Yeah, like if you've been "H1-B'd" like I was. Fuck globalization. And like the "train your replacement" in order to get your severance package is a hoot as well. So fuck corporatism as well. After that you get take "early retirement" because of silent age discrimination and work at some minimum wage job. Now, excuse me while I try to find the reset button.Originally Posted by Classic-X'er
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP
There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."
And why did that happen? Democrats are complicit in this, of course; but the "free market" meme trumpeted by Republicans is responsible for this. The government has failed to make it harder for companies to employ cheap labor overseas and make products to sell back to us at cheap prices. Free trade is not fair trade. The unions have been decimated by GOP policies, and THEY are the ones who rightly oppose these free trade policies like the TPP.
And meanwhile the tycoons whom Republicans support and satisfy their every desire are automating and computerizing their industries, thus firing even more workers, and gobbling up all the profits with their huge salaries instead of being required by the Democratic Party to pay higher taxes to support and help these workers and to raise minimum wages so that all wages go up for the workers who remain and who make the corporate tycoons rich.
And we need to shorten the hours of these workers at the same pay so that more people can get the remaining jobs, and educate our people better so that more of them can do the work; not blame teachers and cut their salaries and make them teach to tests so that our students can't think or innovate. And our industries need to switch to green energy which is more efficient and will create more jobs here in America.
Now, what is God's and Jesus' name is so goddam hard for the rednecks to understand about all this? And why do they get all huffy just about being informed about these facts? No-one here in the blue-voting precincts really believe that they can't understand these things if given (or if they give themselves) half a chance.
If they listen instead to dog whistle noise about "dependency" and "free stuff" and "bad character" and "atheism" and "socialism" and "creationism" and such like that, then they are screwing themselves over, and they have to take the responsibility for THAT too.
Last edited by Eric the Green; 05-11-2015 at 09:14 PM.
Uh, why did Obama get stupid and go with this TPP shit?
Eric, remember QE courtesy of the FED has lowered interest rates to zip which rapes pension funds and old folks while at the same time makes the capital costs of automation the same number. That number is also zip.And meanwhile the tycoons whom Republicans support and satisfy their every desire are automating and computerizing their industries, thus firing even more workers, and gobbling up all the profits with their huge salaries instead of being required by the Democratic Party to pay higher taxes to support and help these workers and to raise minimum wages so that all wages go up for the workers who remain and who make the corporate tycoons rich.
Well, we can't even get Americans to ditch those dumb incandescent light bulbs. Now I know they have a positive payback and every socket in my house either has a LED or fluorescent light bulb. As for green energy, that's what's called market failure. There's an economic factor call an "externality". That is to say that there exists external costs like CO2 emissions that aren't at present factored into say the use of coal. Likewise, the costs of securing foreign oil are also not factored in to the actual price paid.And we need to shorten the hours of these workers at the same pay so that more people can get the remaining jobs, and educate our people better so that more of them can do the work; not blame teachers and cut their salaries and make them teach to tests so that our students can't think or innovate. And our industries need to switch to green energy which is more efficient and will create more jobs here in America.
At high school, there assorted cliches. There were the stoners,rednecks,jocks,nerds,and preppies. One could be mixed into some combination of the cliches. Ie. I was a nerd/stoner. The rednecks were known for tobaccy dipping , cowboy boots, big belt buckles, but for the most part, they weren't the sharpest tools in the shed to say the least. The ones I know and peeked at their faceplant pages are all about country music, cows, crops, and if folks mess with the flag. Oh and assorted vehicles, let's not forget that.Now, what is God's and Jesus' name is so goddam hard for the rednecks to understand about all this? And why do they get all huffy just about being informed about these facts? No-one here in the blue-voting precincts really believe that they can't understand these things if given (or if they give themselves) half a chance.
Dunno. Maybe if they were told that filthy coal plants put mercury and arsenic into their crops and cows they'd listen?If they listen instead to dog whistle noise about "dependency" and "free stuff" and "bad character" and "atheism" and "socialism" and "creationism" and such like that, then they are screwing themselves over, and they have to take the responsibility for THAT too.
Last edited by Ragnarök_62; 05-11-2015 at 09:57 PM.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP
There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."
