I am NOT making over 20% this month!!!! Haha.

 

I doubt I will (averaged) either. I have a couple of financial holdings that are doing very well, but I have MANY manufacturing holdings that are bleeding. My utilities are doing fair-to-well, as one would expect utilities to do. Good thing about the utilities are they pay really nice dividends.
Duke Power puts more in my account every 3 months (via dividends) than I do now... and have been for many years.

We won't talk about our Ford or GM holdings.

 

I perfectly understand that.

I guess the reversal of that is, how can you so blindly advocate the restriction of a business to make a profit? Wal-Mart makes giant profits at the expense of mom-and-pop stores all over America, driving them out of business and importing the vast majority of their goods on the cheap -- I have no love for Wal-Mart either, but I'm not about to legislate them out of billions of their dollars. And before you say anything, yes I do realize there's a difference between retail and oil. It's just an example - but where do you draw the line exactly?

Well gosh Proud, I wish the whole world was half as utopian as you'd like it to be. Artificially-created utopias by government entities don't work for a host of reasons which I have already brought up at various points in this thread.

By the way, I am not convinced that the economy cannot thrive even in an era of higher energy prices. The real problem here is the value of our dollar on the world market -- something that has hardly been addressed in the 7 pages of this thread.

 

Wal-Mart profits do not cause rioting of masses living in poverty because the price of commodities just went up and they may not afford to get that 1 meal per day for their family.

As for the dollar, it fell right now. With enough time (after the low value of the dollar accomplishes what it needs to) it will be back up where it used to be.

Want to talk about a real threat to the quality of life? What is something that EVERYONE should be REALLY worried about is EDUCATION in North America (Canada included). The masses of people here that are fed American/Canadian Idol, or Survivor, or Bachelor/ette, or any number of worthless TV shows is quite scary, and embarassing. Why? Because this is the population that is easy to control and to appease with lollipops. It requires a thinking person to live in the future, not the present. It also requires a heart to live with others in mind, not the self. Education in North America, whatever its shape, promotes neither thinking nor heart.

Have you visited anyone in elementary school lately? When children here in grade 6 are doodling pictures, and in other parts of the world they are solving math problems at grade 11 level, when kids here in grade 8 are taught to "research" their favourite artist via Google, and kids in grade 3 and 4 elsewhere learn world literature, are exposed to theatre, art, opera... The society of North America will breed nothing more than people who can do what they're told. Oh yes, they can do a certain amount of thinking, but that's the thinking that is already presented to them on a silver platter: this is what happens when you make choice A, this is what happens when you make choice B. Unfortunately, they will not learn to think beyond that.

Seriously, I am just apalled at what "education" has become and is continuing to become. And it's a pity that the general populace here will be among the first in the developed world synonymous with the "proles" of H.G.Wells' "1984".

 

Sorry. Stop right there. If you studied the Big Picture you would know there is no such thing as a 'free market'. Free for whom, you or the entitie(s) that stand to prosper the most?

With due respect, I don't believe you are understanding anything PP is trying to explain to you. The issue is not about the '7% profit'... even though you think it is.

 

Just a comment on the "free market"... Yes, much of what we buy and the price we pay is governed by forces resembling the free market. In some cases it outright is the free market. Yet, the whole idea of the free market is theoretical.

All of the people here who go quoting "free market" this and "free market" that - did you forget that economics courses teach theory? My economic prof was the first one to say "in an ideal world", or "in a perfect world", or "in theory anyway".

While iPods, cars, computers, etc... are largely governed by the free market, inelastic goods such as grain, oil, etc..., do not fall into free market category. Neither does any industry where huge, insane amounts of money can be made. Witness the contractors for the US military/NASA. Witness the battle between Bombardier and Boeing. Witness the pharmaceutical industry, which works day and night to stifle the free market and create a need where there is none. Countless examples can follow.

Don't any of you do any thinking and reading beyond the CNN website?

 

Luckily I don't own GM right now. I made a quick buck on them a while back, but have been just waiting and watching.

You have a good utility company for me?

 

Oh my... you KNOW where I stand on WalMart!
I have supported those states and local governments that refuse to let WalMart open in their areas.

If the legislation that allows free trade with anyone on Earth, regardless of location, human rights, environmental obligations (or anything else) were rectified, WalMart would have to cease spending hundreds of millions in developing transportation routes for Chinese products into our market, and THEN, maybe they could start spending those hundreds-of-millions of dollars in developing our domestic manufacturing prowess and channels instead.

I guess I'm saying that I don't see MUCH of a difference between the two examples - WalMart and big oil - both are allowed to rape our domestic economy because of the laws and trade agreements which they have created (through PAC and lobbying).



