The IMF is at the doorstep

Jeffrey Jackson9 said:Oh, so Germans produce things!!!
So Germans work!!!!
What's so bad about that!!!!
That's exactly why they can "dump" whatever they make onto anyone else!!!
And what exactly are we producing!?!?

Everything would be fine if they were offloading products on us using money we actually earned, rather than money taken on credit. We're talking about funds that artificially inflated our economy, creating this illusion of progress and a higher standard of living—making everyone feel like they can spend like a billionaire just because they have a loan.

If that money had never actually entered the system, there wouldn't be any credit, there wouldn't be all this spending, and people wouldn't be buying expensive German cars. Our standard of living would stay low, sure, but at least we wouldn't be drowning in debt.
As it stands, our quality of life will remain low, and the country will end up sold off piece by piece.

Sam Ruiz60 said:Everything would be fine if they were offloading products on us using money we actually earned, rather than money taken on credit. We're talking about funds that artificially inflated our economy, creating this illusion of progress and a higher standard of living—making everyone feel like they can spend like a billionaire just because they have a loan.

If that money had never actually entered the system, there wouldn't be any credit, there wouldn't be all this spending, and people wouldn't be buying expensive German cars. Our standard of living would stay low, sure, but at least we wouldn't be drowning in debt.
As it stands, our quality of life will remain low, and the country will end up sold off piece by piece.

What money are you talking about? In the US, there's trillions sitting in savings; how are car salesmen supposed to know which specific dollars someone is using to buy a vehicle? Besides, back in the day, people were still buying cars even before consumer credit became this huge thing. So much for the idea that they're "pushing" them on us through debt.

Charles Ramos7 said:What money are you talking about? In the US, there's trillions sitting in savings; how are car salesmen supposed to know which specific dollars someone is using to buy a vehicle? Besides, back in the day, people were still buying cars even before consumer credit became this huge thing. So much for the idea that they're "pushing" them on us through debt.

That level of savings is actually just a direct byproduct of debt.
If we hadn't pumped money into the system through borrowing and manufactured growth, wouldn't at least 90% of those savings simply not exist?
On the flip side, you have a massive group of both companies and individuals who, by some miracle, managed to cover their unpayable debts using those very savings. Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd—the ones we might call the establishment types—are just spending off new debt that Lalovac keeps handing out every other day.

As for the car situation during the old era, this explains it quite well:

wearytrucker22 said:I was at your old firm twenty days ago—the one that got stolen from you, SAS Vector, Cop.
It’s pure misery; the plant is empty and there’s just one worker left rattling things around for himself. Is your part of SAS just as hollow?
And honestly, I feel for your old director and what he's dealing with after the good old days. The man behind the local economic miracle is losing an apartment worth $1.2 million.
Per the Zadar Municipal Court Enforcement Department, a two-story home with a yard totaling 7,200 square feet is hitting its first public auction on June 12th. It belongs to the well-known local businessman Stanislav Antić. Antić founded the SAS factory, which once drove the entire regional economy. By exporting specialized machinery—mostly to the former USSR—he funded the Pediatrics Department at Zadar General Hospital, the California marina, the SAS Vector shipyard, and even the current headquarters for OTP Bank. Antić also served two terms as a city councilman and led an independent ticket in the previous local elections.

SAS Vektor wasn't "stolen." It was just... let's call it "survey-based privatization." 🤔😲🤔😁

The reality is that right after 1995, the parent company, SAS Inc., was privatized. The government held the majority stake at the time. Then, some announcement went out asking small shareholders to decide where they wanted their shares to end up—whether they wanted them in SAS Vektor, Marina-Dalmacia, the charter fleet, the Engine Factory, or kept within the main SAS entity.
They pitched it to us as a mere survey. After all, the company was a single conglomerate with multiple divisions anyway.
But then, the director and a few of his little cronies decided they wanted the shares tied to the yacht-building division. They managed to snap up shares from a bunch of small-time holders—people who were practically begging for any scrap of value before they lost everything—by paying roughly 20% of the nominal value.
That small group ended up pooling enough shares to cover about 70% of the estimated value of the SAS Vektor division. Once they had that, they just headed over to the capital, pulled some strings, and triggered the spin-off. And just like that, SAS Vektor was detached.
The charter fleet was split off using the exact same playbook. They bought most of it using shares they acquired for maybe a quarter or a fifth of what they were actually worth.

