Did you stop spending?
Due to the economic woes we are in, many people seem to have stopped (or at least cut back) spending. Are you one of them?
The worst thing about all this is that it becomes a self fulfilling prohecy. We are told that we are in a financial crisis - people stop spending - affecting cashflow within the economy - businesses suffer - cutbacks follow - jobs are lost - people have no money to spend (escept just on the essentials) - the economy suffers. Back to first base.
I was never a big spender in the first place. Not a good citizen I'm afraid.
Maybe, just maybe, this one will be big enough that we rethink our economic models?
My government is trying awfully hard to make sure I spend any money I have though. They want to fix the financial crisis by using the hair of the dog that bit us. 0% interest rates, talk of a tax on savings. Borrow borrow borrow. Lend lend lend.
As though it will never have to be paid back.
Typical short-sightedness. We got in this mess by over-borrowing money that did not actually exist. How they think they are going to fix the problem by doing more of the same is beyond me.
People will still spend, but possibly they will start spending on things they actually need instead of garbage that gets destroyed within a short space of time.You suspect correctly. Once the European and American workforces priced themselves out of the market by demanding a wage they could afford to live on, it was inevitable all this rubbish would be made elsewhere.
Then the same workforce allowed themselves to be persuaded to buy this rubbish that they lost their jobs for.
And were persuaded that the only way to make good quality rubbish was to make it abroad.
Just see how well Walmart does out of the recession selling rubbish made abroad.
If every American refused to buy anything that was not made in the states tomorrow it might actually change something. Although we have also been persuaded that it is a "global" problem and the only way to fix it is for people to go even further into debt by buying a new car.
We are stupid. And will continue to be kept stupid all the time we allow our institutions to keep us that way.
No money for education in a recession.
I stopped spending because I was traumatized by having had to manage too much stuff when I got sick. I am still paying for the storage box because I couldn't move all the stuff into my new apartment. another aspect of asperger's - collecting.
i am collecting hubs now...free!Oh, I usually ignore his rather immature displays. He has been following me around for weeks doing that.
I thought he rather clearly made my point for me though
You're so NEEDY, Nick, lol...
Get thee to Macy's. oops, I mean Bloomies...
- pgrundyposted 15 years ago
0 I agree wholeheartedly. The media is worse than the crisis. In Australia, we have a budget surpluss, not a deficit. But, there is already talk of a recession here by the end of the year. Gess what? We may be in deficit, and be in a recession by the end of the year.
And many people call (some christians) as doomsday, naysayers.Sorry dj - you are wrong. Whatever the doomsayers are saying - it is much, much worse. Several international banks are now insolvent and have needed massive cash injections from the governments. And if you believe your economy is magically insulated from the rest of the world's............
Oh, that's right - you believe stuff with no basis in facts
Worry not, I suspect Oz will be the last to be hit for several reasons, but mostly the delayed effect on commodity prices, which were fixed at peak rates. Your level of consumer debt is on a par with the US and the UK. and you have one of the largest current account deficits in the world.
The End is Nigh !
- pgrundyposted 15 years ago0
- pgrundyposted 15 years ago0
I couldn't possibly guess
Getting pretty bad in the UK too. RBS is now 70% gov owned, Lloyds more than 50% and Barclays looking to be in trouble. And they think printing more money to lend to "kickstart the housing market." is going to fix it. Dream on.
What a friggin' mess.
What I find entertaining is the sheer number of people who think it will not affect them.
Lawyers, health care professionals and Australians to name just a fewAustralia is not in deficit (yet), but they are woking on it.
I can tell you from experience, that we ARE being affected. Hence the thread. I have noticed a MARKED downturn in business since late last year. I think it's a case of thinking we won't be as "badly" affected as many other countries. I'm not sure that's realistic, but it is better than doom and gloom.
OK. The world is ending and you will be swept up and taken to heaven, but you don't want to talk about doom and gloom in the economy.
Makes sense to me.
This is about your nonexistent current account defecit -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_account_deficit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia' … f_payments
Not a problem during growth periods and increasing demand for commodities.As I said before, we are in a budget surplus (in the order of $60billion), not a deficit. Yet!
Your link did not work. Besides, I didn't get it from wikipedia,but our daily news updates.
Oh, by the way, I took the information by "faith"1 I believed what they told me!
You only related certain facts, which you don't believe, because you have no faith, right? The links work fine.
You are mistaking budget for balance of trade. Look it up.
Faith? In politicians? Sure - about as much as I have in god.
