Post: #151

I am afraid the technology won't catch up fast enough to offer a healthy univeral wage (for USA). I think that is 20 years away.

It looks like many people will have to be happy with getting $20k a year to sit around.

Good news is Netflix, Spotify, Virutal Reality Porn and Games along with 3D TV sporting events and movies will keep the population sedated better than any coliseum ever could.

I am not joking this zombie brain food will save massive bloodshed.

Post: #152

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2...ongressman

Quote:Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen didn’t rule out using negative rates in a future crisis but emphasized that they would be adopted as a last resort.

In written responses Thursday to questions from Representative Brad Sherman, Yellen said that “while I would not completely rule out the use of negative interest rates in some future very adverse scenario, policy makers would need to consider a wide range of issues before employing this tool in the United States, including the potential for unintended consequences.”


Sherman submitted his queries following the Fed chief’s Feb. 10 hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, of which he is a Democratic member. It comes at a time when the Fed is debating whether to raise interest rates, even as global economies including the euro area and Japan employ negative-rate policies to stoke economic growth and inflation.

“By some accounts, these policies appear to have provided additional policy accommodation,” Yellen wrote. “We certainly are trying to learn as much as we can from the experience of other countries.”

Sherman had asked what the Federal Open Market Committee planned to do in the event of another economic downturn, and whether it has the legal authority to implement negative interest rates. While Yellen didn’t directly address the legality question, Sherman said in a phone interview that he took the response as an “implicit statement that they have legal authority.”

Yellen notes in the letter that many economic downturns have not necessitated extraordinary monetary policy tools, and that policy makers expect that the economy will continue to strengthen and that inflation will return to the Fed’s 2 percent goal over time.

If the economy is so "strong" according to some market pundits why the necessity for such drastic action with negative rates in a hypothetical
"very adverse" scenario?


This is what they are afraid of..

Japan circa 1980's





They are scared shitless of a few decades long popping of an equities bubble.

Look at the S&P 500.. does this look legit when middle class is being crushed?

Post: #153

(05-13-2016 09:29 AM)El Chinito loco Wrote:  They are scared shitless of a few decades long popping of an equities bubble.

Look at the S&P 500.. does this look legit when middle class is being crushed?

The middle class has been fucked for decades and that will continue for a while.

Looking at the graph, the S&P 500 index has dipped into the 600-800 range twice before, and will probably do so again.

Just need to watch when this happens, so I can buy as many shares as possible for the next upswing. Profit.

Might as well ride the waves in a stormy sea... just don't drown, haha

Post: #154

(05-13-2016 09:34 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 09:29 AM)El Chinito loco Wrote:  They are scared shitless of a few decades long popping of an equities bubble.

Look at the S&P 500.. does this look legit when middle class is being crushed?

The middle class has been fucked for decades and that will continue for a while.

Looking at the graph, the S&P 500 index has dipped into the 600-800 range twice before, and will probably do so again.

Just need to watch when this happens, so I can buy as many shares as possible for the next upswing. Profit.

Might as well ride the waves in a stormy sea... just don't drown, haha

The middle class hasn't been fucked for decades. It's been getting fucked for decades, which is different because it implies a progressive deterioration which means its health right now is the worst it has ever been. You might as well equate the health of the middle class with the health of the economy, so in effect the real economy has been on an unrelenting downward slope for decades, quite contrary to the cyclical upswing and downswings of the equities markets.

The equities markets have become divorced from economic reality, allowed to do so by the leveraging of just about every part of the economy. The point here is that once the debt bubble pops for good, the equities markets will fall to reflect the real value of the underlying economy, and stay there. It took decades to fuck the economy to where it is right now, and it would take decades to unfuck it, assuming such a thing is even possible with changed demographics and overall realignment of the global economy. The upshot is we currently have a third world economy with first world equities valuation, when the bubble pops that valuation is going to pop with it and stay down.

