We Are Not Headed for a Great Depression

Originally posted by tide88

This is for all of you who think we are heading for a great depression. For all of you who thing we should not have done a resue plan. There are so many doom and gloom articles and posts out there that say our( The USA) economy is going to completely collapse, I thought I would post an article that may give some people hope. I, like everyone else, is very scared what is going on today. This, no doubt, is a complete disaster. However after reading this article it game me some optimism. Hopefully it will do the same for some of you. I know it probably against ATS T&C to post an article that gives positive new, and I am sure most people here will still beat this article down and say there is no hope, we are all doomed. However I expect that from this site. So here it is. Read the whole article above.
edit to add: One thing I admit this article doesnt talk about is the 11 trillion dollar debt the USA has that it didnt have back then.

emac.blogs.foxbusiness.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 9-10-2008 by tide88]

If you want to make an intelligent argument might I suggest this new invention---the dictionary!

You are correct, we are not headed for a depression. Just 20% unemployment, astronomical crime, war, famine, and no more coupon days at the supermarket. Consider it a radical contraction of the markets combined with a decreased standard of living and the usurpation of liberty via psychological warfare. But you get to keep your big screen, gots to have that for them playoffs!

Knuckle dragging troglodyte, think before you type.

reply to post by traderjack


Greetings Traderjack.......I don't got a big screen,and I am not a sports fan at all....I enjoy wrestling and war movies....The american people are going to get what they deserve if they empower the DEMs with out any checks and balances....

In case you haven't been watching the last 8 years, we already got what we deserved for empowering the republicans without any checks and balances.

TraderJack you have my applause...

For every inconcieved article like this there about 20-30 ilconcieved human beings with on brain cell between them. We are in a reccession we are boardering on global bankruptcy and no banks trust each other.



WAKE UP

time bomb is ticking.

PS were can i picks myself up a chicken little helmet MADE IN CHINA?

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
In case you haven't been watching the last 8 years, we already got what we deserved for empowering the republicans without any checks and balances.

Greetings .....This is not a republican or democratic issue this is an issue of who we are as a people....If you seek the truth you will find that our financial problems have their roots in government interference in the private sector (eg.Barney Frank and Chris Dodd both Dems)These two commitee members( banking com.)consistantly blocked any proposed reforms for Freddie/Fannie and allowed key executives to piledge while one of the senators was having an affair with one of the principals...The rediculous expense of waging war is clearly leveled on the presiding administration....Empowering the poor is not the answer to our woes...

We are definitely in a recession though and it never hurts to learn how to budget within your own household to save money and cut waste. I see only good in comparing money saving tips for the household budget.

It wouldn't hurt for us to learn how to survive in a depression...just in case it happens later in our lives or if it turns out that you are wrong...



[edit on 10/25/2008 by Rusty P. Shackleford]

Originally posted by theodorej

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
In case you haven't been watching the last 8 years, we already got what we deserved for empowering the republicans without any checks and balances.

Greetings .....This is not a republican or democratic issue this is an issue of who we are as a people....If you seek the truth you will find that our financial problems have their roots in government interference in the private sector

If it wasn't a republican or democratic issue, you wouldn't have claimed that the blame lies with democrats in both of your posts on this page alone. So spare us the bi-partisan song and dance.

The "truth" that you ask me to seek is that Barney Frank or Chris Dodd didn't have any influence over the behavior of international banking institutions in every corner of the world. Whoever Barney Frank was diddling, didn't cause the world's financiers to leverage their loans at up to 60:1 or join the US in creating a credit default swap market that ballooned to over $50 trillion dollars and now threatens to cause global economic collapse. That honor can be laid at the feet of those behind repealing the Glass-Steagel act that was designed specifically to prevent this from happening, because this is exactly what caused the first Great Depression. For that, you can place bi-partisan blame because even though it was spearheaded by republicans, democrats jumped onboard and passed a veto-proof bill to repeal Glass-Steagel.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are NOT the cause of this problem, their total exposure to bad mortgage debt was less than $100 Billion each, against hard assets of over $5 Trillion in real property. Combined, they hold over 50% of all US mortgages which would make a total of less than $400 billion of bad mortgages in the entire country.

