How America Makes Up For The Lack Of Manufacturing

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2013 20:12 -0400

...by charging insane amounts for services, such as these...

Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Average:

Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (18 votes)

- advertisements -

Similar Articles You Might Enjoy:

Time To Make The Federal Reserve Accountable For Its Actions
Hatzius Makes The Strongest Case For QE2 Yet, Or How $1 Trillion In QE Buys 0.5% In GDP (And Increasingly Less)
How "Sub-Pennying" In Dark Pools Ignores SEC Rule 612, Makes A Mockery Of The NBBO, And Is Another Illicit Source Of Billions For Wall Street
How Targeted Quote Stuffing "Denial Of Service" Attacks Make Stock Trading Impossible
The Complete Cost-Benefit Analysis Of QE2, And How To Best Hedge For Federal Reserve "Fat Tail" Risks

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 20:15 | 3279872 negative rates

Charge on!

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 20:49 | 3280014 James_Cole

There's a striking lack of banking, hostpital, legal & insurance fees on this chart.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 20:53 | 3280026 philipat

Source: Bloomberg.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 23:08 | 3280515 Haywood Jablowme

They forgot to add that massage parlors are now charging an extra $50 just to get your anus tickled. Fucking highway robbery...

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 23:10 | 3280520 markmotive

Don't tell that to the Austrians!

Epic debate...Peter Schiff vs. John Mauldin

http://www.planbeconomics.com/2013/02/26/epic-debate-featuring-faceoff-b...

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 23:47 | 3280658 Manthong

Here’s one that’ll hit home..

Probably an noticeable fraction of the GDP nowadays - airline bag check fees.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 01:05 | 3280821 Richardk888

Schiff owned the bumbling fool.

Thanks for the link

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 01:07 | 3280825 Freewheelin Franklin

Is it me, or is Mauldin talking out both sides of his ass?

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 21:07 | 3280065 TheFourthStooge-ing

There's a striking lack of banking, hostpital, legal & insurance fees on this chart.

Including those in the picture would have incurred representational modification fees, which are charged on a per pixel basis.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 21:45 | 3280175 RockyRacoon

I'm not sure if this is off-topic or not -- since I don't know what the topic is....

APMEX Reports Sales Spike on eBay Bullion Center February 25, 2013

Last Wednesday, with New York gold down over $40 per ounce, even long time gold bulls were advising caution before committing to further investment. Some precious metals dealers reported a flood of panic selling by anxious investors who were unloading physical coin and bar.

With everyone fearful of lower prices, exactly who was buying all that gold and silver from panicked investors?

Michael Haynes, CEO of APMEX, one of the countries largest precious metals dealers, said "As gold and silver prices continue to drop, long-term investors immediately reacted to the market movement. Recognizing that the precious metals were on sale and at a discount relative to the expected future values, buyers of physical bullion increased purchasing at the APMEX Bullion Center on eBay."

Michael Haynes explained further.

"This was the second largest selling day for the APMEX Bullion Center on eBay since inception about five months ago, beating the next highest selling day by more than 30%. As Gold and Silver prices fell, heavily influenced by the reaction of day traders to the minutes from the recent Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting, physical sales of both metals skyrocketed. Buyers of physical Gold and Silver have a moderate to long term view and concluded that with the price movements, the precious metals were on sale and at a discount relative to the expected future values. These investors in physical Gold and Silver apparently see the long term issues faced by the U.S. economy and seek some asset allocation into the non-correlated asset class of precious metals to protect and hedge their investments in paper assets like Stocks and Bonds.”

According to APMEX, the top sellers on the Bullion Center are the 1 oz Silver American Eagle, the 1 oz Gold American Eagle, the 5 gram Statue of Liberty Credit Suisse Gold Bar and the 100 oz Royal Canadian Mint Silver Bar.

Every bull market has corrections which offer long term investors the opportunity to add to positions at bargain prices. The high volume of gold and silver purchases on the eBay Bullion Center indicates that mainstream buyers remain committed to precious metals as a method of wealth preservation.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 22:10 | 3280270 kaiserhoff

Thanks Rocky. Real money is always THE topic.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 23:37 | 3280594 Dr Paul Krugman

Yeah, thanks, Rocky.

The rational people were selling while gold bugs maxed out their credit cards to buy more gold!

Soon you will see gold is the least productive asset there is. Gold, like a rock at the top of a hill, will come crashing down, and all you little gold bugs will scatter.

This may take awhile, as we have to get fear out of the market, and to do that we will need a recovery.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 23:43 | 3280651 Shell Game

Since you are a Keynesian, 'rational' means to leverage debt well beyond earnings and revenue by way of unbacked IOU Fiat. Meanwhile 'irrational' sovereigns and CBs are accumulating what?

