the economy

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hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
If the powers to be had the answer, they would be working on it. Right now what they are trying is like throwing dust into a wind storm. No one has the right answer as of today. This issue is too large. Even with all of the warning signs that were coming our way, no one could foresee just how bad it is...how much worse it is going to get. I do not believe the American public can understand just how long this is actually going to last either.

You are so correct, none of us understand.
 

jes25

Senior Member
Location
Midwest
Occupation
Electrician
I think the Fed and the Government is doing the right thing. Printing money right now is good. There is obviously no upwards pressure on prices, so an increased money supply benefits us. The Fed should sop up any extra liquidity when inflation begins. I also don't care about the weak dollar. A weak dollar helps us and makes us more competitive as long as prices are stable domestically. Government spending mathematically increases GDP, so that is most definitely helping. Yes we have big debt, but it's not the end of the world. I believe it's around 100% GDP. It was much higher in WW2, like 2.5 times or so. Half the debt is owed to ourselves anyhow.

The Fed and the Government aren't perfect but there is a method to the madness.
 

readydave8

re member
Location
Clarkesville, Georgia
Occupation
electrician
The other electricans in my area started returning their phone calls, made my phone stop ringing. I'm #19 in the yellow pages, two years ago I'd regularly have people say "you're the first one to return my call."

This is different than the other recessions I've been through.
 

electricmanscott

Senior Member
Location
Boston, MA
I only ask because my 80-year old father said the same thing last year when I was trying to discuss some of these issues with him and I found it rather selfish and self-centered to not give a thought to the generations that follow. He didn't like my position on his attitude.

That's fine. you have every right to feel any way you wish. Just remember though, your dad and myself also have that same right. :)
 

cschmid

Senior Member
What I find interesting here is read some of your treads on where you purchase your stuff. I just bought a snowplow for my four wheeler and I shopped around not only did I get a good deal I bought it locally and it was manufactured in MN. If you want to stimulate the economy stop buying your stuff offline and go to the local supplier and by products made at home. We all are responsible for the economy every time we go to a box store and by foreign products. I know we can not get every thing made in the USA but I am trying to do my part I buy locally.
Last time I checked every time we shut down and move a factory we suffer. I have no answers but understand how we got here.

edit:
I should not name names of businesses and have removed my errors.
 
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AV ELECTRIC

Senior Member
when its slow you can still put money in your pocket but not the same way as getting a check I put a water heater in my house thats 500 in my pocket new circuit board in my heater 300 in my pocket [ got board from ebay for 60 dollars it was cracked i soldered it back to life and the seller reimbursed for the full price for not packing properly] Spend more time in the grocery store to find the best deals found a car for my daughter for a 2000 saving, when your busy you just dont have the time to do these things so that check gets transferred to others.
 

fondini

Senior Member
Location
nw ohio
I think the Fed and the Government is doing the right thing. Printing money right now is good. There is obviously no upwards pressure on prices, so an increased money supply benefits us. The Fed should sop up any extra liquidity when inflation begins. I also don't care about the weak dollar. A weak dollar helps us and makes us more competitive as long as prices are stable domestically. Government spending mathematically increases GDP, so that is most definitely helping. Yes we have big debt, but it's not the end of the world. I believe it's around 100% GDP. It was much higher in WW2, like 2.5 times or so. Half the debt is owed to ourselves anyhow.

The Fed and the Government aren't perfect but there is a method to the madness.

so when you are in debt over your head you keep writing checks?WOW good luck with that
 

satcom

Senior Member
so when you are in debt over your head you keep writing checks?WOW good luck with that

That is how we got into the mess were in, but a lot of people still believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny, and like some of our customers, that there is such a thing as a free lunch. all the political games, are not designed to fix anything. The best we can hope for is that people will learn how to live with what they earn.
 

Mr.Sparkle

Senior Member
Location
Jersey Shore
That is how we got into the mess were in, but a lot of people still believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny, and like some of our customers, that there is such a thing as a free lunch. all the political games, are not designed to fix anything.

I agree.

Everyone's false sense of entitlement is killing this country.
 

jes25

Senior Member
Location
Midwest
Occupation
Electrician
so when you are in debt over your head you keep writing checks?WOW good luck with that

Comparing personal finances to government fiscal policy is not the best comparison since the government can print money; however, if you want to make that comparison consider our countries debt is roughly equal to the countries income. Many Americans debt is much higher. Would you consider someone with a 100 thousand dollar mortgage that earns a 100k a year "in debt over there head".

