Generational Dynamics Forum - New Site

Old 1953, I totally agree, and there is another facet of this problem, the college degree mind set. Over the years I have had at least 2,000 tenants who were studying for various degrees.
Many or most of them will earn less money then a contractor I have dealt with, he appears to be semi literate. What kind of work does he do? He unclogs and repairs sewers, it is dirty smelly work and very necessary. But of course if you have gone to college you don't do this type of work, it is beneath you. This is a variation of what I experienced working in a research/engineering branch of a large corporation. Some of the engineers did not want to personally deal with production issues in the plant during the summer, because the plant was not air conditioned.

The issue isn't even so much the quantity of money taken in or spent, it's that we drastically overpay for everything. This is pandemic in the US, and cost cutting isn't done where it might be effective, on the salaries of the people making the most money. Instead they perform cuts that are far more cosmetic than anything else, and then shift blame to workers. Executive compensation in the US has gotten totally out of hand, and that's just a fact. When the compensation for a board of directors starts to compare with that of an entire division of the company, or when financial firms simply can't bear to hire without monsterous bonuses, and the jobs being performed in those roles are essentially useless to society at large, then we've got a real problem with overpaying. If 10,000 men making 25$ an hour can't be supported by a company without pay cuts, what about 25 men making 10,000$ per hour? Or 100 making 2,500$ per hour?

A forty hour work week yields 2080 work hours per year. at 1000$ per hour, that's only 2,080,000$ per year. Go look at the compensation for the boards of directors of a few big companies, that's chicken scratch to them.

Executive compensation is totally out of hand, and it's what we overpay for in the highest degree, it's simply dragging the US into the mud. When the board is willing to vote to shutter factories or stores and sell bonds while keeping themselves above that fray, then there's no chance for that company to survive long term. And that's the story of our times.

Old1953, as long as the banks can use US debt for money, I don't think there will be any defaulting. This money game is a banker game and don't forget it or you won't know what is happening.

The $385 example is absolutely amazing. I don't make a lot of money, so the example would fit me pretty good. I could cut $385 a year by eating breakfast at home one additional time every 10 days. What the real shame about it is that spending has gone up about 7% of GDP since 2000. Seems the stimulus plan Obama brought out the first 2 years never went away from spending.

As i study more Austrian economics, what I come to understand, which pointed out in Garet Garretts A Bubble that Broke the World with his pyrimid illustration is that the government creates bubbles in their spending programs. The programs have to keep going or that portion of the economy run into recession. The biggest bubble in the US is the war machine, followed by the subsidized housing game and then the education bubble. These are massive jobs programs. This is part of the war after war game that the US has involved itself for the past 100 years now. Oddly, I believe the US will eventually defeat itself with its own war machine.

I think there are other options for the US besides defaulting on bonds, and we'll have to wait to see what is actually done. I do believe December this year is a critical point in that respect, Congress has actually tried to paint themselves into a corner where cuts can be blamed on the outgoing Congress. If they cut, it will cause a dramatic recession/depression, if they don't it may take a while longer before everything collapses totally, and Europe will probably provide the tipping point in that event. Is it time yet or not - there's a question that can't be answered save with hindsight. Examination of the actual figures show the US with far more options than any country in the Euro zone. I don't believe anyone can say with certainty whether we'll wind up with massive rapid inflation or not, because we don't know either the velocity or the quantity of actual money in circulation a year from now. There is a huge and growing public sentiment in both Europe and the US to just cut the cord and let it drop.

Personally, I'd say both tax increases and budget cuts are in the near term future for the USA, plus a major realignment of government towards jobs rather than preserving banks, but I can't say when this will occur. But December will be the best chance for it to happen without it being forced on us from the outside. I don't actually think this can hold together for another four years for the next time we have this election "lull". If it is forced on us from outside, it will probably be much worse.

19-Apr-12 America View -- No college students are rioting over the Travon Martin case


MSNBC's Chris Matthews puts forward a formula for governing


** 19-Apr-12 America View -- No college students are rioting over the Travon Martin case
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi ... 19#e120419



Contents:
No college students are rioting over the Travon Martin case
MSNBC's Chris Matthews puts forward a formula for governing
Proposed 'Warren Buffett Tax' represents economic desperation
The U.S. is defending Israel's right to stop the 'Flytilla'


Keys:
Generational Dynamics, George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin,
Jessica Recksiedler, Iraq war, Vietnam war, Chris Matthews,
MSNBC, Tip O'Neill, ronald Reagan, Warren Buffett,
regeneracy, Harry Reid, Israel, Flytilla