Are we on a recovery?

[maple_leafs182]

Do you guys think we are on a recovery?

Personally I think we are in the midst of the greatest depression.

[bush_cheney2004]

Do you guys think we are on a recovery?

Personally I think we are in the midst of the greatest depression.

Greatest depression compared to what? We get to watch this "greatest depression" on wide screen HD televisions.

[maple_leafs182]

Greatest depression compared to what? We get to watch this "greatest depression" on wide screen HD televisions.

lol, yes we do.

There was The Great Depression in the 30's

This is The Greatest Depression, it will be worse.

I'll explain why I think this, I just wanna hear peoples views first.

[bush_cheney2004]

lol, yes we do.

There was The Great Depression in the 30's

This is The Greatest Depression, it will be worse.

I'll explain why I think this, I just wanna hear peoples views first.

There have been many worldwide "depressions"...just because you are alive for this one does not make it the greatest, except for you. Now comes the New World Order, right?

[maple_leafs182]

I think it will be the collapse of the US dollar, which will have huge effects worldwide

I'll say why after

what is your opinion

[Guest TrueMetis]

lol, yes we do.

There was The Great Depression in the 30's

This is The Greatest Depression, it will be worse.

I'll explain why I think this, I just wanna hear peoples views first.

Really there are hundred of thousand of people starving because of this "depression"? This doesn't even come close to the great depression. This doesn't even come close to a depression at all.

Edited December 13, 2009 by TrueMetis

[bush_cheney2004]

I think it will be the collapse of the US dollar, which will have huge effects worldwide

I'll say why after

what is your opinion

So what? You live in Canada....are you poor and powerless too? The US dollar has been "collapsing" for a long time.

[BubberMiley]

We would have been in the midst of a great depression if there were no stimulus. Fortunately, both Republicans and Democrats worked together to prevent that. It may not have solved all our problems, but things would have been much, much worse if there were no action taken.

Unfortunately, not enough has been done since then to prevent it from happening all over again. There has been no new legislation, and all the things that caused the first collapse are still happening. So while we were successful in preventing it so far, more has to be done to prevent a potential future collapse.

[Pliny]

Do you guys think we are on a recovery?

Personally I think we are in the midst of the greatest depression.

No. We are just taking a break. Things have been too tough lately. We need a rest.

[bush_cheney2004]

We would have been in the midst of a great depression if there were no stimulus. Fortunately, both Republicans and Democrats worked together to prevent that. It may not have solved all our problems, but things would have been much, much worse if there were no action taken.

So sweet...all this talk of "we" for Republicans and Democrats in Canada.

Unfortunately, not enough has been done since then to prevent it from happening all over again. There has been no new legislation, and all the things that caused the first collapse are still happening. So while we were successful in preventing it so far, more has to be done to prevent a potential future collapse.

Nothing new is needed before restoring the old (e.g. Glass-Steagall).

Edited December 13, 2009 by bush_cheney2004

[BubberMiley]

So sweet...all this talk of "we" for Republicans and Democrats in Canada.

I do it just for you.

[maple_leafs182]

Really there are hundred of thousand of people starving because of this "depression"? This doesn't even come close to the great depression. This doesn't even come close to a depression at all.

A depression is just a prolonged recession.

It took them 3 years into the great depression for them to admit it was a depression and not just a recession.

We are only just over a year into this.

Wait till the market crashes again.

So what? You live in Canada....are you poor and powerless too? The US dollar has been "collapsing" for a long time.

The US dollar is the world reserve currency.

It was the Lehman's Brother collapse which started this Global credit crunch.

The US economy is the worlds largest economy and Canada's largest trading partner, what happens with the american economy greatly effects ours.

We would have been in the midst of a great depression if there were no stimulus. Fortunately, both Republicans and Democrats worked together to prevent that. It may not have solved all our problems, but things would have been much, much worse if there were no action taken.

Unfortunately, not enough has been done since then to prevent it from happening all over again. There has been no new legislation, and all the things that caused the first collapse are still happening. So while we were successful in preventing it so far, more has to be done to prevent a potential future collapse.

The bailouts were just a quick fix, but in the long run, it will cause more problems then it fixed.

GM and Chrysler both should have failed, if they had any good assets, they would of been bought up. As soon as the government got involved, it stopped being capitalism.

