Markets around the world plunged Tuesday as evidence mounted that the global economic crisis is worsening.
Japan is suffering its worst downturn in 35 years. The British economy is facing its sharpest decline in almost 30 years. Germany is slumping at its worst pace in nearly two decades. Meanwhile, the job market in the United States, at the epicenter of the global downturn, is the worst since World War II. And emerging economies are contracting at a pace few had predicted just months ago. Even China, whose economy still is growing at a 6.8 percent annual pace, is grappling with vast numbers of the unemployed, raising fears of unrest.
Hmm, let’s examine why this is such a surprise.
1. American jobs sent offshore lowering buying power.
2, Usurious credit card companies gouging the public putting everyone in debt.
3. Bankruptcy laws changed so the credit card companies always get their money.
4. Endless nickel-and-dime fees with cascade fees implemented by banks.
5. Sub prime mortgages.
6. Legal loan sharking and no consumer protection.
7. Multi-billion dollar scams thanks to lax or incompetent regulation.
8. H1B Visas rampant when American workers available.
9. Illegal Mexicans working in US, paying no taxes, sending money out of country to Mexico
10. War in Iraq that was supposed to be over in a few weeks at a cost of “a few billion.”
11. More money spent rebuilding Iraq than USA
12. China OEM to the world ruining manufacturing base everywhere else
13. Sarbanes-Oxley hurting the bottom line and restricting public offerings while protecting nobody
Add some of your own!
In my inexpert opinion, there are two problems here.
The first is we went into a recession when the price of oil started skyrocketing. This exacerbated an already shakey employment picture where many jobs had been sourced to China. Our economy could not absorb both.
The second was the number of bad mortgages. These were the obvious fraudulent paper that mortgage brokers were so eager to sell and investors were so easy to pick up.
# 66 Mr. Fusion said, “This exacerbated an already shakey employment picture where many jobs had been sourced to China.”
What do you think would be a viable solution to losing jobs to these countries that use slave wage labor?
#67, P-O
Nuke ’em.
#68 LOL!
JCD – what hath Spencer wrought? Let me know if you want to interview him and I’ll try to set it up…know him from waay back in MI.
Does everyone clearly recognize that the “international credit system” we are spending trillions on “to save” is a system designed ONLY to transfer wealth to the richest people in the world?
Here is economic activity of worth: Small Bank A lends THEIR money to small home buyer B.
Here is self destructive wealth redistribution: Large Bank C collects the mortgages of many Small Banks and “securitizes” them to Small Investors. In this scenario, its the Large Bank C (investment houses etc) that extract the wealth while passing the diminishes assets on to the small people, or even large entities, but suckers all==like Iceland.
There is great evil in allowing, creating, maintaining, SAVING, the wealth extracting entities. THEY AREN’T EVEN NEEDED!!!! Small Banks are the engine of the economy and their CEO’s only dream of making 500K. The Bonus Captains of Industry are the Wealth Extractors.
A boost to the economy would occur if Congress held a hearing of the full membership with every CEO who earned a bonus in 1998 to be called to testify.
Then, yes, nuke the Capitol Dome.
Two things I’m seeing out of this discussion.
A move back to nationalism. Maybe the world has swung too far to global trade and commerce. H1B visas are a symptom of that along with crippling trade deficits. Common sense tells us this has swung too far.
Banks and regulatory policy. Countries tied closely to the US fed policy are hurting the most. In Canada we went through the major policy headaches in the 80’s and 90’s and it was a crappy place to be a banker then. Since then we’ve opened our policies up to peer review and feedback with national control. It has firewalled us from the worst of it.
#73–QB==right you are. Amusing to see how many people/policy makers are totally captivated by the notion of “free trade” which is really “economic warfare.”
You have to see things for what they are to succeed in the world. Most people only see what they want.
#71 Pedro, you’ve exceeded your allotment of peanut butter for the week.
You need to start taking responsibility for your own actions.
#69, Ditto.
Its the financial irresponsibility of the people.
#47 – HMeyers,
“Short-sighted corporate executives seeking only their next bonuses.”
