The fact that massive corporations are sitting on 100s of billions of dollars means the Fed's policy efforts are pretty meaningless, except in immiserating the middle class.
I have always thought that when it comes to the economy, Biden is running downhill, i.e., has long-term natural advantages on his side. Broadly speaking, I see two of them:
1) The economy was due for a lot of activity as it shook off the pandemic. The problems encountered along the way were mostly related to labor and other supply-chain issues. Those are steadily being resolved (although labor, big surprise, is having to fight like hell for every one of its gains). The situation will only get better.
2) Biden knows how to stimulate the economy with judicious spending and won't do stupid fuckheaded stuff like slash taxes so much that it creates an instant budget crisis.
Republicans can scream and holler all they want about Hunter Biden or whatever stupid shit enters their stupid brains, but they can't stop the current strong economic trends any more than they can stop the tides.
Also - try to buy tickets to see the "Barbie" movie. If your theater is like mine, all the showings through the weekend are sold out or almost sold out. If that's not a good economic indicator, I'll eat my pink Corvette!
I was in Lowe's last Sunday around noon. I needed to pick up a vacuum cleaner belt, paint brushes and some water softener salt. The place was crowded! Some kind of big appliance sale was going on - people were waiting for an associate to help them . They seem to be pretty well staffed. I don't think anyone was waiting very long. I was in the vacuum section looking to find a belt. They had a whole bay full of roomba style floor cleaners. Those things ain't cheap! Prices start at $275 but if you want you can spend eleven hundred bucks easy ! They were all in stock .There were three different couples shopping them . Everybody there was white and they seemed very well fed . It was Sunday afternoon so I imagine that quite a few of them , when they were done with their Appliance shopping,would make their way over to the Golden Corral buffet for Sunday dinner. There they can sit down with their families amidst the heaping plates of food and discuss how downtrodden they are .
Which is way the mainstream media is doing all it can to make it sound like we are in the middle of a horrible economy right now. The rich do not want a Democratic president or Congress. That's why they support the kleptocracy of the GOP, Trump and Putin.
The only number that matters in housing, rental or purchase, is the monthly payment. In rent, that's the rent. In ownership, that's the price x interest rate divided by the number of payments over the life of the loan; plus tax and insurance.
So now that interest rates have gone up, prices have to come down, or the monthly nut gets too high for people to actually pay. That hasn't happened yet.
I'm in my early 40s. I've never owned my own home. The financial barriers to that are pretty much dealt with now - I've got a decent job, my student loans are paid off, my debts are minimal, my credit is decent. But I have no interest in owning a home. I get the financial incentive, but that doesn't outweigh not having to pay for repairs, or do home or lawn maintenance myself, or the higher costs of insurance or property taxes I'd be looking at.
It definitely depends on the area and timing. For me to get an apartment near the DC area that's half the space of my house is starting at $1800 for one of the cheaper places and it only goes up from there. My mortgage managed to be about $1500 but even that's now becoming impossible here.
True enough. My rent is reasonable, but I'm near two highways and on the flight path of a local air national guard base. There are compromises anyway you go.
I'm in an apartment complex, not renting a house. I don't even want to do that - I haven't mowed a lawn or shoveled snow in almost a decade, why would I want to go back to that? So there's no HOA, but obviously repainting inside the apartment would mean goodbye security deposit. I don't actually care about my deposit at this point, but I've also just gotten used to the wallpaper the place came with.
I get the beauty of renting and not having to deal with house stuff. But in the US at least, home ownership has been a major path to wealth accumulation for a lot of people. I don't know how HOAs work as I don't live in one. When you own, there is the security of not being kicked out of your house or at least there was before bankruptcy "reform". I don't know what the law is anymore. I really should.
The fact that massive corporations are sitting on 100s of billions of dollars means the Fed's policy efforts are pretty meaningless, except in immiserating the middle class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqsT4xnKZPg
Ben Selvin and the Crooners
I have always thought that when it comes to the economy, Biden is running downhill, i.e., has long-term natural advantages on his side. Broadly speaking, I see two of them:
1) The economy was due for a lot of activity as it shook off the pandemic. The problems encountered along the way were mostly related to labor and other supply-chain issues. Those are steadily being resolved (although labor, big surprise, is having to fight like hell for every one of its gains). The situation will only get better.
2) Biden knows how to stimulate the economy with judicious spending and won't do stupid fuckheaded stuff like slash taxes so much that it creates an instant budget crisis.
