The Galley Slaves Aren’t Feeling It
Randall Forsyth steps in occasionally for the Up and Down Wall Street column when Alan Abelson is on vacation or otherwise indisposed. He writes with a similar skepticism, perhaps not as dark as Abelson’s, his prose sparer, a tad less purple.
Beyond the literary mechanics, however, Forsyth’s grasp of all that is right and wrong on the world of economics is dead on:
“THE RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL SHIPS, but the galley slaves aren’t feeling it. They’re rowing harder than ever to make up for their colleagues who have been thrown overboard (getting rid of that extra weight improves the vessel’s efficiency).
Now, after a long spate in the doldrums, the captain has called for those still manning the oars to pick up the pace to move some cargoes, which had been notably scarce for well on a year and a half. It seems that money had been showered down like manna from heaven (this was before helicopters). That it came from a printing press or by pledging the credit of the land mattered little. Some of the money was spent, which, in turn, brought forth new orders of goods, since the storehouses had been emptied. And thus the need for the slaves to pick up their pace.
It has all put dough in the pouches of the owners and the captain of the ship, but there isn’t much for the slaves. And, no surprise, that’s caused some grumbling below. Not that there’s much the galley slaves can do about it, lest they become the next to get tossed overboard.
The genius of American business for doing more with less has been evident in the parade of earnings reports showing profits improving far more than the revenue that produces them. The secret: Productivity soared at a 9.5% annual rate in the third quarter, a stunning increase that was nearly half again as much as economists had projected. Business cut labor costs at a 5.2% annual rate, with total hours falling at a 5% pace. Fewer workers worked fewer hours.
But for the laborers, it’s been another story entirely. The unemployment rate shot up to 10.2% in October, the highest since 1983, when we were coming out of what had been the worst recession of the post-World War II era. Even the doleful double-digit rate understates the joblessness; more folks are dropping out of the labor force or are among those having to work part-time involuntarily. If you add them to the army of the unemployed, you get what the bean-counters euphemistically call an “underemployment rate” of 17.5% last month, up a full half-percentage point from September.”
When Abelson retires (He’s about ~84) I expect Forsyth to take over that space. Meanwhile, his daily Up and Down Wall Street columns are well worth the read.
Good stuff . . .
>
Source:
Labored Conditions
RANDALL FORSYTH
Barron’s NOVEMBER 9, 2009
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB125755399331834995.html
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November 7th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Thanks for posting this. It’s true, interesting and a funny if not fun read. Wouldn’t comment but for that first paragraph though – that’s a lot of bitterness and anger packed into a tiny space even if it was just intended to be satiric and sarcastic.
You have to stop and ask what that tells us as an indicator of the mood and attitudes of the country. Especially when it’s a major oped writer for a bastion of capitalism.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Is it just me or are the Economist making the same mistake Math/CS/Neurology made. Looking at one Neuron see it firing and conclude from there how the System/brain works.
Missing neuro transmitters, glial cells, stochastic behavior, many-to-many connections, cell exhaustion, differences in myelin sheat and many more. In other words oversimplified the system.
OTH there are still people out there who believe they can still write something smart based on boolean logic. They just need to make it faster, even they already run past the brains speed by miles. And a little roundworm with a mere 302 neurons out smarts them.
As long as economy looks as one company becoming more efficient and concludes if all repeat that and the overall system becomes more efficient and the system therefor better, there is no hope. Complex systems just don’t work that way.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Most of us have long known this to be the case. Finally, the media catches up to this old “news”. Welcome board, folks.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
good post BR-
the ship’s captain should be aware that the galley slaves- though they may not mutiny- when hitting shore- may hang the financiers of the venture by the feet in town square-
for thorough flogging and ridicule
November 7th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
pretty much describes what has happened. but its not exactly a new scenario. the laborers have been in the down ward slide for the last 8 years. but now the companies aren’t selling as much. but their profits are doing well. there is only one way to do that. cutting costs (usually wages or jobs or both).
but so far the experiment we have been doing (its not just one company doing the efficiency thing. they all are. or they aren’t making any money. as almost every companies sales are down. from last years low level. some thing about demand not being so good).
keep that up and just where will that demand come from?
