| Author |
 Replies: 18 / Views: 2,871 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
Hey all, took this from a yahoo news articles.......some of this would shock you! Now these are just a few, lets not mention the facts we can post about foreclosures, numbers of people unemployed or not searching, us being 14 trillion in debt, etc etc! Metals should be up!!
-- There are 8.5 million people receiving unemployment insurance and over 40 million receiving food stamps.
-- At the current pace of job creation, the economy won't return to full employment until 2018.
-- Middle-income jobs are disappearing from the economy. The share of middle-income jobs in the United States has fallen from 52% in 1980 to 42% in 2010.
-- Middle-income jobs have been replaced by low-income jobs, which now make up 41% of total employment.
-- 17 million Americans with college degrees are doing jobs that require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor's degree.
-- Over the past year, nominal wages grew only 1.7% while all consumer prices, including food and energy, increased by 2.7%.
-- Wages and salaries have fallen from 60% of personal income in 1980 to 51% in 2010. Government transfers have risen from 11.7% of personal income in 1980 to 18.4% in 2010, a post-war high.
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
The average American and American investors in general see no connection with these statistics and precious metals. If some "Talking Head" doesn't lay it out for them and directly tell them to buy precious metals they won't make the connection on their own. Many Americans are still in economic denial and believe the government knows what they are doing and the average guy on the street will be okay. The government does look out for the little guy ya' know.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
Well, it kind of looks to me like they are up, big time, one year, even 3 months. I guess they are supposed to go up every day. Good luck with that.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
3184 Posts |
OneBowl, I know that they are up big time in one year but I was referring to that big drop we have last week. All the things above that I listed above still is occuring so silver and gold should continue to go up :)
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
759 Posts |
I hear you. In fact, I think prices will go up, although I'm not ruling out a second leg to the dip first. Now, two things that DID change last week: margin requirements were increased and some players not associated with consumptive supply and demand locked in profits. Oh, and the OBL thing. Metals seem to have taken on a day trading mentality lately, making things a bit of a mine field, regardless of long term direction. I just can't say $35.62 is a screaming buy.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
At the current pace of job creation, the economy won't return to full employment until 2018. Last I read on that said that 240,000 jobs were created last month but that 300,000 are needed EVERY month just to soak up our population increase. At that rate, we aren't ever going to catch up.  Not to worry, though. I am sure that the US Institute of Insane Mathematics will conjure up a new formula that proves up is down, black is white, day is night, and that we have FULL employment. These are the same boyos responsible for calculating interest rates and the US economic growth rate. Like the commies used to do... if the data does not fit the prediction, change the data until it does!  Orwell would be SO proud! |
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
The bottom line is a lower average standard of living for all Americans. There are not enough good jobs around and many people don't have the skills to get one anyway. Gone are the days of a H.S. Diploma landing you a middle-class income and 25% of the population isn't even graduating from H.S.!
Half the nation will live off entitlements until Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (that have $60 trillion in unfunded liabilities over the next 30 years) implode our nation's finances.
The only way out is massive cuts to all government programs coupled with massive tax increases for everyone. There is no other solution and as U.S. Rep. Ryan from Wisconsin found out - it ain't gonna happen.
|
|
New Member
United States
33 Posts |
I think we may see silver back down some after the margin adjustments Monday night, but they should be up in the longterm.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
The only way out is massive cuts to all government programs coupled with massive tax increases for everyone. There is no other solution and as U.S. Rep. Ryan from Wisconsin found out - it ain't gonna happen. - BH1964 As I see this, we have 2 issues at hand. The first is political... what is it that we CAN do that will actually get done? The next is more technical in that it addresses what should be done to put the US back onto a sound and sustainable financial footing. I'm not convinced that the the politics part is solvable. There are just too many pompous morons strutting and preening in DC to ever get them to stop worrying about whose portion of "the pie" is bigger. The most recent budget "debate" is a 1st class example. Worrying over $60B vs $30B in cuts when $600B in cuts are what is really needed is not going to resolve this issue. One thing that would at least give us a chance at success would be to get the US economy firing on all cylinders again and growing at 4-5% per year. This is not all that difficult. Many of us on here could come up with some good ideas on how to help make this happen. As they say, "It ain't rocket science!". Taxes need to be simplified and a reasonable amount to pay, government waste MUST be reduced as much as possible, regulation needs to be simplified, the government needs to be about 1/2 of today's bloated size... and that's just for openers. A simple flat tax with 1 and only 1 good sized deduction for essentials would be good. Say a standard $30k deduction for no tax at all on the 1st $30k of income and then a 15% flat tax on ALL other income from ANY source. Companies like GE should not be able to milk the system like they are now doing. Hedge fund guys should pay income tax rates on their earnings and not cap gains. Everyone who lives here should pay something. No freeloaders! Anyone who does not wish to pay US taxes is free to move elsewhere. SS, Medicare, and Medicaid all need to be modified in response to US demographics, with the bulk of the changes to fall on the youngest members of our society because they have the longest amount of time to adapt to the changes. Us old folks have already planned our lives based on the current system, so cannot adapt to big changes at this stage of the game. Whatever happens, we will all need to pull together and make some sacrifices if this country is to be saved from its worst enemy ever... ourselves! I believe that it is imperative that it be saved and will be happy to do my share to see to it that it is. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2189 Posts |
Does anyone have or know were to get statistics on foreign spending.Seems all I hear about is cutting one program or another which is fine with me but how much is my goverment sending out of this country every year.Seems I heard the US has over 900 bases outside our boarders.Why?How much does that cost?How much do we give away to the reast of the world?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
jasper good point! I would like to see how much we spend for other countries........I think we should put some of that money back into our own country....
