so anyone worried about the economic situation?

worrying does no good, it's a matter of finding a solution that works for yourself.

our current Presidency is probably wondering which Country to start a war with next so the economy can get a boost. Viva La Canada!!
 
[quote name='cochesecochese']It's a recession. These things happen and they inevitably suck. Good thing I'm already used to living like a poor bastard.[/quote]


Agreed - recession means nothing when you are already poor/broke...
 
A recession is one thing, but when banks are defaulting billions of dollars of home loans and the Feds are merrily printing extra funny money, we are all about to taste the pain of runaway inflation.

Completely different monster than a recession.
 
yeah and what worries me more is that not too many americans are aware of how bad things are and will get. and its the govt thats allowing this by spending money they dont have on shit we dont need. this shit with the value of the dollar dropping is damn disturbing especially if that whole amero thing ends up being accomplished because of that because i dont want to see america united with mexico and canada. the idea of america is being tossed away and sold out from under us so that those in power can create and work towards a one world govt.


also its pretty unnerving that the country we should be most wary and afraid of has us by the balls because of our debt. because of said debt theyre getting away with poisoning americans with lead and other sush things.
 
[quote name='scion of ys']so anyone worried about the current economic situation in the U.S?[/quote]

Hell yes.

I've been at my current job for 1 year and I had $2900 in my 401K. I lost $200 of that in the last two days.
 
Long story short in my eyes is thus: China is propping up our economy, our dollar is worth less than the Canadian dollar, we'll be bought out by a different country and I'll move to Canada.

Gotta love dual citizenship.
 
I've been worried bout the economy for a few years now. It's not that it is bad, its just not good, and getting less and less good-er. And goverment ain't doing shit about it either. I thought maybe things would change once the democrats took power, but they are too busy fighting with Bush and ain't done squat. Goverment has gotten to be a joke. Does anyone here actually believe ANY of the douche-bags running for president really gives a damn about anyone other than their own political career?

Sorry, I'm just a bit bitter about the state of the USA right now. I love this country, and I hate what it is becoming. I don't blame Bush, I don't blame Democrats. I blame us. All of us. This is our country, and we are pissing on it cause everyone cares about who to vote for in American Idol more than they do people who pass our laws. And that is sad. And unless that changes, things are going to get worse.
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']Hell yes.

I've been at my current job for 1 year and I had $2900 in my 401K. I lost $200 of that in the last two days.[/quote]

Just wait until you lose $2900 in one day. That'll really make you sick.

Of course, a few days later I was back up that $2900, but still. Granted, I have a long time to retirement, but it's unnerving seeing losses like that.

And to answer the OP. Yes. I'm more than concerned about our economy and where it's going.
 
Yes, I'm worried.

The US makes nothing. The manufacturing base is completely wiped out, because free trade means American labor has had to compete directly with 3rd world labor. More corporate profits for less jobs. This is decimating the middle class, but Wall Street accumulates wealth.

The government of the USA has served the rich to the point that all real gain in wealth over the last 30 years has gone to the top 1 or 2 percent. With all modern convenience, it is considered a joke that a family could 'get by' with only one parent working these days, or that even a working family should just 'expect' adequate health / dental care.

The lack of gain in wealth was made up by a booming housing market, which is now in free fall.

The real scary part in all this is that we are approaching the end of USofA hegemony. There were a lot of benefits that came with that position, not the least of which being the dollar (the recent downfall of which point to the faith put in the nation's future). Given the extension of military and might, and the massive debt the government is taking on, the downfall is coming quick. These periods of transition also, historically, aren't peaceful. I especially don't see the USA going out peaceful.....it makes me think of a quote.

"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between." -Oscar Wilde

I say....... all hail our new Chinese overlords.
 
[quote name='chakan']A recession is one thing, but when banks are defaulting billions of dollars of home loans and the Feds are merrily printing extra funny money, we are all about to taste the pain of runaway inflation.

Completely different monster than a recession.[/QUOTE]

yes.
 
It's a bit of a Catch-22 at the moment. The Fed realllly wants to make credit more available, so they're printing money and lowering interest rates, but in addition to that the government is trying to take control of things by freezing mortgage rates. Great for the homeowners who bought homes they sure as hell couldn't afford during the period of "irrational exuberance" a few years back. TERRIBLE for anyone who actually had money to lend and now can't get their return. Why would they want to lend at a lower rate if they aren't even allowed to collect at this rate?
 
