The U.S. Economy

[JefeStone]

Ive heard of him, he is a failed Senate candidate backed by Steve Forbes and Ron Paul. I somehow don't see his opinion being unbiased. He is looking out for his profits, just like any other corporatist.

[ichabodius]

Ever heard of him? He is the CEO of Euro Pacific Capitol and spoke in front of Congress about how jobs are created and governments roll in it.

It is long but start at 2:00.

He is right on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BHLguFEN3M

At 4:40 he lies, omits facts, and gives misleading information.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/polit...-people/42845/
Leads me to be suspecting of to question any information he has to offer.

[Paulination]

At 4:40 he lies, omits facts, and gives misleading information.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/polit...-people/42845/
Leads me to be suspecting of to question any information he has to offer.

It is not as simple as that. As someone who is in the industry, I will tell you that FINRA gets its marching orders from the government. His statement was part of a much larger global concept of government interference in business which was what I was trying to point out.

I'm sorry that the overall message was lost in the minutae.

[ichabodius]

It is not as simple as that. As someone who is in the industry, I will tell you that FINRA gets its marching orders from the government. His statement was part of a much larger global concept of government interference in business which was what I was trying to point out.

I'm sorry that the overall message was lost in the minutae.

Sorry I have a tendency to be a Doubting Thomas and can become fixated on specifics prior to contemplation of the universal truthfulness of a proposition.

[Paulination]

Sorry I have a tendency to be a Doubting Thomas and can become fixated on specifics prior to contemplation of the universal truthfulness of a proposition.

I get it and usually I'm the first one to point something like that out. I didn't take the time to fact check that part of his statement because I was riveted by his experiences as an employer and the unnecessary difficulties he's had building his business.

[TheMysterian]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64263.html

[neilmpenny]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64263.html

According the the CIA World Factbook, there are 6,815 deaths per day in the United States. That is 2,487,475 people per year.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, government accounts for about 8% of jobs in the United States. Here's the breakdown using numbers easily accessible on the BLS website (all numbers from 2006 or 2007):

1,774,000 Federal government civilian employees, excluding Post Office
615,000 Post Office
1,172,913 Military enlisted
230,577 Military Officers
2,424,000 State government (excluding education and hospitals)
5,594,000 Local government (excluding education and hospitals)
That's a total of 11,810,490 government jobs.
The total number of jobs in the U.S. in 2006 was 150,600,000, so government employment makes up 7.84% of all jobs.
In 2007, the U.S. population (according to the Census Bureau) was 301,621,157, so about 4% of Americans are employed by the government.

I guess the 600,000,000 works out to about $50.00 per federal employee, based upon the numbers from 2006 or 2007.

[TheMysterian]

Hallmark is sorry for your loss - your job loss

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/26...your-job-loss/

[Jacksmum]

I can't get a job.jpg

[Paulination]

I can't get a job.jpg

Holy Sheeet!

My sister in law has tats and piercings all over (not as bad as this guy) and I tried to explain to her as she was getting them done that the job market is tough, don't make it tougher then it has to be. She spent alot of time looking.

[Jacksmum]

I have tattoos but no piercing but thankfully they can be hidden if I choose to.

[Paulination]

Overall payrolls are down 5% since the recession began, government employees are up 12%.

Growing the government in a recession is absolutely the worse thing you can do. Shrinking revenues while increasing expenses = bankruptcy.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45135375/ns/politics/

[Paulination]

Well the bipartisan super committee created as part of the deal to increase the debt limit 4 months ago appears to be in an unmovable standoff. Washington is truly mired in partisanship to the extent that it is willing to take this ship down instead of a compromise.

If they don't figure out a way to reduce the defecit by 1.2 Trillion by today, yhen automatic cuts will start in 2013 over nine years amounting to about 1 Trillion in cuts, alot in defense.

The debt of the US passed the 15 Trillion dollar mark last week so I dont know what 1.2 Trillion now or 1 Trillion over 9 years really means.

The take home point of all of this is that congress is absolutley disfunctional and the blame is on all of them.

The republicans will not concede tax increases without significant cuts in spending and the democrats won't agree on significant cuts without significant tax increases. It sounds like a silly playground standoff.