As for our slice of the SAS pie?
We currently have about a third of the machinery we had twenty years ago—and keep in mind, those machines are, on average, thirty years old.
During the afternoon shift, there’s this palpable sense of dread being in the building. You see one worker for every hundred meters of floor space.😲

There are no more snack breaks, no more air conditioning, and hell, there isn't even heat in the winter. Unless you're standing in that tiny one-fifth section of the building where the coordinates are actually functional.

Benjamin Taylor6 said:SAS Vektor wasn't "stolen." It was just... let's call it "survey-based privatization." 🤔😲🤔😁

The reality is that right after 1995, the parent company, SAS Inc., was privatized. The government held the majority stake at the time. Then, some announcement went out asking small shareholders to decide where they wanted their shares to end up—whether they wanted them in SAS Vektor, Marina-Dalmacia, the charter fleet, the Engine Factory, or kept within the main SAS entity.
They pitched it to us as a mere survey. After all, the company was a single conglomerate with multiple divisions anyway.
But then, the director and a few of his little cronies decided they wanted the shares tied to the yacht-building division. They managed to snap up shares from a bunch of small-time holders—people who were practically begging for any scrap of value before they lost everything—by paying roughly 20% of the nominal value.
That small group ended up pooling enough shares to cover about 70% of the estimated value of the SAS Vektor division. Once they had that, they just headed over to the capital, pulled some strings, and triggered the spin-off. And just like that, SAS Vektor was detached.
The charter fleet was split off using the exact same playbook. They bought most of it using shares they acquired for maybe a quarter or a fifth of what they were actually worth.

As for our slice of the SAS pie?
We currently have about a third of the machinery we had twenty years ago—and keep in mind, those machines are, on average, thirty years old.
During the afternoon shift, there’s this palpable sense of dread being in the building. You see one worker for every hundred meters of floor space.😲

There are no more snack breaks, no more air conditioning, and hell, there isn't even heat in the winter. Unless you're standing in that tiny one-fifth section of the building where the coordinates are actually functional.

Why didn't you sell your shares when you had the chance? But look, I'm in the same boat. I was promised 10,000 shares in Sun Coast as compensation. When I finally tried to sell them for $107, the courts blocked the transaction. Years later, the lawsuit was tossed out as "unfounded," and the share price plummeted to $6.75. According to the legal system, I haven't suffered any loss because I still technically hold the same number of shares. Since then, I wouldn't touch a stock in the US even if they gave it to me for free. I'm just waiting for some miracle where someone buys out Sun Coast and offers me at least 50$20 per share.

wearytrucker22 said:Why didn't you sell your shares when you had the chance? But look, I'm in the same boat. I was promised 10,000 shares in Sun Coast as compensation. When I finally tried to sell them for $107, the courts blocked the transaction. Years later, the lawsuit was tossed out as "unfounded," and the share price plummeted to $6.75. According to the legal system, I haven't suffered any loss because I still technically hold the same number of shares. Since then, I wouldn't touch a stock in the US even if they gave it to me for free. I'm just waiting for some miracle where someone buys out Sun Coast and offers me at least 50$20 per share.

I personally held 20 shares, which were valued at $20,000. I actually only paid $500 for them, using what was left of my old foreign currency savings.
In the end, I sold them for 20% of their value, just like almost everyone else did.
That works out to roughly $4,000.

The whole situation just goes to show that SAS-Vektor was privatized for about 25% of its actual worth—you know, factoring in the land, the buildings, all the equipment and stuff.

If I had actually wanted to buy the company myself, I would have had to cough up 120% of the value.😁

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

IMF Mission Head: America is nowhere near the Greek scenario