November 7th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Some direction:
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5925#more
and
http://questioneverything.typepad.com/
November 7th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
This is a very good analogy.
It made me think of another. We all work in a coal company mining town and we bought our homes and wares on company credit. Times get tough and to keep their profits up, the owners cut wages, stop giving out new credit and charge more on existing accounts. The workers want to protest but the government sides with the owners.
The rest of the story is pretty much the same as above……..
November 7th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
How about this:
http://dailybail.com/home/a-25-billion-dollar-secret-the-ny-fed-goldman-the-aig-cover.html
November 7th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
mathman Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
How about this:
“How The FRBNY’s President Tim Geithner And Chairman Stephen Friedman Demanded Par For Goldman Sachs And The Rest Of Wall Street And Then Tried To Cover It All Up… It is also disturbing that, at the time this secret deal was made, FRBNY Chairman Stephen Friedman, a member of the board of Goldman Sachs, purchased more than 50,000 shares of Goldman Sachs before knowledge of the FRBNY’s bailout of Goldman Sachs and other AIG counterparties became public knowledge. According to news reports, this transaction has earned Mr. Friedman over $5 million in profit. Finally, according to one AIG executive quoted in news reports, the FRBNY may have attempted to manage public disclosure of its decision to pay AIG’s counterparties at par by pressuring the company not to file pertinent documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). They’d tell us that they don’t think that this or that should be disclosed. They’d say, “Don’t you think your counterparties will be concerned?” It was much more about protecting the Fed.”
This is criminal and rotten to the core. MSM will not touch it because the bad deeds were done by “the good guys” – aka Geithner – a member of Obama’s Administration and therefore an untouchable.
Well shit. Our Country is going to rot to the core as long as we allow this type of bullshit to permeate up to the highest levels of government. This is NOT an issue of partisan politics. It is a test of whether or not we are an honest and fair society or a society in which corruption and self-aggrandizement prevails.
We are suppose to live in a nation “of the people, by the people and for the people”. Are any of you proud to be a member of a society where the rules are totally different for the powerful and elite especially your governmental officials?
This is a Roman Polanski moment. Is it OK for a movie director to not be punished for raping a child because he is a famous movie director? Hell no! Is it OK for a director of the New York Federal Reserve Bank to not be punished for raping the shareholders of Goldman Sachs stock with insider information acquired from a position of trust and during the midst of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression just because he is a Federal Reserve director? Hell no again.
Friedman, for all I care, I hope you rot in hell!
November 7th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Lest we forget the basis for our form of government:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
November 7th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Unless I am wrong about my opinion of Rupert Murdock, Forsyth had better toe the political/economic line promoted by Murdock or he won’t succeed anyone and will find it hard to find another job.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
“of the people, by the people and for the people … truths to be self evident that all men are created equal”
i’m sorry to be repetitive, but where have you been? that country never existed. that document was written by rich white plantation owners and merchants for rich white plantation owners and merchants.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
“i’m sorry to be repetitive, but where have you been? that country never existed. that document was written by rich white plantation owners and merchants for rich white plantation owners and merchants.”
so?
what value is there in projecting today’s mores on a past society?
November 7th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
captain, it’s just a good interlectual excecise, a religion to give you hope, when you’re paddling in the galley. i’m saying don’t get so upset, dreaming about some ship that was never built.
let’s take this analogy back to the good times. the slaves were still in the galley paddling, there were a few slaves more to lighten the load a tad, maybe some more food, but it weren’t that the slaves got above deck, better quarters.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
intellectual, where is the spell check in this thing.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
well hue-
does it really matter that at the time of its writing that it only applied to free landed white men- if in it’s current interpretation- its ideals extend to everyone?
do you also hold the same feelings of the Magna Carta- written in the 13th century- in that it applied to free Englishmen-
why on earth would it matter if in today’s context the ideas convey to everyone?
November 7th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Sorry AHAB,
But does it really extend to everyone? What do you need to be more equal?.
Anf BTW, the Magna Carta was written for the barons. Nobility.
