hoover

10 Reasons to Believe That We're in a Depression

Excellent. You have an unusual perspective, and a corect one I would opine. The idea of exporting freedom as our primary contribution to the world during the last century, is an enormous intangible export that few ever consider. It has spawned hundreds of democracies and semi-democracies around the world. And, I would agree that our current downfall is mostly, as you say, caused by greed, vanity, and deceit. Thanks.


On Nov 19 12:23 PM User 353732 wrote:

> America's greatest export during its great ascent in the 20th century
> was freedom. Free markets, free speech, free elections, free minds.
>
> The freedom to innovate and succeed or fail;the freedom to be accountable
> for one's decisions and actions; the freedom to take the lonely path
> less traveled that often led nowhere but sometimes led to rich hidden
> treasures and unexpected vistas that inspired and motivated entrepreneurs
> and inventors and liberators.
>
> When America stopped exporting freedom because its Bosses no longer
> believed in it and its reigning elites began to import collectivism
> , class warfare and contempt for entrepreneurship and middle class
> values, then the moral and intellectual balance of trade turned against
> the USA and continues to worsen by the month.
>
> The worse the moral and intellectual balance the more debased and
> devalued becomes the polity. This devaluation is now being made tangible
> in the disgrace of the dollar( from as sound as the dollar to as
> fake as a dollar....), in the glorification of entitlements and instant
> gratification, in the mutilation of markets and institutions, in
> the accelerating corruption of the US Regime and in eroding civil
> society. As the moral and intellectual net worth of America is depleted
> so is its capacity to create real wealth and enduring competitive
> advantage.
>
> America cannot "be" Europe or Asia : it can only "be" itself; either
> much worse than Europe or Asia, which is the present trajectory or
> far, far, better which is what a rediscovery of liberty and the truths
> of the Constitution will lead to.
>
> Yes, there is a depression but it is a moral and intellectual one.
> Unless faced and cured, it will surely become a social and economic
> one. This depression is from within and from within may come the
> cure and restoration.
>
> No contender is defeating America the Champion; it is defeating itself.
> Greed, vanity, deceit is what the US Regime now gorges itself on
> every day.......This is not the breakfast of champions.

Big Banks: The Consensus Is Cracking

Capatilism is failing precisely because mega monopolies are allowed to exist, reducing their need to compete in the market, while creating an impossible playing field for their competitors. The idiotic "too big to fail" lunacy reduces these worthless giant's need to compete to ZERO! Even a kid can see that a monoply game rigged toward one player (like, a rule that Joey is not allowed to lose) while the other three players have to compete with him, has a pre-determined winner. When you end the rewarding of those that produce the best product or service for the best price, it is the end of capitalism and prosperity.

Five Missing Pieces to the Stimulus Plan

Citi and Bank of America are beyond dead -- don't waste your CPR talent. Dead would just be no assets left or liquidation to bring a resolution to all debts and end with zero. Beyond dead is government pouring money down an endless rat hole that has no bottom with no hope of ever getting back to a zero balance.

On Jan 29 08:54 PM sheople wrote:

> Stimulus package. I used to give CPR to people that needed it. Sometimes
> we did it on dead people.

Five Missing Pieces to the Stimulus Plan

Rick, I don't believe you will get any answers to your questions, which are excellent questions. So, I can only assume that silence by government regarding what's going on with banks for the past six months means banks are in an ongoing unmitigated disaster. If there was even a possiblility of controlling the implosion don't you think the government would release a little of the data that Bloomberg and others are seeking? Silence only makes investors believe the worst. If Citi and Bank of America were basically Ponzi financial insitiutions that are now trapped with no way out, and many other banks were in the same mess, what would the government do? Probably stonewall just like they are doing while they buy time. That seems to me to be the most logical explanation.

Solving the Bank Crisis: More TARPs Are Not the Answer

I don't understand why no one suggests the answer to this whole economic mess is to break up the big banks into 20 or 30 smaller banks, each competing with one another. A 1/20th or 1/30th of Citibank or Bank of America would still be a very large bank. But it might be of a manageable size. Isn't the problem with banks the same as the problem with the auto companies, GE, and all other Golliath sized corporations? They are not too big to fail -- they are TOO BIG TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE. Their size allows them to grow only because size offers great advantages in elbowing other companies out of the way using "under-the-radar" momopolistic schemes, lobbying power, high tech schemes that don't triigger antiquated antitrust laws, geographical advantage, and giant borrowing power -- plus a government that does not aggressivly enforce antitrust laws. They use these methods rather than producing a better product at a better price, to gain market share. Do you really believe the U.S. auto industry would be bankrupt if there were 40 auto manufacturers competitng with each other rather than 3 (or make that 2 1/2). I, for one, don't. Decades ago, economists sometimes referred to the law of diminishing returns -- the bigger the production the less efficient it gets after a point. Just an opinion for thought.

