The US Economy and Current Financial Crisis

[dh86 0]

 

137 pages of foreclosures in November

Before the upcoming job purge. Im sure everything will sort itself out in the free and open marketplace though, huh?

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

sounds like a buying opportunity to me!

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

 

137 pages of foreclosures in November

Before the upcoming job purge. Im sure everything will sort itself out in the free and open marketplace though, huh?

 

Uhm, didn't you read the last page? 10 people walked past a $50 dollar bill lying on the ground. Th4 recession is over. Idiot.

[ZGangsta 0]

They didn't see the dollar bill. Case closed.

 

I doubt 10 people didnt see an unfolded $50 bill laying face down on the ground. I could buy 1 or 2 people..but 10? Possible explanation is that they might have thought it was counterfeit, or that they've never seen the backside of a $50 bill before (which features the U.S. Capital ) and maybe somehow thought it was a $2 or something dumb like that but still..

 

Silly Americans. You should have coins for lower denominations and color code your money so things like that can't happen.

 

In all honesty I can't imagine anymore getting $1 and $2 bills. I know I used to use them but the loonie has been around since 87 and the toonie (God I had that name) since 96.

When did we decide that thing was a called a toonie, I seem to remember everyone calling it a dubloonie at first.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

In all honesty I can't imagine anymore getting $1 and $2 bills. I know I used to use them but the loonie has been around since 87 and the toonie (God I had that name) since 96.

I can't imagine having $2 currency period. We got rid of it decades ago and they're now a rare item. I'm pretty sure we have lots of teenagers who haven't seen one in their lifetimes. I can't call that coin a toonie either, I have to go for the old "two dollar."

 

I bought a paper upon immediately landing in Canada to crack a bill into coins for bus fare, and I felt really really odd using purple money and getting all these coins back and having to discuss with the lady running the newsstand what each one represented. It's probably an experience I'll remember for a long time, because it was something I hadn't experienced since first grade. "This one is a nickel, this one is a quarter..." Not to mention that I initially half-expected her to throw my $5 back saying it's not real money, because it doesn't LOOK like what I'd consider real money.

 

I still have $50 in Canadian Dollars that I have nothing to do with, since converting it would make it worth so much less than waiting to go back to Canada someday. Apparently, Canadians can get ATM deposits in US currency, making them much more familiar with our money than we are with theirs.

[At Home 0]

They didn't see the dollar bill. Case closed.

 

I doubt 10 people didnt see an unfolded $50 bill laying face down on the ground. I could buy 1 or 2 people..but 10? Possible explanation is that they might have thought it was counterfeit, or that they've never seen the backside of a $50 bill before (which features the U.S. Capital ) and maybe somehow thought it was a $2 or something dumb like that but still..

 

Silly Americans. You should have coins for lower denominations and color code your money so things like that can't happen.

 

In all honesty I can't imagine anymore getting $1 and $2 bills. I know I used to use them but the loonie has been around since 87 and the toonie (God I had that name) since 96.

When did we decide that thing was a called a toonie, I seem to remember everyone calling it a dubloonie at first.

 

 

[Guest Czecherbear]

I can't imagine having $2 currency period. We got rid of it decades ago and they're now a rare item.

They're still in print, just not very much.

[CanadianChris 0]

I got a $2 bill for doing some focus group thing in Las Vegas a few years ago. It just looked...off somehow. I was almost afraid to spend it because I thought everyone would think it's counterfeit.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Since Canadian money was mentioned and since I cant quite afford to invest in Gold (though, with gold supposedly well on its way to $2000 an ounce by next year I think I should find a way) Im strongly considering investing a bit of money in 1 oz silver Canadian Maple Leaf $5 coins for $14 a piece. Silver currently goes for about $10 an ounce and those coins have an ounce of 99.99% pure silver in them. Ive heard Silver will increase in value just like gold even though the price has fallen over 50% in the last two months.

 

 

 

 

[Dandy 0]

Nickel might go up, as well. I will sell every nickel that I have to you for 14 cents each.

[hyperchord24 0]

Since Canadian money was mentioned and since I cant quite afford to invest in Gold (though, with gold supposedly well on its way to $2000 an ounce by next year I think I should find a way) Im strongly considering investing a bit of money in 1 oz silver Canadian Maple Leaf $5 coins for $14 a piece. Silver currently goes for about $10 an ounce and those coins have an ounce of 99.99% pure silver in them. Ive heard Silver will increase in value just like gold even though the price has fallen over 50% in the last two months.

You can imagine what Glenn Beck was talking about today. Not to really knock Marvin, but I just happened to be listening to Beck this morning telling everyone to invest in gold.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Since Canadian money was mentioned and since I cant quite afford to invest in Gold (though, with gold supposedly well on its way to $2000 an ounce by next year I think I should find a way) Im strongly considering investing a bit of money in 1 oz silver Canadian Maple Leaf $5 coins for $14 a piece. Silver currently goes for about $10 an ounce and those coins have an ounce of 99.99% pure silver in them. Ive heard Silver will increase in value just like gold even though the price has fallen over 50% in the last two months.

