Tag: decline

ECONOMICS: Is the American Empire in decline — seems that way

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

“In a few words: the West is in decline and our leaders are greatly accelerating and exacerbating this decline. They can cover this up with redundant arguments about what is and isn’t a recession for so long. But at some point either the inflation will get worse — perhaps by gas shortages in Europe this winter — and/or the unemployment rate will spike. At that point, the underlying dynamics will become too obvious to ignore; for politicians and the general public anyway. Economists will likely find some other redundant nuance to debate and distract.”

https://macrocosm.substack.com/p/is-this-or-is-this-not-a-recession?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

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It certainly seems that the “can” has finally been kicked as far down the road as it can be.  And, some very ugly economic “chickens” are going to come home to roost.

Instead of learning from the malaise in Japan, or the abject failures of previous “bailouts”, the politicians and bureaucrats have continued to increase their spendthrift ways.

“We, The Sheeple” are going to feel the pain!

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MONEY: Rich people buy new cars. Poor people do not

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://dailyreckoning.com/the-corruption-of-america

The Corruption of America
By Porter Stansberryleadimage
12/21/11

 

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All we’ve done is convert the government’s nominal GDP stats into a fixed currency value that’s based on real-world purchasing power. The fact is, our data are far more accurate than the government’s because they represent the real-world experience. That’s why our data are far more closely correlated to other real-world studies of wealth in America.

Consider, for example, annual sales of automobiles. Auto sales peaked in 1985 (11 million) and have been declining at a fairly steady rate since 1999. In 2009, Americans bought just 5.4 million passenger cars. As a result, the median age of a registered vehicle in the U.S. is almost 10 years.

Our data shows that real per-capita wealth peaked in the late 1960s. Guess when we find the absolutely lowest median age of the U.S. fleet? In 1969. At the end of the 1960s, the median age of all the cars on the road in the U.S. was only 5.1 years. Even as recently as 1990, the median age was only 6.5 years.

Rich people buy new cars. Poor people do not.

 

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Once again we have the “underground” confirming what we know in our gut, the country is getting poorer day by day.

 

“Penny candy”! Remember that? Like the recent Ron Paul point about 1964 dimes and gas, “penny candy” is a similar point.

 

One tenth of one single silver dime in the Sixties would get you one or more pieces of loose candy at the cash register. (Amazing in light of today’s focus on germs and health hazards that anyone survived.) Fast forward to today. That silver dime is worth about two of today’s dollars. So a tenth is about 20 cents. “Penny candy” is sold in quarter “gum ball” dispensers. So all that’s changed is the value of the money with respect to the  goods available.

 

Who wins in this inflation? No surprise there. The politicians and bureaucrats!

 

Argh!

 

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