Kint

Employment: Neither Quality Nor Quantity

You raise good points, Whitslack.. and there is actually an example of an economy that's mostly healthcare and finance - Hong Kong. Of course, it's only a city, but if you specialize in something that you do better than other people, you don't necessarily have to produce "things" to lead a high standard of living.

When to Be a Contrarian

Good post..it takes a strong stomach to do what you say, but it pays off.

Four Reasons We're Headed Even Higher

Good article.. also, good job on your stock picks.

A Reality Check on U.S. 'Economic Recovery'

On Jul 30 03:07 PM thiazole wrote:
> If you believe that, then how do you know that it wasn't lies and
> fabrications that sank the market in the first place? If I were
> ever to subscribe to a conspiracy theory (which I won't), it would

Agreed - and also, how do you know that the market doesn't know about those bank properties being kept off the market, and as the old cliche goes, the information has already been built-in to the prices?

The Coming Economic Collapse, Part 2

It's pretty clear that many of you don't understand the mechanics of free markets wrt outsourcing. Many of you view it through the prism of "all our good jobs are going, and it's threatening our way of life," which isn't true. In free markets, you can't get something for nothing. If wages are low in India or China, it's because that's how much they're worth, whether it's poor roads and other infrastructure in India, or corruption, the lack of the rule of law, or poor quality in China. If China produces a product as good as one made here, it's not possible for them to sustain low wages, just based on common sense - there is a small window of opportunity, but that window is very small. When that window does occur, though, it benefits countries on the higher food chain, because it frees them to do other more productive things - note the largest sustained period of the economic growth in American history in the 90s, when outsourcing started happening in earnest. But this window closes quickly - there are many articles, like a recent one in Businessweek, that notes that China no longer can compete on price alone (that goes to Mexico now). And if the claim is China is manipulating their currency, China is paying the price - it creates inflation internally. Again, this is not sustainable for China. It's not possible to outsource significant chunks of our economy - nothing that people like Lou Dobbs have predicted have come to pass. And really, nothing people like him say stand up to reason. Pick up an economics book - learn to reason, and think through things..

Toxic Assets, Obama's AIG and Budget Woes: Friday's Lou Dobbs Show Transcript

Lou Dobbs is an irrational protectionist, and is generally xenophobic, and latches on to whatever the populist rage de jour is.

The U.S Is Not Japan

Well, Japan took, what, 7 or 8 years before they lowered their rates to 0? The Fed took 3 months. Clearly, the Fed is more decisive..

The Cramer Crash?

It's absurd to think the market is affected by Cramer.. a coincidence doesn't prove a link.

Don’t Blame Wall Street - At Least Not Completely

This is absurd.. this is like saying "society is to blame for that criminal who robbed the bank, because as a society, we all failed the criminal." Before we get into this philosophical debate, we should begin by looking at the hard facts, and those hard facts lead straight to Wall Street. They shoulder 90% of the blame.

Be It Resolved: No One Has a Clue

This is the best commentary I've read about the current state of our economy..