Associated Press Biden: Truss plan a 'mistake' amid 'worldwide inflation'

[Scott]

 

Biden: Truss plan a 'mistake' amid 'worldwide inflation'

COLLEEN LONG

Sat, October 15, 2022 at 4:36 PM

 

 

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Saturday called embattled British Prime Minister Liz Truss' abandoned tax cut plan a “mistake,” and said he is worried that other nations' fiscal policies may hurt the U.S. amid “worldwide inflation."

 

Biden said it was “predictable” that the new prime minister on Friday was forced to walk back plans to aggressively cut taxes without identifying cost savings, after Truss' proposal caused turmoil in global financial markets. It marked an unusual criticism by a U.S. president of the domestic policy decisions of one of its closest allies.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-truss-plan-mistake-amid-233619004.html

 

[Scott]

Troll post removed.  Stay on topic.

 

[FarAngMoh]

Thailand is ready to welcome these tax refugees.

[Rimmer]

And yet another troll post and inflammatory meme removed

[Hanaguma]

...and people wonder why Biden is not campaigning for Democrats this election cycle.  He is completely tone deaf and out of touch with reality.  "The US economy is as strong as hell".  Really?  May want to ask people about that. Real people, not your syncophantic Beltway swamp dwellers.  People who have lost trillions in their retirement funds.

 

It is rich beyond measure that a man who is in Biden's position dares to criticize another leader on how she runs her economy. 

[placeholder]

4 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

...and people wonder why Biden is not campaigning for Democrats this election cycle.  He is completely tone deaf and out of touch with reality.  "The US economy is as strong as hell".  Really?  May want to ask people about that. Real people, not your syncophantic Beltway swamp dwellers.  People who have lost trillions in their retirement funds.

 

It is rich beyond measure that a man who is in Biden's position dares to criticize another leader on how she runs her economy. 

Well, for one thing, employment is still very strong. And so is the dollar. As for people losing trillions of dollars, which people? Most Americans have very little investment in the stock market. What's more, it's only a loss if you're cashing in your stocks. This won't be the first time stocks have declined sharply and it most likely won't be the last. So far consumer spending hasn't suffered which is contrary to the effect one would expect if stock prices really did play a critical role in the financial lives of most consumers.

[Social Media]

 

[Hanaguma]

5 hours ago, placeholder said:

Well, for one thing, employment is still very strong. And so is the dollar. As for people losing trillions of dollars, which people? Most Americans have very little investment in the stock market. What's more, it's only a loss if you're cashing in your stocks. This won't be the first time stocks have declined sharply and it most likely won't be the last. So far consumer spending hasn't suffered which is contrary to the effect one would expect if stock prices really did play a critical role in the financial lives of most consumers.

IF you use unemployment numbers, it APPEARS that employment is strong. However, the stats are misleading because they do not include people who are not actively looking for work. Those who have given up.  Economist Nicholas Eberstadt wrote about it in "Men Without Work"- there are millions of able bodied men who have given up and dropped out. 

 

As for the market, many invest directly and also indirectly through stock/pension funds.  They have taken a hit too.  And for the recently retired (or soon to retire) the pain is real. 

 

Plus, if the economy really WERE "as strong as hell", the Democrats would be campaigning on it. Not on fearmongering or trying to slay the ghost of President Past. 

[JonnyF]

Joe is not happy about the cut in the UK top tax rate from 45% to 40%. The 40% rate in the UK kicks in at 50,270 pounds.

 

In the US, the tax rate is only 22% up to the equivalent of 80,000 pounds, then 24% up to 153,000 pounds and the top rate of 37% kicks in over 483,000 pounds.

 

I suggest Joe does a little research and then minds his own business.

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, Hanaguma said:

IF you use unemployment numbers, it APPEARS that employment is strong. However, the stats are misleading because they do not include people who are not actively looking for work. Those who have given up.  Economist Nicholas Eberstadt wrote about it in "Men Without Work"- there are millions of able bodied men who have given up and dropped out. 