Powerful interests coax presidents to bend to orthodox opinion. Powerful presidents want to set policy without public input. Too bad.
Yes, the only anti-depression tool which the GOP allowed the government to keep after Black Tuesday.Eric, remember QE courtesy of the FED has lowered interest rates to zip which rapes pension funds and old folks while at the same time makes the capital costs of automation the same number. That number is also zip.
Indeed, but the cost of finding and making fossil fuels is going up anyway, despite the failure of the Silent Senate to pass a carbon tax.Well, we can't even get Americans to ditch those dumb incandescent light bulbs. Now I know they have a positive payback and every socket in my house either has a LED or fluorescent light bulb. As for green energy, that's what's called market failure. There's an economic factor call an "externality". That is to say that there exists external costs like CO2 emissions that aren't at present factored into say the use of coal. Likewise, the costs of securing foreign oil are also not factored in to the actual price paid.
Nope, I've never been H1-B'd and I haven't really been impacted by globalization either. I've spent the bulk of my HVAC career in the field repairing and replacing heating and air conditioning equipment within a metropolitan area. Even though I owned a business, I spent more time in the field making sales and fixing this and that or checking on this or that than sitting in a desk running the business from the office. I loved it and I'd love to be in that position again someday. I hate the government for lifting people out of poverty with it's social initiatives and loose financial policies that ended up costing me a small fortune and damn near bankrupted me.
You probably agreed with Sarah Palin when she divided America into the "Real America" and everything else. The "Real America", to her, is homespun and traditional. It has changed less in its attitudes from what America was like in the 1920s. Urban America is not so real -- unless one calls Sodom and Gomorrah real. Urban America is full of scary people -- homosexuals, minorities who don't know that they are supposed to be oppressed, cosmopolitans whose taste in music suggests more that they would be happier with the musical scene of Prague than with Appalachia and the Ozarks, people with strange religions, people with college degrees...
Sarah Palin's "Real America" is one of grain fields and cow pastures. But America is much more of an urban country than it was in the 1920s. People are where the concrete and asphalt is most concentrated, and not where the grain fields and cow pastures are. In the 1920s America was much more rural.
Sprinkles of blue? You ignore how large those 'sprinkles' are.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
It still sucks.
Yup, but the long term consequences are gonna be real bad. First, pension funds [including public employee ones] assume a certain yield to cover future beneficiaries. QE forces 2 very bad options. They can settle for the proper low risk investments that thanks to QE yield zilch. OTOH, to achieve yield they can invest in trash like junk bonds. Either way, all pension folks are going to get reamed. Next knock off is the thing you were complaining about, that is automation. Like I said, QE makes the costs of doing that go way down. The short concept of that is that QE facilitates capital investment in labor replacement capital goods which will displace labor inputs. Who needs workers when robots/computer programs do the tasks? The net result is exchanging a short term reset with a permanent decline in the demand for labor. As for the minimum wage, well that increases the cost differential more such that robots/software look even more attractive.Yes, the only anti-depression tool which the GOP allowed the government to keep after Black Tuesday.
If the Mideast explodes, that will get the job done even quicker.Indeed, but the cost of finding and making fossil fuels is going up anyway, despite the failure of the Silent Senate to pass a carbon tax.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP
There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."
HVAC and other trades such as plumbing are generally exempt from globalization. That also begs the question as to why college and those wretched student loans are still being pimped like crazy. I think that if someone is mechanically inclined or has some other trades related talent, then the trades should get equal time to say the least. One of my high school buddies is a plumber and his son works with him. I say good for them.
Sure, most folks in the trades find their careers to be pleasant. That's a stark contrast to say being a Wally World flunky.Even though I owned a business, I spent more time in the field making sales and fixing this and that or checking on this or that than sitting in a desk running the business from the office. I loved it and I'd love to be in that position again someday.
1. I agree on loose financial policies like QE.I hate the government for lifting people out of poverty with it's social initiatives and loose financial policies that ended up costing me a small fortune and damn near bankrupted me.
2. Now on social insurance, now what would you do if you happened to be working on a roof HVAC, fell off and broke both legs, and that injury rendered you crippled? Shit happens you know.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP
There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."
