Is the economy really that bad?

[undercovermom]

This is actually a good thing, especially for those in lower income brackets. Wal-Mart increases their purchasing power, especially for the every day items that make up a large part of the household budget.

The economy definitely has some problems. And it's hard to know if the worst is behind us yet.

But the U.S. economy is incredibly diverse - even within some of the sectors that are having a hard time, like the housing market, the problems aren't occuring everywhere, but are confined to a handful of states.

yeah, they can buy an awful lot of stuff with their unemployment chekcs hen their jobs move to India or China.

 

[yeartolate]

yes the economy is bad, we are not in a recession, but we are damn close. Is it as bad as the doom and gloom that is being painted, no, but it most certainly has been better than it is now.

We are in a money pit of a war/occupation. We cling to Iraq's infrastructure while our own suffers.We borrow money from China to give our citizens checks to buy crap - alot of which was not even made in the USA......

We may put lipstick on our debt but it is still our debt.

 

[rparmfamily]

I'm glad things are so great for you. I hope you are blessed enough that it stays that way.

I know no one not affected by the sudden and continuous rise in the price of goods, or perhaps facing a layoff, or staying home more because of the cost of gas, etc.

Us personally, DH has a very secure job (thanks GWOT! I mean that tongue in cheek!) and great benefits and will have a great pension when he retires in 5 yrs. The cost of goods and gas makes it a wee tighter but we doing better now than 8 yrs ago. BUT that is because DH has advanced in rank, LOL.

As for housing, we were "smart/lucky" I guess you could say, in that we got in at the right time, and have a low fixed rate mortgage, so the housing issue doesn't affect us much. My home in Florida has lost about $30K or so but we are still ahead. We bought in 2003.

I try not to watch my Roth or DH's TSP accounts. They are down, then up, then down, then up, LOL.

I'm still able to be a SAHM. That means the economy is good in my house.

 

[Allison]

No, I don't think the same way you do.

The economy is bad.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

While we do have some serious problems, it's not as bad the dems would have us believe. You want a bad economy? Look back at the late 70s.

Another point: The economy during W's eight years has been mostly good. I get irritated when others say our economy has been bad during W's presidency.

So in other words, you're saying that the economy is at it's worst point in roughly 30 years. I'd say that things aren't looking too good...but would have to agree, they have been worse. Luckily, that tax incentive check that went out earlier this year helped prop up the GNP and (fair or unfair) the feds stepped in to nationalize Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, otherwise, we'd really be tanking.

 

[Bobbles]

I was just wondering, if there was anyone else on here that didn't think the economy is that bad and actually pretty strong? I swear if I didn't listen to the MSM, and all their negativity in reguard to the economy, I would think our country was doing rather well.

First off, I work in manufacturing and I have to tell ya, we are more busy now, then we have been since before 9/11. We have so many orders we can't keep up. We have been trying to hire people also, and honestly, its hard to find anyone. Our company is in a very blue collar community also. And I know in a slow economy, manufacturing is the first one hit. And its not like we are consentrated in some high tech, niche field, we do make a product which is a commonly used product by OEM's and distributors.

I know everyone is talking about the raise in unemployment, but that number is still typcially low. And as for the housing market and mortages, I believe those problems came from people taking them who couldn't afford them and from companies giving money to people they knew could not afford to pay them.

I know gas prices are high, but without drilling for more oil, it won't come down without doing so.

So again, is there anyone out there that see it the same way I do?

You live in a conservative "cocoon". All wrapped up in a rosy glow.

 

[Bobbles]

So in other words, you're saying that the economy is at it's worst point in roughly 30 years. I'd say that things aren't looking too good...but would have to agree, they have been worse. Luckily, that tax incentive check that went out earlier this year helped prop up the GNP and (fair or unfair) the feds stepped in to nationalize Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, otherwise, we'd really be tanking.

Why do the staunch conservative always blame every Democrat president and refuse to look at the facts?

Deficit spending means nothing to them in a federal sense but they claim to be fiscally conservative. Maybe in their own personal world they are but federally?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms

 

[shortbun]

Funny question. We needed a laugh tonight.

Yeah, I read the topic and said to myself, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?" I work with 700 low income, single mothers who say it's never been this bad. In the seven years I've been there, it's the first time I've seen more than one or two riding bikes to work. There are MANY, meaning a couple dozen, doing it now. They are sharing food. We have started a coat bank, bring in your kids gently used coats so someone else's child can use them. At my son's school. the same thing-coat, hat, glove, shoe bank. We have several homeless families in our school community right now and we're trying to support them until they get back on their feet. These are single parent families, NOT families who got caught in the mortgage crises but people who can not make it on their benefitless jobs. We have had a homeless family before in our school community but today, there are four that we know of. Sorry Prof-I can't laugh about it with so many children caught in the crosshairs and people prepared to deny what is real.