So far, the Treasury and Federal Reserve have had to make over $2 Trillion in funds available to US Banks, another $2.3 Trillion pumped in by European Central Banks, Japan a Trillion, Asia and Russia Billions, Australia and Ireland had to guarantee 100% of bank deposits, and the list goes on and on.. and you think this was caused by Fannie and Freddie's loss of less than 5% on their portfolio?

Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers and AIG were investment banks and Insurers who never sold a mortgage in their lives, but played the derivative game that deregulation had allowed to flourish and sold exponential amounts of their toxic crap as investment grade securities to every country in the world. THAT is why banks and investment firms all over the world have and are still collapsing, why Iceland is now bankrupt and Hungary and others are soon to follow.

But that's ok, you go on believing it's all due to Barney Frank's sex life.

reply to post by mythatsabigprobe


Greetings.....That certainly was an impressive barage of facts and figures and who am I to refute...To fix blame for anything as catastrophic as global finances would indeed be a waste of time...The problem in this world is one of a lack of character...( Character: To Know the difference between what is right and what is wrong and to choose what is right...)
Notwithstanding the amounts of money....The principles employed in packaging bad loans was sold on global scale with a multiplying factor and originated in the US....The government encouraged this practice and participated,although,as you so aptly put it,on a small scale with respect to Freddie/Fannie.....The government being Dems and Reps....

We may already be in one now. Maybe compared to the 1930s standards this not the great depression but things are different now. Instead of standing in line for food; a person goes a goveronment agency by appointment. The agencies are overwhelmed by people who need help. Here are some things that lead me to believe we are in a recsion heading towards a depression.

Unemployment rate is at 7.6% and more people are being laid off. In my city alone the city jobs are being cut in 100s.
4 major stores have closed in my area. I live in Kansas City a major city. Circuit City has closed all of its branches, Dillards closed the one up by me, linen and things and Steve and Brads. These are major store chains not just small businesses.
Prices are rising to compensate for people not spedning as much. In some cases prices are dropping so companies can attract new customers.
There are so many waiting lists for so many things which is worse than a bread line. There is a 2 year waiting list on section 8 and more affordable housing in most cases. I have see homeless in areas where it really did not exist before 2008.
I could go on and on about the things that I have seen in my own city.
You should see all the foreclosed homes and run down homes in my immediate area. I looked at townhomes that were going for $80,000 that used to be valued at 100,000. If this not a depression than what is?

reply to post by tide88


What people often forget about the great depression is that it was a downturn, coupled with the Dust Bowl.

It was two traumatic events at the same time.

Now, there is a possibility that with severe weather due to GW or the decimation of bees, there may be crop issues. So everyone hope we have decent weather this year. But in the event of no event, there is not going to be another Great depression..

the dust bowl

Poor agricultural practices and years of sustained drought caused the Dust Bowl. Plains grasslands had been deeply plowed and planted to wheat. During the years when there was adequate rainfall, the land produced bountiful crops. But as the droughts of the early 1930s deepened, the farmers kept plowing and planting and nothing would grow. The ground cover that held the soil in place was gone. The Plains winds whipped across the fields raising billowing clouds of dust to the skys. The skys could darken for days, and even the most well sealed homes could have a thick layer of dust on furniture. In some places the dust would drift like snow, covering farmsteads.

Now, a lot of areas are suffering a water drought, so it is not a totally inconceiveable idea. What are the chances of it happening twice within the same century?

Well there might be light at the end of the tunnel after all... I belive we wait and see, this economic and financial crisys might last more or less depending on the measures taken...

reply to post by Ismail


reasource based economy is socialism,communism etc..