The interest rates were lowered because of the Great Recession, but that's separate from QE. Interest rates have been low many times during recessions without there being any QE. I don't know why you, a smart guy, would confuse the two.
There's nothing to invest in today, really. It's not helping folks like me, and low interest doesn't help as many folks as before because business is now so concentrated and corporatized.OTOH, to achieve yield they can invest in trash like junk bonds. Either way, all pension folks are going to get reamed.
That's a bad deal.Next knock off is the thing you were complaining about, that is automation. Like I said, QE makes the costs of doing that go way down. The short concept of that is that QE facilitates capital investment in labor replacement capital goods which will displace labor inputs. Who needs workers when robots/computer programs do the tasks? The net result is exchanging a short term reset with a permanent decline in the demand for labor.
It's hard to see how it could get much more attractive as it is. Increasing wages at least distributes the rewards of productivity. If they fire all their workers, then they should pay even higher taxes, because unless their wealth is redistributed, they won't have any customers. Unless we buy playdude's scheme and just print/fiat up as much money as we want, if we can bypass the Fed's bond buy-ups and giving loans to corporations part.As for the minimum wage, well that increases the cost differential more such that robots/software look even more attractive.
It's hard to see how that could explode much more too. But I'm sure it can, and probably will before the 4T is over.If the Mideast explodes, that will get the job done even quicker.
I agreed with John Edwards "Two America's" theme. To me, Sarah Palin was the best female Republican governor available that McCain believed was needed at the time. Urban America has its positive points and its negative points.
I don't know an American voter (Republican or Democrat) who is in favor of loosing their social security benefits.
OK we're getting closer. How would the hospital bills be paid? I have a nephew who ran up a huge bill due to bipolar disorder and that literally bankrupted my sister. She's RN and even her salary didn't cover it. Also, she couldn't afford the her company's lousy insurance for dependents. So assuming you don't support some sort of health insurance for the middle class, let alone the working class, then bankruptcy would be the option to take. Nowadays bankruptcy isn't really that big a deal. QE stupefied banks, used car lots, and even house builders will just ignore a lousy credit rating and lend away.
No silly. Recessions tend to lower interest rates unto themselves [to credit worthy borrowers] anyway. Recessions usually begin when the yield curve inverts [short term rates exceed long term rates]. So yes, here the usual happens where the FED will do a simple ledger transaction where short term T-bills are swapped for key stroked cash.
QE is just nothing more than a larger ledger. The FED just gets a lot less picky on what it selects to stash on its balance sheet. Crappy under water mortgages from Freddie Mac/Freddie Mae, hey, no sweat keystroke some cash to those 2 dunce agencies to lower mortgage rates. Stock market looks sick. Again, no prob. Keystroke some more dinero and add some stocks to the balance sheet. Long term rates too high, again no problem. Just slap in some 30 year notes, ad infinitum. Now, Rags wants to know how much gold is actually at Fort Knox which hasn't been rehypothecated.
The Germans asked for their gold back and there's been a delay... hmmmmm......
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP
There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."
Industrial?
A worthy point. One might also argue that the English Civil War was pre-industrial. While the Puritan - Parliamentary faction's strong point was around London, the labor was for the most part small shop. This was before steam, assembly lines and large corporations. Thus, finding a word other than 'industrial' might be better.
Still, there were then and are still now issues that tug on the cities that are far less important in rural areas.
A divorce bankrupted my sister. The family financially pitched in and helped her through it. Her piece of crap car was always breaking down and unreliable. She needed a new car. I arranged a meeting with my banker and informed him of the circumstances relating to the bankruptcy on her credit report. The banker didn't care that City Bank and other credit card companies got the shaft. He cared about whether or not she paid the mortgage and car payments on time. Once he gave me his nod of approval, I put her in touch with him and they met to determine a comfortable amount of money to borrow & spend on a new car for her. Purchasing the car is another story.
Like an over abundance of lower end minorities who have become accustomed to receiving liberal generosity and protection.
There is no such over-abundance.
