How bad is the economy? Look at this scary, scary graph

China however, imports 18billion from us and we export 15billion to them, so our trade is close to even with them. So it is better for us here to support China than the U.S.

reply to post by Obliterated


Didn't realize you were Ausi. I get your point about trade balances. My guess is you ship them a lot of coal?

Another point about where money goes when the markets go way down as they have recently. The money simply disappears and the wealth is no longer anywhere. Poof, gone.

The effect is deflationary, the prices of goods and services decreases. That is why oil and gasoline prices have gone down, there has been no inflation and precious metals have not skyrocketed.

I wish my cost of living went down as much as my portfolio! But who knows, maybe eventually it will and we will all retire on less money cause cost of living will be down.

The thing I worry about is the government putting taxpayers in debt forever with little to show for it like Obama and his Democrats are doing right now. Only 4% of their huge Spendulus bill is for capitol improvements happening the next year. How can anyone argue that is going to do much good for the economy. It's just a lot of pork for the Democrats to make sure they get reellected in '10 and '12.

reply to post by midnightbrigade


OMG I laughed at that swing analogy so hard I think I broke something become I can actually visualize it ...... anyway .. I have a sneaking suspicion this will be an experience my 20ish children will never forget! like my parents before me remember there depression.

This isn't a joke its fixen to get really dirty, especially for people not at all used to Motel 6 let alone bread lines.............

I really, really don't understand why those super wealthy people making hundreds of thousands a year even need that much... and even for the unemployed now there isn't much hope for finding new jobs because they just aren't there.

*is one of those scared little children*
So um, guys, what happens if we do fall on our face in the dirt? What if we can't do anything even pumping all this money in? What happens next?

Plan B. And not the easy pill kind. The kind that I don't even understand and probably ... well, I don't even know.

What happens to the people who don't have jobs or can't pay for their houses?
What happens to my boyfriend and I who can't pay for college if the loans turn bad?

What do we do? What if you don't have a job now? I need a "How To Survive The Worst Recession Since Great Depression for Dummies"

Yes, the graph is scary.

That's why the big hurry to get that enormous stimulus package passed. Obama isn't pushing it for his health. Most reputable economists have predicted this recession/depression for a while now and the concesus is generally that this will alleviate, if not cure, much of the problem. It's also universally acknowledged that if the stimulus comes too late (as happened in Japan, for example) it won't do much good.

As for the question of how the wealth in this country got redistributed: it was largely done through tax cuts and tax loopholes for the very rich (for example, being able to write off much of one's income as capital gains, which is taxed at a lower rate). Also through increasing cutbacks in employee benefits and retirement plans and salary freezes and layoffs to reduce the costs of production and worker compensation for the benefit of the shareholders and CEOs and corporate bottom lines.

And there are numerous other ways, too many to go into here.

Basically, the decades since Ronald Reagan have been years of greed by the wealthiest class, whose wealth has grown exponentially, with few and diminshing gains for the middle and working classes.

If i remember correctly from my university economics courses a recession is a decline that lasts 3 financial quarters or less, after nine months it is defined as a DEPRESSION, yet nobody is using that word, Too Scary?

Originally posted by Sestias
Yes, the graph is scary.

That's why the big hurry to get that enormous stimulus package passed. Obama isn't pushing it for his health.

That stimulus plan according to Obama will be a success when it either "creates or saves four million jobs"

Creates or saves?

At the current job loss rate and the total number of jobs lost so far if the above happens it will barely move the current line on that graph.

BUT... Americans will get a $13 dollar per week tax break... And MUCH BIGGER more powerful government with lots of devalued money to back them up!

Happy days are here again!

What is the source of this graph? Never heard of this website before. How do we know this is "official"?

Thanks.