No. We are just taking a break. Things have been too tough lately. We need a rest.

I agree, I think it's going to be all downhill from here, so buckle up.

What caused the financial crisis?

The Clinton administration forced banks to give more risky loans under the Community Reinvestment Act which was passed by Carter in 1977.

Banks started giving loans out to low income families, but the prices of houses was on the rise so even if the family couldn't afford the mortgage and the house was foreclosed, the value of the house was higher then the mortgage was, so banks were still making money. When house prices dropped, banks started to lose money. They started to lose a lot of money, which caused Lehman Brothers to collapse, same with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae.

Other banks too were hit hard, but the bailout...bailed them out.

So now the Federal Reserve decided it would be a good idea to lower interest rates to encourage people to get loans and spend money to help the economy, but the reason the economy collapsed in the first place was because people were spending money they didn't have. Interest rates should of been raised to discourage spending and encourage saving. The fed is just creating another bubble.

Now with the bailouts, the Fed has printed so much money, that inflation is occurring, hence why gold and the market are rising. It's because the market is worth more dollars now then a year ago, but the value of the dollar has dropped.

But Obama and the media are saying this recession is coming to an end and we are on a recovery.

You can't have a jobless recovery.

The government has been giving many intensives to get people to spend money to help the economy, like cash for clunkers and the house renovation rebate. People are loaning and spending money when they should be saving.

I don't know if any of you are paying attention to the commercial real estate market in the states, it isn't doing good, their are ghost malls popping up in the lower states.. All the retail stores that companies like circuit city and linens and things are being leased by nobody. banks are losing a lot of money on this. Corporate buildings held by these companies are also not being leased. It's only a matter of time before the commercial real estate bubble crashes.

Retail sales are still down but companies are still making money because lots of companies are selling off assets and laying off people to cover there losses.

And this whole credit crunch was by design, the endgame may very well be a one world currency.

Woodrow Wilson

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.", after signing the Federal Reserve into existence

Thomas Jefferson

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

It would be a smart move to start buying silver, and if you have the money, Gold.

[Michael Hardner]

When will the next crash happen ? When will the gloom finally turn to doom ? I don`t know if this is a depression. Video game sales are markedly down though, which didn`t happen during the 1930s depression.

[bush_cheney2004]

The US economy is the worlds largest economy and Canada's largest trading partner, what happens with the american economy greatly effects ours.

Not much longer....China will displace Canada as #1 trading partner very soon. Your economy is your own responsibility, not America's.

The bailouts were just a quick fix, but in the long run, it will cause more problems then it fixed.

GM and Chrysler both should have failed, if they had any good assets, they would of been bought up. As soon as the government got involved, it stopped being capitalism.

But when American corps like Ford, GM, and Chrysler set up shop in Canada it was capitalism, right?

I agree, I think it's going to be all downhill from here, so buckle up.

That's funny....seat belt buckles are found in automobiles.

It would be a smart move to start buying silver, and if you have the money, Gold.

Not so smart....buy low...sell high.

[maple_leafs182]

Not much longer....China will displace Canada as #1 trading partner very soon. Your economy is your own responsibility, not America's.

I know, but Your economy effects the world economy.

I still don't see the point of having an economy in the first place, money is holding us back from accomplishing so much. Why should we need to fund cancer and disease research, why don't we just do the research. Why should solving poverty be expensive, why don't we just solve it, It wouldn't be hard.

Money should never be the driving factor. Love should be.

We choose to live with all these problems in society. That's all it is, a choice.

These problems don't have to exist, we let them exist. They are a symptom of society.

We really need to change how society is structured to fix the major problems of the world(Pollution, Poverty, War, Disease), this way of living can't go on forever.

On the path we are going now, I wouldn't be surprised if we live threw World War 3, everyone seems to be okay with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, why not just invade North Korea already, what are we waiting for?

But when American corps like Ford, GM, and Chrysler set up shop in Canada it was capitalism, right?

Yes, that was capitalism. But when the government got involved, it stopped being capitalism. The Canadian government bailed out GM and Chrysler out too. We should of let them fail like we let Nortel fail, that would of been capitalism.

Not so smart....buy low...sell high.

It will go much higher.