A bit...

Due to the subprime mortgage crisis, financial institutions have suffered substantial losses, which results in lost jobs and/or disposable income. In addition, consumer confidence is down; one reason is because of the falling home values (people feel less wealthy and they spend less)...which will affect us because consumption is 70% of our GDP. For the time being, the devaluing dollar will partially offset the slowing growth of GDP as exports grow (domestic goods are relatively cheaper). On the other hand, I think we're headed into a recession in the long run; due to the rising oil prices (increased transportation and energy costs = all businesses affected with increased costs and pass that nice increase onto us) and the devaluing dollar which increases the price of imports, the Fed is going to stop lowering interest rates. They need to start combating inflation and it's obvious that they're already starting to become concerned since they didn't cut interest rates as much as expected. Eventually the Fed is going to have to start raising interest rates to combat inflation. Of course, the nice budget deficit also results in negative government savings so long term interest rates are going to go up. Rising interest rates will lower the amount of investment spending on capital which will eventually end up affecting th entire economy. And so on and so on and so on...

Also, many people say that you need about $1 million in your 401k/403b to finance your spending in post retirement years. This is obviously not happening since the savings rate is only at 0.6%; many were depending on their homes as their "retirement fund". They figured that they could just sell their home and move into a smaller one, using their home equity for retirement. Of course, with falling home values........ Baby boomers are starting to near retirement age and if there's panic and they suddenly start saving a lot, there's going to be a huge drop in consumption spending. Of course if they don't start to panic, they might be a little screwed...(then again, if you didn't put aside any money at all for retirement, I have no idea what you were thinking unless you truly couldn't afford to.)
 
[quote name='Maklershed']I'm worried about accidental testicle injury.[/quote]

ME TOO! This is actually a phobia of mine. I'm very conscious every time I zip/unzip my pants to be very careful.


But I really don't forsee the economical problems getting any better anytime soon. Almost all of the Republican presidential canidates want to keep status quo, and all of the Democrats have already stated that want to raise taxes. Oh, they say just raise taxes on the rich and wealthy corporations, but when you raise taxes on the corporations, they are just gonna raise the prices of their goods and services to pay for their taxes, so its really us that are gonna be paying them.

I really believe that it is our nation's tax policy that is destroying the economy. American companies are taking their jobs and leaving for other countries. It's not so much just cheap labor they want, they also desire lower taxes and less restrictions.

Our tax code is more a tool for manipulating us as much as it is for raising revenue for the government. There are politicians who want to increase taxes on people who buy houses over 3000 square feet. Why? This only forces people to buy smaller homes, so why should anyone want to work hard and become a millionaire or something when you're going to be punished by the government for being successful?
 
[quote name='Krymner']I've been worried bout the economy for a few years now. It's not that it is bad, its just not good, and getting less and less good-er. And goverment ain't doing shit about it either. I thought maybe things would change once the democrats took power, but they are too busy fighting with Bush and ain't done squat. Goverment has gotten to be a joke. Does anyone here actually believe ANY of the douche-bags running for president really gives a damn about anyone other than their own political career?

Sorry, I'm just a bit bitter about the state of the USA right now. I love this country, and I hate what it is becoming. I don't blame Bush, I don't blame Democrats. I blame us. All of us. This is our country, and we are pissing on it cause everyone cares about who to vote for in American Idol more than they do people who pass our laws. And that is sad. And unless that changes, things are going to get worse.[/quote]Before I answer the op, I want to answer you. Yes, I think some of them do care. The main one I think cares, despite whether or not anyone agrees with his beliefs, is Mitt Romney. He doesn't have a political career. He is a business man. Some estimates say he's worth $300M+. He has sunken $20M of his own fortune into his candidacy. He has nothing to gain by doing this. He and his wife could live out the rest of their days in comfort, despite whatever may happen to the economy or this country if they wanted. But he sees the same thing you do. The country is, in ways, going down the crapper. And he wants to do something about it for future generations. Like I said, you may not agree with the ways he plans to accomplish things, but I can't think of anyone who would have any reason to be more altruistic in their presidential endeavors than does Romney.


