Financial Crisis

[mccw]

In a word the problem of the day is

"Materialism"

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MJP]

In a word the problem of the day is "Materialism" Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Not really, well, not so much. The little toys like games consoles and intelligent telephones are consolation prizes for kids who cannot afford to grow up. House prices are the problem here. Until house prices in the likes of the UK literally collapse, these economies will simply continue to stagnate.

Their parents and grandparents generation look at them like they're feeble, but what these generations don't get is that although they never had these little toys they could at least buy a home with an income from their jobs for life looking forward to their index linked final salary pensions. Wage inflation in the 1970's paid off a lot of peoples mortgages back then and they essentially got houses for near free.

Sure there's exceptions.

Look at it now. Highest ever house prices at lowest ever interest rates in the most insecure jobs market in recent history. If you were a youngster would you roll the dice on this situation, even if you could get the deposit together?

Brown destroyed confidence in private pensions (a system that worked as the money funded R&D and development) which turned people on to Buy to Let using interest only mortgages . . . you know, it was all a recipe for disaster.

[mccw]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind.

Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MJP]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind. Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You're right it's a load of old pony. But not having secure careers and the ability to move on past adolescence is a major contributing factor I reckon.

[mccw]

Also when was it possible that "everybody could afford thier own home"? If that were true then what was the need for all the council homes and tower blocks?

I think a lot of people now romanticise about some dream time around the 50s that never really existed.

Also plenty of countries like Germany & France have and have always had high proportions of renters with out them all feeling like they're on the edge of topping themselves. The British are just obsessed with property ownership.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[mccw]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind. Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You're right it's a load of old pony. But not having secure careers and the ability to move on past adolescence is a major contributing factor I reckon.

I reckon a majour factor is the nanny state and the over regulation that has destroyed our "nation of shop keepers" / spirit of self reliance, entrepreneurship and independence.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MJP]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind. Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You're right it's a load of old pony. But not having secure careers and the ability to move on past adolescence is a major contributing factor I reckon.

I reckon a majour factor is the nanny state and the over regulation that has destroyed our "nation of shop keepers" / spirit of self reliance, entrepreneurship and independence.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

It's hell on earth. It's schizophrenic. It's . . .

You're getting me started!

[MJP]

Also when was it possible that "everybody could afford thier own home"? If that were true then what was the need for all the council homes and tower blocks? I think a lot of people now romanticise about some dream time around the 50s that never really existed. Also plenty of countries like Germany & France have and have always had high proportions of renters with out them all feeling like they're on the edge of topping themselves. The British are just obsessed with property ownership. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Seen the cost of renting there recently?

Fact is the equation has gone for the younger generations.

I do agree, I loathe the British obsession with home ownership, not because they are thought of as homes, but as investments. How miserable is that?

[SheungWan]

Also when was it possible that "everybody could afford thier own home"? If that were true then what was the need for all the council homes and tower blocks? I think a lot of people now romanticise about some dream time around the 50s that never really existed. Also plenty of countries like Germany & France have and have always had high proportions of renters with out them all feeling like they're on the edge of topping themselves. The British are just obsessed with property ownership. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Seen the cost of renting there recently?

Fact is the equation has gone for the younger generations.

I do agree, I loathe the British obsession with home ownership, not because they are thought of as homes, but as investments. How miserable is that?

Misery likes company.

[midas]

the warnings keep coming (reference the Forbes magazine article a few months ago) so. now if anyone gets caught out by this they only have themselves to blame

The Coming 2014 Expropriation of 10% of Everyone’s Accounts

Anyone who thinks it is a fantasy that government will simply just confiscate 10% of everyone’s accounts in Europe better have another look at the fool they see in the mirror staring back at them. This IMF solution is traditionally French and is really coming because the people in charge are effectively Marxists and this idea came from the IMF under the control of French ideology. They will expropriate these funds to save a banking system that they screwed up and will never reform anything because they are incapable of admitting any mistake.

http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/01/02/the-coming-2014-expropriation-of-10-of-everyones-accounts/

Edited January 3, 2014 by midas

[Naam]

the warnings keep coming (reference the Forbes magazine article a few months ago) so. now if anyone gets caught out by this they only have themselves to blame

The Coming 2014 Expropriation of 10% of Everyone’s Accounts

Anyone who thinks it is a fantasy that government will simply just confiscate 10% of everyone’s accounts in Europe better have another look at the fool they see in the mirror staring back at them. This IMF solution is traditionally French and is really coming because the people in charge are effectively Marxists and this idea came from the IMF under the control of French ideology. They will expropriate these funds to save a banking system that they screwed up and will never reform anything because they are incapable of admitting any mistake.

http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/01/02/the-coming-2014-expropriation-of-10-of-everyones-accounts/

the 10% warning is nothing but bullshit and it does not originate neither is it endorsed by the IMF. the IMF states clearly that any published working papers of its employees does not have its endorsement.

the authors Ostry and Ghosh are since years wellknown for their "out of range" ideas and working papers based on their lukewarm science fiction farts (also known as staff discussions).

