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Thanks for the Invitation Mr Geithner, But You Forgot to Mention Which Planet You’re On
Tim Geithner recently wrote an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times titled, "Welcome to the Recovery."
The title sort of says it all, but
just by skimming over it my immediate conclusion is that Mr. Geithner is
either outright insane or a total liar. Neither of those are welcome
realizations, though I doubt they are news to anyone with a working
brain. However, for the sake of manners, I'll simply assume Mr Geithner
is outright insane, in which case I am indeed, quite honored to be
invited to his recovery... I only wish he'd mentioned the planet where
it was taking place.
Let’s have a look at some data points on Earth, courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
|
|
June 2009 |
June 2010 |
Change |
|
Civilian Labor Force |
154. 7 million |
153.7 million |
-1 million |
|
People Employed |
140 million |
139.1 million |
-900,000 |
|
People Unemployed |
14.7 million |
14.6 million |
-100,000 |
|
People Out of the Workforce |
80.8 million |
83.9 million |
+3.1 million |
|
People working part-time for economic reasons |
8.9 million |
8.6 million |
-300,000 |
|
Discouraged Workers |
793,000 |
1.2 million |
+407,000 |
|
People unemployed 27 weeks of greater |
4.4 million |
6.7 million |
2.3 million |
Ok, you could possibly see something
along the lines of improvement if you focused solely on the number of
unemployed people, which has dropped 100,000 in the last year. Moreover,
the number of people working part-time for economic reasons has dropped
by 300,000. That’s not bad… so we must be in a recovery right?
WRONG.
These are the only data points that
show any improvement. To get the word “recovery” out of this, means
ignoring a whole slew of data that is downright ugly including:
- The 900,000 who stopped being employed in the last year
- The 3.1 million people who somehow mysteriously vanished from the workforce but are not unemployed (?!?!)
- The 2.3 million MORE people who have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks
- The 407,000 more people who have simply given up even looking for a job because they don’t think they could find one.
Hard to find the word “recovery” from
that mess. “Disaster” or “soon to be disaster when the unemployment
benefits run out” seem more fitting descriptions. But then again, I am
suffering the handicap of being on earth. Perhaps things are better on
Mars?
It’s not as though the rest of the economic data looks much better. The following data points range from “not as bad but still bad” on the positive side to “absolutely horrendous” on the negative side.
|
Data Point |
2009 |
2010 |
Change |
|
Food Stamp Usage |
June 2009: 34.4 million |
June 2010: 40.8 million |
+6.4 million |
|
Mortgages underwater |
1Q09 15.20 million |
1Q10 14.75 million |
-450,000 |
|
Personal bankruptcies |
YTD ’09: 802,000 |
YTD ’10: 908,000 |
+106,000 |
|
Mass Layoffs (layoffs of 50 or more people at a time) |
2,519 |
1,861 |
-658 |
|
Foreclosure filings |
1.75 million 1H09 |
1H10: 1.9 million |
+150,000 |
Well, the number of mortgages
underwater has dropped off. That’s largely due to the fact home prices
bounced a bit year over year courtesy of the tax credits. But the jump
in foreclosure filings, and personal bankruptcies shows doesn’t exactly
spell economic strength. As for food stamp usage… no comment needed.
I don’t know about you, but I fully
intend to take Mr Geithner up on his welcome invitation to the recovery.
I only wish he’d tell me what planet it’s taking place on so I can move
there, cause it sure ain’t earth.
Graham Summers
Ps. To join me for more FREE market analysis and research, including several FREE special reports explaining the upcoming crisis in stocks... go to www.gainspainscapital.com
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No matter how much honest money people can raise to build their county the way they want there are those that can just fire up the fake money presses and print up what ever they want to see to it they get their way.
Maybe this will help make the danger of fiat money clear.
Imagine you and me are setting across from each other. We create enough money to represent all of the world's wealth. Each one of us has one SUPER Dollar in front of him.
You own half of everything and so do I.
I'm the government though. I get bribed into creating a Central Bank.
You're not doing what I want you to be doing so I print up myself eight more SUPER Dollars to manipulate you with.
All of a sudden your SUPER Dollar only represents one tenth of the wealth of the world!
That isn't the only thing though. You need to get busy and get to work because YOU'VE BEEN STIFFED with the bill for the money I PRINTED UP to get YOU TO DO what I WANTED.
That to me represents what has been happening to the economy, and us, and why so many of our occupations just can't keep up with the fake money presses.
They have been beating us with our own stick!
"Tin Soldiers and Nixon coming..."
Its what lifes all about. Shopping. The human race reduced to shopping.
I don't disagree with your basic point, but might I suggest that the 3.1 million people who "disappeared" from the workforce might have retired? The baby boomers have hit retirement age of 65, and I think there are many under that age who have reached their "30 and out" pension limits. I bet there are a lot of cops, teachers, etc., who have decided to chuck it, go to their cottages, and start stockpiling food.
Not saying this accounts for all the 3.1 million, but according to the 2000 census, there are about 18 million people who are, in 2010, in the 60-64 age group. If only one in five takes early retirement, there's your 3 million right there.