Yeah first I think I would need to get a job to get a paycheck, and then maybe I could spend some money, hehe.
PS: Not to proud of not having a job.....I think we need to allow the current model to die quietly, and then allow a new model to emerge.
As it must.
People need to eat and have homes and transport will go out and get them. All the govs are doing is compounding the problem at the moment.
Who cares if the economy doesn't grow?
Only the guys at the top of the tree.
If we genuinely allow the free market economy to flourish - a new breed of car will emerge. One that is cheaper, uses less fuel and lasts longer. Because that is what there is demand for.
The real problem with the current system is that it relies way too heavily on non-productive financial services to "create" wealth. From nothing.
Propping it up using the same tools that created the crash is a pointless waste of time. I am extremely disappointed in my government for even trying. And as for Mr. Obama's change plan .... It looks suspiciously like the old plan.
No. It was not my mistake. I intentionally said "current account deficit." Not "budget."
Re: Faith. Guess I need to resurrect my sarcasm smilie huh?
And yes you are right - that is a bad URL. Not fixable either. Weird, must be god keeping you in the dark.
- pgrundyposted 15 years ago0
This is the same thing only worse. We are paying for the last two "minor" recessions. I too, see this as an opportunity to make some changes. The govs and corps do not see it that way. They are trying to resurrect a dead system. Not going to happen I think. I look at what Obama is promising and I see nothing really to make a change. Pouring money that does not exist into "public works" is a waste of time and will just prolong the inevitable. This is a quick precis of his $1 trillion dollar plan:
"Energy: $32 billion to fund a so-called "smart electricity grid" to reduce waste; $20 billion-plus in renewable energy tax cuts and a tax credit for research and development on energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy, and a multiyear extension of the renewable energy production tax credit for wind, hydropower, geothermal and bioenergy; $6 billion to weatherize modest-income homes.
Science and technology: $10 billion for science facilities; $6 billion to bring high-speed Internet access to rural and underserved areas; $1 billion for the 2010 Census.
Infrastructure: $32 billion for transportation projects; $31 billion to build and repair federal buildings and other public infrastructure; $19 billion in water projects; $10 billion in rail and mass transit projects.
Aid to the poor and unemployed: $43 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, increase them by $25 a week and provide job training; $20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 13%; $4 billion to provide a one-time additional Supplemental Security Income payment; $2.5 billion in temporary welfare payments; $1 billion for home heating subsidies; and $1 billion for community action agencies.
Education: $41 billion in grants to local school districts; $79 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cuts in state aid; $21 billion for school modernization; $16 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant by $500; $2 billion for Head Start.
Health care: $39 billion to subsidize health care insurance for the unemployed and provide coverage through Medicaid; $90 billion to help states with Medicaid; $20 billion to modernize health information technology systems; $4 billion for preventative care; $1.5 billion for community health centers.
Housing: $13 billion to repair and make more energy efficient public housing projects, allow communities to buy and repair foreclosed homes, and help the homeless.
Law enforcement: $4 billion in grants to state and local law enforcement.
TAXES
Individuals: $500 per worker, $1,000 per couple tax cut for two years, costing about $140 billion; greater access to the $1,000 per-child tax credit for the working poor; expanding the earned-income tax credit to include families with three children; a $2,500 college tuition tax credit; repeals a requirement that a $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit be paid back over time.
Businesses: An infusion of cash into money-losing companies by allowing them to claim tax credits on past profits dating back five years instead of two; bonus depreciation for businesses investing in new plants and equipment; a doubling of the amount small businesses can write off for capital investments and new equipment purchases; allows businesses to claim a tax credit for hiring disconnected youth and veterans."
http://wsj.com/public/resources/documen … 009115.pdf
Not one single, solitary thing here that will enable a change. None of this creates anything. More government, more money spent on encouraging consumption, more taxes to pay for all this. More debts that will have to be paid sooner or later. No permanent jobs. No change of direction. Nothing.
High speed internet access to rural areas. What a waste of time.
He has the opportunity to make a big change, but I imagine he is already under pressure to "fix" the current problem. By using the same advisors who got us to this point.
Even worse in the UK - We are actually broke. Talk of nationalizing all the banks. Good grief ! If they cannot make money run privately, how on earth do they think they are going to do so being run by the morons in the government?.........I would love high speed internet access in this rural area! In fact, I would like any internet access in this area other than crappy 2G
http://meraki.com/products_services/har … _overview/
So why don't you buy it yourself ?