Post: #155

This week's Bill Bonner Newsletter:

Deepdiver: I would love to see Trump investigate potential incentives for US Corp CEOs to actually invest in the USA and build the country's economy and create millions of jobs rather than just funnel a TRILLION dollars a year into their own company stock buybacks to artificially bid up the value of their company shares and their annual bonuses and/or stock options. This is a reason why one of the most successful traders I know never touches individual shares... Was a real eye opener to me who was raised to believe that you buy shares in good companies and over the long haul both the country and the company and you prosper... Building a company via true productivity like China via product and or services value add versus financial engineering to prop up stock value with no corresponding increase in intrinsic value should be what is rewarded - of course if Trump institutes his 15% corp tax plan from freelance to multinational business it should reward productivity again and the companies that do not compete with effective R&D and new revolutionary or just plain better quality products and services will be replaced via creative destruction by better more competitive high-quality companies. One can hope.

Warning: The Smart Money Is Fleeing U.S. Stocks
BY BILL BONNER, CHAIRMAN, BONNER & PARTNERS

DUBLIN – The Dow dropped 180 points yesterday – or about 1%.

And another clever billionaire says he is looking elsewhere for profits. Reuters:

Activist investor Carl Icahn on Monday said there was a chance the stock market could suffer a big decline, saying valuations are rich and earnings at many companies are fueled more by low borrowing costs than management's efforts to boost results.

"I am very cautious on equities today. This market could easily have a big drop," Icahn said.

Yes, dear reader, the smart money is getting out of U.S. stocks. And here’s our old friend Rob Marstrand explaining why:

Right now, every measure that analyzes the S&P 500 says it’s expensive. Prices are high relative to earnings, net assets, sales, and cash flow.

What’s more, there’s plenty of evidence that the main thing propping up the stock prices is heavy buying by the companies themselves [via share repurchases].

And now, that prop is getting kicked out from under the stock market. Bloomberg:

After snapping up trillions of dollars of their own stock in a five-year shopping binge that dwarfed every other buyer, U.S. companies from Apple Inc. to IBM Corp. just put on the brakes.

Announced repurchases dropped 38% to $244 billion in the last four months, the biggest decline since 2009…

Pareto’s “Foxes”

Although the bull market in U.S. stocks is probably near its end, the bull market in the Deep State shows no sign of weakening.

Year after year, the power of the “foxes” grows.

It was the great Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who noticed – among other things – that no matter what kind of government you think you have, there are always some crafty insiders, the “foxes,” who take control of it.

Policies are set, programs are started… decisions are made… with no consent of the people or their elected officials; the foxes work the angles.

Over time, the forces of law and order become more and more corrupt… as the foxes bend the entire system to do their bidding.

Wars are started with no plan or intention to win them. Money is handed out for no better reason than this: They can get away with it.

And best of all, most people are none the wiser; they believe the myths… and attack anyone who challenges them.

Rip-Off

Perhaps the biggest rip-off of all time has taken place over the last eight years – and in plain sight of everybody.

Via the magic of ultra-low rates, the Fed – a nest for the wiliest and most cunning of the foxes – took roughly $8 trillion out of the pockets of savers and retirees and handed it to borrowers.

Who is the world’s biggest borrower?

Yes... it’s the Deep State itself.

The Fed claimed to be helping to “stimulate” the economy. But you can’t really stimulate an economy by stealing from the people who produce wealth and provide it with capital.

Not surprisingly, growth has stalled. Wages have fallen. Productivity has stagnated.

For 95% of the male population, real earnings are lower today than they were in 1973.

Is there any wonder many of these men vote for Donald Trump – a “strong man” who promises to do something about it?

But the top 5% – where the foxes are – gained income. Their wages are up more than 50% over the same time.

Why?

Because they take more and more money from the rest of us.

More tomorrow… on a new Rebellion in Gualfin… and a measure of how big the Deep State has become…

Regards,

Signature
Bill Bonner

Further Reading: The Deep State already controls just about every aspect of American life. From health care to education to the food on our tables to the never-ending war on terror, this cadre of cronies is pulling the strings.