Sounds like one reason the O'B man wants to stay in Aghan is to keep the unemployment numbers from rising even more. Bringing everyone home would sure mess with the already messed-with 9.5% facade...oops...I meant 9.5% figure.
No need to de-employ the troops. Bring them home and station them along the border with Mexico, not that the military has shown itself particularly adept at securing borders.
Not to worry about the border with Canada. Only cheery white people with primo BC crossing there.
"Baghdad Bob" works for the Treasury Dept.
" We are definitely in a full blown recovery"
A recent Zerohedge post talked about the collusion of "mortgage service companies "and banks in not reporting delinquent mortgages ,walk aways and forclosure proceedings properly because banks do not want to reflect asset losses on balance sheets and service companies want to maintain a business relationship. Same problem as the ratings agencies. Dont know how government collects their data but if they rely on either , than figures on forclosures and mortgages underwater are no doubt understated. No confidence in government statistics will soon be followed by no confidence in the US $ ===and we all know what that means.
I believe this might be the post you are referring to on Zerohedge:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/new-spin-bank-fraud-banks-defrauding-th...
The same subject is mentioned in a very interesting interview with Meredith Whitney by Bloomberg:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfzoDAJceQI
Quite insane, isn't it?
I will gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today.
What a wimpy comment...
Geithner Ballot
Check One box only: Timmay Geithner is:
VOTE:
[ ] Totally Insane.
[X] Bald Faced Liar
The "Tin Woodsman look-alike after a fashion" speaketh with forked tongue. Either that or its aluminum poisoning.
Reminds me of Bagdad Bob who kept coming on TV and telling the world they were kicking ass.
3.1 mm people disappeared from the workforce just like 500 mm gallons of oil leaked from the BP blowout well disappeared from the GoM. Nothing disappears...its just hidden from site.
Geithner is a Klingon. Can't you see his deeply creased forehead?
I can accept that Geithner is a cling-on caught in my crease.
Are you saying that Mr. G is a dingleberry? I like it.
Timmah! is GOD and I love the Vampire Squid! Gonna nuke you peasants and your squabbling ruining our tea and crumpets!
ive listened to many of geitners interviews. after reading oliver sach's the man who mistook hhis wife for a hat, about an anecdote of a group of brain damaged patients listening to presidential campaigning debate, i began listening to the tone people on television and their facial expressions, while attempting to block out any attention to the content of their speech.
from what i can tell, geitner gets on television in order to lie as convincingly as he can.
he's clearly lying but he's prepared in his lies. he's comfortable but it's clear that he doesn't believe a word he's saying.
Great insight and reference.
http://www.junkfoodforthought.com/long/Sacks_Reagan.htm in case anyone would like to read it.
I completely agree. There's something deeply unsettling about watching this man speak.
He has dead eyes.
Anyone with half a brain should realize who Geithner is referring to when he talks about recovery.
As the Fiscal Policy Institute wrote in April:
“But Wall Street is not suffering from the budget catastrophe or from the crash. …The financial industry rang up $61.4 billion in profits for 2009 alone—that is nearly triple Wall Street’s previous record. These are truly windfall profits—they are courtesy of the taxpayer-funded bailout [and federal policies uniquely privileging the big banks with virtually free money] and not because the big banks made money from financing the recovery of American businesses. Never before has Wall Street made so much money from doing so little for economic and job growth.”
In Geithner's world, the financial elite are the only people who matter and the only ones worthy of recovery.
“But Wall Street is not suffering from the budget catastroph..."
Because Wall Street looted the Amerikan tax payers for $$$Trillions to cover their incompetent loses so they could ring up...
..."$61.4 billion in profits for 2009 alone."
Any questions?
Ding! We have a winner. Thank you, sir.
I wonder if anyone has any statistics on firearm arm purchases. My guess is they are going way up.
Morality is very provisional when your children are hungry and cold.
I can only offer myself as a statistic. A few months ago, I bit the bullet and went and bought an AK-47 semi-auto and a 9 mm stainless steel Beretta. I also have 500 rounds for each. I thought that the risk of O making them illegal was getting too high, so I bought.
A friend of my brother's in rural NC went and bought $12,000 worth of guns and ammo the day after O was elected. He owns a Barrett .50 cal. He told me not long ago that he can fire 2000 rounds without having to RELOAD!
I did read somewhere that 2009 had big sales of guns and that they were a little slower this year.
DoChen. First, I am glad to see that you have exercised your right to self-preservation. That said, 500 rounds is not a lot of ammo. Particularly for an AK. At IDPA (International Defense Pistol Association) training sessions, I burn up 200-300 rounds in a few hours. And that's just to TRAIN.
I'd suggest that you up your 7.62*39 to at least 4,000 rounds and your 9mm to 2,000. That's reserve. Then buy a few hundred rounds a month and SHOOT them. It's a tool, you need to practice. If you don't, and you ever come up against someone that does, you'll be toast in 10 seconds or less.
500 rounds is a day's shooting for me. Get more. Lots more.
