What are your thought's on the Economy Proplem?

[Alucard]

Well I think that this Proplem really suck's!

[Pervysage]

I can understand it trickle down economics and all but right now I'm so pissed off at my government. If I was to tell you how pissed I am right now it would just be a bunch of swear words and government every few lines.I can also tell you right now this 700 billion is like trying to put a band aid on a sucking chests wound. Now I'm going to dumb this down super super dumb down whats going on we are going to pretty much give these banks over time 700 billion or more US tax payer Dollars.So we the tax payer can then go and get a loan of our own tax payer money with a stupid amount of interest added on to it. Alot more to it then just this but pretty much this is the plan.

[Phantom Renegad]

I don't understand how they keep saying we have to cut government spending....

.....

Uh... This is a wall street big business biting off more than they can chew issue. By cutting government spending you won't solve the problem or even keep it from happening in the future. The only way to stop this from happening is to regulate big businesses so they don't go beyond their means, not it bad times but in good times when practices like high risk loans look like a good idea.

[zer0]

If the government can't look at the past and figure out what to do to help the economy, we're totally screwed. From this, I get the feeling that history will repeat it self, another Great Depression, maybe WWIII, if we don't fix this soon.

[daeryn]

I dont understand the whole problem, but here's what I get about it: we're essentially dealing with a giant house of cards that has finally started to fall apart. The roots are in the way banks have played with the money system, elaborate loans and other number issues to remain 'competitive' - creating a culture where the over-stretching became not merely accepted but almost required on many fronts. I've heard reports on how naive people were aggressively conned into overstretching on loans, on how loans that should not have been approved were, on how people cooked the books to make everything look nice so that stock prices would go up. But at the end of the day there is not enough REAL money to back up all the overstretching, and now the rubber band is breaking.

The other half is that in order to deal with the problem as it began to break, the government took a lot of quick, small steps to try and forestall this collapse... steps that have pushed inflation WAY up and the value of the dollar WAY down. And on top of that we have international oil prices going through the roof, which we feel across the board in terms of hurting our net import/export ratio. Even worse, it feels like all the places now floating on the oil-price high are the parts of the world that really hate us due to foreign policy - that part of the situation is NOT going to get better in short order.

And while not 'officially' part of the problem, I'm going to point a finger at the politics and politicians that see fit to throw billions overseas in free, no-return 'aid' while leaving our own business unsolved and key sections of the government underfunded. Oh, and they'll talk up how there's no money available for it, too. Yeah. Big pet peeve of mine.

So that's where we are now - we're dealing with having to fix the fallout of a banking industry that has essentially made a living on inventing new ways to stretch money, and also having to deal with inflation and higher international prices that are driving our trade deficit up.

But beyond that, our economy seems to now be largely based on services as opposed to producing goods that could be exported. I read somewhere that when Japan had a similar banking problem a decade or two ago, they were able to keep going because their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - i.e. national income - stayed high; they were still making money even while trying to sort out their banking and debt issues. I don't know right now if we have the same financial solidity with which to recover half as easily.

So what do I think we need? Fix the bloody trade deficit, stop overspending the federal budget each year (especially on all this excessive foreign aid), and stop the politicians from making glowing promises about tax breaks and other money-spending incentives that they will only be able to achieve at the expense of future financial stability.

On the subject of the giant government bailout - I think bigman hit the nail on the head by calling it a bandage on a sucking chest wound. The intent as I understand it is for the government to short-circuit the 'bad debt' resolution by buying it all from banks that are in trouble, and letting them start with a clean slate - to patch the current symptoms, but not directly fix the underlying problem. Unless there is a HUGE re-organization of the banking business culture, they're immediately going to start re-building the same problems all over again - and of course, some executives in the banking business are probably going to treat it as a payday instead of a bailout. I hope there is some massive oversight to make sure that doesn't happen. Not to mention what it will do for inflation (and our international buying/selling power), and the fact that the tax dollars spent in this bailout are not (currently) going to produce any sort of return so that the loss can be made up.

And again, I want to underscore the issue that as a nation we HAVE to actually PRODUCE something to fix the trade deficit - it disturbs me on a fundamental level how many businesses are entirely consulting, or oversight, or politics - something where people are paid insane amounts of money to sit around and MANAGE (often in addition to other similarly paid managers) and never actually produce any tangible products, net-value products themselves. Make stuff, build stuff, install stuff, and get people overseas to pay for it.

And that's the end of this rant.

Push button, receive bacon.

-Daeryn

[Funnyshoes]

and daeryn's rant can be summed up as such: God help the Americans XD

[fesknet]

Well the bill didnt pass so the tax payer will not pay the mistake the fat cats did in wallstreet. But now USA is now no longer a superpower in economic or worst an developing country.

[kyo45]

If the gas prices goes up to $5 I'm so going to star a riot. (keep an eye on 9 news)

[Pervysage]

If I didn't sell my stocks last week I would be rioting in the streets right now.
Hey kyo45 you live in Florida 9news is a Tampa station

[Phantom Renegad]

Hell this is my chance to buy buy buy... When things turn around...

[kyo45]

Colorado well I guess new station are all different just watch BBC world new then you may see a guy with a torch and gun screaming "Burn everything".

[happysam]

america is disappointing me on many fronts: economics, religion in public schools, war that we should not be in, too many people, too many stupid people, too many stupid people with guns, too many stupid people with lawyers ect. ect., makes me sad

[Disconsented]

I know I'm taking this from Frontlines: fuel of war but its all to real that the major super powers will form and attack the others while the R&D budget for alternative fuel sources will sky rocket.

