Financial Crisis

[lannarebirth]

I got us in the black without working up much of a sweat and I'll still make my dinner appointment.

How are you going to get past the pitchfork mob outside your house?

Regards.

Given some of my budget parings, I doubt that it will be with the aid of the military.

[flying]

Given some of my budget parings, I doubt that it will be with the aid of the military.

Same as I did.....There sure was some fat/waste there eh?

[Abrak]

I got us in the black without working up much of a sweat and I'll still make my dinner appointment.

How are you going to get past the pitchfork mob outside your house?

Regards.

Given some of my budget parings, I doubt that it will be with the aid of the military.

Lol exactly my thoughts when I finished the test. In fact I was a little disappointed I couldnt take a greater axe to the military. I mean when you are tackling this sort of issue, the best thing is to cut spending that doesnt contribute anything. I would have liked to not just reduce Afghan to 30,000 but got rid of the 50,000 in Germany, 35,000 in Japan and 30,000 in Hawaii. Afterall the average cost of military personnel is about 3x a GS employee.

On a different issue, I know its just a game, but I did find it far easier to get rid of the long term deficit - 2030 - than the 2015 deficit. Much of this can be done by moving out medicare and pension benefits to reflect demographics. I also think that if the US want to boost US aggregate demand now they would be best placed by showing they dont have an irresolvable long term deficit problem which possibly they dont.

[BlackJack]

sign of the times

carrefour sells out to Big C

there goes my feta cheese

Feta has been promoted and is now called cheese?

yah

says so on the lable

goes in salads ie greek

[midas]

and this is meant to be a growing economy ?

Angry Mob Of Workers Beat Their Boss To Death With Iron Rods To Protest Layoffs

http://www.businessinsider.com/fired-workers-beat-their-executive-boss-to-death-after-layoffs-2010-11

[BlackJack]

its the RR engines not Qantas thats the problem

Qantas is still safe but the 380 airbus and the engines in particular are not

Blam the poms

not Qantas

[MJP]

Hi, it's me again,

Although I could make more than a few vitriolic comments on "currency wars", Geithner, Bernanke and the Euro-debtors, for the time being I'll refrain and offer you this from the UK.

"Britain's Trillion Pound Horror Story"

I keep hearing "Hazlitt"..... His "Economics in One Lesson" should be required reading for all politwits, econotwits, politwit econotwits, and most importantly for all of the public service leeches, who now account for more than 50% of the UK GDP. In some areas government spending is almost 80% of the local economy. As the documentary points out, if government stimulus worked then Northern Ireland would be the most prosperous country in the universe.

The proposed solution to cut government spending by 50% and get off the back of the private sector, well, there is no way that is going to happen.

Somehow I get the feeling that the Chinese guy at the end chuckling to himself simply knows where the future is..... And it isn't in Tyneside, or Newcastle, or London.. Nope, you have to look at Asia.

Look. Just scrap the whole thing. That whole island. Sink it under the north sea and make expand Iceland's fishing capacity. I mean what's the point?

I'm halfway through the first part, so far we're at 6,561 miles of £50 notes stacked up and a bunch of moronic 'MP's' blustering their way through ad hoc interviews. Pray the Chinese annex them.

EDIT: Common mistake among MP's is they don't know the difference between deficit and debt. Elementary. Hang them all.

Edited November 17, 2010 by MJP

[thaidrew]

Hi, it's me again,

Although I could make more than a few vitriolic comments on "currency wars", Geithner, Bernanke and the Euro-debtors, for the time being I'll refrain and offer you this from the UK.

"Britain's Trillion Pound Horror Story"

I keep hearing "Hazlitt"..... His "Economics in One Lesson" should be required reading for all politwits, econotwits, politwit econotwits, and most importantly for all of the public service leeches, who now account for more than 50% of the UK GDP. In some areas government spending is almost 80% of the local economy. As the documentary points out, if government stimulus worked then Northern Ireland would be the most prosperous country in the universe.

The proposed solution to cut government spending by 50% and get off the back of the private sector, well, there is no way that is going to happen.

Somehow I get the feeling that the Chinese guy at the end chuckling to himself simply knows where the future is..... And it isn't in Tyneside, or Newcastle, or London.. Nope, you have to look at Asia.