In his latest online presentation, Bill exposes how the Deep State has now pushed the world to the brink of an irreversible disaster. Learn more here as he reveals how it will all unfold… and, more importantly, how it’ll change your life forever.

Post: #156

Harvard is literally giving a medal to someone who is blowing up a huge equities bubble through sketchy fed policy.

Unbelievable. None of this will end well. It's skyrocketed government debt and artifiically inflates equities with unknown future results.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/20...ffe-medal/

Quote:Janet L. Yellen, chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, will receive the Radcliffe Medal during Radcliffe Day on Friday (May 27), the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The medal is presented to an honoree whose life and work have made a significant impact on society.

“As chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen steers our economy with steadfast commitment to robust growth broadly shared,” said Radcliffe Institute Dean Lizabeth Cohen, also the Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Department of History at Harvard. “She uses her intellect and her ideals to strengthen our nation.”

The Radcliffe Day lunch will feature personal reflections from Ben S. Bernanke ’75, a distinguished fellow in residence in the economic studies program at the Brookings Institution and the former chair of the Federal Reserve, after which Gregory Mankiw, the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University, will engage Yellen in conversation about her groundbreaking achievements.

Radcliffe Day — described as a remarkable day of celebration and exploration — begins with a morning panel discussion, “Building an Economy for Prosperity and Equality,” moderated by Cecilia Rouse ’86, Ph.D. ’92, the Lawrence and Shirley Katzman and Lewis and Anna Ernst Professor in the Economics of Education, and dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Rouse will lead four experts in a wide-ranging discussion about factors that invigorate and impede a thriving economy.

The panelists are:

David Autor, A.M. ’94, Ph.D. ’99, professor, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Douglas W. Elmendorf, A.M. ’85, Ph.D. ’89, dean and Don K. Price Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Claudia Goldin, RI ’06, Henry Lee Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Harvard University; director, Development of the American Economy Program, National Bureau of Economic Research
Louise Sheiner ’82, A.M. ’89, Ph.D. ’93, senior fellow in economic studies and policy director for the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, the Brookings Institution

Learn more about the Radcliffe Day schedule, which will be webcast live on May 27.

Post: #157

(02-24-2016 01:51 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  The real unemployment numbers are between 15% and 25%, depending on whether you count underemployment.

There's plenty of data massaging done by the government to make current politicians look good.

We've been in a depression since 2008.

its at around 30% now. they don`t count people who`ve given up looking for work.

Post: #158

The Idle Army: America’s Unworking Men

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-idle-arm...1472769641

Quote:Labor Day is an appropriate moment to reflect on a quiet catastrophe: the collapse, over two generations, of work for American men. During the past half-century, work rates for U.S. males spiraled relentlessly downward. America is now home to a vast army of jobless men who are no longer even looking for work—roughly seven million of them age 25 to 54, the traditional prime of working life.

This is arguably a crisis, but it is hardly ever discussed in the public square. Received wisdom holds that the U.S. is at or near “full employment.” Most readers have probably heard this, perhaps from the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, who said in a speech last week that “it is a remarkable, and perhaps underappreciated, achievement that the economy has returned to near-full employment in a relatively short time after the Great Recession.”

Near-full employment? In 2015 the work rate (the ratio of employment to population) for American males age 25 to 54 was 84.4%. That’s slightly lower than it had been in 1940, 86.4%, at the tail end of the Great Depression. Benchmarked against 1965, when American men were at genuine full employment, the “male jobs deficit” in 2015 would be nearly 10 million, even after taking into account an older population and more adults in college.

Or look at the fraction of American men age 20 and older without paid work. In the past 50 years it rose to 32% from 19%, and not mainly because of population aging. For prime working-age men, the jobless rate jumped to 15% from 6%. Most of the postwar surge involved voluntary departure from the labor force.