Keystroked cash in QE is a different operation from lowering interest rates, silly. The Fed lowers them by fiat, by lowering the prime rate for lending to banks. Other rates follow. It's true, I think, that short term rates follow the Fed more quickly than long-term rates. But recessions don't cause the prime interest rate to fall. The Fed decides that.
Less picky and much larger scale, yes. And QE did not change the interest rate which the Fed charged. That's separate. The rates were already zero when QE-1 started.QE is just nothing more than a larger ledger. The FED just gets a lot less picky on what it selects to stash on its balance sheet.
Key-stroked cash has mostly to do with the Fed buying up bonds in QE. That's the reverse of what happens when the Fed gives cash to banks who buy T-bills, right? The Fed is always lending money to banks. After a recession starts, it lowers rates at which it lends to stimulate business. Business can get money from the banks via the Fed cheaper, and use the money for meeting expenses and expanding. Just basic economy 101. More conspiracy-oriented, complicated theories like yours and the Ron Paul types are just built on the basics that everyone knows.Crappy under water mortgages from Freddie Mac/Freddie Mae, hey, no sweat keystroke some cash to those 2 dunce agencies to lower mortgage rates. Stock market looks sick. Again, no prob. Keystroke some more dinero and add some stocks to the balance sheet. Long term rates too high, again no problem. Just slap in some 30 year notes, ad infinitum. Now, Rags wants to know how much gold is actually at Fort Knox which hasn't been rehypothecated.
The Germans asked for their gold back and there's been a delay... hmmmmm......
In the case of the 2008 crash, real estate was also bailed out, because that was the central problem-- so the Fed acted after the fact, not before. That's not usually the case; the Fed does not usually bail out Freddies. The Fed did not cause the crash directly; banks sold lousy mortgages, backed by the Freddies, and they were bundled and leveraged by secret financial gamblers, using credit default swaps and derivatives.
What the Fed did was jack UP interest rates, and that contributed to the later downfall.
The problem now is that lower interest rates are not helping as much as they used to, because the economy consists of more corporate players, while other folks then have less to spend, as you point out. It may well be accelerating automation, but that started long before QE and the Recession and helped to cause it. It is a long-term "structural" problem. Still, the economy has recovered somewhat since 2009, without inflation. The fears of the anti QE/Fed folk are not warranted. Gold is not relevant. The thing that keeps the economy from doing better now is Republican austerity, not Fed looseness. The latter has some retarding effects, as you point out, but on the whole it's probably a slight plus for the economy.
Last edited by Eric the Green; 05-12-2015 at 12:01 PM.
McCain's VP choice was just another example of the poor judgement that McCain showed during the campaign, and why he did so poorly compared to a rookie junior senator. Oh well, horoscope is destiny anyway. Obama's chart scores 8-2 and McCain scores 9-10; plus the other indications. McCain had no chance.
And I'll throw in a couple of clarifications -
And it is also true that if too few people printing money, not easily, and with too many checks, you get de-flation.
Well, at least they try. Monetary policy can be effective in an over-heated economy by making borrowing expensive but more likely it is just trying to counter a previous policy of low rates, and substantially more importantly, previous little regulatory oversight of the financial sector. It is also of little use once you're in the territory of ZIRP. And regardless of the in- or de- flationay circumstances, it is a relatively weak sister compared to the brawniness of fiscal policy. And, from a macro standpoint, federal spending or not spending is not rocket science - a dollar spent is a dollar spent regardless of source; the problem comes from amygdala-dominated thinkers that federal spending is nothing but a handout or an attempt to confiscate everyone's freedom fries... and any further thinking/agreement is terminated.
Actually, its only federal taxes that take money out of the economy; local/state government don't bury cash, and like any business, try to keep cash-on-hand to a minimum. Yes, there are raining day funds, much of which winds its way back to federal securities and part of the "federal debt" but a lot is invested with other non-federal entities that face the exact same choices. Also, it's not dividends per se, but the dividends that go to rich entities that save rather than spend that income, but that's true of all their income regardless of source.
One man's inefficiency is another man's income - spending is spending. Also, the govt is tasked by society to take on highly inefficient societal objectives and the Founding Fathers very purposefully made our govt inefficient. Efficiency is part of the argument but is far far from being what should drive the conversation alone. Can't we be adults about that discussion and stop hiding behind the mythology that federal spending is constrained by its revenues? I mean at least once the amygdala-dominated folks die out.