Not much has changed. The laws still protect the moneyed class more than the poor. It’s really easy to put in a couple of clauses that tell the poor they have rights if they don’t even have enough money to pay for a good lawyer. Smoke and mirrors.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
danm-
i would say that the laws have always applied to protection of property-
part of what this country was founded on-
obviously- the wealthier one is- the more access to what money can buy- including the best lawyers-
that has never changed throughout history-
not saying it’s right- but the way it is
November 7th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Its bad enough to be a galley slave but what really irritates me is when Blankfein and the rest of the officers want to go water skiing.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Hue-
“of the people, by the people and for the people…” came from Lincoln (Gettysburg Address) who was a white man that abolished slavery. The ideas of the Declaration of Independence are as relevant today as they were back then. Check out what the House is debating today.
http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153583
Now consider another part of the Declaration that gets a little less play:
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”
And those old white land owners formed a government that allows the people to change that government without violence. Yeah, I guess those guys weren’t very forward thinking.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
i would say that the laws have always applied to protection of property-
part of what this country was founded on-
———–
The only reason why the poor guy actually had a semblance of rights is because there was incredible amounts of undeveloped land that was free for the taking. The poor fellow could just pack up his family in his wagon and move a little more West/South.
That’s gone today. The US is still standing by its Constitution when all the land has been claimed, just like the Old World.
November 7th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
danm-
What would you propose for a form of government besides that formed by the U.S. Constitution? Maybe if we actually followed the Constitution instead of interpreting it, the nation would be better off.
But maybe you are on to something. If you read Jefferson, Franklin, Washington and de Toqueville, each said that a religious and morally upright people were required for our form of government. A republic requires the citizen to be an active member of society and for its leaders to sometimes put aside personal gain if it comes at the expense of his countrymen. Do we have leaders that have shown that, republican or democrat? Is the majority of the population capable of this?
After the signing of the Constitution Ben Franklin was asked what kind of government was formed. His reply was “A republic, if you can keep it.” Can we?
November 7th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Today it applies to everyone.
To embark on some intellectual exercise in an effort to cast dispersion on the mores held by a society from 225 years ago is absurd.
Hue. I want you to write on the blackboard 100 times; It applies to everyone. Then get back in the galley with the rest of us.
November 7th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
olephart at 5:22 pm .. LOL
think we can spin the ship on a dime .. whip em into a donut spin and straddle a buoy between the crotch
:-o
November 7th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
The intent of my quoting the Constitution was not to enter into a debate on equality, but rather to focus on the last half of the sentence: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Our government’s powers are derived from the consent of the governed. Something we need to keep in mind when we are being manipulated by the elites who treat us like we are galley minions. This is our government it is not the Federal Reserves’ Government or Wall Street’s Government. The Administration and Congress were elected by the people, they were not elected by lobbyists or corporate CEOs.
Hue, your second quote is very appropriate.
November 7th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Skysurfer:
I really don’t know what is best. It all depends on your goal. Do you want to be in the top 1% of a Banana Republic or do you want an egalitarian society? Do you want to grow fast in an unsustainable way, needing to exploit emerging markets or do you want to protect the environment and live more frugally?
I think Americans need to ask themselves some tough questions. because the reality is that their way of life is not currently sustainable. First of all, they are consuming too much oil. Are they ready to cut or do they prefer to fight until the end, hoping the rest of the world will succomb before they do?
I used to think democracy was good but today I’m not sure it works for every country. I think democracy works best when a country is large but not too large. I also think the US is the world’s vampire squid and will be the master of its own demise because absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I just don’t see how 500M (the US in 50 years) people can be equal without totally destroying the country and the environment. So I’m starting to think that China, being a very mature country, understands this better than America the out of control teenager.
First of all, I need to specify that I am Canadian and don’t have the same repulsion toward Government that Americans have. But I must admit that if I were Amercian, I would hate government. I think America’s leaders are totally out of control and forcing all other governements to do the same follies.
I tend to believe in government because in our case, I just can’t see how we’d survive without it. I think if it weren’t for the Feds, we’d be American today.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
bsneath, i just finished my 100 sentence. and i think what damn and i are saying is that what’s going on now is nothing new. we’ve always been manipulated by the elite. the founders wanted a republic, not a democracy. they didn’t even trust us to vote the prez, hence the Electoral College.