Republicans can scream and holler all they want about Hunter Biden or whatever stupid shit enters their stupid brains, but they can't stop the current strong economic trends any more than they can stop the tides.
Ladies and gems,...
The dismal science.
One has to wonder whether or not the hipster coffee shops are full of liberals. Put that Wohl dude on it.
Shouldn't he be in prison now?
He should be, but he and Zipper Pants pleaded out in Ohio and got saddled with 500 hours registering Black voters in Washington, D.C.
They still face charges in Michigan and a civil suit in New York.
"Still, because economists have to be dismal about something..." It's just science.
Also - try to buy tickets to see the "Barbie" movie. If your theater is like mine, all the showings through the weekend are sold out or almost sold out. If that's not a good economic indicator, I'll eat my pink Corvette!
𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧. - 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥
something tells me that there will be a metric shitload of articles going all "well, actually" on the good economic newses.
I thought we were resisting the metric system.
By the way, how many grams are in a "shitload"?
I was in Lowe's last Sunday around noon. I needed to pick up a vacuum cleaner belt, paint brushes and some water softener salt. The place was crowded! Some kind of big appliance sale was going on - people were waiting for an associate to help them . They seem to be pretty well staffed. I don't think anyone was waiting very long. I was in the vacuum section looking to find a belt. They had a whole bay full of roomba style floor cleaners. Those things ain't cheap! Prices start at $275 but if you want you can spend eleven hundred bucks easy ! They were all in stock .There were three different couples shopping them . Everybody there was white and they seemed very well fed . It was Sunday afternoon so I imagine that quite a few of them , when they were done with their Appliance shopping,would make their way over to the Golden Corral buffet for Sunday dinner. There they can sit down with their families amidst the heaping plates of food and discuss how downtrodden they are .
Ain't That America?
"your house should never spin unless you’ve had too much to drink or you have an inner ear infection, better have that checked the end."
You forgot Dorothy on her way to Oz!
All residents living in tornado alley.
My first thought as well.
The economy is booming! Women and Children are hardest hit!
Don’t worry pessimists, NYT has got you covered -
“The S&P 500 is up about 20 percent this year, but some still warn that the future may not be as rosy as that implies.”
The economy is roaring but not for these swing state voters- NYT
The trick is to make the voting public aware of it. Biden's approval ratings should be well above water.
Which is way the mainstream media is doing all it can to make it sound like we are in the middle of a horrible economy right now. The rich do not want a Democratic president or Congress. That's why they support the kleptocracy of the GOP, Trump and Putin.
I met someone the other day who complained that we're in a recession right now. It's not happening.
The housing market around me has been stably insane for some time now. Start your kids downpayment fund now, folks.
The only number that matters in housing, rental or purchase, is the monthly payment. In rent, that's the rent. In ownership, that's the price x interest rate divided by the number of payments over the life of the loan; plus tax and insurance.
So now that interest rates have gone up, prices have to come down, or the monthly nut gets too high for people to actually pay. That hasn't happened yet.
It's a seller's market here, and the buyers all seem to have cash. They don't care about interest rates.
I'm in my early 40s. I've never owned my own home. The financial barriers to that are pretty much dealt with now - I've got a decent job, my student loans are paid off, my debts are minimal, my credit is decent. But I have no interest in owning a home. I get the financial incentive, but that doesn't outweigh not having to pay for repairs, or do home or lawn maintenance myself, or the higher costs of insurance or property taxes I'd be looking at.
It definitely depends on the area and timing. For me to get an apartment near the DC area that's half the space of my house is starting at $1800 for one of the cheaper places and it only goes up from there. My mortgage managed to be about $1500 but even that's now becoming impossible here.
True enough. My rent is reasonable, but I'm near two highways and on the flight path of a local air national guard base. There are compromises anyway you go.
If I were single I would rent if I could find a suitable place without a satanic HOA.
I'm in an apartment complex, not renting a house. I don't even want to do that - I haven't mowed a lawn or shoveled snow in almost a decade, why would I want to go back to that? So there's no HOA, but obviously repainting inside the apartment would mean goodbye security deposit. I don't actually care about my deposit at this point, but I've also just gotten used to the wallpaper the place came with.
I get the beauty of renting and not having to deal with house stuff. But in the US at least, home ownership has been a major path to wealth accumulation for a lot of people. I don't know how HOAs work as I don't live in one. When you own, there is the security of not being kicked out of your house or at least there was before bankruptcy "reform". I don't know what the law is anymore. I really should.
That is one happy puppy. He's a Democrat, of course...