Posted on 01/31/2012 4:41:07 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The economy did horribly in the last three months of 2011.
I know that’s not what you’ve been hearing. During this past Christmas season you were first told that consumers were dying to get to the malls and shop. That turned out to be true — for a couple of days at least, while stores were desperately discounting everything they had.
Then you were told that manufacturers were having a bang-up month and that automakers were selling cars like it was the old days.
And Apple — who could forget Apple? — was selling iAnythings like they were some sort of lifesaving device and every American was in the hospital emergency room.
Last Friday the Commerce Department released its tally of business conditions in October, November and December. And it was, well, quite disappointing if you actually know what to look at.
The headline number you saw on the evening news that night and in the newspapers on Saturday was this: the nation’s gross domestic product rose at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the 2011 fourth quarter, which was better than the 1.8 percent growth in the July-September period. In the first place, 2.8 percent isn’t a good rate of growth for any year.
Take out your calculator, divide 2.8 percent by the four quarters of the year, and you’ll see that fourth-quarter growth — even if you take these numbers at face value — was just 0.7 percent.
Tepid. Lukewarm. Disappointing. Not what should be happening four years into a recession (oh, right, that’s supposed to be over) after the Federal Reserve has used all its tricks and our elected officials have bankrupted the country.
But it gets worse.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Now they are trying the opposite. Huge numbers of people out of work, inflation high,and growth in the toilet yet they are saying "it's a recovery! happy days are here again! vote Romney for now, then Obama in November!" Will it work, will unemployed people buy into the idea that everything is okay? So far it seems they are for some mysterious reason, desperation probably. Can that be sustained for another 10 months though? We'll see.
This is so true. Saw a poll that 25 percent of men would miss the birth of a child for the superbowl. Many would skip a funeral or wedding of a close friend or family member. You just have to wonder if there is actually hope for the nation.
I have often called professional sports the bread and circuses of our nation. I am adding reality tv and American Idol to that list.
Yes, they removed the two biggest items in most folks’ budget because those two particular items, food and fuel, actually inflate!
However, what is really happening is biflation. Essentials like food and fuel (and commodities) will inflate while items bought for credit and non-essentials will deflate. So you see a collapse in home prices and automobile sales while food and fuel prices rise.
What in fact is happening, is the dollar is losing its value and will continue to do so. You will not notice it as all other currencies are fiat currencies and are doing the same just now. What you will notice will be a rapid rise in commodities, food and fuel prices relative to any given fiat currency.
Great synopsis.
Fifty percent of Americans can't name one republican running for President, people are too busy voting for DWTS, American Idol, watching the Bachelor, playing video games etc to be bothered worrying about being betrayed, exploited, insulted or criminally defrauded, as long as they get their unemployment/SSI/welfare/foodstamps/free phones/free healtchare/dental/clothing allowance/subsidized housing/ every week, who cares.
We are in a decade long, long-wave contraction. It will NOT get better, we cannot grow out way out.
And we have not hit bottom yet. That is still to come.
” When will Americans reach the saturation point for being betrayed, exploited, insulted and criminally defrauded?”
When the bread and circuses come to an end.
Food and fuel prices, however, have grown as much as 25%.
We're in a depression, folks. The sooner everyone realizes it, the better.
Just wait until gov can not longer afford extended unemployment benefits, food stamps, section 8 housings and SSI.
fun,fun,fun,
It's already started, the shoplifting rate at supermarkets has gone up considerably, people stealing anything they can hide or change prices meaning they take a two dollar off coupon from a package of meat priced at $4.25 and put in on a package of meat worth $8.50 - they take reduced price tags off day old bread/muffins/pastry and put it on fresh products - here in my town someone actually walked out of the store with a grocery cart full of meat, mind you shoplifting has been around forever but over the last two years it has increased considerably especially in supermarkets. The guy with the grocery cart full of meat was caught a couple of streets away from the supermarket because a couple of cashiers took it upon themselves to chase the guy. Even dollar stores are experiencing theft. It's going to get very very ugly out there if HUSSEIN is not defeated.
Don’t forget Bush, spend, borrow, spend Bush and the big spending GOP House, Senate is as responsible for our debt as is Obama.
Anyone who is not a prepper is either A) not paying attention, B) has their head in the sand, C) fooling themselves that things could not really get that bad.
My message to all three is that, allegorically speaking, the whole world is Warsaw, Poland, and our September 1st, 1939 is right around the corner.
And yes, it CAN get that bad. I believe a lot of people all over the world, including America, are gonna get up close and personal to a kind of suffering that is the stuff of mid-century black and white newsreels. They will have the same shock as the look on the face of a man who has just slipped off a cliff 600 feet high. But they will be just as helpless to change their fate.
That being said,
Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
When Kyle Bass, Ray Dalio, Salient Capital Partners, PIMCO, and George Soros are all repeating "deleveraging" like a mantra, you now it's going to be bad. Almost all of these guys are trying to warn us what's coming. For Soros, it's a prayer.
Either way, it's going to be very painful.
It really does not matter much who is elected, it is simple math. We are 16+ trillion in direct debt and 70+ trillion in unfunded mandates. And that is just the federal government. State, city county government are all deep in debt too. The US economy is in recession, Europe is cratering (depression) and Asia is slowing. We are in for a bad time no matter who occupies the white house.
AMEN to that!
And it goes back a whole lot further than that! Do you remember the idiotic "WIN" button ("whip inflation now")???
The US is in real honest to goodness trouble. Deep trouble. And the current regime led by the stain is not improving anything at all.
The only "hope" and "change" this time around is: I "HOPE" the voters in the US wake the hell up and "CHANGE" the entire administration and eradicate the stain.
I don’t need any numbers from DC to tell me that the economy isn’t improving as well as they say it is... Of course, I’m in Wisconsin, so thankfully we are doing a little better than some other states, but it’s definitely not back to what it should be.
Anecdotal evidence: Our “city” is the last “big” population area on your way North. We get a LOT of people driving a fair way to visit our Wal-mart, Sears, Fleet Farm, JCP, etc... When we moved here about 7 years ago there was NEVER anything even halfway decent that stayed in stock long enough to make it to any clearance racks. If you wanted a bathing suit, for example, you HAD to buy one in April to have any size options at all and if you wait till JUNE? LOL - good luck finding anything!
The last couple of years, that has changed a bit. More things make it to the clearance racks now, but as soon as the markdowns hit 50-70% watch out... THEN the racks will be picked over like crazy!
When “GOOD” inventory actually makes it to an 80-90% markdown you know something is wrong with the economy, and it doesn’t take an economist to see it. Yes, my experience looking at all of this comes from “field work” - years in retail and retail management, and as a consumer (mother of four - family of 6).
Don’t even get me started on grocery inflation - which DC tells us is “non-existant”.
The economy is getting better? Maybe in some ways, but it will take much longer for anything to “trickle down” where we actually see a change in consumer mindset - seems like EVERYONE is turning into a “bargain shopper” now. Even the Goodwill’s prices have inflated, and there are at least twice as many people shopping there than in past years (I’m a “regular” thrift store junkie and good brands, and quality merchandise just isn’t being donated as much - or is being snatched up right away when they are).
Anyway, thanks for the post. I think most people who don’t take the media and talking head prognostications as gospel truth are aware that there is a big disconnect between what we are being told, and the reality in the marketplace.
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