Now, back on topic: I'm not worried. Is it going to get a lot worse before it becomes a lot better? Most likely. But that is the nature of an economy. We are waaay overdue for a financial collapse that would make the Great Depression look like "the good ol' days". And I fear the longer it is artificially staved off, the worse it will be when it eventually hits. But I'm not worried because I know it's going to happen sooner or later and all you can do is prepare yourself ahead of time.
 
I cant find much sympathy for those who got into such a mess by taking on the adjustable rate mortgages, I had the choice to pick one but stuck with the fixed rate so I could budget my money easier... this was before my wife went jobless for a couple years for school, I thought about that as well

I dont think things will get too bad either way (recession or inflation)

But that said, I think there are many other things going on in this country that disturb me when looking into the future...
 
[quote name='MorPhiend']Before I answer the op, I want to answer you. Yes, I think some of them do care. The main one I think cares, despite whether or not anyone agrees with his beliefs, is Mitt Romney. He doesn't have a political career. He is a business man. Some estimates say he's worth $300M+. He has sunken $20M of his own fortune into his candidacy. He has nothing to gain by doing this. He and his wife could live out the rest of their days in comfort, despite whatever may happen to the economy or this country if they wanted. But he sees the same thing you do. The country is, in ways, going down the crapper. And he wants to do something about it for future generations. Like I said, you may not agree with the ways he plans to accomplish things, but I can't think of anyone who would have any reason to be more altruistic in their presidential endeavors than does Romney.
[/quote]
don't want to turn this into a political flame-fest but i don't trust Romney at all. he may have more money than he knows what to do with, but to me he seems like he's driven by ambition not altruism. and he was governor of Mass. so i don't see how he doesn't have a political career.

to answer the OP, ayup.
 
Mitt Romney has the same birthday as me. Thats it, I am voting for him.

But yeah, just because he is sinking a lot of his money into this doesn't mean he is any good or cares about the people. All politicians running for president could probably retire and live comfortably for the rest of their lives. They all want power the power and fame mostly.
 
:lol: I guess Governor doesn't count as a political career?

Wow.

Really though, you make this seem so...inevitable. The thing is, the bulk of the federal debt has been incurred over the past 30 years (which seems like a long time, sure, but keep in mind that it took 200 years to get to $2 trillion in debt, and suddenly we quintuple that in 30 years).

Here's what I want to discover, and it should be mathematically easy to demonstrate. We know that (1) more and more wealth (income and assets) are being concentrated in the hands of the already wealthy, particularly in the past 7 years, and that (2) in constant dollars, the mean household income has not grown since the mid-1990's (of course it hasn't, you say - it's the mean, dummy).

Well, perhaps. But, if the mean hasn't moved, but the concentration of wealth and income in the already-wealthy suggests that, if we treat them as statistical outliers, and examine the mean household income in the US in constant dollars, but eliminate the contributions of the top 1% to the economy (at all measured points), then we should see an actual *decline*, in constant dollars, in the average American household income.

That exposes the very sort of corporate hegemony and monied interest power in the federal government that has corrupted this country, and the very sort of thing that will continue to be the case if we elect any of those Republican buffoons next year (and a good deal of the Democrats, too!).

Those tax cuts did nothing for you, or you, or you. We're earning less than we were a decade ago, without needing to take inflation into account.

Worse yet, we've ignored it because the American people are getting dug into credit holes. We've had negative savings rates for the past 3 years consecutively (making whoever coined the phrase "the people get the government they most resemble" a schadenfreude genius) - so we're either using credit cards to buy things we can't afford that we don't need ($400 Wiis, $300 Hannah Montana tickets) or things we can't afford on a regular wage but need. It's surely, IMO, a mixture of both - we're paying through the nose for oil now, but it hasn't stopped people from spending money they don't have on shit they don't need.

Federally, we can't afford to bail people out when the credit companies start calling (which is precisely why the Republicans revised bankruptcy laws a few years ago to protect wealthy interests by forcing those who declare bankruptcy to pay their balances - which was passed in the same week that the federal government also ruled that United Airlines had no obligation whatsoever to pay out on employee pension plans that were promised to its retired workers).