You can imagine what Glenn Beck was talking about today. Not to really knock Marvin, but I just happened to be listening to Beck this morning telling everyone to invest in gold.

 

When Citibank comes out and says Gold will be $2000 an ounce next year one way or another (either via complete global economic collapse or rapid inflation, take your pick) and its sitting at $770ish now..I dont think thats bad advice.

 

But he's been talking about investing in gold for well over a year now.

[CanadianChris 0]

Look out below...

[Dobbs 3K 0]

So, how's that bailout going?

[At Home 0]

The credit crisis has stabilized, so well. It's not going to remove us from a recession. The auto bailout was blocked because Big Guvment dogma got in the way of practicality.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Credit crisis hasn't really stabilized, pbone. It's marginally better than it was a month or two ago, but not in any appreciable way.

[At Home 0]

That's debatable, but I'd say that the state we are in right now is preferable to an industry-wide banking and credit collapse. The capital that they received isn't going to have a one-month turnaround. It's going to take time.

[At Home 0]

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthrea...hreadid=3032867

 

The first post is a great comprehensive statistical and historical look at the situation.

[At Home 0]

http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr358.html

 

"Seismic Effects of the Bankruptcy Reform"

 

By shifting risk from credit card lenders to mortgage lenders, the BAR (Bankruptcy Abuse Reform Act) of 2005 created approximately 32,000 new foreclosures per quarter since its inception.

 

[SuperJerk 0]

What evidence is there that's actual cause and effect, and not post hoc reasoning?

(Sure, I could read the article, I guess....)

[Anakin Flair 0]

sounds like a buying opportunity to me!

 

 

My roommate is currently trying to buy a house. I say trying, because he made an offer, and the seller accepted, and his bank is all ready to go- but their bank is refusing to close untill the deadline, 5 weeks after the offer was accepted. On top of that, the person handling the transaction just went on a weeks vacation. And guess who the bank is a subsidiary of?

 

Fannie May.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

standard

[The Niggardly King 0]

The total value of the bailouts undertaken by the federal government in 2008 now exceeds the combined cost of every major war the United States has ever engaged in, according to a comparison of war costs calculated by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the value of the bailouts as calculated by Bloomberg News or Bianco Research.

 

According to CRS, all major U.S. wars (including such events as the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, but not the invasion of Panama or the Kosovo War), cost a total of $7.2 trillion in inflation-adjusted 2008 dollars.

 

According to Bloomberg, the federal government has made commitments worth a total of $8.5 trillion in the bailouts of 2008. That includes actual expenditures as well as loan and asset guarantees.

 

Bianco Research puts the total value of the bailouts at $8.7 trillion.

 

The $296 billion spent on World War II, America’s most expensive war, would be $4.1 trillion adjusted to today’s dollars, according to the CRS report from June.

 

Rest of the article here

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

America "We cant keep spending money in Iraq!"

 

Government "OK!"

 

/bailouts/

 

America "You didnt stop spending money in Iraq first.."

 

Government "oops"

 

/Afghanistan/

 

America "What the..?"

 

 

[snuffbox 0]

It has been shown that Iraq has actually gone beyond 3 trillion in real cost. World War 2 passed even that. I think they're only taking congressional appropriation (during the wartime) expenditures into account. Fans of Bush Jr and McCain will struggle mightily with these facts, I realize, but war costs a lot more than just the checks for the bombs (effects on economy, money from other bodies and agencies, deficits, VA funds which increase as we stay in a country longer and have to use more and more troops, GI Bill, etc).

[SuperJerk 0]

....According to Bloomberg, the federal government has made commitments worth a total of $8.5 trillion in the bailouts of 2008. That includes actual expenditures as well as loan and asset guarantees...

 

Rest of the article here

 

See? That's the fine print as to why the number is so high. They're not just counting actual $$$, but every $$$ could possibly spend if there is a cascade of worst case scenarios. In other words, they are including the price of a hypothetical situation and saying that's what its costing us, when its not.

[SuperJerk 0]

Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/...ederal-bailout/

 

I know you're probably thinking "yeah, right," but imagine how intense the lobbying for this could get.

[Guest Czecherbear]

Who needs professionals when there are so many willing amateurs? Like the auto industry, porn just couldn't adjust to a changing business model.

 

Hey, everyone read "Big Red Son" from David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

UK News:

 

Retailers Gone:

 

Woolworths - 100 years of history on the High Street.

Zavvi - Formally Virgin Retail Ltd, Sir Richard Branson's store, the thing that earned him his billions.

The Officers Club

Whittard of Chelsea

 

Probably more to come, though the big Supermarket chains are reporting strong financial quarters. Is this the start of Wallmart type places taking over the UK?

[SuperJerk 0]

Who needs professionals when there are so many willing amateurs? Like the auto industry, porn just couldn't adjust to a changing business model.

 

The stupidest part about this was that the porn industry admits they are doing just fine, they just want a fat government check because they think they provide a vital service to the nation.