Here's What's Happening to the Economy

American Thinker ^ | March 12, 2009 | Randall Hoven

[ChessExpert]

To summarize in round numbers, we can approximate the blame by time periods:

* Housing crisis (Jan-Aug 2008): 10% market decline.

* Financial failures (Aug-Sep): 5% decline.

* The Paulson/Bush bailout (Sep-Nov): 20%.

* President-elect and President Obama (Nov-Mar): 30%.

President Obama described the stock market as having "gyrations," saying it "bobs up and down day to day." I recommend you not bob for apples with President Obama.

[varyouga]

Care to join in the fun? How old/miles is yours?

Last one was an 86 Buick that I bought for $900 in 97. It was killed at 280k NYC MILES with the original engine, suspension, exhaust and tranny. The beast didn't smoke at all and still passed a dreaded NYC smog test.

My friends all have new cars and have been telling me to junk it for years since all the paint was gone. It still ran perfectly and I used it as a beater car until last year. Someone totaled it while parked. I was really disappointed until their insurance cut me a $2500 check.

The only major repair was a "new" gas tank from the junkyard because it literally rusted through and started leaking! With the $2500 check, I actually MADE money by owning that car.

Right now I'm at 130k with my Nissan. Nothing but routine maintenance so far. It looks great, runs perfect and I don't care about having the "latest" like my friends.

[AGreatPer]

NY cabs don’t change oil. They replace the filter every 2,000 miles and top off the oil.

[blam]

"Isn't it "interesting" that in February, consumer spending "went up"?

Me and my neighbors bought a lot of 'stuff' for the coming hard times. I wondered if that in itself would create an 'up-tick' in economic activity.

[Responsibility2nd]

We recently bought a 2003 Lincoln Town Car with 70,000 miles for 10,000.

__________________________

I know you’re happy with your purchase.

But you paid way over retail..

http://www.kbb.com/KBB/UsedCars/PricingReport.aspx?YearId=2003&Mileage=70000&VehicleClass=UsedCar&ManufacturerId=28&ModelId=188&PriceType=Private+Party&VehicleId=2690&SelectionHistory=2690%7c30228%7c78233%7c0%7c0%7c&Condition=Good&QuizConditions=

[blam]

"NY cabs don’t change oil. They replace the filter every 2,000 miles and top off the oil."

How many miles do they get on the engine doing that?

[tiki]

I bought a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo last year with 132,000 miles on it for 3800, it was in great condition, I love it and drive it pretty much exclusively. My husband has a 1998 4WD extended cab pick-up and we have a 2001 Honda Odessey (sp) that we just traded our F150 4 door pick up for because we needed something comfortable for the 2 of us and the 4 from my son’s family because we often travel together and the kids are adult sized now and we needed more room.

I have bought 2 brand new vehicles in my 38 yrs of adulthood and believe I really messed up both times although I drove the first one for 11 yrs and the second one for 5 yrs and then sold it to my son who drove it quite a few more yrs.

There are really some good bargains out there right now for used vehicles and I sometimes wish I needed one but I don’t.

I am a business owner’s worst nightmare as far as consumers are concerned. I buy very little we raise our own beef, have chickens and preserve much of the veggies that we use.

[FReepaholic]

...The bankers, mortgage lenders, local governments, and builders who had a huge ve$ted intere$t in a continuing housing bubble didn't see it coming. Or if they did, they kept their mouths shut in anticipation of the bailouts to come...

They knew and didn't keep their mouths shut.

In 2005 during the height of the real estate bubble MBNA, Capital One, Citibank, Providian and other credit card companies pushed for draconian changes in bankruptcy laws: http://www.pirg.org/consumer/bankrupt/index.htm

[NCjim]

Recession - your neighbor loses his job
Depression - you lose your job
Recovery - Obama loses his job

[tiki]

People freak but we have never had a vehicle that we didn’t drive over 100,000 and my husband only changes the oil once or maybe 2Xs a year, we do use Slick 50 after 50,000 miles. We rarely have mechanical problems and if we do, I get rid of it.

[FReepaholic]

Ooops...here's a working link:

http://www.pirg.org/consumer/bankrupt/index.htm

[AGreatPer]

"How many miles do they get on the engine doing that?"

