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Posted
1 hour ago, KhunHeineken said:

Probably because it always gets bailed out.  :smile:

 

 

And yet it is still going strong...probably will continue to do so.

Posted
On 6/18/2024 at 9:04 PM, KhunHeineken said:

You can't make that many clocks.  :smile:

He He. Clocks are only a minor part of our exports. Same with cheese. Some stereotypes never die. Some people think that the main export from the Netherlands are still "Tulips from Amsterdam".:smile:

Posted (edited)
On 6/19/2024 at 6:44 AM, Srikcir said:

The U.S. dollar is the 10th-strongest currency in the world as of June 2024, following no. 9 Euro. Forbes.com

A world acceptance since the 1700's. Strongest world economy in 2024 exceeding every G7 nation.

But Thailand has decided to align with BRIC, albeit recently begging the US for USD investment in Thailand and buy more Thai exports.

But if you prefer holding rubles, yuan and baht, enjoy.

The Pound and the Euro stronger? I'm getting the best exchange rate in years here! Great time to visit the UK and Europe!

Edited by Roo Island
Posted
On 6/18/2024 at 8:27 PM, pomchop said:

Yes we do.  We also currently have one of the strongest economies in the world in spite of what many would have you believe. As always, look at the numbers and compare them to other countries as well as to past usa numbers.  Perfect?  No.  Better than most?  Yes.

Firstly, I would just like to say for the record I am not anti-American.

 

That said, the defense industry is the biggest employer in America. 

 

It's interesting that America has defense deployments all around the world, and is supplying arms to the two main conflicts in the news at the moment, being Ukraine and Israel.  I have no doubt the supply of arms are also flowing to rebels / insurgents etc in other conflicts that America can not be seen to be supplying.  Then, there is the supply to fellow allies.  

 

We all know war is big business.  Even bigger business if the war is over oil. 

 

Do you think an economy based upon defense and war is a sound one?  Serious question. 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Posted
1 minute ago, KhunHeineken said:

Firstly, I would just like to say for the record I am not anti-American.

 

That said, the defense industry is the biggest employer in America. 

 

It's interesting that America has defense deployments all around the world, and is supplying arms to the two main conflicts in the news at the moment, being Ukraine and Israel.  I have no doubt the supply of arms are also flowing to rebels / insurgents etc in other conflicts that America can not be seen to be supplying.  Then, there is the supply to fellow allies.  

 

We all know war is big business.  Even bigger business if the war is over oil. 

 

Do you think an economy based upon defense and war is a sound one?  Serious question. 

 

 

 

 

Many of the largest economies in the world have huge weapons industries. Absolutely terrible!

Posted
21 hours ago, swissie said:

He He. Clocks are only a minor part of our exports. Same with cheese. Some stereotypes never die. Some people think that the main export from the Netherlands are still "Tulips from Amsterdam".:smile:

Well, clocks are still there.  :smile:

 

https://www.worldstopexports.com/switzerlands-top-10-exports/

 

Switzerland’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Swiss global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Switzerland.

  1. Gems, precious metals: US$127.2 billion (30.3% of total exports)
  2. Pharmaceuticals: $98.8 billion (23.5%)
  3. Organic chemicals: $40.3 billion (9.6%)
  4. Clocks, watches including parts: $29.8 billion (7.1%)
  5. Machinery including computers: $25.9 billion (6.2%)
  6. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $20 billion (4.8%)
  7. Electrical machinery, equipment: $14.7 billion (3.5%)
  8. Mineral fuels including oil: $6.4 billion (1.5%)
  9. Plastics, plastic articles: $6.15 billion (1.5%)
  10. Perfumes, cosmetics: $3.87 billion (0.9%)

Switzerland’s top 10 exports accounted for 88.8% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Switzerland doesn't even offer private banking anymore.  Ouch.  :smile:

 

 

 

  • Haha 1
Posted
7 minutes ago, Roo Island said:

Many of the largest economies in the world have huge weapons industries. Absolutely terrible!

Yes, but defense is not the biggest employer in those countries.  In the USA, defense is the biggest employer. 

 

It's been said, America needs a war about every 20 years.  It's good for their economy.  It's obvious why.

 

Is an economy based on bullets, bombs, and conflict, sustainable.  Serious question. 

 

 

 

 

  • Sad 1
  • Haha 2
Posted
29 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Firstly, I would just like to say for the record I am not anti-American.

 

That said, the defense industry is the biggest employer in America. 

 

It's interesting that America has defense deployments all around the world, and is supplying arms to the two main conflicts in the news at the moment, being Ukraine and Israel.  I have no doubt the supply of arms are also flowing to rebels / insurgents etc in other conflicts that America can not be seen to be supplying.  Then, there is the supply to fellow allies.  

