One of the Michigan brain dead speaks on the economy......................

[mrcheerful]

Contrarian Economists have predicted this downturn for some time. I'm pessimistic for the short term but optimistic overall - our economy is far too integrated globally to see a complete crash. Europe, Australia and Asia will begin pressuring the Arabs on oil production if our economy sinks much further.

The reason housing costs and inflation are so high is that the Fed and banks have maintained interest rates at near record lows for far too long - to me they should have raised rates years ago and gave people an incentive to save. They let it go so long that now they have to lower rates to save the banks meanwhile the average joe is getting the shaft via uncontrolled inflation and federal bailouts - go figure. Anyone who shops knows that true inflation has easily risen at 3-4 times that of what the government statiticians have stated over the past 5-6 years.

High inflation combined with high taxation and high energy prices = exactly the mess we are in today. People can help themselves by changing lifestyles, reducing consumption and learning how to save money like our grandparents and great grandparents did but there has to be an incentive to save.

How much dumber can people get? But then when your reality is whatever fox news and GW jack ass tells ya, roflmao. And just think, this fool will more then likely benefit from anything the Dem's will do when they get back the wheel.

Edited to ask, Am I reading this guy right or is he just lost?

[Warpy]

1. Link, please

[mrcheerful]

2. Ok here ya go

http://midmichiganforum.com/forum/default.asp

[Warpy]

3. Forum and title would be helpful, too

Not trying to be a PIA, just looking for the context.

[mrcheerful]

4. Deep debates- politics- economy

The name of the forum is Mid-Michigan. added on edit.

[Warpy]

5. He's made a few good points and missed the mark completely

in other areas. For instance, he's right about inflation figures being about a third of what they really are and he's right about low interest rates contributing to the mess we're in.

He's wrong that the 4 3/4% maximum banks are allowed to pay on savings accounts would give people an incentive to save, even if they could find such a princely return, not when those people's wages have been held down for so many years with such a high inflation rate. When the return on savings is so much lower than the inflation rate, there is absolutely no incentive to save. When people's wages are being held down, there is no way for them to save.

He's partially wrong about high taxation on most people. He has totally missed the fact that the wealthiest are getting a nearly free ride, comparatively speaking, with the lowest tax rates since the pre Depression and robber baron eras. The people paying through the nose on taxes are people who work for a living. They're getting socked twice: higher taxes on wages as a percentage of median wage plus 40% of their OASDI contributions being robbed and used to fudge the books on all those tax cuts to the rich.

The high energy prices would not be as big an issue had Stupid not mismanaged the economy to the extent that the dollar has lost 55+% of its value.