|
Post by mdub on Aug 29, 2011 22:55:05 GMT -6
These numbers are more realistic than anything the gov't puts out.
One thing I noticed while looking at the A-1 hsitorical tables is that the labor force has not grown at all in the last 4 years. This is how they keep unemployment artificially low. The formula for getting the unemployment rate is civilan labor force / civilian noninstitutional population.
Comparing the last decade to the 90s, both had a 16 and older population growth rate of about 24.5 mil. But in the 90s, the labor force grew by 17.5 mil., and in the last 10 years it only grew by 9.6 mil. If you add 8 mil. more people to the labor force, you get an unemployment rate of about 13.6%.
Add in about 7% for underemployment (Gallup polling has it at 9%) and you get an unmeployment + underemployment rate of 20.5 - 22.5%, pretty consistent with Williams' data.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Aug 29, 2011 1:52:51 GMT -6
I was surpised he said this publicly because it doesn't give the countries that hold our debt much confidence. Great or good credit ratings are supposed to be for countries that don't resort to inflation to pay off debt. US debt should be rated junk - FFF. The only reason interest rates are low is that the Fed is buying most of it.
GB, I think you are right. As long as China maintains it's currency peg, their exports will be cheap for us, but at some point they will have to remove it due to runaway inflation in their country. At that point, imports will become more expensive for us, and prices will go down in China. Then, production will come back, assuming they won't find another cheap country to produce in.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Aug 25, 2011 21:52:55 GMT -6
According to Alan, we will never have to worry about defaulting or having a bad credit rating because we can always print money. Of course, most peoples' standard of living will decline as a result of inflation. According to his logic, any country with a printing press should have a AAA credit rating.
I am actually amazed he said this.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Aug 19, 2011 2:42:14 GMT -6
I think people are starting to wake up to what the Fed really is. Consider how popular Ron Paul is and how other Republican candidates are mimicking him in criticizing the Fed.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Aug 8, 2011 16:58:29 GMT -6
More evidence of a recovering economy.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Aug 8, 2011 16:55:53 GMT -6
The Dow was down 635 today.
Buying gold and silver was the smartest thing I ever did. When I first bought gold in Feb 2010 it was $1040/ounce.
I fear the gov't will stop precious metals transactions soon and begin confiscating gold/silver.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Aug 5, 2011 21:24:18 GMT -6
Good posts....It's encouraging to see MSM outlets like CNBC tell the truth once in a while. This is gonna be somewhat redundant, but I'm perplexed as to how 4 different emplyment reports can produce such disparity: The seasonally adjusted Business Survey(+117K jobs.) This is the survey that is publicly released. There are also the seasonally unadjusted Business Survey(-1.23 mil.jobs)... the seasonally adjusted Household Survey(-38K jobs). This is where the unemployment rate comes from. And the seasonally unadjusted Household Survey(+255 K jobs). How can a government with such disparity in its data have any credibility? It can't. Which one do we believe, and why? Another example is job growth over the last year. The Household Survey says that 300K jobs were added, while the Business Survey says that 1.25 mil. were added. That's a huge disparity. But all we keep hearing about are layoffs - theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/layoffs-layoffs-everywhere-you-look-there-are-layoffsCan anyone name any large corporations that are hiring? No, you can't. That's because none are, at least not in the US. If they were hiring, you can bet the media would be hyping it. Interestingly, the BLS won't release the companies it surveys. This is because a) It doesn't survey any companies and uses seasonal adjustments to make up the data or b) It surveys the companies and doesn't like the results, so it uses seasonal adjustments to make up the data. They know that if they released the names of the companies that were surveyed people would check and know that the government is lying. 14 months ago, I got my EMT(Emergency Medical Technician)certificate, and neither I nor any of my former classmates that I keep in touch with have been able to find work. Yet the BLS claims that the category "Ambulatory Health Care Services" is adding between 12 - 20K jobs each month, and 165K for the last year. Yeah, right! I have looked in many states over the last year and have found maybe 1000 total EMT positions. The gov't is walking a fine line. It has to lie, but it also has to keep some level of credibility. 9.1% unemployment sounds bad, but certainly better than 23% (which is what many analysts outside the MSM say it is).
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jul 14, 2011 22:51:07 GMT -6
I think these new jobs are located in the government's imagination.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jul 14, 2011 12:49:44 GMT -6
Most of the 60,000 "Computer-Systems Design" jobs are filled with cheaper H1Bs, forcing me and others out of the profession and into the health care field where we were told there was demand, but....