“And those old white land owners formed a government that allows the people to change that government without violence. Yeah, I guess those guys weren’t very forward thinking.”
my mistake on all men are created equal. did those black people get their 40 acres and a mule? 100 years later, they finally got to ride in the front of the bus, but then the white folks got off that bus and on to a better one. equality is slow for some people.
sure, non violence for themselves. after the white dudes used violence to take over the land from the originals on this continent, whom were sent to Oklahoma. and i’m not dissing white people. most of my friends are white.
it’s funny when we talk about all men are created equal, and rugged individualism at the same time. we’re not created equal, biologically impossible. and rugged individualism is great, if you were born with a great mind, good looks, or great strength. in a meritocracy, there is someone at the bottom. lets hope that’s not you or your family.
i like ideals too, like capitalism and our form of government, but i don’t think the real world fit neatly into those ideals. it appears to me that the power law of distribution (http://bit.ly/2PJuQn) applies to everything. Shirky used it to described the Internet, but i think (just an opinion) it applies to the world. wealth and power is concentrated to the few, but there are people far out on the x axis that have power. and that’s America, those lucky few give the rest of us hope that we have a shot at wealth and power. we’re a very young society, and if you look at any mature culture, whether that’s Europe, Asia, Mideast, they all eventually evolve into a caste system. just look at your work place, especially in sales, the small number of producers generate the vast majority of the revenue.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
danm, i doubt we will get to 500 million people in the US. one of the odd things about having a fairly high living standard is that people don’t have so many kids. and our birth rate is just a little higher than the mortality rate. the only way we get more people is for them to immigrate here. the main reason we humans originally for having so many was because mortality was so high. while we may not have the least mortality rate, we are far from the highest.
and oddly enough i suspect that the masses have always been manipulated by the ‘leadership’ or elites or moneyed. and that hasn’t changed much. and consider that the original plan for electing senators was that state legislatures selected them. and most state governments are a lot easier to corrupt than the Feds have been. not that it hasn’t happened (consider the tea pot dome scandal among others). their manipulation of the masses is nothing new. been that way millenniums at least. its just harder than it used to be when you had a dictatorship (either monarchy or the modern versions)
November 7th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
danm-
“I think if it weren’t for the Feds, we’d be American today.”
You say that like it would be a bad thing;-) I visit Canada quite a bit, mainly BC and Alberta. I really like it and wouldn’t hesitate to make a run for the border if we implore down here. That is, if you would take us.
This whole “all men are created equal” is only in reference to man’s standing before his creator and after a Civil War and Civil Rights movement, under the law. Unfortunately, access to good lawyers, health care and investments is much more available to the haves than have nots. Always has been. Always will be. Not that it should be, but …
“America the out of control teenager.” Ouch! Truth hurts.
Have a great weekend, eh!
November 7th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
I meant implode not implore. Wow…
November 7th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Your right, it is “dead on”. Great analogy too.
November 8th, 2009 at 3:25 am
It is interesting to note that in the drafting of the Constitution that the original version was based upon “Life, Liberty, and Property” and later revised to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” What may be the impetus and ramifications of this revision? Seems those in power were selling Hope long before it became a slogan. *i’m a big fan of Mr. Jefferson, btw, but any man is subject to flaws and biases
@skysurfer: I would propose a governement of more liberty, democracy, and efficiency. . . and perhaps less of the “republic” part. We have the means and technology now of having a direct democracy as opposed to a democratic republic. . . only problem is the country is too large and the population to ignorant to make this work. The whole “Republic” idea that the founders of this country set up was based upon this thought.
Ideally, i would envision the best form of government to be on a smaller scale, classical purely democratic confederation of local city-states, with a speculatively restrained free market economy with taxes more based upon use, consumption, speculation, and to a lesser extent, wealth transfer as opposed to income and property, and these taxes kept at a minimum via efficient and small government and protected by a universal standard of codified laws. Unfortunately, the real world is not ideal. The innate human flaws will prevent it from ever occurring, and if a government was set up in this manner, we would probably be subject to the same feedback loops and hostile external forces.
These ideas are based upon systems theory and modular scaling and a meritocratic approach to the ideas of freedom, reward, and taxation, while accounting for flaws and the need to balance the chaos and order of such an organism.