BTW, OP, how much do we owe China now? That's a clear sign of our significant financial stability eh?

 

[Barb]

There is no doubt in my mind, none whatsoever! My DH and I are self-employed. We've had a retail business for just about 25 years. It's hit us like a ton of bricks. We're sitting on the edge and have no idea if we can hold it together. I had to go back to work outside of our store after being home for all this time. I now work in a mall and it's blatantly evident that we're in trouble. No one shops anymore. We have all we can do make our numbers each day and most days, we don't.

It must be nice to be so comfortable and to have work. I've love to be in that position.

 

[beckmrk04]

Yeah, I read the topic and said to myself, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?" I work with 700 low income, single mothers who say it's never been this bad. In the seven years I've been there, it's the first time I've seen more than one or two riding bikes to work. There are MANY, meaning a couple dozen, doing it now. They are sharing food. We have started a coat bank, bring in your kids gently used coats so someone else's child can use them. At my son's school. the same thing-coat, hat, glove, shoe bank. We have several homeless families in our school community right now and we're trying to support them until they get back on their feet. These are single parent families, NOT families who got caught in the mortgage crises but people who can not make it on their benefitless jobs. We have had a homeless family before in our school community but today, there are four that we know of. Sorry Prof-I can't laugh about it with so many children caught in the crosshairs and people prepared to deny what is real.

BTW, OP, how much do we owe China now? That's a clear sign of our significant financial stability eh?

This is so sad.

While I am certainly not homeless, DH and I are feeling the squeeze in a very real way. We're young, nad have a young child. Things have never been tighter. We bought our house at a very low price (what we could afford), so we're lucky there- it's cheaper for us than renting our apartment was. BUT- we also had to move about 30 miles outside of the closest large town. Which, a couple of years ago was no big deal. But now, gas prices have doubled, which means we spend about $150/week to get back and forth to our jobs. But we have to do it. The area we live in doesn't have anything for us job-wise that we would make what we are making at our current positions, plus my DH is going back to school for a 2nd degree because he has had no luck finding a job in his field. We're lucky that my mom watches DD 3 days/ week, and MIL has her one, because cheap daycare around here would be about $125/week. My paycheck would be gone between gas for work and daycare, but I can't afford to stay home.

We have had plants close, and lay off hundreds of workers in and around the St. Louis area. And those workers have a tough time finding something else to go to, and have to start all over with seniority, benefits, etc.

The cost of groceries has killed us. WHen it was just me and DH, we'd live on macaroni or whatever was cheap. But now that we have our DD, we can't do that.

We are blessed in so many ways, and MANY, many people have it worse than we do.

But, I think it's ridiculous to think the economy is doing just dandy just because you aren't personally affected.

 

[duckfan78]

Just wanted to add a reminder....part of the reason that the cost of oil is so high is NOT because we need to drill but rather the dollar sucks in relation to the world economy....one more thing to thank W for.

I find that hard to believe, because the Euro is better than the Dollar right now and in Europe they pay a hell of a lot more per gallon than we do.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Um...I am in St. Louis Mo....it is horrible here. Wake up OP.

 

[EthansMom]

I find that hard to believe, because the Euro is better than the Dollar right now and in Europe they pay a hell of a lot more per gallon than we do.

Yes, they pay more per gallon for gasoline in Europe. That's because gasoline is highly taxed by the gov'ts there to pay for public health care and other gov't programs.

 

[JimFitz]

Our economy is in the crapper! How can anyone guess otherwise?

Banks continue to fail......two of the main players in the mortgage industry are being bailed out by the government (footed by tax payers). Credit card debt is at an all time high...savings at an all time low. Foreclosures are at an all time high.

BTW...for the people who want to blame this on the current administration.....you should read up on economics and our financial system. This is not Bushes fault......it's the federal reserves fault and greed.

 

[JimFitz]

I find that hard to believe, because the Euro is better than the Dollar right now and in Europe they pay a hell of a lot more per gallon than we do.

It has ALOT to do with how our dollar is valued. Currently that value is crap.

 

[EthansMom]

We've spent the last 15 years or so going from one bubble to another. I lived in Silicon Valley during the Dot Com Boom when you could literally put "dot com" on the end of any business name and find investors willing to throw money at you. Then the last few years, banks have been extending loans to people that couldn't possibly afford to repay them. Neither of these situations provided sustainable, long-term economic growth.