 

We all know war is big business.  Even bigger business if the war is over oil. 

 

Do you think an economy based upon defense and war is a sound one?  Serious question. 

 

 

 

 

I will give you a rare answer on this forum:  I do not know.

 

 

As an american I am very aware that we spend a bundle on defense and various wars.  If we cut this in half or more I really do not know what the result would be.  There are a lot of bad actors on the world stage and I would like to think that the USA defense/military keeps some of these from attempting to take over their neighbors or the world.  But for sure there always seems to be massive corruption and waste in defense spending and a lot of very powerful people and companies contnue to make massive profits off of the defense spending.

 

As for oil.  Yes the USA and most every other country has been spending a ton of $$ on oil for a very long time.  The oil industry has made a lot of countries and people wealthy beyond imagination.  

 

I do remember very well jimmy carter in late 70's during arab oil embargo  sitting in white house with a sweater, turning down thermostats,  and practically begging americans to get off the oil nipple.  He put solar panels on white house and warned over and over of the problems of oil.  Of course as everyone knows Carter was basically ignorned and the first day in office Regan had the solar panels removed to the cheers from the oil industry.

 

I do often wonder where we would be today almost 50 years later if we had actually taken carter seriously and led the world in developing non oil energy. Perhaps a JFK like challenge to put a man on the moon?  I guess we will never know as here we are decades later and most all of carters warnings have been ignored and more and more oil related problems seem to haunt the world.

Posted
On 6/21/2024 at 6:02 PM, KhunHeineken said:

That said, the defense industry is the biggest employer in America.

 

You may want to google that and get back to us.

Posted
On 6/13/2024 at 3:09 AM, mania said:

All these "currencies" all will fail ...all fiat currencies have failed eventually.

 

Problem is we no longer realize the difference between fiat currencies (IOU's) & money

It is good we have people inside to wreck things up for the enemy of our wealth

Posted
11 minutes ago, JackGats said:

The end of the US dollar, the end of the Euro, the collapse of the EU, the end of oil, the demise of the stock exchange ...

 

Predictions galore, for decades now, still none of them have materialized.

 

 

There is still time to make the usd flourish again, we just do not know how yet. 

  • Haha 1
Posted

Whether the defense industry is the biggest or not, one thing is for sure. They have good lobbyists and good spin doctors, much power inside the Beltway, and they have the rest of corporate America supporting their agenda, including the mainstream media. And the result?  A US foreign policy run by Neocons for the generation of profit. War, war, and more war.  That’s the agenda. And if they don’t have a war, they’ll create one somewhere.  
 

I’m not sure how much military equipment is sold overseas, but it’s a huge business.

And all those sales surely create demand for the dollar. And until now, the dollar was also necessary to settle oil transactions with the Saudis. So there it is. Military equipment sales and a demand for the dollar as vehicle for trade settlement, including most oil transactions. Without all that, what would the dollar be? 
 

 

Posted
On 6/21/2024 at 7:09 PM, KhunHeineken said:

Well, clocks are still there.  :smile:

 

https://www.worldstopexports.com/switzerlands-top-10-exports/

 

Switzerland’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Swiss global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Switzerland.

  1. Gems, precious metals: US$127.2 billion (30.3% of total exports)
  2. Pharmaceuticals: $98.8 billion (23.5%)
  3. Organic chemicals: $40.3 billion (9.6%)
  4. Clocks, watches including parts: $29.8 billion (7.1%)
  5. Machinery including computers: $25.9 billion (6.2%)
  6. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $20 billion (4.8%)
  7. Electrical machinery, equipment: $14.7 billion (3.5%)
  8. Mineral fuels including oil: $6.4 billion (1.5%)
  9. Plastics, plastic articles: $6.15 billion (1.5%)
  10. Perfumes, cosmetics: $3.87 billion (0.9%)

Switzerland’s top 10 exports accounted for 88.8% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Switzerland doesn't even offer private banking anymore.  Ouch.  :smile:

 

 

 

Holy smoke, diden't know that clocks are still at 4. Must be exports as my swiss friends wear 20$ watches, made in China.

 

PS: Private Banking still available, but must disclose "where the money comes from", everything over 10'000 CHF. If I were "a foreighner" wanting to hide some money, Switzerland would be the last place I would choose. Much better the British Channel Islands, Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Panama etc etc etc. The list is long. Something like a Norwegian "smorgasboard". Switzerland no more part of the "smorgasboard".