November 8th, 2009 at 3:48 am
@hue
I wrote mine before i read yours. You say a lot that is similar to my view of the system in general. Problem with what i said lies in this:
“it’s funny when we talk about all men are created equal, and rugged individualism at the same time. we’re not created equal, biologically impossible. and rugged individualism is great, if you were born with a great mind, good looks, or great strength. in a meritocracy, there is someone at the bottom. lets hope that’s not you or your family.
i like ideals too, like capitalism and our form of government, but i don’t think the real world fit neatly into those ideals.”
Truly, there can be no perfect answer, but there can certainly be a better answer. To end with the quote that bedan this: THE RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL SHIPS
If we come up with a more efficient, fair, and better way as a whole, and eliminate much of the positive feedback loops that throw the system out of whack, it is my belief that those in the meritocracy at the bottom and the middle would still be better off as a whole. Those at the top would not, and seeing as they have all the money and the power, this will not happen ever. It would require another violent revolution with the winners not being corrupted by their own flaws and biases, which is quite impossible. The government we got is better than most, and we’ll be dead before the collapse or revolution anyway.
November 8th, 2009 at 5:21 am
not sleeping either (watchin Sister Act)(again)… following the taxes sub thread .. rising tides drown the folks who are shackled to the floor (without a mechanism to stay fed / clothed / housed) .. this depression2.0 is going down better because the USA has created those mechanisms .. and tearing the country apart for it (Red / Blue) (leaches / share) (not ordered / never memorized the color code)
“taxes more based upon:
use, consumption, speculation,” … meaning some form of sales tax and a trade tax
“and to a lesser extent,
wealth transfer as opposed to income and property” … meaning direct draws from the paycheck to Kansas City and the property taxes to the county complex
KISS principle
favor property tax for: maintain safety inside the county region: The National Guard*, roads, bridges, dams, water supply, sewers, police, fire, ambulance … helped with sales taxes from the gas pumps and electrical grid
income taxes: agree on the “lesser extent” because these are getting hard to police with underground economies and special cherry designed laws & regulations (thank the Lobbies) and seems the commonfolk or the galley slaves are the shackled (good luck .. this take is the easiest for the bureauocracy in power)
sales taxes: on luxury goods at a higher % / necessities at a low rate
trading taxes: I’m on board for this tax .. I think it would restore sanity .. the markets have become an industry all of its own .. I need to use words that TBP doesn’t let me use ..but the business world needs cash and going public is a mechanism for that cash injection .. that game needs metrics then the metrics and the game spin into one of those no use words
movies over and this stuff ain’t supposed to be in my job description .. but
* when the USA takes over the NatGuard for foreign wars .. correct appropriations are made to the county and businesses for losses (equipment, wages, lives, disabling) …. when I put property taxes on the hook for national defense I sort of meant the Pentagon budget too (so maybe The Pentagon should be broke up into 50 mini Pentagons)
November 8th, 2009 at 6:35 am
ha ha, slept and got up …
“Those at the top would not, and seeing as they have all the money and the power, this will not happen ever. It would require another violent revolution with the winners not being corrupted by their own flaws and biases, which is quite impossible.”
So true diggidy, TPTB have a huge stake in keeping the status quo. And the second part, we’ve seen it over and over in human history, the new boss is the same as the old boss.
i accept Shirky’s conclusion:
Given the ubiquity of power law distributions, asking whether there is inequality in the weblog world (or indeed almost any social system) is the wrong question, since the answer will always be yes. The question to ask is “Is the inequality fair?
It is. Inequality occurs in large and unconstrained social systems for the same reasons stop-and-go traffic occurs on busy roads, not because it is anyone’s goal, but because it is a reliable property that emerges from the normal functioning of the system.
and i’m also sure the world doesn’t neatly fit into power laws distributions either.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Greg0658 :
Who’s going to pay these taxes? Seems to me like it will be the young workers, not the retirees. This becomes a problem when something like 75-80% of the wealth is in the hands of the 55+.
You bring up a good point which is defining the keey elements that need to be addressed but if you are looking for a redistribution of wealth, I doubt taxes will do the trick. It seems to me that the rich always manage to avoid taxes. There are always loopholes or new derivatives to skirt the problem.
