nothing is written in stone.

[juroara]

\Your art will inspire future generations of mutant cavemen I do like mutant cavemen