The truth is that politicians from both sides have been more than happy with bubbles as long as we were on an upswing and their economic numbers looked "good".

IMO, what our gov't really needs to do is invest in longer-term growth and, as necessary, provide more regulation to avoid future bubbles. We should be investing in job training and education and infrastructure building/renewal. Our politicians should stop worrying about how they (or their numbers/ratings) look and should focus more on serving the people who elected them.

 

[wilderness01]

I was just wondering, if there was anyone else on here that didn't think the economy is that bad and actually pretty strong? I swear if I didn't listen to the MSM, and all their negativity in reguard to the economy, I would think our country was doing rather well.

First off, I work in manufacturing and I have to tell ya, we are more busy now, then we have been since before 9/11. We have so many orders we can't keep up. We have been trying to hire people also, and honestly, its hard to find anyone. Our company is in a very blue collar community also. And I know in a slow economy, manufacturing is the first one hit. And its not like we are consentrated in some high tech, niche field, we do make a product which is a commonly used product by OEM's and distributors.

I know everyone is talking about the raise in unemployment, but that number is still typcially low. And as for the housing market and mortages, I believe those problems came from people taking them who couldn't afford them and from companies giving money to people they knew could not afford to pay them.
I know gas prices are high, but without drilling for more oil, it won't come down without doing so.

So again, is there anyone out there that see it the same way I do?

I know someone who had worked in his field for the last 20 years. For the last several years, it was bad. He would have a good commission check one month and a few hundred dollar commission check the next.

He started looking for work, but was hitting brick walls at every turn. His company closed in March. His commission check wasn't enough to pay his mortgage. He was lucky he got a job 6 weeks later. So for two months he couldn't make full mortgage payments, after making full mortgage payments for 8 years on a conventional loan.

Guess what? The mortgage company would not work with him, told him until he could make those two mortgage payments, plus his current mortgage payment, they would accept NO partial payment. 6 months later he is in preforeclosure.

So long and short, for 8 full years he could fully afford to make his mortgage payment. Somewhere in between they ran into some unforseen bills (medical) that depleted their savings. When he lost his job he didn't have much of a back up and the rest is now becoming history.

It could happen to anyone. So not everyone who is losing their home couldn't once afford it or overspent living the high life.

The economy is terrible, the prices are out of control. Glad it hasn't affected you, but it has affected more people than I can count, so yes, things are terrible right now for more people than not.

 

[dvcgirl]

We've spent the last 15 years or so going from one bubble to another. I lived in Silicon Valley during the Dot Com Boom when you could literally put "dot com" on the end of any business name and find investors willing to throw money at you. Then the last few years, banks have been extending loans to people that couldn't possibly afford to repay them. Neither of these situations provided sustainable, long-term economic growth.

The truth is that politicians from both sides have been more than happy with bubbles as long as we were on an upswing and their economic numbers looked "good".

IMO, what our gov't really needs to do is invest in longer-term growth and, as necessary, provide more regulation to avoid future bubbles. We should be investing in job training and education and infrastructure building/renewal. Our politicians should stop worrying about how they (or their numbers/ratings) look and should focus more on serving the people who elected them.

Very well said. We need to get out of this habit of "short-term thinking" in our government and begin to face up to the massive economic problems that are plaguing this nation. I hear an awful lot about how many houses John McCain owns, lipstick on pigs, Jesus being a community organizer, and bridges to nowhere.....but I don't hear a freaking thing about the real issues. Not....a......thing.

Here's our plan.....live well beneath our means and save as much as we possibly can. We're lucky in that we can actually have some fun in the process because we have a healthy double income. But if anyone here thinks for a minute that this nation of ours isn't headed for bankruptcy and "second nation" status, guess again.

 

[duckfan78]

I guess the quesiton I want to ask is, everyone saying its so bad. Are you litereally close to be living out on the street? Do you have absolutely no money and no job and are really living in a very tough time?

Whenever I go to the stores, they are packed. you can't even get a seat in a resturant most of the time, and never get on on the weekends around here because they are so jam packed. The malls are jam packed especially on the weekends.

I guess I just don't understand it too much, people are spending money, going out to eat still traveling, and yet everyone is saying how hard the times are. Is it that people have to sacrafice a little bit and are used to such lavish lifestles that they thing all the worst now?

 

[LuvDuke]

Why do the staunch conservative always blame every Democrat president and refuse to look at the facts?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms

And when they want to prove how good a Republican is, they find themselves a dead Democrat to compare to.