So what is next? Anyone have any ideas on how to proceed or what happens if we can't fix this political disfunction? I'm curious as to what you guys think.

[ichabodius]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-1...in-income.html

[TheMysterian]

You can be sure this will become a campaign issue!

[ichabodius]

Foxneverstopslying.jpg

Hmmm..... theres something wrong with this.

[shipmatekate]

Foxneverstopslying.jpg

Hmmm..... theres something wrong with this.

It's Faux News

nuff said

[TheMysterian]

Your right Kate! It looks so much better on Google!

http://www.google.com/publicdata/exp...ent+rate+scale

[ichabodius]

Thats from 1950 to Nov. 2011
The Fox News graph shows 8.6 as being equal to 9.0 and higher than 8.8
Probably some graphic artist interns mistake but they are a "news" outlet that should take better care.

[shipmatekate]

Your right Kate! It looks so much better on Google!

http://www.google.com/publicdata/exp...ent+rate+scale

trending down

must really piss you off eh?

[shipmatekate]

Thats from 1950 to Nov. 2011
The Fox News graph shows 8.6 as being equal to 9.0 and higher than 8.8
Probably some graphic artist interns mistake but they are a "news" outlet that should take better care.

Fox new caters to the soulless brain dead right

[ichabodius]

Fox new caters to the soulless brain dead right

Its sad what passes for news reporting. Personal opinions from newscasters on stories are casually interjected between segments skewed towards the targeted audiences core values and political perspective. So-called "reporting" of events and actual news coverage is a tiny fraction of news channels programming taking a backseat to slanted panel discussions and extremist glorified radio celebrities televised rants and editorializations. Fake news about celebrities and terrorism and whatever else scares us or gets us horny are featured instead of issues occurring that have far reaching affects on our immediate future. Were fed shit and told its caviar. Fancy graphics and doublespeak polarize us arounf non issues (gays in the military -always been there- vs. the multinational summit which the US was denied access to to devalue the dollar effectively bankrupting and minimizing U.S.'s military presence globally. U.S. Corporate media lies whether left or right. Side issue the notion that liberals rule the media in the US is absurd. Regardless liberal media or nasty evil right wing media controlled by crazy homicidal x-tians there both flipsides of a stupid nasty evil outdated currency foisted upon an ignorant stupid public brainwashed into accepting this reality as the only possible bargaining chip in this economy of political discourse. Hows that for an incredibly mixed up metaphor?

[Paulination]

Thats from 1950 to Nov. 2011
The Fox News graph shows 8.6 as being equal to 9.0 and higher than 8.8
Probably some graphic artist interns mistake but they are a "news" outlet that should take better care.

Pretty shotty graph job but at least the information is correct.

[TheMysterian]

Good to see you back Paulie!

[Bidmor]

Ford closes 86 year-old St. Paul plant (opened by Henry and Edsel Ford), and the final American version of the Ford Ranger rolls out of the plant; some 800 laid off:
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoram...183034573.html

[Bidmor]

A congress of cowards:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-C...11220-272.html

I'd modify that to read "a congress of money-fattened hoggish traitors", with a few exceptions.

[shipmatekate]

A congress of cowards:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-C...11220-272.html

I'd modify that to read "a congress of money-fattened hoggish traitors", with a few exceptions.

Dirty bastards

[Paulination]

A congress of cowards:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-C...11220-272.html

I'd modify that to read "a congress of money-fattened hoggish traitors", with a few exceptions.

That was a very good opinion piece for which I agree whole heartedly.

[neilmpenny]

A congress of cowards:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-C...11220-272.html

I'd modify that to read "a congress of money-fattened hoggish traitors", with a few exceptions.

This may help explain it. Watch this, about 11.54 in. It's worth watching the whole thing.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamo..._collapse.html

[Bidmor]

Here's another article I ran across...a long read but well worth it.
http://www.stansberryresearch.com/pu....html#continue

[neilmpenny]

Here's another article I ran across...a long read but well worth it.
http://www.stansberryresearch.com/pu....html#continue

I guess he got me offside at the beginning when he rattled on about GDP. Not once does he mention consumer demand or investment, whilst paying scant attention to government spending and imports minus exports. A quantitative analysis of specific numbers in respect to the four items highlighted (which, incidentally, are the four key measurements of GDP) would be more instructive than a qualitative analysis of the parity value of the US dollar and how that is derived.