Or are you waiting for the government to do it for you?Sadly, if I had the few thousand dollars required, I would need to use it to pay off my Ouzo tab at the taverna.
So you are not prepared to give it up for high speed internet?
I don't blame you. This thing seems pretty cheap to me $1500 for the whole setup. No affiliate by the way.
That is a lot of unsold cars right there. It has to have a knock-on effect for used cars. The crazy thing is - they will have to reduce prices, which affects the resale value, which means no one want the bloody things, which means they sell less, which means ............ And around we go.
As Jewels said - it is an opportunity to go in another direction.
Apart from Ron Paul, I have not seen one politician suggest an alternative to printing more money.
Let the banks fail, guarantee depositors money, break them up into much smaller banks and sell them to the highest bidder who may only buy one; let the car industry fail, guarantee the wages, break the auto makers up into much smaller companies and have them compete to come up with a viable alternative that makes economic and environmental sense.
Sure we would have a rough few years while they sorted themselves out, but we are going to have that anyway. At least this way we might end up with something different to the international behemoths that control our every move and are so big that "we cannot afford to let them fail."
SimpleNope Mark, I disagree, it is not gonna work. Not too sure about bankers, but in case of auto industry you have to remove Unions first. No business can compete if it is forced to pay for the labor what it can't afford.
That is why you let it fail first. If the unions want to buy a piece later - they can
LOL Yeah, but if you have the old legislation in place - it will all start again, that is what I meant
- pgrundyposted 15 years ago0
"High speed internet access to rural areas. lol What a waste of time."
No, no, that will provide even more competition for people working at home, like me, and as we know, competition is always good. Soon I can look forward to writing foot powder descriptions for a fraction of a penny per paragraph.
But if deflation kicks in hard enough maybe that will be plenty of money to live on.
We are so freakin' doomed.Was that you asking for a pay cut?
Already......
My C***su***mother****er of a bank has just cut the amount of money I can take out of my account with my ATM card by 75%......
Doomed, we are all doomed.LOL! No, no, usually I don't have to ask!
I have noticed though that it's harder to get work lately at Elance. Lots more bids on everything, and I'm thinking, must be all those OTHER out-of-work bankers trying to earn a few bucks online. I think it will get tougher and tougher. I always seem to have work, but I put in more bids to get a project now than I did a year ago.Having the same problem on ODesk - a lot of new writers desperate for money. The quality of jobs has gone down, and it seems to be all 'article mill' work, for a dollar per article.
Sod that.
Oh God, those are the worst--the ones that are all like, "OK I need 500 words with 10 keyword phrases repeated at least three times each within each article and then please spin them 10 different ways each. I will pay $1 per article and I DO use Copyscape."
Aaaaaaarrrrgggghhhh!
Isn't there a software program that can do that? There should be. Man, there's an idea for an enterprising out-of-work web expert. Design a software program to write articles comprised of nothing but longtail keywords with some passive verbs and periods thrown in and be sure to include a feature that writes each article 10 different ways. Ugh.
I find Elance to be worth the cost, which can be paid incrementally, unlike Guru. The user interface is pretty intuitive and I've gotten some good stuff there. I did check out Odesk but as you say found only a horrendous amount of vague low paying crap at that site. I find I am always competing with India but not everyone only cares about price and nothing else. I do think there is lots of work and there is work for everyone, it's just a matter of finding your niche and getting a dozen or so repeat clients.lol - you got it. I did try Elance, but I tend to use the sites sporadically, so I do not like paying upfront. ODesk was very good until about 3 months ago, when a flood of laid off workers joined. Wages have plummeted and I do not have the time to spend 3 - 4 hours per day writing cover letters for the few good jobs. I just about have enough private work, because I specialise in academic writing, so we are getting by - to return to the topic, we are doing without a few things!
Luckily, we have no mortgage or rent, so we do not have to panic about that every month. There are people in a far worse situation, and it is a matter of waiting - many of these new people will realise that writing for a living is not easy, and give up.
Quality eventually wins - I have one great client who keeps putting my wages up.Actually, there are several, I'm tempted to put an affiliate link to one of them ... but I won't
I guess you can tell I am a Sopranos fan
Debt free! Way to go, at any time of the economic cycle.
Maybe we all want too much (stuff)? It's times like now that many stop and evaluate the purpose of it all. What is really important, valuable and lasting in life? I think we should invest more into peopleand relationships. Especially family.- Hovalisposted 15 years ago0
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