[midas]

the warnings keep coming (reference the Forbes magazine article a few months ago) so. now if anyone gets caught out by this they only have themselves to blame

The Coming 2014 Expropriation of 10% of Everyone’s Accounts

Anyone who thinks it is a fantasy that government will simply just confiscate 10% of everyone’s accounts in Europe better have another look at the fool they see in the mirror staring back at them. This IMF solution is traditionally French and is really coming because the people in charge are effectively Marxists and this idea came from the IMF under the control of French ideology. They will expropriate these funds to save a banking system that they screwed up and will never reform anything because they are incapable of admitting any mistake.

http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/01/02/the-coming-2014-expropriation-of-10-of-everyones-accounts/

the 10% warning is nothing but bullshit and it does not originate neither is it endorsed by the IMF . the IMF states clearly that any published working papers of its employees does not have its endorsement.

the authors Ostry and Ghosh are since years wellknown for their "out of range" ideas and working papers based on their lukewarm science fiction farts (also known as staff discussions).

Time will tell as to who will be responsible for the most lukewarm farts around here

The International Monetary Fund Lays The Groundwork For Global Wealth Confiscation

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) quietly dropped a bomb in its October Fiscal Monitor Report. Titled “Taxing Times,” the report paints a dire picture for advanced economies with high debts that fail to aggressively “mobilize domestic revenue.” It goes on to build a case for drastic measures and recommends a series of escalating income and consumption tax increases culminating in the direct confiscation of assets.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/billfrezza/2013/10/15/the-international-monetary-fund-lays-the-groundwork-for-global-wealth-confiscation/

Edited January 3, 2014 by midas

[SheungWan]

the warnings keep coming (reference the Forbes magazine article a few months ago) so. now if anyone gets caught out by this they only have themselves to blame

The Coming 2014 Expropriation of 10% of Everyone’s Accounts

Anyone who thinks it is a fantasy that government will simply just confiscate 10% of everyone’s accounts in Europe better have another look at the fool they see in the mirror staring back at them. This IMF solution is traditionally French and is really coming because the people in charge are effectively Marxists and this idea came from the IMF under the control of French ideology. They will expropriate these funds to save a banking system that they screwed up and will never reform anything because they are incapable of admitting any mistake.

http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/01/02/the-coming-2014-expropriation-of-10-of-everyones-accounts/

the 10% warning is nothing but bullshit and it does not originate neither is it endorsed by the IMF . the IMF states clearly that any published working papers of its employees does not have its endorsement.

the authors Ostry and Ghosh are since years wellknown for their "out of range" ideas and working papers based on their lukewarm science fiction farts (also known as staff discussions).

Time will tell as to who will be responsible for the most lukewarm farts around here

So far the award goes to you.

[midas]

Time will tell as to who will be responsible for the most lukewarm farts around here

So far the award goes to you.

thanks...........but you have nothing of substance regarding the subject itself. Never have, never will

New EU Plan Will Make Every Bank Account In Europe Vulnerable To Cyprus-Style Wealth Confiscation

Did you actually believe that they were not going to use the precedent that they set in Cyprus? On Thursday, EU finance ministers agreed to a shocking new plan that will make every bank account in Europe vulnerable to Cyprus-style bail-ins. In other words, the wealth confiscation that we just witnessed in Cyprus will now be used as a template for future bank failures all over Europe

http://batrdailybusinessreport.blogspot.com/2013/06/new-eu-plan-will-make-every-bank.html

Edited January 3, 2014 by midas

[MJP]

Also when was it possible that "everybody could afford thier own home"? If that were true then what was the need for all the council homes and tower blocks? I think a lot of people now romanticise about some dream time around the 50s that never really existed. Also plenty of countries like Germany & France have and have always had high proportions of renters with out them all feeling like they're on the edge of topping themselves. The British are just obsessed with property ownership. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Seen the cost of renting there recently?

Fact is the equation has gone for the younger generations.

I do agree, I loathe the British obsession with home ownership, not because they are thought of as homes, but as investments. How miserable is that?

Misery likes company.

You think it's an in vogue fashion for the youngsters to be this depressed? Perhaps.

[SheungWan]

Also when was it possible that "everybody could afford thier own home"? If that were true then what was the need for all the council homes and tower blocks? I think a lot of people now romanticise about some dream time around the 50s that never really existed. Also plenty of countries like Germany & France have and have always had high proportions of renters with out them all feeling like they're on the edge of topping themselves. The British are just obsessed with property ownership. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Seen the cost of renting there recently?