The problem with that article is that there is a serious lack of citations and references to back up his claims. I cannot help but think he is scare-mongering a little too much. It is not all doom and gloom.

I get the very distinct impression he is pushing an agenda.

Postscript: Ahhhhh. A little internet research reveals a bit about Porter Stansberry. I remember him now, he was pretty much exposed as an Obama basher and was prosecuted for fraud by the SEC. He did the "End Of America" video on youtube.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/200...special-report

[shipmatekate]

I guess he got me offside at the beginning when he rattled on about GDP. Not once does he mention consumer demand or investment, whilst paying scant attention to government spending and imports minus exports. A quantitative analysis of specific numbers in respect to the four items highlighted (which, incidentally, are the four key measurements of GDP) would be more instructive than a qualitative analysis of the parity value of the US dollar and how that is derived.

The problem with that article is that there is a serious lack of citations and references to back up his claims. I cannot help but think he is scare-mongering a little too much. It is not all doom and gloom.

I get the very distinct impression he is pushing an agenda.

Postscript: Ahhhhh. A little internet research reveals a bit about Porter Stansberry. I remember him now, he was pretty much exposed as an Obama basher and was prosecuted for fraud by the SEC. He did the "End Of America" video on youtube.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/200...special-report

Why am I not surprised by this?

pushing an agenda indeed

[Bidmor]

Yep, y'all are right. Stansberry is the guy who is still running commercials on news channels about his end of America web vid supposedly detailing something will happen in 2011 that will have a major impact on American society. (He's running out of time. Does he own a calender?). The video tells one nothing except scaremongering the viewer into buying a subscription to his newsletter...that's his agenda. Yeah I agree with some of Stansberry's statements but the name didn't click. My bad.

[shipmatekate]

Yep, y'all are right. Stansberry is the guy who is still running commercials on news channels about his end of America web vid supposedly detailing something will happen in 2011 that will have a major impact on American society. (He's running out of time. Does he own a calender?). The video tells one nothing except scaremongering the viewer into buying a subscription to his newsletter...that's his agenda. Yeah I agree with some of Stansberry's statements but the name didn't click. My bad.

Didn't someone post his BS earlier?

[Forever-27]

Bidmor Ive heard his ads on the radio. If hes the same guy. Hes bought alot of airtime. His radio ads urge people to go to his website and see his video to protect themselves from oncoming financial collapse of America. By his ads hes supposedly right 90% of the time. Is he the one who predicted GM would go bankrupt, the housing meltdown and fannie and freddie would be bankrupt. I never clicked his site. His radio ads annoy me too much.

If this is the same guy. Something dire would happen at the end of 2011 that would rock our way of life, how we live and how our money wont be worth anything. Id post the link in case anyone wanted to see it but Im not sure if the forum rules would allow it. I myself dont buy into any sort of doomsday predictions by anyone no matter how much a finicial " Expert " they claim to be. I never watched his video. Im still confident that as soon as we get this idiot out of the white house the economy will get better and the markets will ease some. Still its going to take decades to get the housing back to what it once was.

[Bidmor]

That's him, Forever-27, Porter Stansberry. The ads for his web vid site claim he predicted past financial events..."claim" being the operative word. BTW the narrator of the tv commercial is Alex Jones. Anyway I watched the vid many months ago and Stansberry doesn't tell you anything new except that he's not scaremongering, which is exactly what he's doing for purposes of selling you a subscription to his newsletter. I agree with some of his statements in the article link I posted but even in that he states nothing that any conservative might think. As for his vid, don't waste your time. It's no eye opener.

[Bidmor]

France is downgraded from AAA to AA by S&P:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/france...191612943.html

[Forever-27]

The only EU country that still has AAA credit now is Germany.


Cnn reported last night that Greece will most likely default since their bailout talks broke down

[neilmpenny]

France is downgraded from AAA to AA by S&P:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/france...191612943.html

Eight other countries also got downgraded. Portugal's currency is now considered to be of junk value.

