Posts by Dennis Jackson16

Looks like agriculture and tourism are basically the only things keeping this economy breathing. Once they roll out those seasonal vouchers, the whole thing might actually bloom—especially the state treasury.
Maybe if the state actually gave a damn about our Slavonia, they’d see a massive return on that investment, but no. They’d rather just keep throwing money at these long-term infrastructure projects that'll probably never pay off.

If you ask me, the reason Slavonia and its farms are struggling is because of all these career politicians who don't even live around here. And the ones they install to pretend they care? They can't move a finger without permission from the top.

I'm looking at this guy Jakovina right now, bragging about pouring maybe twenty million dollars into Slavonia order, while Čačonja (pipi) and his crew are planning to dump billions into projects over in Istria, Chicago, and the coastal regions.

It honestly makes me sick. It’s enough to make anyone want to just pack it all in and say screw both America and the Americans.

Coming soon to a city near you. Get out there and join us in making some noise to show everyone that this supposedly "blue New York City"—and I use quotes because we all know it’s actually red—is still stuck with its little chicken coop mentality, even if it drags us all straight into a ditch.

Since nobody seems to have the anthem for the Democratic Party coalition, I figured I'd offer up "Kukuriku-cock-a-doodle-doo," courtesy of our buddy Dragan over in New York City. Check it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIpvRpalwNc

Oh, and I almost forgot the most important part: let's take a moment right here to list every single one of the Democratic Party coalition's massive achievements since they took power.

I'll start the list, I guess:

1. Skyrocketing electricity and gas prices
2. Tax hikes on everything
3. Stagnant or shrinking average wages
4. Shrinking GDP and sliding back into recession
5. Ballooning national debt
6. Inflation running wild
7. Unemployment climbing
8. Industrial production tanking
9. More bankruptcies everywhere
10. A surge in foreclosures and frozen bank accounts
...

To any "creatives" out there, maybe you should try writing your own anthem based on all these successes.
Maybe model it after bijesa1.

Just watch yourselves, though. Don't go copying it too closely unless you want a copyright lawsuit from Zampu.😁

Charles Ramos7 said:Or maybe higher interest on savings accounts.😁

Look, you aren't getting better rates on your savings, and they sure as hell aren't lowering mortgage rates either. This is just positioning for the future—basically squeezing every last drop out of us until we break.
The logic for banks is pretty obvious, I guess. Cut input costs as much as possible, especially interest, then maximize profits immediately. They want to grab everything they can now because, let's face it, it's all going downhill soon anyway.
They aren't even trying to fix the situation.

Why would they bother? They see that nobody in America actually stands up to them. They think we're fine as long as we don't complain... except for those occasional lawsuits that make these bankers shake in their boots.😁

Dana Morris6 said:this goes to the heart of why the American banking system is such a mess. honestly, those experts who signed off on all those risky bets and bad loans? they should be the ones stuck with the bill, not us.
that's why the Federal Reserve, the regulators, the IRS... everything is just broken. 😁

Bingo. If they had actually done their jobs right in the first place, we wouldn't even be dealing with this crap today.

😁

Joseph Murphy10 said:Look, regarding JPMorgan Chase, I’ll just say this...

They were out there peddling these mortgage loans in USD for young people under some cheesy commercial name like "Under a Lucky Star" at 3.88%. Then, once they'd lured in enough suckers through their branches, they tightened the noose—now those same loans are sitting anywhere from 5.95% to 6.15%, when they used to be 6.45%...

There—just thought you guys should know.

They're just making up for what they lost on "investments" involving the Highlander, Pašalić, Sanders, and their usual circle of cronies.😁

And who else remembers that $30 million they pulled out of Wells Fargo under the guise of some fraud involving "unreported" risky assets?!
Who knows where that cash actually ended up, or whose private accounts are currently holding it. 😉

Quote: red_shrike said:Most of the credit in America goes toward credit card debt and loans for total nonsense, like buying a new car (or two) that's way bigger and more expensive than anyone actually needs, just so the neighbor feels jealous.

The Whale;34454611]Exactly. Interest rates in the US have never been near zero, and they aren't going to be. People have totally messed up their time preferences, so they don't care if the rate is 7% or 8%.