(longest post yet)

[darkmagis]

im sorry i have a big feeling that the shits guan hit hte fan soon i mean with are econemy going to shit and no ne paying attention no ones really afraid yet so no ones really taking action we are the people that make up this contry yet we let people that we complain about continue to run the country and when things don't go right we just Blame them for it...in the end that solves nothing and we just get back to squre one the point that we are fucked... i feel that the country and its citizen need to take a stand and start rebuilding areselves from the ground up becuase if we becoem a weak country... in the eyes of thsoe that hate us right now we will be more like a big target saying we are bending over for you way not come over and fuck us some more....i feel that the government needs to put more money into opening up the job market and a little less into militray actions so that we have money to continue protecting areselves in the long run their are to meny crude selfish business men that steal money from good people now adays they take from are work force and don't even know nore care what they are letting happen to those around them people have become so afraid of each other that we are eating eachother alive for survivle.people say they are jsut trying to protect others by blatently accusing people of race and sex and status of being bad people but in the end its those actions and words that create the monsters we fear to face. becuase in the end we as human beings have never be able to control that side of us well we are slowy drifting into a dark hole...and probly to are own destruction. not trying to sound like the guy running down the street screaming ITS THE END OF THE WORLD. but hell i mean come now mankind made the NUKE!! that enough should tell you what we will do to eachother... not saying that you are to blame but i just hope you can see where im coming from. one man may not be able to do enough but we are a nation...not just one person. also people have become so distant that no one person can rally us together to get are shit strait in the end its like everyone just sits in their homes and waits for the end to me....

[darkmagis]

I'm sorry. I have a big feeling that the shits going to hit the fan soon. I mean with are Econemy going to shit and no one paying attention, no ones really afraid enough yet. So in the end no ones really taking action. We are the people that make up this country, yet we let people that we complain about continue to run the country. Plus when things don't go right we just Blame them for it. In the end that solves nothing and we just get back to squre one, the fact that we are fucked. I feel that the country and it's citizen need to take a stand and start rebuilding areselves from the ground up. If we become a weak country, in the eyes of those that hate us right now we will be more like a big target saying "we are bending over for you way not come over and fuck us some more". I feel that the government needs to put more money into opening up the job market and a little less into militray actions, So that we have money to continue protecting areselves in the long run. Their are to meny crude selfish business men that steal money from good people nowadays. They take from are work force and don't even know/nore care what they are letting happen to those around them. People have become so afraid of each other that we are eating eachother alive for survivle. People say they are just trying to protect others by blatently accusing people of race,sex and status of being bad people. It is those actions and words that create the monsters we fear to face. We as human beings have never be able to control that side of us well we are slowy drifting into a dark hole and also to are own destruction. not trying to sound like the guy running down the street screaming "ITS THE END OF THE WORLD", but hell I mean come now mankind made the NUKE...and used it on civilins just to prove a point!! that enough should tell you what we will do to eachother. Not saying that you are to blame but I just hope you can see where im coming from. One man may not be able to do enough but we are a nation, not just one person. Also people have become so distant that no one person can rally us together to get are shit strait. It's like everyone just sits in their homes and waits for the end to come.

((Sorry for the double post this one was edited do to the fact thatm y last one was slopy and i was unable to edit it becuase i waited to long. PLease delete the previous posting if possible thank you ^-^))

[Mistabig]

I don't think they should have passed the 700 billion dollar bailout plan...but I am hopeful that Obama will fix all of these problems before his term ends.

[Phantom Renegad]

It's one helluva tough fix. If he does do it in a single term, or if he even manages to put a sizable dent in the problem, it will be a miracle.

[d-boy]

i justt think that the oil price is getting lower
and that's great^^
better times will come
just wait and buy a lot of things

[Phantom Renegad]

One thing I don't understand is trickle down economics. What everyone calls trickle down wouldn't rich folks call a money leak? "Oh shit we're leakin money!" "No sir that's just the trickle down" "I don't care! Quick! Plug it up!" j/k

[Pervysage]

Phantom Renegad pretty much what you said is whats happening

[lurker555]

What sickens me is that the bankers and politicians knew this was coming and rather than try to stop it or minimise they effects just kept going as if nothing was wrong, this really sticks in my craw.

[Nolanoth]

Oh it’s simple. There is an increasing death rate and a low birth rate (of course not in Asia). Since the lifespan of old people keeps increasing it is not so visible yet. It is due to the increasing level of medi-cal/technological advancement. The many reason that cause the population to decrease (like nuclear/small families that have only one child, abortions etc. etc.) also cause economical problems. A young man unlike an old one has a number of basic needs and items he should acquire. For example: buying a car, radio, TV, perhaps even building a house.

The less people there are the less products will get sold. That means a lot of people that have been/are currently working have already gotten or will get fired because there will be no need to produce as much as before. And note that despite Asia does not have such problems it is unluckily they will buy European or American products due to their economical power.

[Phantom Renegad]

Yeah! Our economy isn't ailing cuz Donald Trump isn't buying enough Fords or GMs. It's not because Paris Hilton isn't buying enough clothes. It's not cuz Bill Gates isn't buying lots of electronics from Best Buy or Circuit City. It's cuz the people on these forums don't have as much buying power because of the mistakes on wall street.