Fact is the equation has gone for the younger generations.

I do agree, I loathe the British obsession with home ownership, not because they are thought of as homes, but as investments. How miserable is that?

Misery likes company.

You think it's an in vogue fashion for the youngsters to be this depressed? Perhaps.

Strangely enough they all seem to cheer up once they get their hands on an iphone 5.

[chiang mai]

Has anyone seen Yosh. recently, I was wondering what happened to him!

[midas]

Also when was it possible that "everybody could afford thier own home"? If that were true then what was the need for all the council homes and tower blocks? I think a lot of people now romanticise about some dream time around the 50s that never really existed. Also plenty of countries like Germany & France have and have always had high proportions of renters with out them all feeling like they're on the edge of topping themselves. The British are just obsessed with property ownership. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Seen the cost of renting there recently?

Fact is the equation has gone for the younger generations.

I do agree, I loathe the British obsession with home ownership, not because they are thought of as homes, but as investments. How miserable is that?

This would surely restrict the number of would-be buyers?

First-time buyers now need £31,000 deposit - 77% higher than at the peak of the housing bubble in 2007

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2533588/First-time-buyers-need-31-000-deposit-77-higher-peak-housing-bubble-2007.html

[midas]

Has anyone seen Yosh. recently, I was wondering what happened to him!

I think he reinvented himself in the name of Sheung Wan . (an area located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island)

[chiang mai]

Has anyone seen Yosh. recently, I was wondering what happened to him!

I think he reinvented himself in the name of Sheung Wan . (an area located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island)

No, I can't believe it!

[SheungWan]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind. Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You're right it's a load of old pony. But not having secure careers and the ability to move on past adolescence is a major contributing factor I reckon.

Spend your life blaming others and get left behind.

[MJP]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind. Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You're right it's a load of old pony. But not having secure careers and the ability to move on past adolescence is a major contributing factor I reckon.

Spend your life blaming others and get left behind.

That's not really fair on the millions of young people with no employment or immediate prospects right now. Spain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, UK (not quite as bad). When you're looking at 50% youth unemployment, you know the system they have to live within has failed and continues to fail them.

[SheungWan]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind. Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You're right it's a load of old pony. But not having secure careers and the ability to move on past adolescence is a major contributing factor I reckon.

Spend your life blaming others and get left behind.

That's not really fair on the millions of young people with no employment or immediate prospects right now. Spain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, UK (not quite as bad). When you're looking at 50% youth unemployment, you know the system they have to live within has failed and continues to fail them.

On an individual basis, you just have to get on 'yer bike and develop new skills/emigrate/whatever. Waiting for the world to change for you is a dead end.

[MJP]

^^ SW, I think this is absolutely right. It's never easy.

[SheungWan]

^^ SW, I think this is absolutely right. It's never easy.

...and sometimes that secure job turned out to be not so secure after all.

[MJP]

^^ SW, I think this is absolutely right. It's never easy.

...and sometimes that secure job turned out to be not so secure after all.

No such thing as secure jobs these days. I think that's why the generations are having a hard time understanding each other.

Never actually had one personally, at least not for the past ten years. Always been project by project, different firms. Even different countries.

.

[midas]

IMF paper warns of 'savings tax' and mass write-offs as West's debt hits 200-year high

Debt burdens in developed nations have become extreme by any historical measure and will require a wave of haircuts, warns IMF paper

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10548104/IMF-paper-warns-of-savings-tax-and-mass-write-offs-as-Wests-debt-hits-200-year-high.html

Edited January 6, 2014 by midas

[mccw]

About 30-40% of UK and US debt has already been written off through QE.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[cheeryble]

IMF paper warns of 'savings tax' and mass write-offs as West's debt hits 200-year high

Debt burdens in developed nations have become extreme by any historical measure and will require a wave of haircuts, warns IMF paper

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10548104/IMF-paper-warns-of-savings-tax-and-mass-write-offs-as-Wests-debt-hits-200-year-high.html

Happily we're not linked to the gold standard any more or we might have been in the same pickle as in the twenties depression.....which would have been avoidable today.

One can of course gradually evaporate debt through several measures.

Unfortunately for Europe one of the regular helpful factors......growth......becomes difficult or impossible with the demographics of receding or stagnant population.....as in Japan.

One wonders whether the Japanese, a smart people, and Europe, may gain growth through robotics instead of increasing population.

Cheeryble

Edited January 6, 2014 by cheeryble

[Loptr]

About 30-40% of UK and US debt has already been written off through QE. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You care to post a link to data substantiating this claim.US debt is worse now that it has ever been, in fact doubling since 2008. Curious how you connect the dots to get to the point you claim. QE has nothing to do retiring debt. In fact, it is expanding US debt.