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There was an interesting biography of Marvin Gaye on the other night and alot of time was spent focusing on the Detroit Motown days pre-1972. They even mentioned that back in 70-71 when Marvin was going thru tough times he'd run over to Smokey's house about 7 miles from his place. Here is...

Good post. The majority of the populace fail to understand that subsidies completely distort the behavior of consumers for any product whether it be medical care, college tuition or welfare. But what ticks me off the most is when the credit markets were collapsing and the politico's...

Tiger's management team and advisors really turned what could have been salvageable within a week of the car accident to a complete public relations disaster. Honestly, 3 months without one public appearance while the tabloids ran wild was a terrible strategy. Today's speech would have...

I'm just going to throw this out there because I haven't seen it postulated elsewhere. Against the backdrop of all the pending healthcare "reform", is this not just a convenient cover for what could possibly be some seriously ailing health insurance companies that may or may not have been...

The thread Misthos started earlier today titled "ponzi pensions" indirectly addresses this situation as well. Many retired public school administrators draw enormous pensions and other perks which put an enormous strain on the overall budgets of any public school system. Add in all of the...

And just think a retired schoolteacher, public transportation worker, etc, etc is receiving a defined "benefit" payout equal to a significant percentage of their salary. On the flipside, a private sector worker, if they have any retirement savings, is forced to try and generate a return...

Yes, Misthos, this is the under the radar "public vs private" war that has been building just beneath the surface for a long time now. In good economic times, the ponzi element didn't attract much attention for obvious reasons. At this point, just about every state with substantial legacy...

I think we've all seen that they are making all of this garbage up as it comes along. As one blogger puts it "the long emergency". Every effort is made to survive till tomorrow and that tomorrow used to be 20 years, then 10, then 5 and now it seems it's a matter of months. Just as they crazy...

That pretty much summarizes the US situation as well. There is a short lived effect of issuing massive monetary stimulus, yet we find ourselves in a situation where asset prices deflate back to previous levels, yet individuals, corporations, governments are left with a massive bill for the...

One thing I will mention is that a few years ago while reading all of the user comments on Edmunds, there were an enormous number of complaints by Camry owners of sudden acceleration. It seemed to me more of a transmission issue from the description that owners gave in the comments. Something...

And the gigantic elephant in the room are the legacy costs that are bleeding the state dry. Quinn and none of the other hacks in Illinois politics will touch it since the unions are so strong and can just install another lackey. Chicago could turn into a glossier version of Detroit and the...

Agree, that would be the last step, to demolish all of the existing unsold homes. There is some evidence it has already started in parts of California, I saw a few articles about it last year. Well, as far as cash for clunker houses goes, they already have all of these federal programs in...

I think Wilburbear's take on housing during a hyperinflation is actually correct even though it may seem illogical. Basic needs would inflate the most and be the first priority, thus almost all of one's income or cash would be dedicated to survival first. Considering the massive glut of...

The question as to how these leaders are elected has already been answered in this thread. i.e. Government workers voting en masse to continue the status quo of strong unions with guaranteed pensions and health care for life. The more government employees added, the more these people will vote...

Did the OP forget to include a sarcastic smiley? As Edgehunter said, there is such a laundry list of dirt on the guy, he would never see the light of day.

Great post Ralph and some much needed reality as it seems all of the bull market platitudes are making an unfortunate comeback.

And in many areas they'd still be correct. I'm sure there are pockets of activity, yet I still see high end properties sitting 2+ years after they were first listed. Every few months they knock another chunk off the listing price with no takers. It's clear the government has been opening...

No PRIVATE lending is probably more apropos. It does seem that all sorts of federal programs are back into overdrive and clearly taking up the slack of traditional financing outlets.

That argument is moot, since war spending isn't going away anytime soon.

I apologize, I'm just used to so much flaming on this board.