 

As for the market, many invest directly and also indirectly through stock/pension funds.  They have taken a hit too.  And for the recently retired (or soon to retire) the pain is real. 

 

Plus, if the economy really WERE "as strong as hell", the Democrats would be campaigning on it. Not on fearmongering or trying to slay the ghost of President Past. 

Well, Nicholas Eberstadt works for the American Enterprise Institute. As I recall, his thesis is that American men aren't looking for work because they are getting by with social benefits. So maybe that's why there are so many job openings.

How many is many? What percentage of the work force? 

As for stocks. I took a look at the s&p 500. The latest number shows it wroughly were it was less than 2 years ago. So any body who's retiring should still be doing okay except maybe if they're in their early 20's and have a large amount invested in their 401K's.

 

But, yes the world economy is fragile. Inflation is high. Due to covid aftermath and a war. But this is pretty much a worldwide phenomenon in the developed economies. Except in a socialist paradise like Japan where the govt highly subsidizes consumer goods and fuel costs. Oh to live in Japan! Still, the USA is doing better than most others.

 

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Joe is not happy about the cut in the UK top tax rate from 45% to 40%. The 40% rate in the UK kicks in at 50,270 pounds.

 

In the US, the tax rate is only 22% up to the equivalent of 80,000 pounds, then 24% up to 153,000 pounds and the top rate of 37% kicks in over 483,000 pounds.

 

I suggest Joe does a little research and then minds his own business.

Tell me, was Biden alone in his opinion? Was he at odds with the world's major financial institutions? Seems to me that was a duo named Kwarteng and Truss? Or am i misremembering?

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Joe is not happy about the cut in the UK top tax rate from 45% to 40%. The 40% rate in the UK kicks in at 50,270 pounds.

 

In the US, the tax rate is only 22% up to the equivalent of 80,000 pounds, then 24% up to 153,000 pounds and the top rate of 37% kicks in over 483,000 pounds.

 

I suggest Joe does a little research and then minds his own business.

Actually, I suggest you do a little rethinking. It's not about tax rates. It's about the percentage of deficit in relation to revenue. That has plunged in the US in 2022 to about 4.7%. What percentage were Truss' cuts going to create?

Edited October 17, 2022 by placeholder

[nauseus]

18 hours ago, placeholder said:

Well, for one thing, employment is still very strong. And so is the dollar. As for people losing trillions of dollars, which people? Most Americans have very little investment in the stock market. What's more, it's only a loss if you're cashing in your stocks. This won't be the first time stocks have declined sharply and it most likely won't be the last. So far consumer spending hasn't suffered which is contrary to the effect one would expect if stock prices really did play a critical role in the financial lives of most consumers.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-owns-stock.aspx

[placeholder]

5 minutes ago, nauseus said:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-owns-stock.aspx

https://usafacts.org/articles/what-percentage-of-americans-own-stock/

[nauseus]

11 hours ago, placeholder said:

Well, Nicholas Eberstadt works for the American Enterprise Institute. As I recall, his thesis is that American men aren't looking for work because they are getting by with social benefits. So maybe that's why there are so many job openings.

How many is many? What percentage of the work force? 

As for stocks. I took a look at the s&p 500. The latest number shows it wroughly were it was less than 2 years ago. So any body who's retiring should still be doing okay except maybe if they're in their early 20's and have a large amount invested in their 401K's.

 

But, yes the world economy is fragile. Inflation is high. Due to covid aftermath and a war. But this is pretty much a worldwide phenomenon in the developed economies. Except in a socialist paradise like Japan where the govt highly subsidizes consumer goods and fuel costs. Oh to live in Japan! Still, the USA is doing better than most others.

