Talking about the dollar...
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Has anyone read/seen/heard about how much more bad debt the US economy is habouring? Some analyst on the TV last week was talking about over one hundred billion in sub-prime mortgages alone (I can't remember who he was, so he might just have been talking hot air). It does make you wonder what's going to happen in the long run, and whether or not the big banks/lenders will finally realise that what Gordon 'Fatty' Brown called "the ingenuity of the markets", is actually a really bad move.
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't. "I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it." -Tina Farrell, a 23 year old thicky from Levenshulme, Manchester.
I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars. At least the US dollar is worth more than the Canadian dollar. When it got to the 1-to-1 ratio I thought Bush might invade. -- modified at 15:57 Monday 19th November, 2007 I've had a few posts saying they are equal or CAD is worth more. I use http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic[^] I was reading the numbers backwards. My bad. -- modified at 15:59 Monday 19th November, 2007
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If government is working to advantage some company, then that would be the very 'government coercion' he mentioned. Either way, you have government interfering in the normal functioning of markets. The problem I have is that if corporations are forced to pay taxes, they should be able to have some kind of representation in government. That representation can only be expressed by some kind of lobbying of government officials. If we expect corporations to never seek redress from government, they should also never be expected to pay taxes.
The only conspiracies that concern me are the ones I am completely unaware of. By the time I find out about it, its probably a done deal. Nothing in the entire universe is more useless than morality without authority. A morality free of hypocrisy is no morality at all.
Stan Shannon wrote:
if corporations are forced to pay taxes, they should be able to have some kind of representation in government. That representation can only be expressed by some kind of lobbying of government officials. If we expect corporations to never seek redress from government, they should also never be expected to pay taxes.
Interesting thought. However, the company can contact their local representatives on the state and federal level to make their voices heard.
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martin_hughes wrote:
Has anyone read/seen/heard about how much more bad debt the US economy is habouring?
I dont know but NorthernRock is up to its ears in debt, about 30 bilion I heard. THisz was after it was stated it had 11 bilion of debt and needed 3 billlion off the Bank Of England. Aparently the BOE has been pouring money into it llike its a black hole. Of course the BOE is has been instructed to to this to avoid a credit crunch. If that happens, the UK economy, which like the US relies on borrowing ad spending to function is screwed. In the long run I think the US and UK have got irrespnsible lending laws that do nothing but allow masssive increases in house prices, which in themlselves dont enefit anyone except those retiring to somewhere a lot cheaper, provided they never want to come back. Which isnt many.
Truth is the subjection of reality to an individuals perception
Eddie George, former Governor of the BoE, went on the record to state that he planned the utterly ridiculous rise in property prices in order to stave off recession - recession which was thoroughly due! But it's pathetic short-term thinking like this that screws everyone in the long run. The current housing market is a bubble about to burst - as Adam Smith said, if prices stay high for a long time and production doesn't ramp up to meet the demand, then there is something acting to keep those prices artificially high - and when it bursts just think how many people will be forced into negative equity.
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't. "I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it." -Tina Farrell, a 23 year old thicky from Levenshulme, Manchester.
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I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars. At least the US dollar is worth more than the Canadian dollar. When it got to the 1-to-1 ratio I thought Bush might invade. -- modified at 15:57 Monday 19th November, 2007 I've had a few posts saying they are equal or CAD is worth more. I use http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic[^] I was reading the numbers backwards. My bad. -- modified at 15:59 Monday 19th November, 2007
leckey wrote:
At least the US dollar is worth more than the Canadian dollar.
No it's not[^].
"I know what you know and you don't know what I know."
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I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars. At least the US dollar is worth more than the Canadian dollar. When it got to the 1-to-1 ratio I thought Bush might invade. -- modified at 15:57 Monday 19th November, 2007 I've had a few posts saying they are equal or CAD is worth more. I use http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic[^] I was reading the numbers backwards. My bad. -- modified at 15:59 Monday 19th November, 2007
leckey wrote:
At least the US dollar is worth more than the Canadian dollar.
Uhm, since about the beginning of October, the Canadian dollar has been worth more than the US dollar. At the rate things are going, the US dollar is approaching parity with the Canadian Tire dollar. ;)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] Donate to help Conquer Cancer[^]
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Stan Shannon wrote:
if corporations are forced to pay taxes, they should be able to have some kind of representation in government. That representation can only be expressed by some kind of lobbying of government officials. If we expect corporations to never seek redress from government, they should also never be expected to pay taxes.
Interesting thought. However, the company can contact their local representatives on the state and federal level to make their voices heard.
leckey wrote:
However, the company can contact their local representatives on the state and federal level to make their voices heard.
How? Certainly the people who manage the corporation can, as can the stock holders. But if the corporation itself is a separate tax paying entity, it has no real democratic representation aside from being able to redress issues with the government by means of lobbying. It certainly cannot vote, hence is taxed without representation. I think the answer is to simply not tax corporations (except, obviously, to whatever extent they use public transportation systems ,etc). It is certainly ok to tax the profits share holders make off the corporation, but since they can vote, they are represented.
The only conspiracies that concern me are the ones I am completely unaware of. By the time I find out about it, its probably a done deal. Nothing in the entire universe is more useless than morality without authority. A morality free of hypocrisy is no morality at all.
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Eddie George, former Governor of the BoE, went on the record to state that he planned the utterly ridiculous rise in property prices in order to stave off recession - recession which was thoroughly due! But it's pathetic short-term thinking like this that screws everyone in the long run. The current housing market is a bubble about to burst - as Adam Smith said, if prices stay high for a long time and production doesn't ramp up to meet the demand, then there is something acting to keep those prices artificially high - and when it bursts just think how many people will be forced into negative equity.
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't. "I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it." -Tina Farrell, a 23 year old thicky from Levenshulme, Manchester.
martin_hughes wrote:
and when it bursts just think how many people will be forced into negative equity.
Probably not as many as you think. Most people, such as myself, simply refinanced when rates got low. Others, made enormous profits off of existing property they sold. A relatively small number of people invested heavily in properties, and they will probably be badly burned. So, a lot of people greatly benefitted from the bubble, and those who get burned will mostly just take their losses and move on. But, all in all, as long as the markets don't panic, the US economy will shrug off this bubble just as it did the internet bubble of the '90s. Besides, if it were going to burst, it already would have. It shows every sign of deflating calmly enough. There are still booming real estate markets in the US.
The only conspiracies that concern me are the ones I am completely unaware of. By the time I find out about it, its probably a done deal. Nothing in the entire universe is more useless than morality without authority. A morality free of hypocrisy is no morality at all.
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I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars. At least the US dollar is worth more than the Canadian dollar. When it got to the 1-to-1 ratio I thought Bush might invade. -- modified at 15:57 Monday 19th November, 2007 I've had a few posts saying they are equal or CAD is worth more. I use http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic[^] I was reading the numbers backwards. My bad. -- modified at 15:59 Monday 19th November, 2007
Canadian dollar is worth more, has been since late Sept. Low point was 94 cents, I think it is now about 98 cents.
this thing looks like it was written by an epileptic ferret Dave Kreskowiak
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martin_hughes wrote:
and when it bursts just think how many people will be forced into negative equity.
Probably not as many as you think. Most people, such as myself, simply refinanced when rates got low. Others, made enormous profits off of existing property they sold. A relatively small number of people invested heavily in properties, and they will probably be badly burned. So, a lot of people greatly benefitted from the bubble, and those who get burned will mostly just take their losses and move on. But, all in all, as long as the markets don't panic, the US economy will shrug off this bubble just as it did the internet bubble of the '90s. Besides, if it were going to burst, it already would have. It shows every sign of deflating calmly enough. There are still booming real estate markets in the US.
The only conspiracies that concern me are the ones I am completely unaware of. By the time I find out about it, its probably a done deal. Nothing in the entire universe is more useless than morality without authority. A morality free of hypocrisy is no morality at all.
It's slightly different in the US, but it's going to hit Britain and hard. Here's an illustration of how crazy it is near to where I live: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/action/publicsite.PropertySearch[^] Yup, that's a $410,000 1 Bedroom flat in a not particularly great area!
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't. "I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it." -Tina Farrell, a 23 year old thicky from Levenshulme, Manchester.
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I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars. At least the US dollar is worth more than the Canadian dollar. When it got to the 1-to-1 ratio I thought Bush might invade. -- modified at 15:57 Monday 19th November, 2007 I've had a few posts saying they are equal or CAD is worth more. I use http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic[^] I was reading the numbers backwards. My bad. -- modified at 15:59 Monday 19th November, 2007
leckey wrote:
I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars.
Bwahaha. A German national refuses to be paid in US dollars? I think this says more about Heidi Klum than it does the currency. What about the other non-American-30-somethingish-former-supermodels? Will they still take USD? Did you read this in the economics section of Cosmo? I need a citation. Let me know when Britney refuses US dollars. Only then will I worry. And, as a couple of people have already pointed out, the Canuck Buck is kicking ass and taking names. Up to $1.09USD, before retreating slightly. We're passing a hat around the office and once we have $25CAD (several million US), we're going to buy Mt. Rushmore and carve the faces of our national idols (Bob and Doug McKenzie, Wayne Greztky and Don Cherry) into it. Share and enjoy. Sean
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leckey wrote:
I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars.
Bwahaha. A German national refuses to be paid in US dollars? I think this says more about Heidi Klum than it does the currency. What about the other non-American-30-somethingish-former-supermodels? Will they still take USD? Did you read this in the economics section of Cosmo? I need a citation. Let me know when Britney refuses US dollars. Only then will I worry. And, as a couple of people have already pointed out, the Canuck Buck is kicking ass and taking names. Up to $1.09USD, before retreating slightly. We're passing a hat around the office and once we have $25CAD (several million US), we're going to buy Mt. Rushmore and carve the faces of our national idols (Bob and Doug McKenzie, Wayne Greztky and Don Cherry) into it. Share and enjoy. Sean
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leckey wrote:
I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars.
Bwahaha. A German national refuses to be paid in US dollars? I think this says more about Heidi Klum than it does the currency. What about the other non-American-30-somethingish-former-supermodels? Will they still take USD? Did you read this in the economics section of Cosmo? I need a citation. Let me know when Britney refuses US dollars. Only then will I worry. And, as a couple of people have already pointed out, the Canuck Buck is kicking ass and taking names. Up to $1.09USD, before retreating slightly. We're passing a hat around the office and once we have $25CAD (several million US), we're going to buy Mt. Rushmore and carve the faces of our national idols (Bob and Doug McKenzie, Wayne Greztky and Don Cherry) into it. Share and enjoy. Sean
Sean Michael Murphy wrote:
Bob and Doug McKenzie, Wayne Greztky and Don Cherry
wearing toques and drinking from stubbies. :)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] Donate to help Conquer Cancer[^]
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Eddie George, former Governor of the BoE, went on the record to state that he planned the utterly ridiculous rise in property prices in order to stave off recession - recession which was thoroughly due! But it's pathetic short-term thinking like this that screws everyone in the long run. The current housing market is a bubble about to burst - as Adam Smith said, if prices stay high for a long time and production doesn't ramp up to meet the demand, then there is something acting to keep those prices artificially high - and when it bursts just think how many people will be forced into negative equity.
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't. "I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it." -Tina Farrell, a 23 year old thicky from Levenshulme, Manchester.
martin_hughes wrote:
Eddie George, former Governor of the BoE, went on the record to state that he planned the utterly ridiculous rise in property prices in order to stave off recession
WTF! Got any links? Thats the most incredible acusation I have seen on the SB. If you can back it up its the most incredible piece of bullshit government I have ever dheard of!!!!
Truth is the subjection of reality to an individuals perception
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leckey wrote:
I read that the US dollar is so bad that Heidi Klum refuses to be paid in US dollars.
Bwahaha. A German national refuses to be paid in US dollars? I think this says more about Heidi Klum than it does the currency. What about the other non-American-30-somethingish-former-supermodels? Will they still take USD? Did you read this in the economics section of Cosmo? I need a citation. Let me know when Britney refuses US dollars. Only then will I worry. And, as a couple of people have already pointed out, the Canuck Buck is kicking ass and taking names. Up to $1.09USD, before retreating slightly. We're passing a hat around the office and once we have $25CAD (several million US), we're going to buy Mt. Rushmore and carve the faces of our national idols (Bob and Doug McKenzie, Wayne Greztky and Don Cherry) into it. Share and enjoy. Sean
Sean Michael Murphy wrote:
What about the other non-American-30-somethingish-former-supermodels? Will they still take USD?
Does anyone really give a shit?
Sean Michael Murphy wrote:
we're going to buy Mt. Rushmore and carve the faces of our national idols (Bob and Doug McKenzie, Wayne Greztky and Don Cherry) into it.
Amen, brother Canuck!
"I know what you know and you don't know what I know."
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Sean Michael Murphy wrote:
Bob and Doug McKenzie, Wayne Greztky and Don Cherry
wearing toques and drinking from stubbies. :)
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] Donate to help Conquer Cancer[^]
Chris Meech wrote:
wearing toques and drinking from stubbies.
How I miss The Great White North...you have no idea.
"I know what you know and you don't know what I know."
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Sean Michael Murphy wrote:
What about the other non-American-30-somethingish-former-supermodels? Will they still take USD?
Does anyone really give a shit?
Sean Michael Murphy wrote:
we're going to buy Mt. Rushmore and carve the faces of our national idols (Bob and Doug McKenzie, Wayne Greztky and Don Cherry) into it.
Amen, brother Canuck!
"I know what you know and you don't know what I know."
73Zeppelin wrote:
Does anyone really give a sh*t?
Yeah, apparently the sarcasm didn't come through as loud and clear as I had hoped. For the record, I don't care how Heidi or any of her friends demands their payments. I don't care what they (or any other celebrity) think of the stability or the future value of the USD. Allan Greenspan doesn't want to get paid in USD? Suddenly I'm interested. Heidi? Not so much. Share and enjoy. Sean
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73Zeppelin wrote:
Does anyone really give a sh*t?
Yeah, apparently the sarcasm didn't come through as loud and clear as I had hoped. For the record, I don't care how Heidi or any of her friends demands their payments. I don't care what they (or any other celebrity) think of the stability or the future value of the USD. Allan Greenspan doesn't want to get paid in USD? Suddenly I'm interested. Heidi? Not so much. Share and enjoy. Sean
Sean Michael Murphy wrote:
Yeah, apparently the sarcasm didn't come through as loud and clear as I had hoped.
It did - looks like I was misunderstood. I should have typed that: "I know - does anyone really give a shit?". I was in agreement with you. It was a rhetorical question. :) I see you're working in T.O. Your name is more east-coast though. What's the sentiment over there with the dollar so high?
"I know what you know and you don't know what I know."
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martin_hughes wrote:
Eddie George, former Governor of the BoE, went on the record to state that he planned the utterly ridiculous rise in property prices in order to stave off recession
WTF! Got any links? Thats the most incredible acusation I have seen on the SB. If you can back it up its the most incredible piece of bullshit government I have ever dheard of!!!!
Truth is the subjection of reality to an individuals perception
Here you go: http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2377729.ece[^]
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't. "I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it." -Tina Farrell, a 23 year old thicky from Levenshulme, Manchester.
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Don't entertain the crazies Patrick. When you do that they become more inclined to hang around.
"I know what you know and you don't know what I know."
73Zeppelin wrote:
Don't entertain the crazies Patrick. When you do that they become more inclined to hang around.
I know, I know.. sometimes I can't help myself. :doh:
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. - Albert Einstein
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If government is working to advantage some company, then that would be the very 'government coercion' he mentioned. Either way, you have government interfering in the normal functioning of markets. The problem I have is that if corporations are forced to pay taxes, they should be able to have some kind of representation in government. That representation can only be expressed by some kind of lobbying of government officials. If we expect corporations to never seek redress from government, they should also never be expected to pay taxes.
The only conspiracies that concern me are the ones I am completely unaware of. By the time I find out about it, its probably a done deal. Nothing in the entire universe is more useless than morality without authority. A morality free of hypocrisy is no morality at all.
Stan Shannon wrote:
If government is working to advantage some company, then that would be the very 'government coercion' he mentioned. Either way, you have government interfering in the normal functioning of markets.
If the government were working for the advantage of some company, ONLY because the company bought influence, then the company only has itself to blame when the government's behavior causes some market to collapse. Yeah, it's the force of government that got in the way, but you can't ignore the company's culpability. They're not innocent players when that happens.
Stan Shannon wrote:
The problem I have is that if corporations are forced to pay taxes, they should be able to have some kind of representation in government. That representation can only be expressed by some kind of lobbying of government officials. If we expect corporations to never seek redress from government, they should also never be expected to pay taxes.
I disagree entirely. Representation is reserved for the people, not for faceless entities. Corporations aren't people and deserve none of their rights. I won't say that the government should NEVER do anything in the interests of a profit margin, because economies grow and fail by the actions of governments that encourage or destroy them. But to say they deserve representation simply because they play a part in the economy? I can't get on board with that.
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. - Albert Einstein