The only way the federal govt can take funds out of the economy is by running a surplus. As long as there is a federal deficit, the feds are adding funds to the economy. The easy question is whether or not that deficit spending is sufficient for the economic environment that we are in - simply, it is far from it. The difficult questions then are how best to increase that deficit spending. My preference is to cut all payroll taxes because those getting that money will generally spend it affording more income to everyone. From there, increase spending on the only five things we can leave to future generations - environment, health, education, infrastructure and R&D.
They're not running well because the vast majority of those on the Left have become too intellectually lazy to take on the false myth of federal government debt/deficits and today's Right is incapable of engaging their frontal lobes due to amygdala short circuiting.
Not going to happen until a sufficient number of the amygdala-dominated die off.
Last edited by playwrite; 05-12-2015 at 02:17 PM.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
Do ya think the big clue might be in her moniker?
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
It's a sham because C-Xer believes anyone with less income than himself should not be allowed to vote.
It's the same phenomenon that led poor Southern Whites to massacre in 1860 - amygdala-dominated people need someone to look down upon, even if doing so is against their own self interest.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
An amygdala-dominated person will only see this as a pointy-headed attempt by you to cover-up the 'truthiness' of welfare queens. Or, they'll counter it with an anecdote that their brother has a friend who heard about a welfare queen .... to the amygdala-dominated person the emotional 'thrill' of his anecdote outweighs your pointy-headed graph.
The potentially-big one is childcare. That is expensive enough to be an incentive for being a stay-at-home housewife or welfare recipient should it not be available. It's bigger than housing and food combined at any level. Medical coverage for children? That used to be a predictable compensation on the job. Now that many employers have gone to 'no benefits' we need Obamacare lest there be pointless tragedies involving children with treatable ailments for which they are priced out.
Now as for subsidies -- how about cheap water to big landowners during the California drought?
For the rest of us - nice graph, thanks!
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
I understand your definition and see some utility in it. It does get muddle by the fact that middle incomes do tend to have stock ownership, but that gets mitigated by a "controlling ownership."
One thing to note, for self-preservation, is that the only thing the federal govt accepts for tax payment is dollars. Try to pay in gold, bit coins, donkeys or brides, and depending on varying tolerance levels measured in length of time, you will be forced into jail or under medical care.
That, by the way, is true for all central govts; its just that the name of their currency changes.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
The updated word - "creative"
http://www.amazon.com/Cities-Creativ.../dp/0415948878
It's where amygdala-domination goes to die; that is, if they travel at all. given their xenophobia and stuff...Cities and the Creative Class Paperback – December 13, 2004
by Richard Florida
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service
“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke
"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman
If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite
Ironically, in 2008 income was one of the weakest predictors of whether one would vote for the Democratic nominee for President or for the Republican. Ethnicity and religion matter far more. How dense the population was in one's community explained far more. Formal education, once a reliable surrogate for voting Republican, turned on its head.
A poor white was much more likely to vote Republican than was a middle-income Latino or Asian.
One consequence of the Republican Party seeking the ignoramus vote is that it alienates the sorts of people who depend upon high levels of formal education as a bona fide qualification for doing the job. Republicans may appeal to people who resent school teachers whom they remember for criticizing bad grammar -- but they also offend one of the largest occupational groups.
"Bomb, bomb, bomb -- bomb, bomb Iran!"It's the same phenomenon that led poor Southern Whites to massacre in 1860 - amygdala-dominated people need someone to look down upon, even if doing so is against their own self interest.
(Don't get me wrong about Iran -- I despise the regime for its suppression of the Bahai religion, the second-class status of women, the harsh penal system quick to hang people, and the brutal treatment of homosexuals. But they are on our side on piracy of the seas and on ISIS mistreatment of Shi'ite Muslims. Who said that foreign policy isn't rich in ambiguity?)
I must have a weak amygdala. I must think that what FDR said of fear ("All we have to fear is... FEAR ITSELF!") one of the profoundest bits of political wisdom ever.
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