I think the US needs to decide which areas are vital and keep on funding them with treasuries as along as they possibly can. At one point Americans will be fnding their own projects as the rich will be buying up the bonds. If rates are low and inflation is triggered, they will lose money on these bonds and money will have easily been transftered to the younger generation.
November 8th, 2009 at 8:27 am
DANM, if we removed that loop hole for those who make more than 100K, then at least SS taxes would be fairer? might even be able to lower the tax rate for all at that point? not that it will happen of course. not so sure that consumption taxes are such a good idea. considering that would also remove jobs as consumers paid more for every thing (products and services). which would reduce demand (they would learn to not spend so much. they would have the same incentive to cut their spending. to reduce their taxes too) the draw back being the reduced number of jobs as business reduced their head counts to meet the lower (maybe much lower) demand. i wouldn’t increase incomes either.
and those loop holes were mostly created to help TPTB. or to feed an industry (tax breaks for housing any one?)
and why are so fixated on taxes when its the incomes that have been collapsing? if they had kept up (as they had been for decades) nobody would be so concerned as they are now. its probably TPTB as they can misdirect the masses again to point at some thing other than them selves as being the culprit?
November 8th, 2009 at 10:25 am
up (again) for the SundayMorn’g trumpet call …. message from POTUS in email that 220:215 House Healthcare bill passes .. right in here isn’t it .. 3 people could have upset the cart .. deciding for 300million+
“Shirky’s conclusion” .. interesting jump into tribal hierarchy …. “for the same reasons stop-and-go traffic occurs on busy roads” .. I’ve gotta plan (like to get rich with*) 4lane supercity feeds .. rightmost (exit side) goes speedlimit and under, next lane to the left 5mph more, next 5mph above that, next lane what the flow can handle .. all moderated with electronic signs and sensors telling folks what the lane is actually doing .. so folks can find the lane that fits their grandma / nascar style instead of searching (weaving) for the best fit …. having laid out the plan .. another one of those “good luck with that”(said with a smile)
“a problem when something like 75-80% of the wealth is in the hands of the 55+” .. imo that IS THE Big Problem .. *those are just numbers an illusion a fantasy* said in the voice of Prof Falken War Games .. the kids** are indentured to fill that fantasy and there we are full circle (with this weekends fyi back&forths)(again)
* blew it didn’t I .. (not patented) on this high profile TBP
** the kids know its all backwards (thank the www & media) .. the Greatest Generation fought a couple world wars, came home to the primary standing factory base, created a bunch of kids to restock the world (as well as the rest world doing the same) and the greatest cap’ism story was spun into hyper-drive (3bil to 6bil in my 51yo lifetime)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames
anda shameless plug of my mindset:
http://www.graphicsplus.info/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/future_now_8x10a200.jpg
Happy 40th Sesame Street .. me a mix of Oscar the grouch and Kermit the director
November 8th, 2009 at 10:34 am
“a problem when something like 75-80% of the wealth is in the hands of the 55+” .. imo that IS THE Big Problem .. *those are just numbers an illusion a fantasy* said in the voice of Prof Falken War Games .. the kids** are indentured to fill that fantasy and there we are full circle (with this weekends fyi back&forths)(again)
————–
Me too. Everyone keeps on saying that we are taxing future generation but something tells me that the boomers and probably Gen-X will pay for most of it. Although Gen-X still has time to position itself for leaner times and managing its expectations.
Over the next decade, the 55+ crowd will do everything to keep that money but they’ll be finding out that it does not buy much.
November 8th, 2009 at 10:56 am
great, i’m sandwiched between Boomers and GenX, didn’t get the benefit of that post war boom, participated in the 30 year debt binge, will not get much SS, while paying for the Boomers’ benefits. back to the galley, row row row your boat …
November 8th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
This gas been ongoing since 1992 when Slick Willy was in charge
why care anymore now than in those days ?!?!?!?
November 10th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I would note that this factors in to the Times story on how imports skew productivity numbers.
To some degree, the productivity improvements from international trade are actually a statistical anomaly, so the boat is actually not as efficient as once thought, just more brutal.