Until roughly the outbreak of World War II, working-age American men fell into basically two categories: either holding a paid job or unemployed. There was no “third way” for able-bodied males. Today there is one: neither working nor seeking work—that is, men who are outside the labor force altogether. Unlike in the past, the U.S. is now evidently rich enough to carry them, after a fashion. The no-work life hardly consigns these men to destitution.


This is at least somewhat true throughout the affluent West, but the U.S. has led the pack. Not even in dysfunctional Greece or “lost generation” Japan has the male flight from work proceeded with such alacrity. The paradox is that Americans—those who do have jobs—are still among the rich world’s hardest-working people. No other developed society puts in such long hours, and at the same time supports such a large share of younger men neither holding jobs nor seeking them.

Who are America’s new cadre of prime-age male unworkers? They tend to be: 1) less educated; 2) never married; 3) native born; and 4) African-American. But those categories intersect in interesting ways. Black married men are more likely to be in the workforce than unmarried whites. Immigrants are more likely to be working or job-hunting than native-born Americans, regardless of ethnicity. High-school dropouts from abroad are as likely to be working or looking for work as native-born college grads.

What do unworking men do with their free time? Sadly, not much that’s constructive. About a tenth are students trying to improve their circumstances. But the overwhelming majority are what the British call NEET: “neither employed nor in education or training.” Time-use surveys suggest they are almost entirely idle—helping out around the house less than unemployed men; caring for others less than employed women; volunteering and engaging in religious activities less than working men and women or unemployed men. For the NEETs, “socializing, relaxing and leisure” is a full-time occupation, accounting for 3,000 hours a year, much of this time in front of television or computer screens.

Clearly big changes in the U.S. economy, including the decline of manufacturing and the Big Slowdown since the start of the century, have played a role. But something else is at work, too: the male flight from work has been practically linear over the past two generations, irrespective of economic conditions or recessions.

What we might call “sociological” factors are evident, not least the tremendous rise in unworking men who draw from government disability and means-tested benefit programs. There are also the barriers to work for America’s huge pool of male ex-prisoners and felons not behind bars—a poorly tracked cohort that accounts for one adult male in eight in the civilian population, excluding those in jail now.

Regardless of its cause, this new normal is inimical to America’s national interests. Declining labor-force participation and falling work rates have contributed to slower economic growth and widening gaps in income and wealth. Slower growth in turn reduces tax revenue and increases budgetary pressures, producing higher deficits and national debt. Unworking men have increased poverty in the U.S., not least among the great many children whose fathers are without jobs.

There are the social effects, too. The male retreat from the labor force has exacerbated family breakdown, promoted welfare dependence and recast “disability” into a viable alternative lifestyle. Among these men the death of work seems to mean also the death of civic engagement, community participation and voluntary association.

In short, the American male’s postwar flight from work is a grave social ill. Strangely, nearly everyone—the news media, major political parties, intellectuals, business leaders, policy makers—has managed to overlook it. The urgency of the moment is to bring this invisible crisis out of the shadows.

Imagine how different America would be today if another roughly 10 million men held paying jobs. It is imperative for the future health of the country to make a determined and sustained effort to bring these detached men back—into the workplace, into their families, into civil society.

There we go, unemployment numbers beating the Great Depression! It's about time. The Obama legacy.

EDIT:

If you read the comments on the WSJ, the posters there have NO IDEA why men aren't working. Why aren't men working shit jobs for shit pay for women who chase alphas? Why should men seek shit jobs for shit pay that cannot afford a house or family?

It's better to dope up, drop out, and give good dickings with minimal investment game.

