03-05-2011, 02:29 PM
(03-04-2011, 01:33 AM)username Wrote: There will always be individuals that are suffering. This in and of itself does not define a recession. A recession is defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. This clearly does not describe the current economic environment. GDP is forecasted to be in the 3% to 3.5% range for 2011. The threat of a double-dip recession was something that was thought to possibly be in the cards for the future. Recent economic data has pushed the needle more towards recovery than a double dip recession. Employment numbers have been showing modest improvement as well as productivity numbers, corporate earnings and consumer confidence. The accomodative monetary policy, accompanied by aggressive fiscal policy, has definitely helped jump start the economy and staved off a financial collapse. You are correct in your statement that the price for recovery has been a dramatic increase in the level of government debt. However, because interest rates are very low, the debt service (the interest owed on the debt) is not out of line with historical figures. Essentially, we have borrowed from tomorrow to finance today. Unfortunately, there was little choice. If the government did not act decisively and aggressively the outcome would most likely have been much worse. If the ATM machine was no longer able to spit out $20 bills (because large numbers of banks were insolvent), then your friends and the american people would really understand what the goverment actions helped to prevent. You are correct in your concern as to what the future might bring. Loose monetary policy will most likely lead to another bubble in some asset class (e.g. real estate in an emerging market), inflation, higher interest rates and the prospect of higher taxes and austerity measures to deal with an increasing debt burden. The goverment's actions can best be described as taking the best of the bad choices offered.
How this financial crisis ends, will not be known for years to come and the causes will be argued for even longer. The severity of the worldwide economic problem dictates that the resoulution is not within the control of one man or country. The coordinated efforts of all the major countries and leaders is without precedent in history. The response, at this point, can only be considered a success given how close the world was to a total financial collapse. Stay tuned............
The people who suffer used to be lazy fucks, stupid fucks, and people who took financial risks (and lost, those folks usually bounce back). I don't have any lazy or stupid friends. Not one. My friends bust their asses, don't buy more than they can afford, and don't have huge amounts of credit card debt. We are all cheap bitches and bastards. If you live within your means, and work, you should be OK. THAT is the American Dream. Those are the people who are now suffering, from no fault of their own.
I'm not going to take the blame for the housing bubble bursting fiasco. I have a conventional mortgage, 80⁄20 so I don't have the added cost of PMI. No NINJA loan here. One person in my tiny subdivision DID apparently have a NINJA/Interest Only loan. He lost his house and FUCKED the 25 other homeowners. He personally cost me around $50K, mostly equity, in my home.
Our president DID NOT take the "only way out" of this mess. He took the easy way out. The bling way. You have to give him, and folks like him, some of the credit for causing this mess, too. ACORN mutherfuckers. They have been causing this shit for years, as far as the housing market breakdown, which was the major force in the Great Bank Fucking of the last few years.
As for the foreign/domestic trade import/export shit, I won't comment too much. I have a basic grasp of the concepts, but not a complete historical overview.
I enjoyed your guest post! I dig your wife. You got a good one.