 

Yes. the high number of people not returning to work makes the job market appear better. But what will the cost of these handouts end up being? The former, along with overspending and poor energy policies drives inflation and will end up causing markets to collapse with waves of unemployment. This is only the beginning. The US government is doing little to stop it,

[nauseus]

4 minutes ago, placeholder said:

https://usafacts.org/articles/what-percentage-of-americans-own-stock/

Yeah, the top 10% are also the group most likely to be able to handle a loss.

[placeholder]

9 minutes ago, nauseus said:

Yes. the high number of people not returning to work makes the job market appear better. But what will the cost of these handouts end up being? The former, along with overspending and poor energy policies drives inflation and will end up causing markets to collapse with waves of unemployment. This is only the beginning. The US government is doing little to stop it,

First off, just because Eberstadt claims that handouts keep workers from returning to work, that doesn't make it so. There are lots of disputes about that. More importantly, there are still a huge number of job openings going unfilled. Finally, there is the effect of long covid. Several states in the US cut short Covid benefits in the belief that it would encourage workers to return to work. It didn't work.

[placeholder]

10 minutes ago, nauseus said:

Yeah, the top 10% are also the group most likely to be able to handle a loss.

First off, you would have to know what percentage of people below the top 10% is held in some way in stocks. Also, as I believe I've pointed out to you before, and as I noted in this thread as well, right now stocks are where they were 2 years ago. They're still way up from where they were for most of the investing lifetime of those who hold stocks. You don't seem to want to acknowledge that stark fact.

[Hanaguma]

There are at least 6-7 million fit men of working age who arent working and arent looking for work. This is more than 10% of total men in that age group. This is a huge problem that was made worse by the pandemic and the response to it.  

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, Hanaguma said:

There are at least 6-7 million fit men of working age who arent working and arent looking for work. This is more than 10% of total men in that age group. This is a huge problem that was made worse by the pandemic and the response to it.  

That’s a simplistic view.

 

Very many men have sufficient personal wealth not to work.

 

One of the outcomes of the pandemic was an increase in people considering alternative lifestyles, some folk decided they didn’t ever want to work in an office again, some folk decided they didn’t want to work full time, others decided they just didn’t want to work any more.

 

But it’s not a new phenomenon, here’s evidence it was happening back in 2016 

 

https://www.npr.org/2016/09/06/492849471/an-economic-mystery-why-are-men-leaving-the-workforce

 

I doubt this is a surprise to many expats here in Thailand.

 

 

[Hanaguma]

13 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

That’s a simplistic view.

 

Very many men have sufficient personal wealth not to work.

 

One of the outcomes of the pandemic was an increase in people considering alternative lifestyles, some folk decided they didn’t ever want to work in an office again, some folk decided they didn’t want to work full time, others decided they just didn’t want to work any more.

 

But it’s not a new phenomenon, here’s evidence it was happening back in 2016 

 

https://www.npr.org/2016/09/06/492849471/an-economic-mystery-why-are-men-leaving-the-workforce

 

I doubt this is a surprise to many expats here in Thailand.

 

 

From what I read, most come from the lower education/economic spectrum. High school grads or dropouts, etc.  Not gentlemen of leisure choosing to take early retirement.  Not good to have so many men with nothing to do and no ambition but smoke pot and play video games.

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, Hanaguma said:

There are at least 6-7 million fit men of working age who arent working and arent looking for work. This is more than 10% of total men in that age group. This is a huge problem that was made worse by the pandemic and the response to it.  

Really? It was made worse by the pandemic? Well, it is true that there is the issue of long covid.

 

Apart from covid, though,  this problem has been in existence for the last 50 years. As for who these men are:

"They’re disproportionately low-income men who either dropped out of high school or didn’t go beyond a high school diploma."

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2016/08/15/men-not-at-work-why-so-many-men-ages-of-25-to-54-are-not-working/

 

The Declining Labor Market Prospects of Less-Educated Men

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7745920/

 

And, of course, the war that the right has waged on unions over the past 70 years hasn't helped.