The US economy really is pretty bad

[Krome]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6984718.stm

How any Republican can honestly say the Bush Administration is doing well is beyond me.

Seriously you should consider turning communist it has worked wonders for China :taunt:

[Jennifer]

Woot, you found ONE company who is cutting jobs. Yup. And when ONE company went bankrupt in 2000 under Clinton, the ENTIRE nation's economy was producing 0 GDP too, right?

[psikeyhackr]

Yeah GDP is so important!

Ever hear how much consumers lose on the depreciation of 200,000,000+ cars every year?

The funny thing is according to The Millionaire Next Door 36% of millionaires buy used cars. I guess that cuts down on their depreciation.

The wealthy are extremely frugal. They do not live in extravagant homes and drive Rolls Royces or BMWs. They live in modest homes and mostly drive full size American cars. (57.7% of the vehicles millionaires are driving are American cars or trucks.) Many of them buy used cars (about 36%).
http://www.profitadvisors.com/millionaire.shtml

http://discussions.pbs.org/viewtopic.pbs?t=28529

psik

[Jennifer]

I buy used cars too, better value!


So?


Buying used cars means the nation is impoverished and one step away from 1930's style soup kitchen lines????

You living in a nightmare fantasy world? Because every major economist with actual experience is saying our economy is stellar even with the market correction in the stock market and the slight market correction in the housing market.


Both of those can be chalked up to bad banking practices with mortgage lenders and an over priced housing market.

[Linkster]

Give it till November - then come back and lets see if that rosy picture is still there :thumbsup:

[moonman]

Wrong again, Jennifer. Look at Japan in the 90's if you want a glimpse at what is happenning here. Real Estate lost 80% of its value. I don't think it will get that bad here overall but I do see 50% or greater reduction in housing prices beginning in the 4th quarter of '06 and bottoming out somewhere between 2009-2011. Real Estate, including new construction represents 28% of our domestic economy.

Those economists who say our economy is good, are looking, as you mentioned, at the so-called equity markets. Fact is corporate profits in the USA suck and continue to spiral downward. USA corps are making money in Europe, China, India and in the emerging markets. Nobody is making any money in the USA right now and hasn't for years.

As Kevin Philips so eloquently addressed in Wealth & Democracy, the US economy is unsustainable. You'll see the collapse come in October this year. Linkster, who suggests we might survive through November is just one of those rose-colored glass, pie in the sky ever hopeful kinda people.

The hedge funds are collapsing. It is not being reported as yet. It will be. The valuations of the underlying assets of the conduits are due in October. Already there is a run on the USD if you watch the Asian markets this week. More than 50 billion in 1% ARM's get adjusted in October and become due in November.

The Fed is in crisis mode and has been for acouple-3 months buying every security offered at the discount window. This is why there is so much downward pressure on the dollar. The Fed is increasing the money supply at the rate of 30 billion per week.

The real crisis isn't credit. The real crisis is the USD. The credit crunch is just a symptom. Money has no value so creditors can figure out what anything is worth anymore.

Don't blame Bernanke. If you want to blame someone, look in the mirror. It truly is all our fault.

[Moby]

The US currency has lost 40% of its value. More then 10% of our tax dollars will go to pay interest on our debt (not to pay it off just the interest).

The economic plan was always a scorched earth plan. Borrow as much as you can because things are good when you're borrowing money. Bail out in 2008 and blame the next person for all the problems that were caused.

Then come 2012 or 2016 run Jeb by blaming the President elected in 2008 and then borrow even more money, collapse the economy and move to Dubai.