The fact that NY cabs don't change oil is old news already. The mileage varies from 500,000 to 2,000,000. One cabbie joked, if it's american made the body and parts fall off around the engine.

[Lancey Howard]

BUMP!

[norraad]

Wow, he mentioned 400,000, I know from the taxi drivers I know they do keep them going that long or longer.

I should be able to get a million or so because I'm persnickety about flushing fluids (I'm goin'2 P rigt after I post, n'yuk,n'yuk, n'yuk, ooooh, Moe Larry !)

But , serially folks, I've 236,000 on a 93' Dodge Dynasty LE (all the bells & whistles, like an Imperial), still cruises like new and you could eat off the engine (keepin' it real clean seems to help).

[ChessExpert]

Thanks for the resource (Zillow.com). I went there and looked at my house and neighborhood. You did very well in the sale of your house. I couldn’t see how to bring up a time-phased graph of my housing price. How did you do that? Or did you do that on your own.

The housing trouble was becoming apparent in early 2008

“Wrong, WRONG, WRONG. A stupid statement like that throws doubt on the whole article.

Anybody who was paying attention to the run up housing prices and refi's, and the kinds of loans being written, saw it coming 2-3 years earlier.”

There has been a lot of talk of housing bubbles for a long time. I considered them to be regional issues since some areas were largely unaffected for a long time. Where I am, I became aware of both housing appreciation and overbuilding in 2008. A lot of this was due to my city’s anticipating new employment due to the base realignment and closure act (BRAC), but some was doubtless due to influences that applied nationwide.

Please note the author’s first three sentences:
I think I have it figured out, roughly. And I'm ready to assign blame. If my narrative is not exactly true, it is a hypothesis that appears to fit the facts.

He is going for a big picture and realizes that some of the lesser elements could be argued, or even might be mistaken. I think you should look for the positive elements of his article. He is trying to develop a valid summary.

His summary is certainly better that the Democrat’s summary of “it’s all Bush’s fault.” Laughable as that is, it can stick. Democrats still blame the entirety of the great depression on Herbert Hoover. My best counter, developed only recently, is that six years into the new deal, the unemployment rate was 19%. No blame to FDR after six years?

[ChessExpert]

“The Pension Relief Act of 2006 passed congress, signed by unsuspecting President Bush (requiring ALL corporations to establish 90% funding for ALL employee pensions.”

Apparently, this does not apply to social security.

Thanks for the discussion of pirate shorts. News to me.

[Old Professer]

What a lot of people don’t realize is that just setting around and not running often takes a heavier toll on a car than driving.

Seals dry out; fuel goes bad; batteries age faster; tires dryrot and develop flat spots; the weather dries out the volatiles in the vinyls; acids form in the exhaust, especially if most trips are short; reuse of the vehicle for a long trip can then show up the effects rather unexpectedly, causing expensive emergency repairs.

[ChessExpert]

It’s amazing how often Ronald Reagan quotes work. To paraphrase another Reagan quote from my imperfect memory:

The Democrat’s economic philosophy can be summed up in a few simple sentences. If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. When it stops moving, subsidize it.

It applied then and it applies now.

[WVKayaker]

The best Lincoln I owned was `1990 TC, with the 5 ltr engine. It cost me a grand, for a 7 yr old car. It had 80k, and I added 170 more. I sold it for ..... $1000!

Craigslist is great for cars. It is worth driving to DC or other large city. For under $3000 today, in DC metro, you can buy:

- 1998 LINCOLN TOWN CAR - $2800 (ALEXANDRIA VA)

1992 MERCEDES 300TE WAGON - $2999

[norraad]

Seals dry out. . ," well, mama, jus' shoo's them off the porch back into the water..."

Use it or loose it, just like the human body, eh?

I also have an 87' Toyota van (family heirloom, bought new) w/over 200,000, but not used so much, I spray various foam polish/preserver products all over it inside & out (engine gets a whole can of tire foam).

Then wipe with lot's of clean rags.

Couple hours of elbow grease every few months keeps it new and ready to go for 10 forevers or more(it's lasted longer than the guy who originally bought it).

[hedgetrimmer]

It's become a bragging rights thing among my friends of who has the oldest w/the most mileage

I see what you're saying but it almost sounds like Cuba!