In State of the Union, Obama to return to jobs and the economy

KingOrfeo said:

If that were true, the Dow would simply track currency-inflation. It doesn't. We haven't had all that much inflation lately.

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BotanyBoy said:

No I don't..but you're a POG, a mental health POG....who pushes pens and wears nice clean uniforms every day.

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mercury14 said:

True. Except when I was deployed...

With the Army...

To various FOBs...

Near Pakistan...

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Inquiring minds may be wondering how and why this happened and what to do about it. Currently there is a lot of misguided thinking such as calling for caps on CEO pay and increased minimum wages as proposed by president Obama in his state of the union address.

I propose that to find a cure, one needs to understand the problem and what cause it. In that regard, it's crucial to understand that inflation benefits accrue to those with first access to cheap money, the banks and the already wealthy.

Consider the housing boom and bust. By the time easy credit was universally available (with sensible income and down payment requirements flying out the window), the party was nearly over.

The root cause of boom-bust cycles (and the associated income inequality distortions) is the Fed's inflationary and reflationary policies. Simply put, the Fed has sponsored bubbles and busts of increasing amplitude over time, and those with first access to cheap money have come out ahead at the expense of everyone else.

It's even worse than that. The Fed's policy of "too big to fail" encourages rampant speculation if not outright manipulation in both directions.

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Japan's embrace of 'Abenomics' entails a huge round of fiscal and monetary expansion aimed at raising the inflation rate to 2 percent.

The yen has fallen by around 20 percent since November, triggering a rally in Japanese stocks that, the government hopes, will kick-start growth by encouraging savers to spend and companies to invest.

With the United States, Britain and euro zone all running ultra-loose monetary policies, some emerging market exporters have sounded the alarm over 'currency wars' that they say will devalue their foreign reserves and hit their competitiveness.

Russian officials note that Japan has not intervened on currency markets to weaken the yen, suggesting that Tokyo would not be singled out as a miscreant.

Before flying to Moscow, Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa defended the monetary expansion, saying it was aimed at reviving the economy - which shrank in the fourth quarter - and not at weakening the yen.

"The BOJ is conducting monetary policy to achieve stability in Japan's economy. It will continue to do so," he said.

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4est_4est_Gump said:

Are you ready for currency wars?


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/us-g20-currency-idUSBRE91E00520130215

Venezuela is leading the charge, Japan is jumping in and soon you will see just how worthless your inflated dollars are...

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4est_4est_Gump said:

Where is the Inflation?
http://mises.org/daily/6340/Where-Is-the-Inflation

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Ishmael said:

The political interaction is what is fascinating to watch. The administration/government is busily skewering the very institutions/people that have benefited most from the policies that the administration/government has implemented. And not having learned their lesson, the administration/government charges ahead implementing even more.

Tax deductions are now referred to as "loop-holes" even though they are a matter of law. Under even the narrowest of application of the phrase "loop-hole" it is inarguable that the home mortgage interest deduction is just another "loop-hole." This phenomena represents an excellent snap shot of current popular thought. What I can take advantage of is a legitimate deduction, what I can't is a "loop-hole." Expanding that definition brings us to the notion that the 47% that are paying no federal income tax at all are taking advantage of the biggest "loop-hole" of all.

I wonder how many read, let alone understood, the article you linked? I wonder how many still view the government as the 'champion of the down trodden' when all available evidence shows just the opposite? I wonder how many still believe that the democrat party is still on the side of the little guy and the republicans for the fat cats when all available evidence shows that the democrats have been the biggest enablers of the wealthy? (Although the republicans can legitimately take credit for a goodly share of that as well.)

I wonder when it will dawn on the citizenry that any tax based on income in inherently unfair?

Ishmael

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RjThoughts said:

You do realize that the 47% is a MADE UP NUMBER? You do realize that the majority of Americans that do not pay income taxes are children, seniors, the handicapped, don't you?

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Ishmael said:

I wonder how many read, let alone understood, the article you linked?

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vetteman said:

Bullshit, FDR makes Bush look like a fucking choirboy. Ya big dunce.

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vetteman said:

It might be if it were to educate instead of indoctrinate. Public schools exist more for the benefit of public employee unions than the education of our youth. Teachers unions are self centered machines invented to loot the public treasury.

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zipman said:

Okay, then let's just agree that the biggest reduction in individual rights in the last 70 years came under Bush, a republican and you were silent as a church mouse while it happened.

No blustering about tyranny. Nothing. And why? Because you're just a pathetic, hypocritical partisan hack.

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BotanyBoy said:

....and even if they did I seriously doubt our hyper gun loving military personnel would be willing to go out and kill a few hundred million Americans for your gun ban dreams.

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KingOrfeo said:

And I seriously doubt they would have to. Gun-nuts talk the "From My Cold Dead Fingers!" talk a lot, but the number who would actually shoot at the police/Army rather than let their firearms be confiscated is vanishingly small.

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