Banking Is Tanking Worse Than Ever

My guess is that we are in the initial phases of a Japanese style depression which started in Japan in the early 90's. Since then, Japan has more or less drifted sideways but with some slow improvement. Japan's problems began with a real estate crash, and their real estate mortgages were even more irresponsible than ours (like 100- year generational mortgage loans). On the other hand, Japan had (and has) a very competitive manufacturing base and families traditionally have a lot of savings.

Many U.S. families, by contrast, have run up so much debt, it would take a decade or two of wages (after taxes and necessary expenses) to pay off the non-mortgage portion of debt. Also, many big corporations rely entirely on revolving lines of credit for OPERATIONS, not just necessary loans for expansion.

I hear too often how necessary it is for individuals to make sure their credit score in good shape, which has created the psychology that everyone has to live on credit to survive. That is a dangerous bit of propaganda spewed out by financial interests for years through advertising and their media control. In any event for what it is worth, it seems to me that we are following Japan's route downhill rather than following the economic mistakes leading to the Great Depression. The bottom will probably occur this year or next and we will muddle along in a malaise for the next decade or so.

Banking Is Tanking Worse Than Ever

You make a very good point that banks are more regulated today than in 1929; yet they are obviously just as unstable if not more so. So, their awful financial statements are probably even worse than they appear.

On Jan 24 02:34 AM The hand wrote:

> it might be worse then 1929. banks were not as closely regulated
> as they are today (yah, lot of good that did). many that were bankrupt
> played games to keep their doors open. communication is much faster
> today.
>
> the truth is that the worst of the financial crisis has not set in
> yet. the losses in the banks have trillions to go - and i have not
> even started thinking about the impact of the commercial market meltdown.
>
>

BofA Following Citigroup to $5 or Lower

Yes, $2 trillion or more is needed to stabilize the financial system. But, of course it takes LESS than $2 trillion to buy up all of the troubled mortgages and other loans. And that tells you that maybe the mortgage mess is only the excuse, and not the biggest problem. Where has the money gone? They aren't saying. Another reason to believe the mortgage mess is not the real problem. There is a lot of investment money on the sidelines just waiting jump into the market and buy bank stocks and other worthless stocks. They want to get in at the bottom before the next big boom. Good luck!

On Jan 15 11:39 AM Ishortyou wrote:

> the financial system needs at least 2 trillion dollar capital injection
> to stabilize at the least.

S&P Set for 50%+ Gains? Not So Fast, UBS

True. All you have to do is look at the several major bear market rallies from 1929 through 1932. These were big rallies on the Dow lasting months. Prosperity was "right around the corner" acording to the politicians of the era, but they never found the right corner. When the first cycle was over the Dow had lost a "mere" 89%. Then the market rose for a few years, before collapsing again slowly in the late thirties. Finally WW-II began, millions of young were pulled from the work force to fight the war (reducing unemployment), government took over production to produce war equipment, the equipment was destroyed in the war reducing supply, consumers products were rationed further reducing supply, and pay was pumped into workers pockets that couldn't spend the money because goods were unavailable, Result after the war: people had money to spend for the first time in 15 years, high demand existed from a goods-starved population, and companies were converting back to consumer goods to increase supply. Demand was high, U.S. was victorious, and people had money to spend -- the thirties depression in 1946 was finally over. Today, like 1930, we have too many goods (supply) and too little money to buy the goods. Obama and his financial team are going to have many sleepless nights.


On Dec 06 04:12 PM the_feds_corrupt wrote:

> The banks right now are "flush" with cash from the fed.The banks
> are begining to buy each others stocks .Look for the financials to
> lead the way in the next bear rally.They will attempt to "jump start
> the markets" and then sell their positions before the average investor
> is just getting fully invested.In that way the banks will reap handsome
> profits.
> They will also do the same thing with the chinese market.
> All depressions and recessions have large bear market rallies -we
> will have one as well.
> Watch for the following to determine when a rally begins
> 1) investor sentiment seems hopeless
> 2)the market shakes off "bad news" or becomes immune to bad news.
>
> 3)the Russell 2000 leads the way up.
> 4)The financial sectors garner strength.
> Once these forces become apparent we will have a rally. It will not
> sustain itself -but we will have it !
> It could take us from 11k to 13k somewhere in that range.
> It happens in ALL bear markets it will happen here as well.
> g/l to all cheers...;}