Look. Just scrap the whole thing. That whole island. Sink it under the north sea and make expand Iceland's fishing capacity. I mean what's the point?

I'm halfway through the first part, so far we're at 6,561 miles of £50 notes stacked up and a bunch of moronic 'MP's' blustering their way through ad hoc interviews. Pray the Chinese annex them.

EDIT: Common mistake among MP's is they don't know the difference between deficit and debt. Elementary. Hang them all.

Well, Hey maybe you should reveal your real name, (assume it is Guy Fawkes), not to say that the idea is not a good one, but then the same goes for all gov, mostly they can be categorised into 2 sections, the corrupt and the inept, and some fit both. So not a big loss really.

[MJP]

Hi, it's me again,

Although I could make more than a few vitriolic comments on "currency wars", Geithner, Bernanke and the Euro-debtors, for the time being I'll refrain and offer you this from the UK.

"Britain's Trillion Pound Horror Story"

I keep hearing "Hazlitt"..... His "Economics in One Lesson" should be required reading for all politwits, econotwits, politwit econotwits, and most importantly for all of the public service leeches, who now account for more than 50% of the UK GDP. In some areas government spending is almost 80% of the local economy. As the documentary points out, if government stimulus worked then Northern Ireland would be the most prosperous country in the universe.

The proposed solution to cut government spending by 50% and get off the back of the private sector, well, there is no way that is going to happen.

Somehow I get the feeling that the Chinese guy at the end chuckling to himself simply knows where the future is..... And it isn't in Tyneside, or Newcastle, or London.. Nope, you have to look at Asia.

Look. Just scrap the whole thing. That whole island. Sink it under the north sea and make expand Iceland's fishing capacity. I mean what's the point?

I'm halfway through the first part, so far we're at 6,561 miles of £50 notes stacked up and a bunch of moronic 'MP's' blustering their way through ad hoc interviews. Pray the Chinese annex them.

EDIT: Common mistake among MP's is they don't know the difference between deficit and debt. Elementary. Hang them all.

Well, Hey maybe you should reveal your real name, (assume it is Guy Fawkes), not to say that the idea is not a good one, but then the same goes for all gov, mostly they can be categorised into 2  sections, the corrupt and the inept, and some fit both. So not a big loss really.

The scary bit was right at the end. The Hong Kong billionaire chap laughing and saying the UK has to go all the way back to Adam Smith and start again. Yup.

Breathtaking incompetence, Darling and Brendon Barber had me in stitches. Sort of. 

[midas]

flying - where are you ? !

Well this morning i am totally confused about American politics

After the recent election I thought many republicans fought on the promise

of restoring integrity to the government ?

As you know before the election they tried to pass a bill that would effectively

retroactively immunize mortgage fraud - but which Obama vetoed.

Yesterday they tried to overide that veto - but they lost.

What confuses me is there are names on the list that were " Yeahs "

that i would never in my wildest dreams have thought they would do that -

e.g. Michelle Bachmann What possible justification would people

like that have for wanting to vote for a bill to " cover up " the fraud ?

See the full list here :_

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll573.xml

[Abrak]

Well a lot of the borrowers and a lot of the lenders havent been keeping up with the paperworkd over these mortgages. Luckily Ira and Dan are more diligent and have composed this chart to show how their mortgage has been sliced, diced, collateralized, pooled, and distributed so at least their wont be any confusion going forward.

[midas]

Well a lot of the borrowers and a lot of the lenders havent been keeping up with the paperworkd over these mortgages. Luckily Ira and Dan are more diligent and have composed this chart to show how their mortgage has been sliced, diced, collateralized, pooled, and distributed so at least their wont be any confusion going forward.

oh there is NO confusion now !

Listen to this law professor explaining to the Senate Foreclosure Hearing yesterday

as to how and why the TBTF banks are BANKRUPT !

IMVHO this is what QE2 was really all about !

[flying]

flying - where are you ? !

Well this morning i am totally confused about American politics

I told you.........

Left Wing....Right Wing.....Same corrupt bird.

The more I see the more I think only one vote will do.

[cloudhopper]

flying - where are you ? !

