GM builds a line of Buicks in China that sells well there. But the Chinese are developing a Lexus look car that is beautifully designed by an Italian firm and will be built there and sold here. They are coming, and will be tremendous competition. It took Japan 20 years to build quality cars to sell here. It took the Koreans less than ten. How long will it take China? The wages of workers here - the ones that had unionized jobs and came into the middle class, bought homes, sent their kids to college - will be driven down to compete with Chinese and Indian workers in every field, as they are now in many fields, if somebody doesn't fight back before it is too late. They buy airplanes from us, but make us build part of the plane there -like engines or wings - so they can learn those skills, and then undercut us - but that's OK. The playing field is rigged and they move the goal posts whenever they want.
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(24 posts)-
Posted Sunday Nov 29, 2009 22:41 #
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mrt wants something positive - here it is:
November 30, 2009, 9:34 AM
The Dogbert theory of the debtNew York Times
When I was on This Week yesterday, George Will tried his hand at the debt scare thing, saying that we’re in terrible shape because by 2019 the interest on the debt will be SEVEN HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS. (That should be read in the voice of Dr. Evil). I get that a lot — people who talk about the big numbers which are supposed to imply that things are terrible, impossible, we’re doomed, etc.The point, of course, is that everything about the United States is big. So you have to interpret numbers accordingly. As the graphic above shows — it’s taken from an article that managed to maintain a grim tone while reporting numbers that actually weren’t all that grim — what we’re talking about is a debt-service burden roughly comparable to that under the first President Bush. How many of the people now warning about the impossible burden of currently projected debt were issuing similar warnings back in 1992? Not many, I’d guess.
And bear in mind my point about causes of deficits: the deficits of the Reagan-Bush years were essentially gratuitous, the result of a desire to cut taxes while increasing military spending, rather than a response to a temporary emergency. So that debt burden should have been more worrying than what we’re facing now.
But people still seem to think that repeating those big numbers is enough to make their point. It’s the Dogbert theory: back in the runup to Y2K, Dogbert was saying things like this:
I’ve become a Doomsday Prophet so I can scare gullible people. I’m telling everyone the world will end in year 2000. My compelling logic is that 2000 is a big round number. It’s B-I-I-I-G and R-O-O-UND . . .
And the sad, indeed tragic thing is that it’s apparently working.That's from Krugman's column - where you can find lots of interesting and enlightening things...
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
The one about "lab meat" in sausage within five years is pretty scary. It looks like I've timed my time on this planet just about right.
Posted Monday Nov 30, 2009 12:57 # -
FLASH -
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements rose 3.7 percent from September to October to 114.1. It was the highest reading since March 2006 and almost 32 percent above a year ago, the largest annual increase ever for the index.BUT... http://www.rgemonitor.com/us-monitor/258047/the_housing_crisis_and_wall_street_shame
The Housing Crisis and Wall Street Shame
Robert Reich | Nov 30, 2009
One out of four homeowners is now under water, owing more on their homes than the homes are worth. Why? The biggest single factor behind the housing crisis is rising unemployment. According to the latest ABC-Washington Post poll, one out of every three Americans has either lost their job or lives in a household with someone who has lost a job. Today it takes two and sometimes three incomes to buy the groceries and pay the mortgage or the rent. So if one of those incomes is gone, a homeowner can't make the payment.[...]
Posted Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 10:39 # -
Now hears a good one that some of you will want to read -
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/KL02Dj02.html
I'm not supposed to copy articles in their entirety so I'll just post the links like the big kids do...
And BTW - Fritz is OUT at GM my google alert system tells me...
AND... The County Board voted 12-5 to override Stroger's veto, so the tax will be cut unless he goes to court. "Dollar Bill Beavers was one that stuck with him... a true stalwart.
Posted Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 17:05 # -
spatny, who said you can't post the articles in their entirety? who owns this website and who is the webmaster? seriously, I don't know. I've only joined this party about one or two months ago and don't know but i'd like to.
Posted Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 17:39 # -
I just copied and pasted an entire section regarding copyright on Wikipedia. Bad Kim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copy-paste
As a general rule, DO NOT COPY-PASTE TEXT FROM OTHER WEBSITES.
There are a very few websites (and other sources) from which text can be copy-pasted without violating copyright - cases where the text is in the public domain or uses a Wikipedia-compatible license. Copyright does not need to be asserted - if the source says nothing about licensing or copyright, you must treat it as copyrighted.
Posted Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 18:26 # -
I own the website and I am the webmaster and that's my real name. I don't want the site to take part in copyright violations, so the prohibition on posting complete articles has been part of the terms of use for a long time:
http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/my-templates/r2009/rules.html
About me and this site (I posted this about 4 months ago):
http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/this-site-is-maintained-by-chris-hajerI've also asked Don to stop posting complete articles, and we talked about why he's doing them that way. I edit the posts sometimes to post just an excerpt and not the whole article, then post the link, but I don't always have a chance to do that.
So, as a rule, don't copy someone else's work and post it here.
Posted Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 20:52 # -
Chris Hajer--thanks. I had no idea that you are the owner. Now I do, so thanks for the info. It didn't even occur to me about the copyright issues--I thought the reason not to post full articles was due to band-width. This must cost you a fortune. I don't recall seeing any ads here, what about donations? This is a great service.
I just read the link you posted about this site. Very interesting. I had no idea. I want to reiterate what some posters said--it is a tremendous source. Thanks.
Posted Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 21:11 # -
Hey that's a great idea! We can make contributions how, Chris? It never dawned on me that you were fronting this thing - one forgets about costs on the web. We should all chip in - maybe cash in a hat would be best?
I was thinking about my pal Paul Desmond tonight. Paul used to stay at my pad on telegraph Hill when he was out in the Bay Area, and one night about 3 AM he played "Emily" solo off my deck while inebriated. All the lights in thelittle cottages came on but no one bitched - an unforgettable moment. When Paul died he wanted to be cremated and ahve his ashes scattered over the Monterey penninsula which he loved so much. My good friend Jimmy Lyons called me in Chicago and told me to make a martini in about twenty minutesand toast Paul's life because he was going up in a small plane to drop them. So of course we did. A couple days later I was talking to Jimmy and asked him how it went, and he said Paul was still flying, because the wind had blown the ashes back in and he probably swallowed a good bit. Paul would have loved that... Here's a treat with Paul, Dave, Eugene Wright on bass and the best - Joe Morello - on the traps. Enjoy - maybe with a martini...
Paul penned the best selling jazz number of all time - Take Five. When he died he gave the royalties to the Red Cross, that gets a good bit each year. He was that kind of guy...
Posted Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 21:39 # -
Great luck - here's Paul doing "Emily" at Monterey. During the 70s I always spent a week down there for the Festival - I think my liver is still there!
There is nothing smoother than this - a consummate artist!
Posted Tuesday Dec 1, 2009 21:51 #
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