Posted
2 hours ago, jas007 said:

Whether the defense industry is the biggest or not, one thing is for sure. They have good lobbyists and good spin doctors, much power inside the Beltway, and they have the rest of corporate America supporting their agenda, including the mainstream media. And the result?  A US foreign policy run by Neocons for the generation of profit. War, war, and more war.  That’s the agenda. And if they don’t have a war, they’ll create one somewhere.  
 

I’m not sure how much military equipment is sold overseas, but it’s a huge business.

And all those sales surely create demand for the dollar. And until now, the dollar was also necessary to settle oil transactions with the Saudis. So there it is. Military equipment sales and a demand for the dollar as vehicle for trade settlement, including most oil transactions. Without all that, what would the dollar be? 
 

 

Shortly before the end of his presidency, Eisenhower remarked that after this war, there is now a military/economical complex in existance, that will not go away anymore.

 

But: Without this US military/economical complex, Eureopeans would all speak Russian as a second language in the 2nd generation.

Posted
1 hour ago, Roo Island said:

Exactly. I've been reading this bs for decades. Nothing will change in our lifetime.

 Every time some economies tried to "self-clean" (eradicating exesses) the central banks turned into Fire Brigades, supplying water (liquidity). On every such occasion, adding to "the national dept". In some countries, Bond holders/buyers are starting to use their pocket calculators.


In short: While the central banks still will act as the Fire Brigade, bond buyers will increasingly ask for a higher price for their water (interest). Accelerating the upward spiral of an ever increasing National Debt further.


The final word will have the Bond-Buyers and not the central banks. If the central banks should compensate the "bond-buyers-strike" by printing more money, the result is inevitable: Massive inflation.


Finally: The "magic-potion" of the central banks over the last 70 years is not endlessly repeatable. Because to pay the "fire brigade" will become unaffordable. Cheaper to let the house burn down than to pay the fire brigade.

 
Or simplyfied: Let the world economy "sweat-out" the accumulated excesses of the last 70 years. Long overdue, there will be no "soft landing".

Posted (edited)
On 6/21/2024 at 10:02 AM, KhunHeineken said:

Do you think an economy based upon defense and war is a sound one?  Serious question. 

I read that Russia is spending 6% of GDP on defense this year, up 36% from last year, with unemployment at 3%. Their economy is doing great at the moment, but sending all those farm boys off the war may lead to problems in the near future. Economies need to dispose of product. The Space race was good because you could put a lot of resources and manpower into something and light a fire under it and it is all gone, start over and repeat. Very little human or future consequences.  War on the other hand takes care of the resources and manpower, but with lots of human and future consuquences.

Edited by bunnydrops
typo
Posted
42 minutes ago, bunnydrops said:

I read that Russia is spending 6% of GDP on defense this year, up 36% from last year, with unemployment at 3%. Their economy is doing great at the moment, but sending all those farm boys off the war may lead to problems in the near future. Economies need to dispose of product. The Space race was good because you could put a lot of resources and manpower into something and light a fire under it and it is all gone, start over and repeat. Very little human or future consequences.  War on the other hand takes care of the resources and manpower, but with lots of human and future consuquences.

Unemployment in Russia is about 4.5%. Definitely big problems on the horizon. Thus. The number of Russians leaving

  • Agree 1
Posted
9 hours ago, treetops said:

 

You may want to google that and get back to us.

Ok.  So here it is.  Just one of many on the front page of a Google search.  It confirms what everyone knows, except yourself. 

 

I mean, not only is defense the largest employer in the US, it's also the largest employer in the world. 

 

When YOU Google it, get back to us.   :cheesy:

 

https://www.worldexcellence.com/the-6-largest-employers-globally/

 

Table of Contents

Posted
9 hours ago, JackGats said:

The end of the US dollar, the end of the Euro, the collapse of the EU, the end of oil, the demise of the stock exchange ...

 

Predictions galore, for decades now, still none of them have materialized.

 

 

War will materialize, that's for sure.  Then, where's the rest of the things you mention going to be? 

Posted
4 hours ago, swissie said:

PS: Private Banking still available, but must disclose "where the money comes from",

So it's private then, is it? 

 

4 hours ago, swissie said:

If I were "a foreighner" wanting to hide some money, Switzerland would be the last place I would choose.

You just said "private banking still available."  :smile:

 

4 hours ago, swissie said:

Switzerland no more part of the "smorgasboard".

No, just part of Swiss cheeseboard now.  :smile:

  • Agree 1
Posted
On 6/13/2024 at 9:41 AM, spidermike007 said:

Are you now denying WWII ever happened? Was it fake news?

He must be young and didn't learn about wwI (the great war) in the rewritten history books of his time.

  • Haha 1

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