Here's an example of a clueless middle-aged conservadad commenter:

Quote:I live in a region where the problem Mr. Eberstadt describes is apparent. While I have witnessed the impact on the families, too many of which are far from the mold of the 1950s TV sitcoms, I must respectfully disagree with his observations that these are "unworking men...without jobs". For the most part, they are working. But they are doing so in the "off the books" cash economy, and are not counted in the traditional labor force as measured by government statistics. Of course, they also don't pay taxes as a result. This hidden economy may be substantial, and explain the dichotomy between reported GDP and cash in circulation. But the effects on family, and community adhesion as we like to think of it, are evident. I am just not sure what came first - family breakdowns, decisions of young men to behave irresponsibly (with the assent or complicity of their wives or female companions), or societal changes that left such people behind the curve. Charles Murray, please check in on this.

Post: #159

Quote:Harvard is literally giving a medal to someone who is blowing up a huge equities bubble through sketchy fed policy.

Growing that endowment!

Post: #160

(09-02-2016 05:01 PM)Samseau Wrote:  The Idle Army: America’s Unworking Men

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-idle-arm...1472769641

Quote:This is arguably a crisis, but it is hardly ever discussed in the public square. Received wisdom holds that the U.S. is at or near “full employment.” Most readers have probably heard this, perhaps from the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, who said in a speech last week that “it is a remarkable, and perhaps underappreciated, achievement that the economy has returned to near-full employment in a relatively short time after the Great Recession.”

Near-full employment? In 2015 the work rate (the ratio of employment to population) for American males age 25 to 54 was 84.4%. That’s slightly lower than it had been in 1940, 86.4%, at the tail end of the Great Depression. Benchmarked against 1965, when American men were at genuine full employment, the “male jobs deficit” in 2015 would be nearly 10 million, even after taking into account an older population and more adults in college.

Or look at the fraction of American men age 20 and older without paid work. In the past 50 years it rose to 32% from 19%, and not mainly because of population aging. For prime working-age men, the jobless rate jumped to 15% from 6%. Most of the postwar surge involved voluntary departure from the labor force.

There we go, unemployment numbers beating the Great Depression! It's about time. The Obama legacy.

EDIT:

If you read the comments on the WSJ, the posters there have NO IDEA why men aren't working. Why aren't men working shit jobs for shit pay for women who chase alphas? Why should men seek shit jobs for shit pay that cannot afford a house or family?

It's better to dope up, drop out, and give good dickings with minimal investment game.

And even if you can afford a family, why would you pursue having one in most parts of America with fucked up child support/divorce laws?

As for the shit jobs with shit pay: Even THOSE aren't terribly easy to get these days without a connection of some kind. I'm a fairly resourceful guy who knows how to present myself and when I left the military, I applied to a slew of jobs online related to my military work experience. Result?

Nothing. Total dead ends. Tons of wasted time. I won't even bother applying ever again to a job online unless it's in a few specific industries were they are more responsive to cold applications.

USA Jobs (the fed government) was a dead end too. I even applied to internship/entry level stuff (stuff only open to a very limited pool of people) I had experience in only to be told 6 months later they cancelled the job postings. Ridiculous. Applied to a handful of state/county level jobs too. Nothing.

I eventually realized I had three options:

1) Pursue a line of work that few people have any interest in and is hard to fill and therefore, somewhat easier to get your foot in the door with. This would mean starting over career wise. Daunting and not a cakewalk but can be done.

2) Start my own business.

3) Eject and move overseas. Maybe teach English and eventually pursue some business opportunities once established. If I'm going to struggle, I rather struggle in an environment where I can at least get better pussy without as much effort, where men can act like men, and by default, be considered middle class at a bare minimum.

The harsh truth though is that most men simply aren't cut out to do any of the aforementioned. Not everyone can go into some super tough line of work, build a business, or eject for another country. I can swing all three but I can very easily understand how someone with lesser talent/intelligence/willpower becoming totally overwhelmed by the present economic and social environments and just saying:

"You know, fuck all this. I'm done. What's the point?"

It's a brutal world out there these days.

