I have had one central focus since May of 07 so I have been out of tune with most everything that is going on in the world. Recently I tuned into Fox/CNN on my drive to work and in 9 months the news hasn't changed all that much. Typical blather about candidates, what Tom Cruise or Brittany Spears is up to, and the never-ending bash (read that "brainwashing") on how slow the economy is particularly retail sales.
Now I didn't fall off the potato truck yesterday and have a good idea of where this nation is heading economically, but I have to say that I don't understand what the news is talking about when they say retail sales are down. I really believe that this is simply programming of the people to think there is more of a recession than there truly is and ultimately part of the "bigger picture". I could be wrong however.
Let's face it, you cannot produce wealth without a manufacturing base. Build all the casinos, CVSs, Walgreens, Big Box's you want - these only distribute wealth and not produce it (and distribute it right on out of this country at an alarming rate). Common sense would tell us that if everything we consume were produced off shore combined with labor being shipped out as well, eventually we'll see economic strain.
With that said however, I have to question the news' views on what people are doing with their green. The other day I went to a store called The Great Indoors to shop for lighting fixtures. This store is adjacent to a large mall. The mall parking lot looked as if it were the day before Christmas Eve - it was packed. All stores surrounding the area in strip malls were packed, including the store I went into. I had to make a Home Depot run this past Saturday - that too was packed.
So... are retail sales down? Down enough to call major attention to it leading us to believe we are in major trouble?
I don't know all the answers, or any of them for that matter, but I do think that if you tell a population something enough they will eventually start to believe it.
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We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a civilization, it expects what never was and what never will be.
95% are still working
Most home owner ship EVER in our history
The world is not coming to an END, Yes retail sales are down, but not that much to cause mast panic.
GW has not been a good conservative president in my book, he spends to much, I think Clinton spent less[&:]
The purse strings of this enconomy is held by congress, Newts congress was one of the best The President has zippo affect IMO. The Boom in the 90's had to do with the Internet and a whole new industry being form. Look back at what happen with cars? 20's ring a bell
Save your pennies It's going to be OK
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"it's not that I am lazy, I just don't care"
The media, which has been shown over and over again to be primarily leftist leaning, wants people to think things are worse than they are... That way, all the proles will vote for Hillary.
And, of course we have folks on the right saying, "No way I'll vote for him. He's only conservative on 7 out of 10 issues." Thus ensuring the victory of a lowlife socialist who is conservative on 0 out of 10 issues.
No, the media do not control the national economy. All they do is read headlines and offer statistics for support. Every town is a little different, but when you add them all together,there may bea downturn in consumer spending. Sure, the mall was full, but how much money was everyone spending?
Herd mentalities do apply to shoppers in some cases, however. One must always consider the thoughtlessness of the American consumer when developing economic analyses and forecasts.
Some here have different ideas about why the economy is turning on us,let me give you my idea on the whys.
The biggest crises of today is a shortage of lend able money ,right. The fed has dumped 500 billion dollars into the market to free up cash. The shortage comes at us from two places, millions of Americans lost jobs that paid well enough to maintain their life styles. Remember most have 20 year mortgages not all foreclosures are this ARM many are families that can't make ends meet on their Home Depot salary. Many have used credit cards to get by while trying to with stand the rising cost of living in America today.
I will take some time here to shut you people up that are about to post the inflation rates and how low they are . Fuel as in gasoline and home heating oil are not figured in the inflation rate. Food as in four dollar a gallon milk and two dollar a dozen eggs are not figured in either. So as long as you don't drive ,eat or get cold inflation is low.[]
Now to finish ,why do you think that our government needs to add billions of inflationary dollars to America's economy? Could it be that our good friend and fair trading partner China is sitting on one Trillion yea one trillion with a "T" American dollars?[:@]
I will take some time here to shut you people up that are about to post the inflation rates and how low they are . Fuel as in gasoline and home heating oil are not figured in the inflation rate. Food as in four dollar a gallon milk and two dollar a dozen eggs are not figured in either. So as long as you don't drive ,eat or get cold inflation is low.[]
I don't want to shut up...
Quote:
The ethanol rush is definitely on. There are now 110 ethanol plants operating in the United States and 74 more are on the way. The competition between food producers and fuel refiners has doubled corn prices in the past year from $2 to over $4 per bushel. At the same time, the price of groceries has gone up 3.9 percent in the last year, faster than the general inflation rate of 2.6 percent.
I suppose we could ease inflation a bit by sticking with oil based fuels.
Regardless of whether groceries are included in the general calculation, 3.9% is only 1/4th of Carter-era rates...
Regardless of whether groceries are included in the general calculation, 3.9% is only 1/4th of Carter-era rates...
I cant pretend to be an expert on inflation but this argument always seems rather silly to me, does it have to be at a Carter era level before it becomes a problem?Were only a 1/4 of the way there, is that a good thing?
Ive got a hunch many of the people in here wont admitt theres a problem untill it either
1- affects them personally or
2-enough time has passed to convienently forget whos been in charge of the country and it becomes possibly to blame it on the "liberals"
untill then we can all hold hands and blowsmoke up each others butts while we reminesse about how good everythings going[&o]
Carter ,We are desperate , here's a lttle more up to date information for you.
This will probably do the trick.
Energy cost up 37.1% for the 4th quarter, Merry Christmas
The
index for energy, which advanced at annual rates of 22.9 and 32.9 percent
in the first two quarters, declined at a 14.8 percent rate in the third
quarter, turned back up in the fourth quarter, advancing a 37.1 percent
annual rate. Overall energy costs rose 17.4 percent in 2007 with the index
for petroleum-based energy costs (energy commodities) up 29.4 percent and
charges for energy services (gas and electricity) up 3.4 percent The food
index, which rose 2.1 percent in all of 2006, advanced 4.9 percent in 2007,
its largest increase since a 5.3 percent rise in 1990. Grocery store food
prices increased 5.6 percent in 2007, reflecting acceleration over the last
year in each of the six major groups.
Is the media controlling our economy?
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