It's not a completely biased situation - while I believe the Republicans are damn-near single-handedly responsible for the crushing debt we're in, along with monied interests exploiting idiots who dove into subprime mortgages under the false premise that they'd be earning more money three years later, and that they've engaged in enough psychological labeling such that, in the absence of tangible evidence, they've labeled Democrats as the fiscally irresponsible ones (despite the fact that anyone can go to the Congressional Budget Office website and see that the greatest years of national deficits were 8 years of Reagan, and the first 6 years of Dubya - the latter being a Republican Congress and a Republican president - also recognizing that they omit the Iraq War spending provisions from the budget - which is precisely why Congress seems to continually vote on $80 billion spending allocations for the military). Whew, what a run-on sentence, eh? At any rate, the Democrats are complicit because they are either wimps all the time, or they fail to enforce the fiscal responsibility that they showed they were capable of during the Clinton years (if you blinked, you missed it, but there were two years at the end of Clinton's term when we ran a budget *SURPLUS*!).

The problem with the economic crises we're experiencing is that it's been an irreparable house of cards for a while now, and although it may be too late to fix it, it was not an unavoidable crisis early on. We were too busy being self-indulgent to realize how we were being exploited by the wealthy and that we could have stopped this from happening.
 
another thing about all this is why the fuck do we keep supporting other countries and sending aid all over the place when we dont have the money to do so ? social security is nonexistant at this point and yet it seems like with ech year spending goes up and theres nothing to show for it except more debt.


i think things can be improved however on a state and local level but it will take something big to wake up people to whats really happening since those way up top dont care since it all works out in their favor and many of us on the bottom dont seem to care. really man look at each generation of kids that come up in this world its scary to see how little they value life and how theyre slowly having their independence and identity and pride in their country stripped away from them.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']:lol: I guess Governor doesn't count as a political career?

Wow.


... long, but completely & utterly true essay.[/quote]:applause::bow:

Couldn't have said it better myself. I was gonna write an essay as well but I'm too lazy to flesh out my thoughts. :p Thanks for doing it for me. :lol:
 
This is why I don't look at my retirement fund every day. I've got 6 years in my pseudo 401k and I think about $35,000 in there. At bad as things are lately my funds are still up between 4.61% and 10.13% on the year (my money is split between 5 different funds of varying risk from G fund to international). The economy has always been up and down but over time investing your money is a winning proposition. Even the Great Depression is a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of economics over the past century. Now yes, the closer you are to retirement the more chance of getting screwed but that is why people invest in more volatile stuff early and switch to less risk as they approach retirement People who panic in a down period and move everything out on a low point are the ones that get really hurt because the losses are then locked in.

I'm 32 and I've still got 25 years to minimum retirement age at my job and I've worked my way up to 15% of my salary per year going in to my retirement fund plus another 5% matched by my job. If you save early and often you'll be fine. If I stay where I am without even moving up more than 1 or 2 positions over the course of my career and with a modest interest rate I still expect to have near or at a million in there by retirement. Of course if we have a major world depression at the wrong time, well....then we're all screwed anyway except the real top of the earnings chart.

I don't plan to lose sleep over it until I'm at least 50. Then I can worry about it every day when I'm not busy telling those damned punk kids to keep off my lawn!

The bottom line is save early and often no matter where the economy is at. If you are worried about the economy then put it in G-funds. It may be low interest but it's guaranteed and even a little interest really adds up over time especially if you keep increasing the principle. Also if you have a 401k don't forget anything they match is free money and anything you put (Up to a limit anyway, but frankly if you're reaching the limit you're either putting a very large % in or you don't need to be too worried) in is tax deferred. Both very good things!

[quote name='mtxbass1']Just wait until you lose $2900 in one day. That'll really make you sick.

Of course, a few days later I was back up that $2900, but still. Granted, I have a long time to retirement, but it's unnerving seeing losses like that.

And to answer the OP. Yes. I'm more than concerned about our economy and where it's going.[/QUOTE]
 
i am extremely concerned, i am part of the younger generation and its a little mind blowing to see the prices of everything going up so high and income not going up to compensate it.

after all those years in surplus though, i guess we had to hit a depression eventually..


and this stupid war isnt helping the situation at all
 
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