Anti-male, anti-provider, anti-family, fewer and fewer opportunities, insane requirements for entry level work, fierce/experienced/desperate competition, and perverse incentives that reward bad behavior in both business (ex: to big to fail) and non-business life (ex: child support/divorce rape). Even with all of my resources, understanding, and willpower, it has been very difficult at times to stay one step ahead of the massive tidal wave of bullshit.

Visual representation of life for the modern man:



The article refers to guys who have made it a full-time gig to engage in “socializing, relaxing and leisure." This should shock no one. For many guys, that's pretty much the only goddamn positive thing left in their lives; both in the present and in the near-future. That's until some of these guys wake up and realize it might be worth ramming the enemy ship instead. That day is coming very soon unless a drastic change (like a President Trump) occurs in the very near future.

Post: #161

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/...-collapse/

Obamacare Insurance Markets on Verge of Collapse

Obamacare sign is seen on the UniVista Insurance company office on December 15, 2015 in Miami, Florida.
by WARNER TODD HUSTON
3 Sep 2016

Citing the financial unsustainability of Obamacare, both the insured and insurers are fleeing Obamacare in increasing numbers, leaving President Obama’s takeover of the nation’s healthcare system on the verge of collapse.

The administration has claimed Obamacare — officially designated the Affordable Care Act — to be a great success, insisting that 20 million previously uninsured Americans now have insurance. But according to a report at The Guardian, that “success” comes at the expense of all the features that were supposed to make the law sustainable.

President Obama and his cohorts imagined that since Obamacare was to be compulsory, millions of healthy young Americans would immediately sign up, and the massive influx of cash paid into the system as insurance premiums would help pay for the higher costs in care doled out to older, sicker enrollees.

VIDEO: ASTRONOMICAL INSURANCE PRICES LEAVE PEOPLE QUESTIONING AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Unfortunately for supporters of Obamacare, millions of young people simply ignored the law, deciding, instead, to pay the tax penalties to the IRS for not having insurance because it was both easier to do and cheaper in the long run. Consequently, the largest number of new enrollees are people whose illnesses are costing the insurance companies more to pay out for their care than they are paying into the system in premiums. The result is more money going out for care than coming in, a situation impossible to sustain for long.

The latter is why so many insurance carriers are dropping out of Obamacare. They are being outspent and cannot sustain the costs and remain profitable at the same time. And this, in turn, is setting the whole Obamacare system toward collapse.

As the outlet reports:

In April, UnitedHealthcare left most of the 34 state marketplaces it participated in. And in August, Aetna scaled back its participation in the markets because of losses, and also because of the [J]ustice [D]epartment’s attempt to block it from merging with another health insurance giant, Humana.

Worse, insurance premiums have risen time and again since the inception of Obamacare only a few short years ago, and those rises are set to continue pricing many policies hundreds of dollars a month past the wooly claims of cheap healthcare plans Obama made when he was pushing the law.
...

This also effects jobs formation - massive ACA Obamascare health insurance premium increase and deductible and copay increases to drop like a steel anvil in October... this and 41% Fed income tax, 16% Employer and Employee Social Security tax, 6% medicare tax, 5% to 10% plus state and city income taxes, state unemployment and workmens comp insurances, huge property taxes and numerous other taxes and fees...

No wonder millions of men set up a DBA or LLC marry an office drone or nurse or teacher and only pay taxes on her income and hide his cash income... especially guys under crushing child support orders the will have bank accounts in their girl friends name and SSN but control the accounts...

These are tough guys earning serios money... I was looking at buying an interior and exterior paint contracting biz in an upscale ocean front community the guy charged an average of $20K plus for exterior sand caulk prime and paint a house and $10k to prep and paint inside a house...

His trick was to attend 4 differnt old wasp churches every weekend and give discounts to the ministers in exchage for good references... he typically had an average $300K backlog as the homowners especially older widows were terrified of letting unknown illegal immigrants on their properties.

The huge increases in ACA healthcare costs are driving most small businesses operating on razor thin margins into the red as in operating at a loss thus the cash DBA/LLC contracting economy.

