Posts by Nicholas Ross38

The IMF isn't just some boogeyman—it’s more like a monster that's going to drag us into a thousand years of darkness and pure evil

Benjamin Taylor6 said:I am completely ready:
I've got a 3-meter plastic paddle for rowing and a 500-meter net for casting in the shallows. Plus, I have a 200-meter permit the government handed me for free. I'll sell my grandmother's house, renovate my father's old shack—which, mind you, doesn't even have clean titles—and slap some solar panels on the roof. That way, there's no property tax, and no bills for electricity or water (just a water truck).
All I need to do is buy five goats and a billy goat, and the crisis is solved. I have a few acres of scrubland at my disposal. Naturally, I'll also be following in my ancestors' footsteps.
The rest of the money goes to the kids so they can find it easier to settle outside the US. (They already have degrees, so they might as well enroll in advanced English, German, or French courses).

Jokes aside. The IMF isn't going to hit me too hard because I work for a private firm where I just pull in a raw salary. Personally, I'm all for the IMF.

Up until now, they usually cut a little bit from everyone so that, in the end, the public sector still ends up with way more than those who actually create value.
So, the IMF might actually break that cycle: by cutting everyone equally just so we maintain the same proportional size of the public sector.
And that means cutting everyone's wages in the government by 10%, rather than hitting the public sector with a 30% cut.

The company I work for makes grinders and drills for Germans: http://www.taff-shop.com/media/catal...1001000000.jpg
They handed us a measly $10,000 for our 80% share of the job—only to watch them flip it later for $40,000. I guess they really know how to leverage their "brand name" and that tiny 20% stake in the product to squeeze out a massive profit. It's almost impressive, in a cynical sort of way.
And get this—the machine actually says Made in Germany on it. Not this little label here, though: http://www.goedicke.com/fileadmin/us...ke/7-34303.jpg

Meanwhile, the buyer is walking around all proud, bragging about how he owns a high-quality German drill. 😁

You gave me an idea. And regarding those solar panels—if I'm not mistaken, that opens up another whole story involving EU grants. Anyway, lucky you; you and your family won't be among the "sunken" ones.

Look, you guys have completely veered off track—you're bringing up stuff that doesn't belong in this thread. Nothing is ever really looking good, especially when it comes to the IMF.

wearytrucker22 said:Obviously, government spending has to be slashed. We need to cut pensions by 20-30%, drop civil servant salaries by 20-30%—except for healthcare, strictly because those people can just move abroad—and cut transfers to various civic associations, etc.
Public sector wages really ought to be 20% lower than what you'd make in the private sector with the exact same degree. You have to account for the fact that a government job is inherently more secure.

Honestly, with all the budget cuts and reforms coming down the pipeline, working for the government is going to be just as shaky as the private sector—meaning your employer can pretty much decide your severance package whenever they feel like it.

Let’s pivot back to the main point—is it too late to start making moves before the IMF comes knocking at our door? I mean, look at this photo showing most Americans just hanging out at coffee shops... In my previous post, where I linked to Nigel Farage's page, he mentioned how a nation might fight for a thousand years for independence, only to hold onto it for maybe twenty years before handing it all over to the EU bureaucracy. So, I guess sitting at a cafe should feel like a celebration of freedom after all that struggle, but that’s probably a whole different conversation entirely. The real issue is that the IMF tends to drain countries dry and "constrains" us with their mandatory reforms—you know, the usual stuff regarding education, public administration, and so on—yet you all seem to agree that we actually need them and that they’ll be our saving grace.

Maybe America could have gotten things moving without all these cuts and reforms—but I guess that’s up to the people, isn't it? It seems we just need outsiders to come in and tell us exactly what to do and how to do it, even if those measures are absolutely brutal and end up leaving us high and dry.

wearytrucker22 said:What's the big deal with the IMF? They should have been here ages ago.

The IMF, the European Central Bank, and those little man dictators from the European Commission

The IMF in America—what’s their deal lately? The International Monetary Fund is apparently losing sleep over the fact that the US is still stuck in this recessionary funk. They're pointing fingers at our uncompetitive exports, corporate debt levels, and the massive mountain of public sector debt. I guess they're worried. Are you guys actually ready for whatever austerity measures and "reforms" the IMF decides to throw our way? How are you planning to stay off their radar when the crackdown hits?

If I had to pick one, I’d go with the iPhone 6

Nah.

The Godfather
Get up and tell you where to go

I’m basically arguing that Windows 7 is actually a bit "smarter" than the versions that came before it.

Windows 7 is honestly great—especially the Ultimate edition. I mean, I suspect even Windows 10 might not actually manage to top it. P.S.: I'm not sure if you guys caught this, but unlike previous versions, Windows 7 somehow seems to rub it in your face just how much "junk" you bought when you dropped $1,000–$3333 on a laptop or desktop... it sort of makes it obvious that more expensive rigs are actually better.

Kva-Kva