The Economics Discussion Thread

Blacksword wrote: Is Israel really doing that well? A month or so ago, hundreds of thousands of people marched on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, protesting over growing austerity, skyrocketting cost of living, and high unemployment.

  Yeah but isn't that always the way?  I mean if things were "good" in the US, you'd have people complaining how a home is too expensive with no end in sight;  That, sure, you can get a job, in a canning factory or stocking shelves;  And yeah the economy is good, if you like living in a cold, throwaway society.

Is Israel really doing that well? A month or so ago, hundreds of thousands of people marched on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, protesting over growing austerity, skyrocketting cost of living, and high unemployment.

The situation to watch right now is the nightmare unfolding in Italy. The Euro debt crisis was predicted by many economists over a decade ago, as was the soaring price of gold, and the demise of the dollar. Italy is too big to fail, and simply too big to save. Britains banks are exposed to over £64B worth of Italian debt, and we're not even in the Eurozone. When Italy goes down the pan, expect another global banking f*cktastrophe that will make the panic of 08 look like a 'blip'

We should also be mindful of the war drums beating in the background as Israel and the US line up Iran in the crosshairs. War could be one way out of the economic crisis, for our leaders and could secure Obama's second term. The people tend to rally behind their leaders in times of war, so long as the propoganda is carefully crafted and presented to them.

I can't post Youtube clips from work, but I'll post a clip later of a former Goldman Sachs analyst, being interviewed earlier this year by Yahoo news. These days he makes stock market forecasts for private investors, and analyses social and economic trends. He claims that historical economic patterns and war/peace cycles suggest that a 'major war' is expected in late 2012.

it is wacky, isn't it--  more people best start learning some skills then, if manufacturing isn't gonna be a big part of our future

What I find interesting right now are the countries with nicely growing economies; Argentina is booming, and Israel's national economy growing by 5%.   But it seems the reasons for this financial health are not necessarily the things that we hear are so important--  Argentina's main source of cash influx and opportunity is coming from their export of soy to China and elsewhere rather than industrial production.  Israel different of course, closer to the US in that it has a huge arms industry and bases much of its economy on a perpetual War State, but as it's so much smaller than America these benefits are more directly felt by her population.

It is possible the US and Europe are suffering as much from their own past successes as from bad management;  conversely when you're small, struggling and don't have much to lose, it can evidently be a good recipe for growth.  If the US could find a really hot export - just one - it could really help.   Barbecues?  Deep Fryers?  Hemp products?  T-shirts?  Hip Hop?   There must be something the world wants, other than guns, only we can make.

I recall popping in here a few times to say something like:

update, the economy is still sh*t


well...
update, the economy is still sh*t

Though I do think it is slowly and oh so sluggishly improving.
No back up or graphs and numbers, just my street observations.

Report: Goldman Sachs Is Firing Employees In The US So It Can Hire 1,000 In Singapore Because -- You Guessed It -- It's Cheaper

Or be propped up by government.

I think the patchwork careers are always the norm in bad economic times.

Yes we do say that. All of us.

They could have interviewed us, except we have two children.

^^ Yeah, I just realised that. I've edited my previous post.