Posted on 07/13/2012 6:30:34 AM PDT by Kaslin
IMO....
>>Detroit has been taken into receivership by Michigan. A plan under discussion is to level a fourth of the city and reconvert it into the pasture and farmland it used to be a century ago<<
Asimov’s Trantor (after the fall) comes true thousands of years early.
Now is time for 'Just Desserts'................
From my perspective, the lower rung public sector employees actually do a good job, work hard and try to do the right thing.
That said, once we get into middle and upper management levels (layered bureauacrcy) or at the senior level of those considered “subject experts”, the law of inertia takes over, things at rest tend to stay at rest unless affected by some other force. Except for the military, there is no force multiplier effect in the civilian public sector, in fact, it is the one area where more is less.
Monty Python - Salad Days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-NpyaOWV0&feature=related
I think it’s time for “claw backs”.
wow, that’s not my experience at all. lower rung public sector employees that I’ve dealt with are generally worthless quota hire/AA types, whose attitudes would not be tolerated in the private sector.
Speaking of claw backs, this is exactly what should be done and probably will be done in the areas of salaries and benefits. Most government agencies do the baffle them with BS approach when asked for any details of what it is they actually accomplish, just like JPM:
“When fraud has been exposed, one is best advised to baffle everyone with lots and lots of data, figures, numbers, and generally meaningless information overflow. Sure enough, as part of the Q2 earnings call, JPM has released a record 8 pdfs to go alongside Jamie Dimon sounding very confident, and pretending he knows what he is talking about. Remember: when in doubt, baffle them with bullshit.” excised from ZeroHedge website.
Back in 2007 people were accusing me of being a doom and gloomer. If I had back then, gotten in my delorian and travelled to today, grabbed this story and took it back to 2007, it would be proof that all the doom and gloom was right.
But things change slowly, and people adapt. It is just the new normal, now.
But the fact is, that we ARE in World Depression two (WDII). This article as well as the news about foreclosures, jobs, europe, China (Millions of tons of steel sitting in boats waiting to be sold), etc. is there for everybody to see.
The Great Depression was not called the Great Depression by the world culture until the 1950’s. What will this be called 30 years from now?
And this is only just beginning to unwind. That’s it! It can be called the Great Unwind of the civilized world.
—I’m not entirely sure this is true.—
I think it is sometimes true. To use an analogy, think of them as the proverbial family that pulls in $50,000 a year but during the housing boom got a 100% loan at a low rate with interest only payments for a house worth $3 million. Now, imaging the housing crisis makes that home worth only $800,000 and the interest only part of their loan period has expired. They are hopelessly under water and short of winning the lotto have absolutely no way out.
That is where a lot of cities and counties are right now - completely screwed.
Frankly, I think it is where the world is. And I think a lot of people know it, at least at the subconscious level.
And the article is right, the final hail mary in this thing will be inflation followed by hyperinflation. I think that will be followed by WWIII. In fact, I have little doubt, if any, that that will be our fate.
Look at history. It’s what we do. The only reason you don’t believe it is that it is so unthinkable. So was Auschwitz.
1. Build your own insular empire with many layers of staff and underlings
World War II started about ten years after the original Great Depression, and violent revolutionary upheaval has already started in much of the Middle East, and the seeds of it are being planted in parts of Europe.
Buckle up kids, the next few years are likely to be some kind of wild ride.
Ever seen 12 Monkeys, with Bruce Willis?
I see that future so clearly that when I look at the world around me I have an attitude similar to his perception of the world when he goes back in time to the time just before mankind was wiped off the face of the earth due to a pandemic.
It is one of those, “If A happens, then B will happen” sort of things. And A is happening before our very eyes. B is next, but A will get much worse first.
So this is the real question, what will the Fed do? The “Fed complex” of central bankers and money center financial institutions are not in favor of printing money. They own massive amounts of debt lent at very low rates and they have little desire to see this money eaten up by inflation.
The politicians are (or will be when the economy starts sliding) for the most part in favor of additional “stimulus”. The Repubs will do a better job spreading the money around than the Bamster, but it is free money however you look at it. Bamster’s stimulus was a handout to the public sector unions, hence it did not have a lot of positive effect on the economy.
Plus, we have reached the point of debt saturation.
So, will the politicians prevail and either garner the political support for cheap money or twist Bennie's arm to print more? Or will we continue down the political stalemate path and slip into deflationary depression?
Either way, we are facing a 1930s like economic calamity ... and we have yet to see the worst of it.
sschu
At a national level, I believe you’re right.
At a municipal level, the situation could be improved substantially. Look at what Indiana was able to do as a state.
Municipal bankruptcies are the easy solution, taken by bureaucrats who are too lazy to make the case for the reforms that would accomplish the same ends without the pain of leadership. The big reason for bankruptcies, as I see it, is to sever union contracts. Something true leadership could do without bankruptcy.
The same tools could be applied nationally, if we had leaders who actually wanted to fix our problems rather than enrich themselves as the ship of state sinks.
The “Reagan-Clinton prosperity”?
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return.
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