I and my former classmates would sure like to know where those 175,000 "Ambulatory Health Care" jobs are. We graduated over a year ago and noone I know has been able to find work. I regulary check ambulance companies and hospitals all over the country and few are hiring.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jul 14, 2011 1:22:39 GMT -6
This raises American hypocrisy to another level. If you get caught with an ounce of pot, that's intent to sell - you're going to jail. Non-violent drug offenders mean more business for Halliburton, which builds the jails in CA. It also means more jobs for prison guards, the DEA, the defense contractors that sell them weapons, judges, lawyers, and everyone else that benefits from the War on Drugs and has a big enough lobby to influence government. Wachovia and Wells Fargo also benefit by laundering the Mexican drug cartel's money. www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-29/banks-financing-mexico-s-drug-cartels-admitted-in-wells-fargo-s-u-s-deal.html
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jul 13, 2011 21:50:34 GMT -6
Stockman badmouthed GE, which owns MSNBC. I don't think he'll be invited back.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jul 13, 2011 13:39:08 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jul 13, 2011 13:32:04 GMT -6
Our tax dollars at work....Hey, we need to win hearts and minds somehow.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 29, 2011 0:01:46 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 28, 2011 23:54:51 GMT -6
I think it had more to do with the Military/Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned us about. They saw MLK as a direct threat because by '67 he had shifted his focus away from civil rights and became increasingly anti-war. He was planning a 500,000 people march on DC, so they whacked him. But Wall Street was involved, too.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident was made up, as well. In the documentary "The Fog of War", McNamara admits to making it up. He was near death and probably wanted to get some guilt off his shoulers.
Our gov't has lied to us so many times that no rational person can trust anything they say.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 26, 2011 1:59:59 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 26, 2011 1:51:22 GMT -6
Happy b-day!
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 26, 2011 1:47:10 GMT -6
I know how the world works and I know the biggset criminals are the ones at the top, like Timmy Geithner. I know they try to play people off each other with the phony left/right thing. I realize that insurance companies are some of the biggest slimeballs and have a giant lobby....
Sure, your race and health have nothing to do with you being a bad driver. But if you have a history of making late payments or missing payments on your CC, it may mean that you will do the same with your insurance premiums. So you can have a spotless driving record and still be a risk.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 24, 2011 1:39:05 GMT -6
I should have asked what insurance you sell. From your post I assumed that the credit score had some relevance. And I think people with bad credit willl always pay a higher rate, as they should. There is no reason why someone like myself, with good credit, should be put in the same category as those with bad credit. I know times are tough and many people are using their CC to get by, but businesses still need to cover their rears...
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 22, 2011 23:22:40 GMT -6
I have a personal experience with regulations. "My business is selling insurance. We're not allowed to demand social security numbers from customers, which makes it impossible for us to run credit checks. People with bad credit are better off in California than anywhere else in the country." It's easy to see from your post why an insurance company would want to leave CA in this situation. If you can't run a credit check then you have to assume that everyone has bad credit just so you are safe. If I was in this position I would charge everyone a high rate to cover my ass. This may benefit some with really bad credit, but it would hurt those with avg. or good credit. Or I could just move to another state where I am allowed to check credit scores and charge my customers a fair rate that is based on their score, among other things like income. This is a great example of a stupid regulation that hurts customers as much as businesses, as most people don't have bad credit. There should have basic health, safety, and environmental regulations. We should keep the 40 hr week with overtime, and other basic things. But a lot of the things business owners have to deal with are just rediculous. Here's an article on the topic.... theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/start-a-business-in-the-united-states-are-you-kidding-me
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 22, 2011 22:20:58 GMT -6
TAA is needed because when workers lose their jobs due to NAFTA they may be unemployed for a few months before they find new jobs. These jobs will be provided by Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 22, 2011 21:05:10 GMT -6
I forgot the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that destroyed what was left of independent mainstream media. Fortunately, we still have the internet, until the gov't decides to brand it "domestic terrorism" and shuts it down.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 22, 2011 20:59:02 GMT -6
Don't forget the under Clinton, we also:
4. Passed legislation to de-regulate derivatives
5. Joined the WTO
The path to our destruction was started in the 90s and we've been on it ever since.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 14, 2011 0:41:23 GMT -6
The Chinese have been net sellers from Nov. until April (the last month or record) and probably also in May. They are buying oil and precious metals. They must relize that America is toast and that the consumer market in America is dying.