Edited December 15, 2009 by maple_leafs182

[Bugs]

[snip]What caused the financial crisis?

The Clinton administration forced banks to give more risky loans under the Community Reinvestment Act which was passed by Carter in 1977.

Banks started giving loans out to low income families, but the prices of houses was on the rise so even if the family couldn't afford the mortgage and the house was foreclosed, the value of the house was higher then the mortgage was, so banks were still making money. When house prices dropped, banks started to lose money. They started to lose a lot of money, which caused Lehman Brothers to collapse, same with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae.

Other banks too were hit hard, but the bailout...bailed them out. ... [snip]

I agree with almost everything you say, but it seems a little rich to blame Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton ... when Dick Nixon closed the gold window ... and Greenspan lowered interest rates. The two Bush's weren't innocent either, and even Carter did his bit. In truth, the cause is complex, and is as much a system failure as it is a kind of robbery committed by the bankers.

What is the best solution to the system failure? Any ideas?

[maple_leafs182]

Scrap the system, monetary based system is a joke.

solution: Resource Based Economy

The term and meaning of a Resource-Based Economy was originated by Jacque Fresco. It is a system in which all goods and services are available without the use of money, credits, barter or any other system of debt or servitude. All resources become the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. The premise upon which this system is based is that the Earth is abundant with plentiful resource; our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter productive to our survival.

A resource-based economy would utilize existing resources from the land and sea, physical equipment, industrial plants, etc. to enhance the lives of the total population. In an economy based on resources rather than money, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life and provide a high standard of living for all.

Edited January 22, 2010 by maple_leafs182

[eyeball]

Scrap the system, monetary based system is a joke.

solution: Resource Based Economy

Hmmmm. I wonder how many dogfish I can stuff into my wallet?

Will a Canadian dogfish be worth more or less than a US dogfish? I know our's are certainly bigger and up in the Arctic they're 16' long.

[Oleg Bach]

There is talk in American media how the people who caused the collapse are being hired to fix the collapse. That's like hiring the computer hacker who gets charged with fraud...who cuts a deal to avoid crimminal prosecution by getting hired on to be a security consultant..fine and dandy but the new consultant can never fully be trusted. In Canada they do not allow media to know what they are really doing because our corporate heads are better orgainized and much more sterner about their media concerns rating out the boss.

[Pliny]

Scrap the system, monetary based system is a joke.

solution: Resource Based Economy

Ha Ha.

Better to understand what a monetary based system is. It isn't what we have today whihc is a token based system.

A resource based economy won't work. The disappearance of the American Buffalo is testimony to that.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Pliny

[Pliny]

I agree with almost everything you say, but it seems a little rich to blame Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton ... when Dick Nixon closed the gold window ... and Greenspan lowered interest rates. The two Bush's weren't innocent either, and even Carter did his bit. In truth, the cause is complex, and is as much a system failure as it is a kind of robbery committed by the bankers.

What is the best solution to the system failure? Any ideas?

Why did Nixon close the gold window? Mainly because of the failings of the system initiated by Wilson. Nixon, Clinton, Greenspan are all reactions to the system.

[eyeball]

Ha Ha.

Better to understand what a monetary based system is. It isn't what we have today whihc is a token based system.

A resource based economy won't work. The disappearance of the American Buffalo is testimony to that.

A token of what though? Things like buffaloes and other natural capital.

You can have a natural ecosystem without a human economy but you cannot have it both ways.

[fellowtraveller]

A token of what though? Things like buffaloes and other natural capital.

You can have a natural ecosystem without a human economy but you cannot have it both ways.

Recession? Depression?

Who knows.

I'm preparing for the worst... we'll run the house on static electricity, heat with wood, and buy an extra freezer that we can fill with the neighbours.

[M.Dancer]

... and buy an extra freezer that we can fill with the neighbours.

How do you prepare your neighbours or does it depend on their age?

[whowhere]

Recession? Depression?

Who knows.

I'm preparing for the worst... we'll run the house on static electricity, heat with wood, and buy an extra freezer that we can fill with the neighbours.

Go to your favorite park and poach some Canada geese, they are like flies and they are everywhere. To change it up add some squirrel. For Carbs you may be able to use acorns to make flour. You have think out of the box to fill that freezer and get off the grid of greedy retailers.