Not their fault. They obey the scorecard used to award their pay. Blame the people who design their compensation scheme.
I thought I mentioned them in the very next bullet point. Either way though, let’s not forget that it is these induhviduals who paid to have the compensation rules written that way.
“28 years of lowering taxes on corporations.”
Let’s keep this real. If you have “free trade”, our corporate tax structure has to compete with foreign tax structures.
If you follow your line of thinking to the ultimate end, you should be against unlimited free trade … which I believe you are … but understand you have expressed yourself poorly by failing to note the significant role.
I am not for free trade. It is usually just a thinly veiled excuse to further destroy the lives of the poor in other countries for the benefit of corporate executives and shareholders.
… it is the pie in the sky retirement DreamWorks ™ that is really killing those companies.
Granted. However, if we had national health care and national retirement plans rather than pensions, that too would be erased. Why is a GM employee worth more on retirement than I am?
“Overpopulation.”
Citizens of the United States have had a birth rate of under 2.0 for — I’m thinking — nearly 3 decades.
Actually, the U.S. is the only developed democratic nation with a positive increase in population from births, even discounting immigration. That said, I was thinking that our current problems are global. Overpopulation is a global problem with very foreseeable and dire consequences worldwide.
“Consumerism.”
Consumer is gross. Especially the borrow and spend foreign made electronics purchase.
I’m not sure what this statement means. My point is that consumerism is the very definition of non-sustainability.
“Greed”
Actually, greed is not bad. Greed is the opposite of lazy. Greedy people will generally do anything for a dollar, lazy people won’t do anything for a dollar.
I disagree with you here. Greed exists in humanity. Laws must take this into account. This is the reason communism can never work. That doesn’t make greed good. It certainly doesn’t make it good that some will produce nothing and acquire billions of dollars in the process, like banks.
“Consuming renewable resources at a far faster rate than they can replenish.”
Stupid congress exempting trucks to allow the auto makers to meet regulations … but I digress ..
I was including resources like top soil, fossil water, and ocean fisheries. Fossil fuels are not a renewable resource. They must be replaced with something completely different because they will run out no matter what we do. Top soil, water, ocean fisheries, etc. are renewable resources that we are treating in such a way as to make them non-renewable.
The stimulus plan is going to have the opposite effect. Everybody paying more tax to pay for this farce is going to adjust their fees accordingly. Add it up. Add just a dollar or a couple to each bill you pay, each item you purchase and see what your end cost results will be. Then add in a couple more dollars for the loss of revenue due to dwindling sales. THIS is economy.
We need all the bipartisan support we can muster. Even the GOP proposed ‘hope and pray’ plan should not be discounted.
Very interesting read folks, thank you. It’s a shame that a clear understanding of the problem at hand isn’t really gonna help. The economic crisis has, as many of you have pointed out, been a long time coming. Some really clever people have been working really hard to keep the ship afloat, while others have been even busier drilling holes in it’s hull. Maybe it’s time to abandon ship…
Eat the RICH (anyone who still has a job)
Another one to the list:
“Money supply controlled by private banking under the name Federal Reserve – no more federal than Fed Ex”
#59. I am constantly calling my elected officials whenever I hear Bill Gates, et al, spewing nonsense that they cannot fill their positions using U.S. citizens. I have 3 friends that have lost their houses due to being replaced by programmers on H1B visas. In 2001, I was looking to buy a house. I lost my job, even though NONE of the H1B visa people did. The down-payment I saved for the dream of buying a house soon became my life line. I have been telling everyone I know about this unconstitutional process. For years, people thought I was just paranoid, or it was an IT problem. Recently, an accountant friend of mine told me that his department started replacing citizens with people here on H1B visas.
I have been called everything from racist to xenophobic because I spoke out against the H1B visa.
Although I do not have the wide TV/Radio exposure you have, I have been trying to do my part by getting the word out as best I can. Maybe we are both following the same path, but someone with your broad following should use his available resources to bring this problem to the masses, not only IT people.
# 56 Not sure how you think my housing decline numbers were wrong when I never gave any.
You were right about one thing though. It was off subject. Thats because I was responding to # 11.