I think that in the next 2 years they will unpeg the Yuan from the dollar. This will give them more purchasing power. I also read somewhere that they will use the gold they are accumulating to try to make the Yuan a gold backed world reserve currency.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 10, 2011 17:27:51 GMT -6
McDonald’s Adds McJobs McDonald's is likely responsible for creating more than half of all new jobs in May. www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Daily/Pages/ND0607118.aspx"The Labor Department won’t detail an exact McDonald’s figure — they won’t identify any company they survey — but there will be data in the report to give a rough estimate.” Maybe it's because their survey shows that noone but McD's is hiring, and they make up the rest with seasonal adjustments.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on Jun 9, 2011 1:29:46 GMT -6
In the N.CA city where I live, about 20% of the storefronts are empty, and about a third of the apartment buildings have "for lease" signs on them, so the pressure on prices is downward. Maybe prices are increasing in the downtown areas of major cities.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on May 30, 2011 14:29:22 GMT -6
I read the article last night. There are 3 reasons why students are not being given the truth. 1. For such a long article, I was surprised they didn'y mention that most universities are subsidized by miltinational corporations and the gov't. This means that they have to promote the views of the donors. If they don't, their funding may be cut off.
2. Most people just don't want to admit they have been wrong about something.
3. Many economists have a libertarian leaning. They don't realize (or don't want to admit) that freedom can be very destructive. The freedom of corporations to hire in cheaper countries means many Americans suffer...
Most important, the article does not ask the important question - "What is being traded?" Trade means reciprocation. There is little of that going on between America and her "trading partners."
If a student asked this question they would be suppressed by the professor, or the professor would give some BS monologue about the virtues of economic freedom. I was an Econ major and can tell you that thought was definintely not encouraged in most of my classes.
But it's still a good article...
|
|
|
Post by mdub on May 24, 2011 16:37:42 GMT -6
From the article - TAA stands for Trade Adjustment Assistance.
"The TAA program provides workers with reemployment assistance and training, income support and job search and relocation allowances. The program also provides unemployment benefits for 156 weeks rather than the more typical 99 weeks."
|
|
|
Post by mdub on May 23, 2011 0:40:14 GMT -6
The 1996 Telecommunications Act destroyed what was left of independent media and consolidated it into several major outlets. Today the MSM exists as a gov't propaganda organ with the exception of Andrew Napolitano and Lou Dobbs.
I didn't watch the CNN report (I'm sure the CNN report never brought up any of the points I made in my previous post), but I did watch one several days ago on the Discovery Channel. It's story conflicted with gov't reports I read, which conflicted with earlier gov't reports I read. 3 weeks later, they still can't get their story straight. At least the Bush Admin put some effort into deceiving the public by producing an NIE in 2002 stating Iraq was enriching uranium.
I believe there was a mission, but they were probably targeting someone else. None of the witnesses I saw interviewed said Bin Laden ever lived there. One said he saw a US helicopter go up in flames and later the bodies were recovered. Maybe this explains why there are no SEALS to award medals to.
This administration are the same pathological liars as the previous one, but lack the intelligence and cunning of a Dick Cheney. There is no reason to believe the gov't on anything, unless they produce hard evidence to support it.
Concerning 911, I'm sure that Cheney was involved on some level. There is overwhelming evidence that the events did not go down the way the gov't says they did. One compelling piece of evidence exists in the finding if nano-thermite at the crash cite. This is a compound that melts steel and is only used by the gov't/military. Here is an architect from a 2 year old video discussing it. At the time, there were 700 memebers of Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth, but today there are 1500.
This is from Canadian TV. But why hasn't he or others appeared in the US? It's because our gov't, which controls the MSM, doesn't want people to know about these things. It also knows most Americans are lazy and will never research the issue, (or any other important issue) on their own.
The way to settle this issue is to have a public discussion or debate between those like Richard Gage and those sceintists and engineers that support the governments's version. This will never happen, as the gov't knows that it has no case.
|
|
|
Post by mdub on May 22, 2011 23:28:36 GMT -6
With Bin Laden out of the picture, Barak's approval rating has soared into the 60s. The problem is that now the gov't needs a new excuse to keep its criminal wars going and another way to scare gullible Americans into giving up what's left of their civil liberties. One possibility is Iran. Having failed in bullying the intelligence community into producing an NIE stating Iran had WMDs, the government is rehashing the lies it used to get us into Iraq, producing "witnesses" saying Iran has ties to 911. Stay tuned.... www.smh.com.au/world/iran-accused-of-september-11-role-20110520-1ewq7.html
|
|