Congrats on your decision. Now don't get false confidence. Get proficient and drive a few thousand rounds down those barrels.
Frankie, you are of course correct that 500 rounds is not much. Also, I have only fired about 150 rounds from each one, so I have a long way to go. On the other hand, when I am in the neighborhood of my gun store I do go in and get 100 rounds each. And I have learned the routine field stripping, cleaning and reassembly of each.
Alas, I now have a medical condition (I am 54) that for awhile will keep me from shooting (esp. the AK), I have a pinched nerve in my neck that is kicking up on me that originated 7 years ago (which led to a spinal fusion surgery, ugh). So, I am under Dr.'s orders not to do anything that would jar my system or put stress on my neck. That includes getting up and personal with Dr. Kalashnikov's AK.
I wonder how effective that self preservation is going to work out for you when the 90% + of the American population from the cities and suburbs who depend from supermarkets for their food are going to come looting the country side, some of them armed, searching for something to eat...
Having defense tools is important for the future. But getting organised to defend oneself as teams is even more important.
I think Obama needs to appoint me Czar of Common Sense. It was pretty clear to me that "Recovery Summer" was the kind of slogan that could come back to bite him.
but remember he's just a puppet (no smarter than W in his own right). He's not a leader, he's been reduced to a loser in a short amount of time. What fool would not have a little "its probably not a good idea to take the $250,000 vacation to Spain right now honey" talk with Queen O?
"Recovery Summer" would sound like a good slogan to an idiot with little understanding.
"But, but, but, ah you ah guys ah said ah it ah was ah going to work."
Geithner: ...a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a douche bag....
So does that mean that Geithner is inside .... himself?
Timmy Geithner, a sociopathic Klein Bottle. I like it.
Hey that's childish! Why didn't I think of it!
Taking people out of the workforce to make the unemployment number look palatable is "totalitarian state control" mentality. Are we there? Hail the Supreme Leader or else.
Welcome to the Recovery ? This man either has a very dry and fatalistic sense of humor, or he's an absolute prick.
Geithner is a part of the Administration, he is paid to paint an upbeat picture, and by the way, the tax payer pays his salary. Even the CBO refrains from using "strong" language. The "Truth", although I think it should be voiced, would scare the hell out of most people outside of finance. Especially, retirees who depend on SS and Medicaid/Medicare.
The "Truth" is, the Administration and FED, are doing all they can do to restart the economy. If you look at outflows from Treasury, and the mini stimulus bills, unemployment, defense, many others, and the bill pending to bailout teachers and police unions for the states, there is a lot of money going out in addition to ARRA. On track to be 2 x ARRA (FY2010 portion) total for FY2010.
So we hear a lot of talk about ARRA2 or QE2, but it is already here.
It is really amazing, after all of the money spent, that the performance is so poor.
The "Truth" is we are heading for systemic collapse. That is, the system can no longer pay the costs. Benefits will have to be cut, and this means SS, Medicare and Medicaid. It is just a matter of when.
The "Truth" is harsh and unpopular, so don't expect it from Geithner any time soon.
Mark Beck
They did all they can? I am reminded of what Sir Winston Churchill once said, "Americans always do the right thing. After they have tried everything else first." The problem in the economy is at the bottom not the top. You can't fix the bottom from the top down no matter waht you believe nor how hard you try. Of course nothing they are doing is working. One thing that never makes the news, which should, is that capital formation for new businesses particularly small businesses is zip, zilch, zero, nada. Everyone with money is still at the casino they reflated believing that trickle down economics valid and anything other than a golden shower and then all yall wonder why unemployment is so bad. Continue countdown to system failure. T - XXX
I don't think we're going to hear the "Truth" from anyone politician anytime soon.
Whqt truth? That we are heading for the wall and there's no way we are going to be able to avoid the crash?
I don't think most people are ready for it. Politicians are just asked to try to maintain the illusion for as long as possible.
Honestly, for all those who are convinced the economy, the system, our society, is going to crash... what do you believe our politicians are supposed to do other than trying to maintain the illusion for as long as possible?
There is no way we can avoid the crash: so extend and pretend becomes the only rational policy...
Yes; correct.
"What if you could find brand new worlds right here on Earth, where anything is possible: same planet, different dimension? I found the gateway!"
George Orwell would be so pleased. War is peace.
Josef Goebbels is applauding.
As per you're request the Enterprise has departed into Very deep space. Capt Kirk sends his greeting!
I question the use of the word "or".
- Ned
HEADS WE LOSE
http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/08/two-heads-worse-than-four.html
Heads they'll lose! That's why Buffet rounded up all his pals and staged the huge give away. Got to look benevolent before the party, you know.
Zombie Planet - It's the only explanation.
People are given a choice
a) observe the world around them and make an intelligent conclusion
b) skip the hard work of thinking and believe "Timmy"
They choose believing "Timmy"
- it is not Timmy that is insane
Think I'll rent some movies this weekend -
yea, I'm thinking Zombie marathon
Timmah is, as always, a lying, sniveling, sack of shit who would sell his mother for a job on Wall Street, his ultimate goal. No surprise there.