Post: #162

And this disturbing report Trump should hammer the Clinton-Obamunists with:

94,391,000 Americans Out of the Labor Force in August 2016...

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/...ce-august/

Post: #163

Middle aged males and ALL females cannot answer that question. Why are millennial men not busting their asses at work? Because you can fuck girls on a basic income if you learn game. As the great Dave Chappelle said, "if a man could fuck a woman in a cardboard box, he wouldn't buy a house".

Post: #164

Even if Trump wins in a landslide and has his way with every trade deal.

No matter what he does in the next 8 years technology is like a gigantic waterfall and he is a single hand extended to stop it.

10 years from now the workforce won't be recognizable.

Vast majority of people will be given some subsistence or rotational shift work and everyone will be making the equivalent of $30k a year with the top 20% making more in "real jobs". They will try to just give you a code on your phone. No cash. With freezes if you spend too quickly. The government will be able to track everything you consume and they will be able to put blocks on things they don't want you to have.

Next on the chopping block are all these college degree chicks in HR, marketing, and healthcare. They will be the new young black man fervently cried about not having enough opportunity.

Even nurses soon enough will get boxed out by robots.

As we see reality turn ever more cartoonish it will keep escalating drastically through the next 10 years at least. The last 2 years have had an amazing number of events. It will keep going faster as technology piles on.

Everything will seem surreal until we as a country, then a world, figure out true abundance. Then everyone will finally become more zen and so many won't all feel like they are barely treading water.

Post: #165

For those interested in the Obamacare implosion:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-25...ime-crisis

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-26...erage-2017

TL; DR: Costs going up exponentially, premiums rising by 25% or more in many states this year, and Doctors and Healthcare companies are jumping ship.

Post: #166

So student loan (no crisis, just indentured servants) "crisis" is not one, just an input for control, as I've found. They'll never let those get discharged.

But, isn't there a big car loan bubble? And a developing, but smaller, housing loan bubble?

Now healthcare bubble?

Will judges be the ones that ultimately decide the terms of the pension "agreements" that can't possibly be paid by the likes of IL, CA, NY, etc? Better do those in a big tribunal type committee so that a particular judge can't be blamed, since they'll be doing the politicians dirty work for them, anyway, when they make the suggestion that the pension benefits have been reduced by 30-40% overnight.

Post: #167

The latest jobs numbers released today are being touted as a "success."

Reality:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-07...ng-workers



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-07...al-workers



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-07...008-levels



Not only are people hemorrhaging real jobs just so they can become baristas, waiters, and gas station clerks, but these jobs get counted as "job growth" for the labor market!

And to make things even better, people with multiple part-time jobs might get counted more than once! A guy with 3 part-time jobs counted as 3 employed people! You can't make this shit up:



With numbers like 1.2 million full time jobs lost in September, how the hell does Trump lose?

Post: #168

(10-07-2016 01:09 PM)Samseau Wrote:  how the hell does Trump lose?

Because the system is rigged!

Trump himself admits this.

The liberal media will cheat to help Hillary.

I predicted this last year!

Trump should have paid off the media to control public perception!

Post: #169

(10-08-2016 09:47 AM)Giovonny Wrote:  Trump should have paid off the media to control public perception!

With what? Trump is worth $6 billion. His enemies are worth $6 trillion.

Post: #170

(10-08-2016 10:16 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  

(10-08-2016 09:47 AM)Giovonny Wrote:  Trump should have paid off the media to control public perception!

With what? Trump is worth $6 billion. His enemies are worth $6 trillion.

Money is not the only way to buy influence and win elections..

There is also:

political favors
business favors
sexual favors

violence
threat of violence
blackmail/extortion

promises
You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours
preferential treatment

etc.

Trump needs to do more to "buy" certain key media figures who control the news stories..

Hillary is cheating and has people cheating for her.

You can't fight fair when your opponent is massively cheating!