Maybe take a look at some actual stats or financial reports? These platitudes have become go-to mantras, but they're easy to debunk.
1. The average age of personal (used to be called luxury) cars is still over 10 years—even the IRS treats them as depreciated junk, so you don't even pay tax on them.
2. Total consumer credit is about $3 trillion, and only about $200 billion of that is for auto loans.
The biggest chunk is mortgages (around $13 trillion), followed by personal loans that people use just to scrape by—same thing with credit card debt.

Quote: red_shrike said:Who’s really to blame? Just the individual who can't control their spending. Smart thinking isn't about fueling up on debt and complaining that the bank won't give you more; it's about finding a better-paying job so you can actually afford what you want.

Right. It seems like there's no trade-off here between being lazy and working. If your cost of living goes up for whatever reason, the logical move is to compensate by working more, switching jobs, or picking up side gigs. Side hustles aren't even that bad, even if it's part of the underground economy. Better to work under the table than sit at home starving.

Oh, brilliant!!! We should all just hustle more, even though the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the shadow economy makes up about 20% of our GDP, while some sources say it's over 30%.
(By the way, the US GDP is roughly $27 trillion.)
Anyway, if we stop doing side hustles, how do you think people will pay back loans that have ballooned by over 50% because of interest and exchange rates? For some, those payments eat almost their entire paycheck.
You guys are just rambling nonsense and feeding on clichés. People have already shown you the full picture of the predatory American banking system, where the annual cost of this banking setup eats up 5% of all assets.

Quote: red_shrike said:I hear all these ideas, except for any ideas on how to build factories, power plants, or farm the land. No. Americans don't care about labor; they just want to live off someone else's back and call it "moral," while calling anyone who actually earns their bread a "dirty capitalist."

Here we go again, back to a country that failed its most basic job—protecting property rights. Everything starts there, I guess.

Let me take a crack at this plan of yours... 🙂

If he actually had a job, he’d be busy creating new positions instead of just hanging out here criticizing everyone and everything. If you don't believe Americans are lazy, just look at the shadow economy data or the huge percentage of people who fled the country to take the toughest jobs abroad just to survive.

Quote: red_shrike said:1) Using Islamic banking as a model here in America (saying this as an atheist, just so there's no confusion)

Heh, interesting idea, but totally impossible in the US. Most banks are foreign-owned, and there's zero competition in the sector. Plus, you've got high country risk, which just means higher interest rates. Yeah, let's not touch the banking sector; I'm sure it's just peak efficiency over there...

That’s exactly the issue. Foreign banks bleed us dry with massive interest rates and all sorts of service fees. It leaves almost nothing left for people to spend, which kills the consumer activity that actually fills the treasury (since banking services aren't even taxed).

Quote: red_shrike said:2) Urgent construction of factories to develop industry (timber, tech, maritime, etc.) and exports

It’s a fair question: what does America actually have the capabilities for? If you want to manufacture high-tech gear, you need capital, know-how, engineers... You have to figure out what those capabilities are first, then see what can actually be produced efficiently.
Check this out... it's pretty heterodox, but the guy makes sense—http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRp382ynu-Q

And who exactly is supposed to build these factories? Since you guys are such geniuses, why don't you just borrow from our bankers, start your own businesses, and actually help fix this national mess?
Maybe a 10% interest rate (the kind used when big corporations refinance their debts) will suit you fine—I guess even the banks need to make a profit. Doesn't matter that European entrepreneurs get to borrow at much lower rates.

red_shrike said:3) Processing all arable land in America and exporting products

Again, which cultures? Which markets? Is it even profitable? Do we even have the capabilities for that?🙂

Quote: red_shrike said:4) Building tourist facilities for year-round tourism.

America isn't going to become a developed nation just off tourism. Give me one example of a global powerhouse that’s both a massive tourist destination and the most developed country on Earth based solely on that. 😉

There you go. This is what happens when you can't see the forest for the trees, because the most advanced nations actually *are* tourism giants. Take France, Italy, the US, Germany, England, Switzerland, Austria... they all pull in huge tourism revenue (in absolute terms), but because they’re so highly developed with so many other industries, the slice of the GDP coming from tourism is way smaller than what you'd see in an underdeveloped country.

Heh, won't happen. 🙂
There are plenty of studies showing the problem isn't that the government is too big, it's just inefficient. You can fire people all day, but nobody's promising me the rest will actually get better.

