Heh, true. Always decent coin to be turned by policing the world.
Middle class revolt
- Thread starter dddooo
- Start date
Heh, true. Always decent coin to be turned by policing the world.
Not sure how to respond to the incredibly stupid analogy so I'll let it go.
Anyways don't worry about it, pretty soon even India & China will be too expensive to do business with. Yes, even they won't be able to compete with the ultimate race to the bottom.
And the bottom is, of course, Africa! Why hire some overpaid Indian for 1K/ month when you can get away with paying an African maybe 100$/month. (Ok, but for 100$ bucks the better have lots of experience...)
Sweet!
Anyways don't worry about it, pretty soon even India & China will be too expensive to do business with. Yes, even they won't be able to compete with the ultimate race to the bottom.
And the bottom is, of course, Africa! Why hire some overpaid Indian for 1K/ month when you can get away with paying an African maybe 100$/month. (Ok, but for 100$ bucks the better have lots of experience...)
Sweet!
Very thought provoking thread, my thanks to the many authors.
My 2c contribution is the similarity between US adaptability and the characteristics of friction. Static friction coefficient is greater than the dynamic coefficient. Just like American adaptability appears to others.
To the outsider we look stuck, frozen and getting more and more uncompetitive... We, as a nation, like to suboptimize every detail based on the current "rules of engagement." Our mainstream businesses thrive on sequential evolution.
Then THE event happens. Events like Pearl Harbor, or perhaps $5/gal gas in the future. Then we as a nation change shape. We morph overnight. Old constraints are dropped, and we become an engine of change... It is this US that most do not recognize. It is a US that is only seen in a historical perspective. It can not be guaranteed to be there, but it has always been. This highly adaptive US can out perform anyone in the world... or so it has shown.
After the crisis is over, these "battlefield" generals are typically removed from power, and the evolutionary suboptimizers come back into play. Look over our history and tell me what you think. I see times of slip and "stiction." Big change appears to occur when things break free.
I agree that the spring is tightening, getting ready for change these days. The economic pressures on the middle class, offshore production, etc. are real threats ... but I still have confidence in the depth, and capability of my countrymen. As others have said, you just cannot comprehend the size, and resourcefullness of this country...
My 2c contribution is the similarity between US adaptability and the characteristics of friction. Static friction coefficient is greater than the dynamic coefficient. Just like American adaptability appears to others.
To the outsider we look stuck, frozen and getting more and more uncompetitive... We, as a nation, like to suboptimize every detail based on the current "rules of engagement." Our mainstream businesses thrive on sequential evolution.
Then THE event happens. Events like Pearl Harbor, or perhaps $5/gal gas in the future. Then we as a nation change shape. We morph overnight. Old constraints are dropped, and we become an engine of change... It is this US that most do not recognize. It is a US that is only seen in a historical perspective. It can not be guaranteed to be there, but it has always been. This highly adaptive US can out perform anyone in the world... or so it has shown.
After the crisis is over, these "battlefield" generals are typically removed from power, and the evolutionary suboptimizers come back into play. Look over our history and tell me what you think. I see times of slip and "stiction." Big change appears to occur when things break free.
I agree that the spring is tightening, getting ready for change these days. The economic pressures on the middle class, offshore production, etc. are real threats ... but I still have confidence in the depth, and capability of my countrymen. As others have said, you just cannot comprehend the size, and resourcefullness of this country...
QQQBall,
As someone who I have identified on ET as knowing what they are talking about, I have a few questions/comments.
The website is actually called www.shadowstats.com
I took a look at this article about GAAP accounting and the true USA deficit.
http://www.shadowstats.com/cgi-bin/sgs/article/id=342
Basically says, our gdp/debt ratio is not 65% but more like 350%. 7 trillion of debt, etc.
Ok, the article seems reasonable, but something immediately doesnt gel.
How is it that this author seems to be one of very few people on earth that are aware of the USAs "true debt"???
With countries like France, Iran, or even Korea, around, that would take any opportunity like this to wave it in our faces, why hasnt it happened?
Why hasnt france, our buddy who takes every opportunituy to make the USA look stupid and week, taken this article, and flaunted it proudly in the court of world opinion, and stated, see, the USA is in far more debt than france! We rule! We are an economic super power! The USA is worth less than France, just look at their insane debt.
Why havent scenarios like this already occured? Why havent the USA's enemies taken a huge powerful flashlight and shined it on the USA "true debt" picture. Are they all incredibly stupid, and only this author knows what he is talking about?????
Doesnt add up.
Are these other countries hiding even more debt? The article states the USA has more debt than any country in the entire world. We are technically the poorest country on earth, no???
As someone who I have identified on ET as knowing what they are talking about, I have a few questions/comments.
The website is actually called www.shadowstats.com
I took a look at this article about GAAP accounting and the true USA deficit.
http://www.shadowstats.com/cgi-bin/sgs/article/id=342
Basically says, our gdp/debt ratio is not 65% but more like 350%. 7 trillion of debt, etc.
Ok, the article seems reasonable, but something immediately doesnt gel.
How is it that this author seems to be one of very few people on earth that are aware of the USAs "true debt"???
With countries like France, Iran, or even Korea, around, that would take any opportunity like this to wave it in our faces, why hasnt it happened?
Why hasnt france, our buddy who takes every opportunituy to make the USA look stupid and week, taken this article, and flaunted it proudly in the court of world opinion, and stated, see, the USA is in far more debt than france! We rule! We are an economic super power! The USA is worth less than France, just look at their insane debt.
Why havent scenarios like this already occured? Why havent the USA's enemies taken a huge powerful flashlight and shined it on the USA "true debt" picture. Are they all incredibly stupid, and only this author knows what he is talking about?????
Doesnt add up.
Are these other countries hiding even more debt? The article states the USA has more debt than any country in the entire world. We are technically the poorest country on earth, no???
nothing adds up becuase the figures were calc'ed by bean-counters from toon town.
our govt continuing to change the way it "counts" things. CPI is consumer price index - but, it doesnt include food & energy? mmmm? borrow money from SS trust fund and replace it with "special" non-marketable bonds? mmm? remove home price appreciation by imputing an owner-equivalent-rent (which is turning on them BTW). mmmmm?
if you go to financialsense.com to the broadcast archives, you will see interviews with john williams. im not sure exactly, but the govt, by changing the way CPI was calc'ed back in 1970's (not sure of date), has understated COLAs by like 65%-70% over time, which is screwing retirees big-time. beef prices go up? well, just substitue pork weiners and voila, the CPI doesnt change?
he is not the only one that has identified this problem. i think it was Bush admin that commished a govt study, maybe from GAO, and when the authors identified NPV of govt shortfall on liabilities totalling almost $50T, the study was quashed.
i am not smart enough to answer all the questions, and ive resigned from the debating society, so everyone has to come to their own conclusions, but i favor reliable data to make decisions, and that just isnt the case. people keep trumpeting "false", hedonicly adjusted, birth-detah model, questimates on oil investories, etc... and the middle class sees it on a 15-sec blurb on evening news betwen paris hliton update and jon benet ramsey case and the ythink "hey, 60% debt level isnt bad." well it might not be, except iits not accurate.
john williams calcs some stuff the way it used to be calc'ed - he didnt make it up. i dont know anymore than anyone else, but i do agree that things dont add up correctly,
Ok, but it still begs the question. If I were france, I would be publishing these numbers and showing france along side the USA on a chart, proving France is the "True economic super power" compared to the USA. 
I have read it within the last month in some science journal. I ll try to dig it up.
Seems like we are closer to solving the age problem then the desease problem.
John