Where is the US economy headed?

Nice little essay, halkeye.

All along this thread and probably some others.

spendi, If it's all over this thread, please copy and paste them here.

maybe. it's entirely possible the number has been over 10% for a couple of years.

how the hell would we know?

dude! ya sound like a unionist!

did you write that? not bad.

You've heard that bit about those who don't understand history, right?

Unemployment stats and history are quite different subjects.

From last page.



What does "must" mean in that? It's a commandment. A direct moral injunction.

spendi, Where did you learn English? There is no moral stipulation in my opinion; it only describes a economic fact between supply and demand.

I stand by that hawk. You are talking about economics distorted by morality. Economics is the opposite of morality just as evolution theory is.

There's a moral tone in your essay.

I like the idea of "discouraged workers". A person who won't work can hardly be said to be unemployed as an economic category. They are called the "long-term unemployed" here. Amongst other things.

What income would you say was the minimum to "live the American Dream." I should have thought $50,000,000. $25,000,000 for a passable imitation.

The status quo never stands in a dynamic system.

it's like this, spendi.. if you are going to position a company for future success, it's a good idea to do an analysis of what you are selling, what the job will entail, what workers you need, what the overall cost/benefit outlook is and decide if it's all worth it.

once you have determined these things, the board needs to be set up correctly for it all to fall into place and then, succeed.

so then, is it a "moral injunction", "a commandment" that in order to take a long run, one "must" first walk?

Yes, And thank you. I consider myself a Zen Socialist. We believe that everyone should work...No work-no eat as the ancient Chinese zenists said...but that rewards must be shared amongst the collective.

For us the more relevant prediction comes from numbers uber-guru Mark Zandi, who sees this as a stabilizing economy; but that the job market, that is what the rest of us live in, won't recover until next year. The downturn is over for Wall Street, but not for Main Street. The story the numbers tell is this: about two years ago, a real estate bubble popped. The people who were overleveraged in that bubble were the first to get hit; but when they went down, the people who were overleveraged in people who were overleveraged went down harder: the lack of regulation made the system wired like a Christmas tree and ready to explode. Policymakers met this mild beginning of the downturn with an apathetic sort of fiscal stimulus package -- too little too late. They met the inflation wave with a botched strong dollar play that ended up taking out even more overleveraged overleveragers. When this happened, the dominoes fell fast and basically the next step was that the world's rich went on strike. Instead of a depression created by little people doing a run on the bank and striking against poor wages, we had the wealthy do a walk on the banks and go on a buying strike.

http://firedoglake.com/2009/08/09/the-downturn-is-over-for-wall-street-but-main-streets-is-still-going-on/

marsz, You have a habit of providing opinions that doesn't really tell the true story. How can the stimulus plan have any effect when most of that money hasn't been distributed or spent?

You sure do live in that dark place. You should get your head out...

I should imagine Hitler would have agreed with that.

If we aren't free to choose to not work we are not free at all.

What on earth does " rewards must be shared amongst the collective" mean? Why is "equably" or "equally" or "fairly" missed out? Or "reasonably"?

You're an embarrassment ci.

Check link:

http://firedoglake.com/2009/08/09/the-downturn-is-over-for-wall-street-but-main-streets-is-still-going-on/

according to the ancients the individual was free to not partake in work, however the consequence was that he was no longer invited to the supper table. If he wants to be alone and not be part of the collective effort then he is alone, as in on his own. When and if he is ready to come back he will be welcomed with open arms.

You are free to choose to not work if you want.

But, remember that there are consequences of your choice.

If you choose not to work, then society does not have to provide for you.
You will get no govt help in any way.
No food, medical care, no place to live, no free money, nothing.
You would be totally entirely on your own, and your living or dying would be your own choice.
Society will do nothing to help you.

We are not ancients hawk.

How do you define "work"?