I guess I'll agree on one thing.

I don't want to sound like I'm just complaining, so here's my take as an economist—this country doesn't just need economic reform, it needs social reform. I don't necessarily agree with that guy from the Washington Times, but he made a good point about the need for nation-building, basically meaning we need to stop acting like vassals to higher authorities. It's not that America shouldn't be part of international coalitions, it's that the government and individuals need to actually own their actions and deal with the consequences of bad decisions.

For instance, regarding those who took out loans in Swiss francs... if they understood even a little bit of economics, they'd know nobody protects them from currency risk. Sure, interest rates were lower, but that was only because the exchange rate was weaker. Interest rate parity exists for a reason. 🙂

Look, I don't know if you guys saw that investigative report a few months back? They asked people on the street what an interest rate is, and most of them had no clue, despite having massive loans. As long as the population stays uneducated and indifferent, the status quo is staying right where it is.

Just more fluff. I was hoping for something smart or new for once.

p.s.

The groups taking out the most loans are actually the ones working in banks (especially loan officers and personal bankers), and you definitely can't call them uneducated or say they lack access to info.
Right behind them, the next group borrowing heavily are people in public institutions and state-run companies because they have transparent, relatively high, and stable salaries (teachers, healthcare workers, utility employees, etc.). And you can't really claim they belong to that uneducated crowd you mentioned—the ones who don't even know what an interest rate is.

Just some regular Joe working for a private firm or one of those big-shot corporate tycoons... half of them are probably taking under-the-table cash anyway since they're too broke to even dream about getting a loan.
😁

The fix is actually pretty simple, I guess: you fund newly created value exclusively through primary issuance, not through loans (debt money), even if those loans come with a 0% interest rate.

Take the Interstate Highway System, for example. Nobody can argue that building the American Interstate Highway System isn't creating new value—real, lasting value. So, the government, acting as the investor and future owner, should just issue new money proportional to that investment's value. That’s the newly created value right there.
Instead, we're stuck with this system forced upon us, which Robert McNamara defends like his life depends on it. It basically means financing the value created within our own borders by issuing debt to other countries under whatever terms they decide to dictate to us.
It’s a trap. A total vicious cycle. Here's why: 1. You take out loans during construction, but most of that cash just flows out to suppliers for raw materials. Only a small slice actually hits local pockets through wages (assuming you're using an American workforce), and then the sales tax just loops back into the system anyway. Since these are long-term investments meant to pay off eventually, you end up having to take out *more* loans just to service the old ones. And surprise, surprise—those are usually from foreign lenders who charge even more, and this time, none of that borrowed money stays in our economy. It all goes straight back to some foreign bank or country, plus interest. We're already drowning in double interest payments, so the returns on the actual investment aren't enough to cover the debt. So, step three: you borrow just to pay the interest. And the principal? Forget it. We've got multiple layers of principal hanging over us now, a permanent legacy that our kids or even our grandkids will be stuck paying off.

Joshua Diaz10 said:So, if we look at the root cause of this entire long-winded saga, it really boils down to business failures and incompetent leadership. But let's pivot for a second: what happens to those people who actually played the game right? I’m talking about the entrepreneurs who took out a loan, launched a successful venture, paid back every cent of that credit, and then—having turned a profit—decided to deposit their surplus cash into a major American bank like JPMorgan Chase or Bank of America. Where exactly do they fit into your proposed "new world order"? And more importantly, what is your take on the potential nationalization of private banking assets? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on how those responsible players are treated in such a scenario.

If those people exist, they’re probably operating in the gray zone. The USA is basically a state with massive tax pressure and some of the most expensive capital out there. Anyone running a profitable business here, or holding any kind of monopoly, usually gets it through rigged government contracts with insane margins, or they're just dodging taxes, or maybe even selling drugs.
I'm not saying there aren't honest folks out there, but they're rare. Especially the ones actually making a profit.
The data from the Federal Reserve proves it—80% of the deposits in our commercial banks are amounts under 400 $0.00.

People who got rich in the US... they definitely aren't keeping that cash on domestic soil. Just look at where that former Prime Minister hid his money; they haven't even found everything yet. Maybe they've only recovered one percent of what he stole.