Post: #171

How bad are things at the bottom of the totem pole...?

Post: #172

(02-24-2016 01:51 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  The real unemployment numbers are between 15% and 25%, depending on whether you count underemployment.

There's plenty of data massaging done by the government to make current politicians look good.

We've been in a depression since 2008.

Recently I've read in a history book that, most of the times, in most societies, the percentage of non-working-people-that-should-be-working has always been around 20%. For centuries, millennia perhaps.

Don't know how it compares men and women, though. But it gives something to think about.

Why would that change in our era? I know that we all want a high labour percentage, but it seems to be a historical law.

Post: #173

(09-19-2017 04:42 PM)Lime Wrote:  

(02-24-2016 01:51 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  The real unemployment numbers are between 15% and 25%, depending on whether you count underemployment.

There's plenty of data massaging done by the government to make current politicians look good.

We've been in a depression since 2008.

Recently I've read in a history book that, most of the times, in most societies, the percentage of non-working-people-that-should-be-working has always been around 20%. For centuries, millennia perhaps.

Don't know how it compares men and women, though. But it gives something to think about.

Why would that change in our era? I know that we all want a high labour percentage, but it seems to be a historical law.

Where did you discover this "law"?

Sounds like total nonsense. How we define "employed" is very important. Are mothers considered employed? If not then that means historically, non-working people was over 50%.

Post: #174

Things are still horrible for those who cannot get welfare and have nothing to offer but simple labor:

http://press.careerbuilder.com/2017-08-2...der-Survey

78% Of US Workers Are Living 'Paycheck-To-Paycheck' & 71% Of Them Are In Debt

Quote:CHICAGO and ATLANTA, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Do you countdown to payday? You're not alone. More than three-quarters of workers (78 percent) are living paycheck-to-paycheck to make ends meet — up from 75 percent last year and a trait more common in women than men — 81 vs. 75 percent, according to new CareerBuilder research. Thirty-eight percent of employees said they sometimes live paycheck-to-paycheck, 17 percent said they usually do and 23 percent said they always do.

The national survey, which was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from May 24 to June 16, 2017, included representative samples of 2,369 full-time employers and 3,462 full-time U.S. workers across industries and company sizes in the private sector.

More Money, Less Financial Headaches?
Having a higher salary doesn't necessarily mean money woes are behind you, with nearly one in 10 workers making $100,000 or more (9 percent) saying they usually or always live paycheck-to-paycheck and 59 percent in that income bracket in debt. Twenty-eight percent of workers making $50,000-$99,999 usually or always live paycheck to paycheck, 70 percent are in debt; and 51 percent of those making less than $50,000 usually or always live paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet, 73 percent are in debt.

"As an employer, your employees' financial problems become your financial problems," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer for CareerBuilder. "If workers are constantly thinking about their financial struggles, their quality of work can decrease, and it can take a hit on their morale and productivity. If you do what you can to help people keep their finances under control — by doing things such as matching 401(k) contributions or hosting financial planning seminars — you'll ease some of their financial worries and it will be less likely to have a negative impact on your business."

Debt is a Growing Issue for Workers
A quarter of workers (25 percent) have not been able to make ends meet every month in the last year, and 20 percent have missed payment on some smaller bills. Further, 71 percent of all workers say they're in debt — up from 68 percent last year. While 46 percent say their debt is manageable, more than half of those in debt (56 percent) say they feel they will always be in debt. And it should be noted that 18 percent of all workers have reduced their 401k contribution and/or personal savings in the last year, more than a third (38 percent) do not participate in a 401k plan, IRA or comparable retirement plan, and 26 percent have not set aside any savings each month in the last year.

Everything we see in the economy with stocks, bitcoin, etc, is all because of the ultra rich. Vast majority of peons slave away each day, just trying to survive.

Post: #175

Wages for average worker have stagnated since the late 70's... And that's only the beginning of the problem....