Well, if you are going to dream, dream big and dream for everyone!
If our founding fathers didn't have a bigger plan and a bigger dream for the betterment of us all, we'd all be giving our shillings to the Queen and living under lordships, wouldn't we?

As for the economy, rest assured it will "survive". I have no doubt.
But will we like it better, worse, or the same after the transitions of wealth from the 3 or 4 most developed nations to the third world nations? You know, it is documented that the shift is taking place - it's not just my word on an internet message board. I personally don't want to give away our wealth - yours or mine - or make my kids fight harder to keep what we have today.

Lastly - you say the real problem is our dollar value - I agree 100%. Think I wrote the same thing earlier myself.
Did you read earlier in this thread why our dollar is falling? Agree or not?
And do you understand why our credit rating with the world is is such poor shape? Agree or not?
Do you clearly understand the ties between our dollar and oil? Agree or not?
And do you understand why producing oil domestically will not get us out of trouble? Agree or not?

There must be another way to prop-up the dollar besides "more oil production here", or simply stopping the use of it. The problem we face trying to get a solution (in my humble opinion) is that the wealthiest people in the world - even the pee-ons that run the oil companies and our own government and even WalMart) are all so wealthy that they are "internationals". They are diversified into Euros, Yen, RMBs, and anything else tradable. If the dollar falls but the Euro goes up - they are fine. But for you and me and Mr./Mrs. Jones next door, all we have is the dollar. It's what our house is paid with, our cars are paid with, and what our retirement accounts are based on. If it drops, we lose... period. So the very people who can make/change policy that is affecting our dollar do not have the incentive to do anything about it. They are going to get wealthier whether it's in dollars or donuts.

It's a frustrating scenario to be sure. But ignoring it won't make it go away.

 

Sad. Reminds me of people from China and India. Extremely smart and well educated, but unable to think outside the box. That ability has always made Americans great. It has made us the creative thinkers and inventors of the world. The most successful, even if we are not the most educated on paper. The world will suffer if we loose that creative genius.

 

I'm glad you asked the question that needed to be asked because it looked like the discussion was getting sidetracked.

When you begin to understand who was funding Hilary's campaign, who it is that is donating vast sums of money to McCain's campaign (form overseas) the trace invariably goes back to the same source. Didn't we discuss Rothschilds already...? I guess Mr Democrat leader had better toe the line if he ever becomes president, or else...

A lot of those 'CNN viewers' you mention are fast becoming the second class citizens of their own country... it's just that they don't know it yet.

 

Remember this quote 20+ years from now.

 

Couldn't agree more with this post.

I have a 5th grader who will be spending her 2nd year in a d@mn trailer outside the school she attends. Running from the trailer to the main building every time they need to pee, poop, or get a drink of water. 20degrees outside and them running in and out all day. Providing free education to the children of illegal aliens on MY tax dollar. Can;t afford text books. Making parents go to WalMart and buy the school supplies the class needs to operate (and yes, they give out a sheet that specifies WalMart with the SKU and prices for us parents to "help us get the right stuff").

And let's not talk about continuing education...
I saw first-hand ho the Chinese government educated people BEFORE giving them to our company to work as employees. They are EAGER to learn, and it is paid for by numerous sources over there - either the company, the government, or the placemnet institution - someone WILL get eductaed there if they want it.

Yet here in the US, I see tuition going up by double-digits every year, while earnings and salaries are stagnant. This means you can't afford to educate your kids post-graduation the way you could the year before... unless you go into hock, which opens a whole new can of worms.

Simply couldn't agree more.

I actually targetted education specifically as a place I would put money siphoned from the end of the war in Iraq and the proposed (and conditional!) oil tax in another thread. https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...8&postcount=10

 

It won't take 20.

My previous employer alowed 3 of my colleagues to retire - engineers with degrees in ceramics, mechanical (heat transfer) and Mechanical (HVAC). They were able to replace them with a kid - Tony Zhou - that has a masters in Aerospace Engineering from Beijing University. Jack, John, and Larry were all making $85-$110k/year and had been with the company for 30-40 years respectively. Tony cam on board for about $29,000 USD/year and is tickled pink about it. He is based in the Shanghai office, but comes to America to do work and get ideas. Works like a soldier - never says no... just what management likes.

Great, huh?

And only 1.3-billion more of them to employ...

 

Make that 2.5 billion... India doesn't have the (English) language barrier that China has.

IT college hopefuls are so discouraged by the amount of outsourcing to India... to the point where they are no longer applying for degrees in IT.

 

It's funny you should mention that, because here in Michigan they have noticed the sharp drop in IT course enrollment and it has left a pretty good need for IT professionals here. They attribute a lot of it to the .com bust, but I'm sure outsourcing (or the perception of) has something to do with it.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...8180350/&imw=Y

The irony of this?