The Economics Discussion Thread

Yes, name your favorite economics guy so that I may diss him.

Edited by Slartibartfast - January 23 2011 at 13:52

Coming to this rather late, but arguably at an appropriate time, as a number of EU economies go down the pan...

There appears to be three different types of economists:

1 - The eternal optimist. This is the guy, who no matter how bad things get, manages to find the microscopic flek of gold in the turd pile. It's upon this he builds his vision of the future. These guys will be the ones who appear on prime time news shows in the UK. They speak in constant euphamism and understatement, terrified of upsetting the markets.

2 - The politician. Simple really. If his government of choice is overseeing a financial catastrophe, he'll blame the failings of its predecessor.

3 - The grim reaper. This is the guy who claims to be non partisan, and just says it like it is. He's the one who is always predicting global economic collapse, martial law, and world war three the year after next. They are mostly American, and are largely unheard of in the UK, because the BBC would never be allowed to have them on their news programs, because they are out of step with the Beebs vapid inane reporting style. In the US they appear on numerous news networks, and often advise American citizens to tool up and head for the hills with enough food and water for six months.

My understanding of the current problem, is that both the EU and the US are essentialy flat broke, and are trying to paper over cracks with pretend money, which is devaluing by the day, as our national debts continue to rise. We are assured that this is a sustainable model, but many seem to disagree.

Edited by Blacksword - January 24 2011 at 07:15

Slartibartfast wrote: Equality 7-2521 wrote: Sorry I didn't know this was the agree with Slart thread. Well, yes, if you don't agree with me you are obviously wrong. 4 - Dwarf economists like Robert Reich.

But I like being right

Dwarfs are faring very well during the current downturn. They invest heavily gold and precious metals.

Equality 7-2521 wrote: Blacksword wrote: 3 - The grim reaper. This is the guy who claims to be non partisan, and just says it like it is. He's the one who is always predicting global economic collapse, martial law, and world war three the year after next. They are mostly American, and are largely unheard of in the UK, because the BBC would never be allowed to have them on their news programs, because they are out of step with the Beebs vapid inane reporting style. In the US they appear on numerous news networks, and often advise American citizens to tool up and head for the hills with enough food and water for six months.   The UK portrays the US in a strange way

It's not so much the UK's portrayal, it's what I see from Max Keiser, Peter Schiff, Gerald Celente, Porter Stansberry et al. We simply don't have economists in the UK like that, and if we do they must be very tightly muzzled, and kept from the media. I've followed Celentes forecasts for several years now. Over the years, has he been as accurate as many claim, or are his trends forecasts open to a lot of interpretation?

Edited by Blacksword - January 24 2011 at 09:39

Equality 7-2521 wrote: Your description is a little romantic. Warning against the collapse of a dollar is exactly telling people to build bomb shelters in the hills of Utah. The only one I'm terribly familiar with is Peter Schiff. He's been very accurate. Plenty of economists predicted this event, but just ones that tend to be very unpopular with establishment types.

It was only meant as a light hearted and semi serious description..    although to be honest I have heard US economics commentators say that people should be stockpiling tinned food, and making provision to grow their own veggies etc. Stansberry has said this, and Celente has said people should not be relying on the things they take for granted day to day being routinely available within a few years.

Sorry I didn't know this was the cut your veins thread 

A good amount of time has passed, my unofficial "layman" analysis


We're all still boned


Calculating surprise level:
....

0%

Ah well, now that most of the world is on the same page, maybe this is finally the downfall Capitalism was due to bring on itself, thus the global communist revolution can begin!

ALL POWER TO THE BOLSHEVIKS

JJLehto wrote: A good amount of time has passed, my unofficial "layman" analysis We're all still boned Calculating surprise level: .... 0% Ah well, now that most of the world is on the same page, maybe this is finally the downfall Capitalism was due to bring on itself, thus the global communist revolution can begin! ALL POWER TO THE BOLSHEVIKS

Are you saying you want a revolution?

When you talk about desctructio onnn, don't you know that you count me in, out.


Edited by Slartibartfast - January 25 2011 at 07:15

This just in.

http://c0182732.cdn1.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/fcic_final_report_full.pdf

Word on the street....er fox news is that the housing market has not gotten better but in fact, worse.
Cities that made it through the first crisis fine (I remember Seattle being named as one) are now hurting, and most of the metro areas in the US are hurting in the housing market now.

Is the double dip beginning!?