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2009-02-05 Home Front Economy

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Posted by Fred 2009-02-05 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11126 views ] Top

#1 I think the $900 billion bailout plan will be very helpful for the economy.

Posted by patricia">patricia 2009-02-05 03:37|| http://pacosmuchodineros.com/]">[http://pacosmuchodineros.com/] 2009-02-05 03:37|| Front Page Top

#2 lol, I'd bet Patricia doesn't pay taxes

Posted by Frank G 2009-02-05 08:01|| 2009-02-05 08:01|| Front Page Top

#3 but he is said to be open to "nips and tucks" in the massive plan.

Cosmetic surgury for a pneumonia patient? Revealing metaphor I'd say.

Posted by Besoeker 2009-02-05 08:08|| 2009-02-05 08:08|| Front Page Top

#4 It doesn't matter a whole lot what kind of spending (pork, whatever) is in the stimulus package; the point is to get the money out there moving around. For the past decade the escalating housing prices caused people to spend money (money they did not have) and thus stimulate the economy. Now even those of us who could afford to spend money are saving more instead. So, if the little people won't/can't spend, the politicians will have to do it for us.
(I am not being entirely sarcastic with that; but I am skeptical that bubbles and other artificially stimulated economies are optimal in the long term.)

Posted by Glenmore 2009-02-05 08:11|| 2009-02-05 08:11|| Front Page Top

#5 lol, I'd bet Patricia doesn't pay taxes

'Patricia' posts from the Phillipines.

Posted by lotp 2009-02-05 08:13|| 2009-02-05 08:13|| Front Page Top

#6 "But, but, but, but 500,000,000 million Americans will lose their jobs EACH MONTH!"
Senator Peloosi

Terminal Apocalyptism or mathematical illiteracy?

Posted by Besoeker 2009-02-05 08:19|| 2009-02-05 08:19|| Front Page Top

#7 Bosoeker, I think idiot Pelosi mis-spoke from her "script" again. As pointed out in yesterday's Pelosi thread, there was a link to "Newsbusters" that showed she previously said 500 MILLION in a Sunday Morning one-on-one interview with Chris Wallace of Fox. This was on )1/18/09, better than 2 weeks ago. I think her Alzeimers is kicking in..

Posted by Tom- Pa 2009-02-05 08:47|| 2009-02-05 08:47|| Front Page Top

#8 I'll go with Alzheimer's and dementia. No problem.

Posted by Besoeker 2009-02-05 09:16|| 2009-02-05 09:16|| Front Page Top

#9 Fine, Glenmore. Then they can cut my taxes and I'll go out and spend the money on MY priorities. Since it doesn't matter how it's spent, you Keynesian you.

Posted by mojo 2009-02-05 10:37|| 2009-02-05 10:37|| Front Page Top

#10 Printing money and increasing taxes while giving money to the indolent and lazy is destructive to the economy. When the government prints money and increases debt inflation increases. Go back and read the simple records of the French Revolution with the opulence of the wealthy. True production of goods and services increases the economy. Do your research. Socialism is a failure in the historical setting. Northern Europe is in chaos financially

Posted by Silverfoxtheparson 2009-02-05 10:49|| 2009-02-05 10:49|| Front Page Top

#11 I think if there is going to be a stimulus then it needs to be directed to our manufacturing industry. Much like how oil is an imported resource that we need to remove our dependence on, product manufacturing resources need to be brought back home. I was reading articles over at americanboom.com about what a devastating effect moving these jobs over seas has caused. And it is not exactly all of the "big" companies fault, if Americans were willing to pay a little more for products made here than those jobs may have not ended up over seas.

Posted by Anthony">Anthony 2009-02-05 11:04|| 2009-02-05 11:04|| Front Page Top

#12 mojo,
I am not actually a Keynsian, I was just taking that position for the sake of discussion. ASSUMING Keynsianism, then cutting taxes and letting YOU choose how to spend your money would not work, since you might choose to SAVE it (perhaps not the wisest choice in times of runaway inflation, which is the ultimate result of printing more money, but ...) If the GOVERNMENT takes your money (from your savings, via inflation, or from your income, via taxes) they can be sure it was getting spent and 'stimulating' the economy.

In my real opinion, the economic system is too complex to 'manage' and in the long run we'd probably be better off not even trying - but that causes discomfort, even pain, to lots of people, making 'management' a very appealing political position.

Posted by Glenmore 2009-02-05 11:31|| 2009-02-05 11:31|| Front Page Top

#13 Government spending is only stimulative when it is spent. Most of the spending won't hit for at least a year if not more. And of course the big O is right that the tax cuts won't help, at least the tax cuts they have in the bill, they are too marginal. $10-15 more in paycheck? That's not going to change spending habits. There are two issues that need to be addressed first and foremost, first is the housing markets. They need to be jumpstarted to stop the freefall in homeowner equity. How best to do that? I don't know the best way, but $15k in tax deductions for buying a home should help some. We could burn down all of the vacant homes, haha, that actually would help a lot. Except it would be pretty CO2 heavy! The second thing that needs to be fixed is the liquidity in the banks. The reason banks aren't loaning isn't because they are scared (although they are) but it is because they don't have the reserves. How do you fix that? Good question. The answer I believe is you don't, wait for the bad paper to clear out of the system. Let the fever run its course, so to speak. And of course all of the stimulus supporters completely ignore the downside to this spending. Inflation. And it's going to be huge inflation. Guaranteed. Even Keynes knows that high inflation follows high government borrowing/spending. Oh and giving people who don't pay taxes a tax credit? That will help China more than anything. BTW, I have a 'shovel-ready' project O could fund. I own a lot and I am ready to build. But I can't until I sell my current home.

Posted by AllahHateMe 2009-02-05 12:27|| 2009-02-05 12:27|| Front Page Top

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