The Actual State Of The Union

Lokedogg

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Jan 4, 2008
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1,113
Possible Depression?
Written on January 29, 2008 ? 6:18 am

The Government needs to let go of the control it has loved for so long. The economy, if it was able, would fix the problem itself. Inflation should not be our Nation?s biggest problem, but because it is so severe it is. The lower value of the dollar benefits exporters and the Government. But the weak dollar is severely hurting the average tax paying American.

The depreciation of the dollar is literally killing off the elderly. The elderly are getting almost nothing from social security and the weak dollar dropped their saving to nothing. The longer the elderly had their money in the bank, the more money they lost. Only the smart ones who invested, even though the Federal Government told them they would take care of them, are able to pay for their own groceries. Elderly are now getting jobs ten years into their retirements at places like Wal-Mart, and Rite-Aid. The ones who thought ahead and saved still cannot survive on their savings because they are now worthless. Money should not depreciate when you put it in the bank, but it does. People are getting robbed twice by the banks and the Government.

Energy prices are up 21.4 percent over the past 12 months. Inflation and the weak dollar plays a big factor in oil prices. The dollar is what oil is priced under in a worldwide scale, though Iran did just drop it. If the dollar is weak it means that we are paying more for oil while others are running away with savings. It puts our Country at a huge disadvantage, we need a strong dollar to take us out of this downward spiral.

The economy is predicted to slow down next year. Investors are hoping the holidays might be somewhat salvaged so they have been pressuring for large interest rate cutes. Not receiving the cuts means that stocks will fall, sharply. When stocks fall sharply, people spend less. America as a nation lives beyond our means. America?s people live beyond their means. What better role model than the U.S. Government.

Putting America back on the gold standard would fix the problem with inflation. The Government will never do this because they like to control how much money goes into the U.S. Economy. Franklin D. Roosevelt got us off the gold standard and saved the economy. America now needs to get off the paper system and switch to the gold system, which will ultimately save the economy. You do not find many old quarters exchanging hands today. They were made out of silver and are worth twelve times what a new quarter is worth. When someone finds a 1958 quarter they keep it, not because it is old, but because they know silver is worth something. Nowadays change seems to be like trash, not even worth collecting.

?Misplaced confidence in a currency can lead money managers and investors astray, but eventually the piper must be paid. Last year?s record interest rate drop by the Federal Reserve was like pouring gasoline on a fire. Now the policy of the past decade is being recognized as being weak for the dollar; and trust and confidence in it is justifiably being questioned.

Trust in paper is difficult to measure and anticipate, but long-term value in gold is dependable and more reliably assessed. Printing money and creating artificial credit may temporarily lower interest rates, but it also causes the distortions of malinvestment, overcapacity, excessive debt and speculation. These conditions cause instability, and market forces eventually overrule the intentions of the central bankers. That is when the apparent benefits of the easy money disappear, such as we dramatically have seen with the crash of the dot-coms and the Enrons and many other stocks.? Republican Congressman Ron Paul

America will struggle through the next few years hoping for a brighter future. The economy is and will continue to fall. We are very close to double digit inflation rates, that accompanied with a poor economy leads to a depression. Inflation really needs to stop being avoided and come to the front of the news. The dangers of continuing this inflation trend are real, not made up like many people suggest. This is the greatest problem facing America?s future as well as American?s futures.
 
It's all a big bucket of worms. I wonder when an extreme revolt will occur. Jobs are flying out the door to other countries, an invasion across our borders, the 1% controlling and manipulating everything etc., etc.

Here's a good yardstick.

The Current Value of the Minimum Wage

The federal minimum wage has often been set with the level of other workers in mind. This approach reflects the principle that minimum-wage workers should share in economic gains and should not fall too far behind other workers

* During the 1950s and the 1960s, the minimum wage averaged 50 percent — or half — the average wage of workers in nonsupervisory positions.

* The minimum wage has now fallen to 31 percent — or less than one-third — of the average hourly wage for nonsupervisory workers of $16.59 in May. This is the lowest share in the history of this data series, which begins in 1947. (See Figure 1 and Table 1.)[2]

* Research has shown that the fall in the relative value of the minimum wage has contributed to the persistent increase in wage inequality since the latter 1970s.[3]

Another standard for assessing the value of the minimum wage is to track its buying power; that is, to adjust its value to take into account changes in the cost of living. Each year that Congress fails to raise the wage floor its purchasing power erodes. Thus, the fact that the minimum wage has remained the same for nearly nine years means that its real value has declined considerably over this period. As inflation has accelerated recently due to higher energy costs, the real value of the minimum wage has fallen faster.

* The real value of the minimum wage peaked in 1968, when it was equivalent to a wage of $7.71 an hour.[4] During the 1970s, the wage floor averaged $6.90 an hour in today’s dollars. (See Figure 2 and Table 1.)

* Once an adjustment for inflation is taken into account, the purchasing power of the minimum wage has now declined to its lowest level since 1955.
 
just think about all this social security we are paying into every paycheck that we will never see come retirement.
 

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