[Bidmor]

Oh the dominoes are tipping over at a quicker rate.

[TheMysterian]

Latest Congressional Budget Outlook For 2012-2022 Released, Says Real Unemployment Rate Is 10%

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/latest...-2022-released

[Bidmor]

Latest Congressional Budget Outlook For 2012-2022 Released, Says Real Unemployment Rate Is 10%

Why does this headline surprise me? The so called drop to 8.6% had me cackling too...never mind that the number was arrived at by suddenly not counting some 300,000 who stopped actively from looking for work. Talk about your voodoo economics!

[neilmpenny]

Latest Congressional Budget Outlook For 2012-2022 Released, Says Real Unemployment Rate Is 10%

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/latest...-2022-released

Why does this headline surprise me? The so called drop to 8.6% had me cackling too...never mind that the number was arrived at by suddenly not counting some 300,000 who stopped actively from looking for work. Talk about your voodoo economics!

I don't think anyone would be too surprised by this. However, as I have noted previously, government tends to minimize the number and the opposition tends to inflate it. It depends on how it is measured. Somewhere in the middle is probably the truth.

[Paulination]

Latest Congressional Budget Outlook For 2012-2022 Released, Says Real Unemployment Rate Is 10%

10% is low. It took two seconds to find reports over 11%.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/real-j...icipation-rate

[Paulination]

I found this article interesting as it shows taxing investments at 15% is not as cut and dry as one would think:

"McBride says it is unfair to tax income more than once, and capital gains are taxed multiple times. If you got the original investment from wages, that money was taxed. If the stock you own gains value because the company you invested in makes a profit, those profits are taxed through the corporate tax. And if that company issues dividends, those are taxed as well"

I don't completely buy this argument as I don't feel it is direct multiple taxation, more like a value added tax on investment. But, it is a different argument then the old "lower tax rate induces investment" so it is worth consideration.
http://money.msn.com/tax-tips/post.a...f-9f5a7e52691f

[Bidmor]

Why does this headline surprise me? The so called drop to 8.6% had me cackling too...never mind that the number was arrived at by suddenly not counting some 300,000 who stopped actively from looking for work. Talk about your voodoo economics!

Apologies here for a minor inadvertent omission...my first sentence should have read "Why does this headline not surprise me?" I didn't notice my flaw until Neil quoted me. Cheap keyboard...it doesn't type what I'm thinking.

And Paul stated what struck me at first too, that 10% sounds low.

[neilmpenny]

Apologies here for a minor inadvertent omission...my first sentence should have read "Why does this headline not surprise me?" I didn't notice my flaw until Neil quoted me. Cheap keyboard...it doesn't type what I'm thinking.

And Paul stated what struck me at first too, that 10% sounds low.

Obviously the unemployment number is the national average. What would be interesting would be a state by state breakdown indicating what state is Dem and what is Rep. If it is a Dem state and has a very high unemployment number, would they switch? May be a few surprises lurking there.

[Paulination]

Obviously the unemployment number is the national average. What would be interesting would be a state by state breakdown indicating what state is Dem and what is Rep. If it is a Dem state and has a very high unemployment number, would they switch? May be a few surprises lurking there.

California was 21.8% real unemployment as of last August and we are a very democratic state-

[neilmpenny]

I see nonfarm payrolls rose by 243,000, after a revised 203,000 gain in December. Coupled with the 3% growth in the economy last quarter as I posted earlier, slowly the recovery rolls on. Dow Jones has risen to a height not seen since 2008. Good news finally.

US stocks rally, sending Nasdaq to 11-year high.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/us-stocks-rally-sending-nasdaq-to-11year-high-20120204-1qye0.html#ixzz1lN4UxBdS

Dollar rallies as US jobs jump.

The Australian dollar strengthened against the US dollar and hit a fresh record against the euro after a report showed employers in the world’s biggest economy added more jobs than forecast in January, boosting appetite for risky assets.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/marke...#ixzz1lN58mZgA

[Paulination]

7.9 million jobs lost through 2010. Only 7.7 million to go. Any job created is good news but I also believe in equallibrium and as such you will always have a bounce back that is not entirely indicative of the situation.