What Economy? There is Nothing Left To Recover

[lib2DaBone]

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts07162009.html
By Paul Craig Roberts

(snip)
The worst of the economic crisis has not yet hit. I don’t mean the rest of the real estate crisis that is waiting in the wings. Home prices will fall further when the foreclosed properties currently held off the market are dumped. Store and office closings are adversely impacting the ability of owners of shopping malls and office buildings to make their mortgage payments. Commercial real estate loans were also securitized and turned into derivatives.

The real crisis awaits us. It is the crisis of high unemployment, of stagnant and declining real wages confronted with rising prices from the printing of money to pay the government’s bills and from the dollar’s loss of exchange value. Suddenly, Wal-Mart prices will look like Nieman Marcus prices.

Matt Taibbi describes Goldman Sachs as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentless jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.” Look at the Goldman Sachs representatives in the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. This bankster firm controls the economic policy of the United States.

Little wonder that Goldman Sachs has record earnings while the rest of us grow poorer by the day.

[MercutioATC]

1. On what will we build a recovery?

I agree with Roberts....and that means that there's nothing on which to build a recovery.


Interesting dilemma.

[valerief]

2. There's still lots of land to steal. nt

[Silent3]

3. "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity"

Hmmm. Pithy.

[obliviously]

13. now! How do we remove the squid? N/T

[librechik]

4. heedless anti-union RWers forgot that when you kill the unions

you also kill the valuable infrastructure of manufacturing, an infrastructure which dies if not maintained.

What indeed can we build an economy on? We could pay workers to try to rebuild the wasted factories and roads and bridges of the outsourcing Bush years. Until we are repaired, we are going nowhere.

[galileoreloaded]

6. Unions do not equal the existance of factories or industry.

See Industrial Revolution, China, India.

To big of a jump for me.....

[librechik]

8. right--cuz they work so much better when they aren't unionized?

Huh? read some history and come back to me little whippersnapper. You forgot the thirties and forties and fifties.

[galileoreloaded]

9. Whippersnapper???

Factories can, have, do and will exist without unions. I am not arguing the merits of a union, merely stating that plenty exist without unions. In fact, with membership in the 20% range I believe, 80% of stuff made IN FACTORIES, have no or very little union involvement at all.

Perhaps I misunderstood you, or you misplaced your pills?????

:P

[hfojvt]

5. well on my recent trip

there seemed to be quite a bit of traffic and customers at McDonalds. There must be some economy if people are still able to drive and eat out.

In defense of Goldman Sachs, profits for my credit union were up this year too. The reason is simple. The interest rates they pay are way down, but the interest rates they collect from loans have not fallen since they are more locked in, and if people do refinance there are fees associated with that too.

I have not looked at their books. Nor am I that familiar with what they do, but I am guessing that they have been helped by the low cost of borrowing.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. No Recovery....No Democratic Majorities....No Re-election For Obama

That's too horrible to contemplate...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. But, please note how beautifully the politicians and bankers have rearranged the deck chairs.

[KoKo]

11. Well...That's the DAMNED TRUTH OF IT! n/t

[ContinentalOp]

12. Alarmist nonsense.

What does it even mean that there's nothing left to recover? We don't produce anything anymore? There's no demand for goods and services anymore?

[earth mom]

14. The military is always hiring. They've got us all almost where they want us.

Mission Accomplished!

Oh wait, that was *'s line wasn't it?

Funny how little change and hope there has been.

[salguine]

15. You know what time it is? Here's what time it is: