US beats UK and Germany by a mile!!!

kmg365

catzarecute wrote:

how F***ED are we ????????????

• Mad Max roams the highway • Dogs sleeping with cats • End world as we know it • Plague and famine • The dead are reanimated hungry for the flesh of the living • Skynet takes over the world • The Matrix becomes reality • Susan Boyle becomes Miss Universe Oh, you were talking to Oakman.

John Carson

Oakman wrote:

But the US posted a 6.1% drop for the quarter

It is not as bad as you think. 6.1% is the annualized rate, i.e., basically they take the quarterly drop and multiply by 4. Still, an annual fall of around 6% is plenty bad enough. Australia, you will be pleased to know, is doing better than most other developed economies. GDP declined by just 0.5% in the December quarter (this is the actual decline, not an annualized measure). This is partly because our banks are solvent, and partly because the Federal government is throwing money at the problem in a series of fiscal stimulus packages --- as all countries should be.

John Carson

Oakman

John Carson wrote:

It is not as bad as your think. 6.1% is the annualized rate

Arrrg. I thought since they were comparing it to the last quarter of the year. . .never mind. It was a dumb mistake. I should've known better. :-O Interesting that Germany annualizes its 2.5% quarterly drop to an annualized rate of 6.5%, eh?

John Carson wrote:

because the Federal government is throwing money at the problem in a series of fiscal stimulus packages --- as all countries should be.

Of course they should! - otherwise the countries that are printing money will discover that their bond rates are being driven steadily north and its citizens will find out that they can't buy as much as they used to. But if all countries will do it, maybe no-one will notice the difference - except when they have to exchange wheelbarrows for wallets ;) By the way, our bond rates topped 3% today - how are yours doing?

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

Oakman

You're doing fine.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

Oakman

catzarecute wrote:

you are one of the more intelligent, calm, and objective individuals here

My kids used to say something like that - do you want to borrow money, or keys to the car?

catzarecute wrote:

how F***ED are we ????????????

Short-term? We're not that bad off. What Obama's doing is likely to jumpstart the economy and I expect the unemployment numbers (the real measure of economic woe, imho) to start dropping, just in time for the 2010 elections. Long-term? We're fucked six ways from Sunday. Our money is worth less and less - by the time Obama gets through, I will be extremely surprised if a dollar can buy what 50 cents could in 2000. Our public debt to GDP ratio is moving steadily north and I expect the curve to steepen. We can no longer afford the military we need to defend ourselves in the case of attack and China is using the money we have shipped over there to build a modern army and navy second to none. They also own enough of our bonds to feel betrayed and extremely angry as we continue to inflate our currency supply to the point where their holdings become worthless. Wars have started over less provocation. Luckily, Australia and India are our allies and will write very strong letters to the Chinese Premiere if they invade our west coast. Domestically, the result of Obama's programs after putting some Americans back to work, will be to make the US even more inviting to Mexicans, while making our borders even more porous, and ultimately that will create more pressure for the creation of the nation of Aztlan. All we need is one major disaster (maybe the Swine flu, but there's no reason yet to yell 'the sky is falling') like the San Andreas Fault letting go, or a major hurricane slamming into Manhattan (both will happen, the only question is "when?") not only to be fucked, but dumped out of the car and told to walk home afterwards.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

John Carson

Oakman wrote:

By the way, our bond rates topped 3% today - how are yours doing?

http://www.rba.gov.au/Statistics/indicative.html[^] Rates are all a lot lower than they were a year ago and about 1 percentage point below where they were 6 months ago.

John Carson

Brady Kelly

kmg365 wrote:

• Susan Boyle becomes Miss Universe

:~

Brady Kelly

I feel quite OK living in such a dangerous country as I do. :)

fred_

We invent a health crisis so you won't notice

Oakman

Brady Kelly wrote:

feel quite OK living in such a dangerous country as I do

I could feel quite OK with you living in such a dangerous country, too. Would you mind if I took out an insurance policy on you?

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

Brady Kelly

Just an aside, what is meant by the term 'bond rates'?

Mike Gaskey

there's been far fewer sightings of unicorns this year.

Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.

Brady Kelly

Not in the least. In fact, just send me your account details for a debit order and $200 to cover admin and broker fees, and I'll set you up with one.

Mike Gaskey

John Carson wrote:

It is not as bad as you think. 6.1% is the annualized rate

but was predicted to be 5% to 5.5%

Mike - typical white guy. The USA does have universal healthcare, but you have to pay for it. D'oh. Thomas Mann - "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.

Oakman

Brady Kelly wrote:

Just an aside, what is meant by the term 'bond rates'?

The interest rate that must be offered to entice people to buy them (i.e. loan you money). They're often set at auction ("I am prepared to let someone loan me ten million denari - who among you will charge me the least when I pay it back?") and, when no term is mentioned, ten years is assumed. Obviously the higher the rate, the less the "full faith and assurance" of the government offering the bonds is trusted.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

kmg365

After the Phage she will be the most beautiful woman on the planet. (missed one)

kmg365

it's a good point!

Brady Kelly

Why is the rate of death for ugly people lower?

You really gotta try harder to keep up with everyone that's not on the short bus with you. - John Simmons / outlaw programmer.

catzarecute

Ah, yes-- well it is indeed the Long Term I fear; the Short Term matters not and is important only for sufferers of ADD, MTV viewers, and politicians. So then husband & I shall just stock up on weapons, I guess. Cannot stock up on cash if it becomes worthless !!!!! :(( What currency should we purchase ? The Euro ? The Darsek ??? (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Darsek[^]

John Carson

Mike Gaskey wrote:

but was predicted to be 5% to 5.5%

You seem to have a rather inflated view of the accuracy of economic forecasting. I'm not sure about the US, but in Australia even the data itself could be out by that much; data gets revised after it first comes out and the revisions can be significant. See here for an example: http://www.dtf.wa.gov.au/cms/uploadedFiles/sfdjune2008.pdf[^]

John Carson