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
Seems I heard the US has over 900 bases outside our boarders. Why?How much does that cost? How much do we give away to the rest of the world? We give away FAR too much. The primary reason is that the politicians do not consider tax money as if it was their own money. Tax money is an infinite resource (in their tiny little minds, anyway), so throw around as much as possible to buy votes and sway people in the US and around the world. Problem with that nonsense is that the US can no longer afford to do it, if we ever could. The gravy train has suffered a train wreck and is no longer available. Unfortunately, the politicians are living in the past and have not yet come to grips with this fact. I agree that we have FAR too many military bases around the world. We do need some but the number is way out of proportion to what is truly needed. We have interests around the world and sea lanes for commerce that need protection but we could do this with a couple of dozen strategically located bases... not the 800+ bases that are scattered just about everywhere. After the Russians went bankrupt a few years ago, they cut their military big-time and announced to the world that they were doing it and that if anyone invaded them, they would nuke their butts. End of invasion. Since they already had a large stockpile of atomic weapons, there was no need to spend money building more. This could well be a viable alternative to massive military spending, which most countries cannot afford for very long. It simply drains too much badly-needed capital from an economy for very little return. We need a military to protect us and our vital national interests but it should be kept close to home and it should be small enough to be affordable. |
|
Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
Last I read on that said that 240,000 jobs were created last month but that 300,000 are needed EVERY month just to soak up our population increase Don't forget, 25% of those jobs (60,000) was McDonalds hiring out of a million apps. |
|
Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
There's a very simple truth that no politician and few constituents want to face.
There are only three ways to pay for any new program, building, etc, that taxpayers want (other than the obvious: "Just say no!")
1) raise taxes or user fees to cover the cost. Political suicide in all but the rarest cases.
2) reduce or eliminate spending on something else. Almost as bad as raising taxes, but sometimes you can please more voters with the new expenditure than you tick off by removing the old one.
3) inflate the money supply. In simplest terms, if the total economy is $1 million, and people want $1 million of new stuff, just create another $1 million in money. Once everyone realizes they now have $2 in income and outgo for every dollar they used to have, they recognize the fact that the $1 loaf of bread is now $2. The additional money is rarely equally distributed, however, so what is likely is the bread is $2, but they're only getting $1.25, so this HI Tax (Hidden Inflation) is the same as if the gubmint took away 75ยข in "real" tax.
4) What about borrowing? OK, what about it? All that does is raise the cost of the requested item, and put off the day when you still have to pick one of the three options. Borrow $1 million to provide what the taxpayers want, and 5 years from now, the problem is back, but the price is $1.2 million.
The obvious exception is when the loan and interest will be paid from new income, like from toll fees for the new highway or bridge, which is solution 1.
If anyone can point out where there's another solution, I'd love to hear it.
|
|
Valued Member
Cyprus
349 Posts |
its all about the politics. Get re-elected and keep the gravy train going and look after your mates in big business who funded your re-election campaign. Control the information that flows through the media as legally as possible...
That's the way the world goes round..............am I correct?
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
The primary reason is that the politicians do not consider tax money as if it was their own money. Tax money is an infinite resource (in their tiny little minds, anyway), so throw around as much as possible to buy votes and sway people in the US and around the world. Why is it we vote for a candidate who thinks it makes sense to pay $250 million to try to get a job that pays $1.6 million total, and then expect him to spend our tax dollars frugally? Is there anyone out there willing to pay me 150 times their salary to find them a job? And I'll guarantee my performance, not 50-50. |
| |
Replies: 18 / Views: 2,871 |
Posted 05/08/2011 6:48 pm