Well this morning i am totally confused about American politics

I told you.........

Left Wing....Right Wing.....Same corrupt bird.

The more I see the more I think only one vote will do.

Here's another take - http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/11/hr-3808-interstate-recognition-of-notarization-concerns-appear-overblown.html

[midas]

flying - where are you ? !

Well this morning i am totally confused about American politics

I told you.........

Left Wing....Right Wing.....Same corrupt bird.

The more I see the more I think only one vote will do.

and what happened to the idea of protecting their constituents ?

worse than snake oil salesman

[churchill]

Another one of those annoying e-mail scams /

'Dear Sir,

Good day and compliments. I am Dr (Mr) Benjamin Bernanke, Chairman of Federal Reserve of United States of America. This mail will surely come to you as a great surprise, since we never had any previous correspondence. My aim of contacting you is to crave your indulgence to assist us in securing some funds abroad to prosecute a transaction of great magnitude.

Due to poor banking system in America, many subprime borrowers are not paying back mortgages and banks have lost ONE TRILLION TWO HUNDRED BILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($1,200bn) so far. This calamity has caused much suffering in my country. To help remedy this situation, our president, Mr Barack Obama, has authorised to be spent a sum of EIGHT HUNDRED NINETY SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS ($897bn) on stimulus plus many other good deeds like cash for clunkers. Unfortunately, since that time, we are being molested and constantly harassed by bond vigilantes who do not care that their reckless and vicious behaviour could ruin our hopes and plans.

To this effect, last year I authorised the printing of ONE TRILLION TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BILLION ($1,250bn) of United States currency to purchase government securities. To my great shock, this was not enough so I am now buying another SIX HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS ($600bn).

If you forward a modest sum to purchase Treasury notes then I can buy many more of them with my unlimited printing press and their price will rise. I am absolutely positive that this arrangement will be of mutual benefit to both of us. I can offer you generous interest rate of EIGHT TENTHS OF A PERCENT after taxes.

I want you to immediately inform me of your willingness in assisting and co-operating with us, so that I can send you full details of this transaction and let us make arrangement for a meeting and discuss at length on how to transfer this funds.

Yours Faithfully,

Dr (Mr) Benjamin Bernanke

N/B: Please contact Mr Timothy Geithner on this e-mail address for further briefing and modalities.'

from http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/11/12/403416/request-for-urgent-business-relationship/

[churchill]

Central Bank expects Ireland to take EU-IMF loan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101118/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

So thats all sorted then - So where is the money coming from ? Other people that cannot afford it - UK , Europe and US - So which currency is going to weaken fastest ? I would have thought the Euro but It seems for now USD /

[churchill]

Was it for this?

It MAY seem strange to some that The Irish Times would ask whether this is what the men of 1916 died for: a bailout from the German chancellor with a few shillings of sympathy from the British chancellor on the side. There is the shame of it all. Having obtained our political independence from Britain to be the masters of our own affairs, we have now surrendered our sovereignty to the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Their representatives ride into Merrion Street today

... http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/1118/1224283626246.html

[churchill]

Central Bank expects Ireland to take EU-IMF loan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101118/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

So thats all sorted then - So where is the money coming from ? Other people that cannot afford it - UK , Europe and US - So which currency is going to weaken fastest ? I would have thought the Euro but It seems for now USD /

Who’s bailing out whom?

US bailing out European banks ?

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/11/18/409191/whos-bailing-out-whom/

[flying]

Anyone here from France?

Does this Eric Cantona have a following for his bank run on Dec 7th?

There is also talk in the Netherlands on the social network for the same day.

Didnt he play ball for Man U ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck1hTTR-2EE

Edited November 19, 2010 by flying

[SoloFlyer]

Good interview:

Daily Show

Autors of

All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

Edited November 19, 2010 by SoloFlyer

[midas]

Anyone here from France?

Does this Eric Cantona have a following for his bank run on Dec 7th?

There is also talk in the Netherlands on the social network for the same day.

Didnt he play ball for Man U ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck1hTTR-2EE

he certainly does have a following !

And there is nothing much to lose by doing this - i mean

the interest rates are crappy so it will only take effort

and judging by the recent protests in GB, France, Greece

etc, i think many will have the motivation to do this.

And maybe by then the bankers bonuses for the end of this year

will have been announced just to rub salt in the wound

Edited November 19, 2010 by midas

[flying]

he certainly does have a following !

And there is nothing much to lose by doing this - i mean

the interest rates are crappy so it will only take effort

and judging by the recent protests in GB, France, Greece

etc, i think many will have the motivation to do this.

And maybe by the bankers bonuses for the end of this year

will have been announced just to rub salt in the wound

Should be interesting then

He is right .....what is the point of 3 million in the streets with signs?

[Naam]

bank run on Dec 7th?

= wet dream and big disappointment when after less than an hour the banks have no cash left to pay the waiting customers who demand their money.

[Naam]

he certainly does have a following !

And there is nothing much to lose by doing this - i mean

the interest rates are crappy so it will only take effort

and judging by the recent protests in GB, France, Greece

etc, i think many will have the motivation to do this.

And maybe by the bankers bonuses for the end of this year

will have been announced just to rub salt in the wound

Should be interesting then

He is right .....what is the point of 3 million in the streets with signs?

what is the point fighting a 20 foot saltwater croc by throwing cotton balls at it?

[flying]

America Surrenders

The sad tale of the greatest country in the world unwilling to fight.

[jcon]

I'm back in the GNoE^tm and I said I'd give my report after I got here (in reference to lanna's observation of what seemed to be a rise of a permanent underclass).

Well first I can say that flying is more terrible than ever - TSA is so ridiculous, words cannot describe. If not having to deal with the TSA ever again was motivation enough to make enough money to fly a private jet and never see their faces again, I'd say that would be a pretty good motivation.

Flight attendants in the west - getting worse. That goes without saying for those of you used to flying Singapore Airlines, or Emirates, or even Thai. Though KLM still has hotties.....

Travel crap aside, well I can say that around my little corner of the country, things are actually on the way up. I mean to say that construction and development continue, all things considered. Things look much better than 10 years ago, to be honest. It's probably not representative of 99% of the country, but it dovetails into my next point: I think that (and this may seem obvious) that future USA will be pockets of strong communities and then "everything else."

These pockets are isolated and while things are not as good as say 2006 when the $$$ was all over the place, it's definitely not Mad Max armageddon around here. People move to good communities for a reason - and smaller/medium-sized cities with a strong economic base will thrive, period. It's a positive feedback loop, strong community keeps the strong and also by virtue of that fact that it is strong, weeds out weaker members. It's just the way it is. Large cities have the crime element (and proximity to it) that just isn't really around in the smaller ''good'' communities, and the large cities can go from good to bad to worse pretty quickly if some situation arrived.

I have to admit before I came home I was feeling the doom and gloom from reading various blogs and what not, but when I arrived, well it's always as nice as it always was. I did, however, just get back here and haven't been around to see what's going on in other places. But I feel like it's necessary to say it's not as bad as it seems and it's certainly not packs of roving scavengers (I guess I actually do have to wait until 2050 when I will play Charlton Heston. If I were to think about the government, taxes, politicians, etc. etc. then yeah it's a terrible slippery-slope in the GNoE^tm, however life still goes on.

p.s. People here are still fat in general (and growing).... but we knew that already......

p.p.s. The GNoE^tm is down, but not out for the count. Whoever really believes that, is delusional, disenfranchised, or perhaps both. I do believe this century to be Asia's century (and if you're a go-getter there are massive opportunities) - however, if/when I do have kids, I will probably raise them in the west.... I guess I'll hold off tearing up my US Passport for a few years.....

p.p.p.s <deleted> the government.

[LaoPo]

^^^^

..where are the members telling you you are anti-American ?

I'm happy I didn't write that..

LaoPo

[midas]

These pockets are isolated and while things are not as good as say 2006 when the $$$ was all over the place,

[midas]

Citizens Against Government Waste is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization who's mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government.

http://www.cagw.org/

Citizens Against Government Waste just made a new television ad about the U.S. national debt but it's been deemed "too controversial" by major networks including ABC, A&E and The History Channel and will not be shown on those channels.

Judge for yourself whether it is "too controversial" ???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOpyggmTmeE&feature=player_embedded