Capitalism is a good system, but needs some regulation and intervention by the government at times. A stimulus package was the right decision. I think it could be used in better ways though. Recent reports have suggested the jobs saved by the stimulus cost about 160k each. My point is loose monetary policy and fiscal stimulus will benefit the economy, but how it is carried out, is of course political
 

tyha

Senior Member
Location
central nc
I've been the electrical inspector for this city for just under 20 years. We're a city of about 200,000, we haven't sold 3000 permits this year and probably won't. Five years ago at this time we were over 8000.

I went for two week without an electrical inspection and 3 of those days we had no commercial inspections at all.

just curious, what do inspectors do when there are no inspections?
 

StephenSDH

Senior Member
Location
Allentown, PA
Would you consider someone with a 100 thousand dollar mortgage that earns a 100k a year "in debt over there head".

If you have a 100,000 dollar mortgage you should own a house that is worth more then 100,000 dollars. I don't see what the government mortgaging our deficit against.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
just curious, what do inspectors do when there are no inspections?

Satcoms not to far off the mark.

We file and refile and create forms and clean up and update the old handouts that we have. Prepare training (if it's your job), if you plan check also, a half hour plan check now get's an hour.

Oh and you spend a lot more time on this forum.:roll:
 

__dan

Senior Member
Economics

Economics

If you have the leisure time and 50 bucks to spend, this is where you want to spend it. I spent a lot of time looking for the answers to my questions. it took a long time but the answers were in a history book:

http://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-Hope-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260821842&sr=8-1

Inflation and deflation:

In times of surplus, the excess productive capacity negatively impacts pricing power of the producers. Prices fall to the liquidating (firesale) level. Weaker, less efficient or heavily indebted, competitors have their productive capacity forced from the market until the balance between demand and output of goods offered for sale is reestablished.

In times of shortage, pricing power shifts to the producer and prices are set to yield a profit. In extreme shortage or market imbalance, producers name their prices and the demand waits in line to receive and pay.

It's counterintuitive. Good times (times of plenty) suck for the producer because the excess productive capacity relative to demand negatively impacts pricing power and profitability.

Bad times (times of shortage, rationing) are great for the producer. Name your price, obscenely if necessary.

Through history, productive capacity is always indelibly increasing, uptrending. This is due to a larger workforce, per unit improvements labor productivity, better tools and methods, replacement of labor with capital equipment, better flow of information and resource assignment, larger more efficient productive capacity, advances in technology.

In order for goods to be bought there has to be money in circulation to buy. If the quantity of goods offered for sale is always increasing, the quantity of money in circulation must also increase.

This is why, historically, sea shells, dung chips, beads, have been used for money. Money is a basic essential need for human transaction to take place. This need will be met, one way or the other.

This knowledge has been known for thousands of years. This is why all major religions prohibit and punish usury in their bibles. Charging of interest on money forces productive human capacity off the market and forces involuntarily, by coercion, transfer of indebted productive capacity from the producer to the lender.

If you understand the phrase "bank rebuilding of their balance sheet" you would understand the above intuitively. There's an earth sized difference between printing money with the theories of say Stephen Zarlenga or Michael Hudson, and the current system where money is created by the act of borrowing.

When private sector borrowing is insufficient in strength, to grow the money supply at a rate that keeps pace with the increasing quantity, the government acts as "borrower of last resort". Government deficit spending is used to grow indebtedness, which grows the money supply, which grows demand for the output of goods offered for sale.

The gov debt is bought by banks. The banks borrow from the federal reserve at the lower short term bill rate to buy this debt, and are paid interest by the treasury at the higher longer term note or bond rate. This passive unearned income is called "bank rebuilding of their balance sheet". The banks make the spread between the short and long term rate, the positive slope of the yield curve.

War is predictable for the economic reasons. I'm sure my opinion on this is unpopular.
 

satcom

Senior Member
Satcoms not to far off the mark.

We file and refile and create forms and clean up and update the old handouts that we have. Prepare training (if it's your job), if you plan check also, a half hour plan check now get's an hour.

Oh and you spend a lot more time on this forum.:roll:

Inspectors have plenty of work, other then the actual inspections, but if the work load slows for a long period, they can end up getting cut back, and be out in the line like anyone else.
 
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