Right, moron.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 04:47 | 3281024 tenpanhandle

sticking with the real money topic, today there was a govt. auction of gold coin from the stash of the Carson City "recluse" who died a while back. Govt. auctioned a portion of the stash so they could get their greedy paws on the inheritance tax owed. The only price that can be analysed is a lot of 620 canadian Maple Leafs that sold for 1.16 million. I believe the Maple leaf is a one ounce coin so the breakdown was $1,871.00 per ounce. I know that these coins were purchased years ago and there might be some collector dates but the auction was specifically for the "bullion coin" part of this fairly large stash and that collector coins would be auctioned at a later date. Quite the premium for the real deal.

And yes, I plan on scurrying away, with my gold, when the real crash occurs. Those without PMs will be the bugs that are squashed under the big rock.

http://www.rgj.com/viewart/20130226/NEWS/302260028/Auction-recluse-s-gold-nets-3-5-million-Carson-City

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 10:30 | 3281519 RockyRacoon

Don't discount the provenance premium. Lots of collectors will want to have one of the "Samaszko hoard". There will be paperwork with the purchases that will look nice in a collector situation.

But I would have expected a higher premium than that. I'd say the results were less than expected, although I didn't read all the article.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 07:53 | 3281141 new game

the less productive the better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sure wouldn't want my savings to be fractionally lent out pepetuating a broken system.

would you now ,dr frugman? you there- frugfuk-brain working? fried on stimulas...

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 07:56 | 3281145 new game

yelling at frugfuk

THE LESS PRODUCTIVE THE BETTER-CAN YOU HEAR ME?

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 06:49 | 3281104 Moe Howard

Can't say about APMEX, but Provident had the OPM 1 troy ounce bar for $9.99 over spot at the start of the dip, and then shortly raised it to $19.99 over spot [still there]. They don't release sales figures, but the bar is number one in the top twelve volume sellers on the site. I exclusivly purchaced these bars during the dip as they provided the best value. APMEX has higher shipping rates than Provident for ordinary buyers.

Who has pure gold for $19.99 over spot an ounce beside Provident?????

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 22:07 | 3280260 eatthebanksters

just think, people pay Obama $500,000 to kiss his ass!

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 00:21 | 3280742 DaveyJones

it's a fair exchange, he kisses the other end of a few babies

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 21:48 | 3280183 AGuy

Most of these are one off, specific to a small business. Consider Cable TV, Cell Phones. Landlines and other Telcom services. Auto repair (In order to get a replacement for a $2 part, you need to buy the entire sub-assembly, costing from $250 to $2K!). How about electronic payment services. It easier and cheaper for businesses to process electronic payments than deal with checks and cash, Yet they tack on processing fees (above the costs of electronic payment processing costs).

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 05:45 | 3281079 Harrison

Right on.

I'm in Taiwan. When I pay my rent, I do so by electronic transfer. It costs me the equivalent of ten cents in US$ terms.

Back in the U.S., IIRC, the bank used to charge fifty cents per check, or twenty-five dollars for a "wire transfer". Those fees may be higher now (and probably are).

That doesn't even begin to touch on the scams that banks pull to rack up fees against customers, like TCF Bank (motto: "The Customer's Fucked!") mysteriously allowing an electronic transfer, even though when I signed up for the account I had explicitly prohibited electronic transfers, which triggered an overdraft, which triggered several hundred dollars in fees by the time the cascade was done.

Of course, the electronic transfer was fraudulent to begin with -- TCF was either hacked (not really likely), or had given out my account number to Experian Credit without my authorization. Experian, without ever being contacted by me, and without ever contacting me, mysteriously charged me $35 for no reason whatsoever.

And, naturally, because the account was overdrafted, this meant that I couldn't make the brand new just-imposed quota of FIFTEEN FUCKING TRANSACTIONS PER MONTH!!! in order to avoid TCF's $10-per-month fee just for having an account with the worthless shit-eaters.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 07:17 | 3281124 Moe Howard

Sounds to me as if you are a bad shopper of banks. I don't have a clue about Taiwan banking, but I do about US banking.

I pay zero per check, and would not have an account that charged me for using checks. This has been true for decades.

Can I find a bank that would charge me? Sure, but I'm not an idiot, why would I?

Wire transfer for rent? What? Are you a moron? Ever hear of cash or check?

I pay bills electronically all day long for zero. Are you a moron?

Sounds like you are a very young and immature person who was easily conned. Let me guess? Asian?

If they committed fraud, why didn't you do something about it, instead of crying and swearing online over your impotence?

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 22:56 | 3280475 williambanzai7

Don't forget mobile data plans, cable TV charges and airline ticket fees.

This is what they are teaching in business school now. Virtual milking.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 23:29 | 3280593 Tijuana Donkey Show

In my area, we call that a DIA fee. (Dick In the Ass) A great example of a DIA fee is baggage on a plane, or the UAC fee on your cable bill for Obamafones.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 05:48 | 3281081 Harrison

Yep. Life is just so much better outside the U.S.

I feel like I'm channeling Simon Black when I say/write things like that, but it's just so fucking true. There is a remarkable lack of bullshit rent-seeking by corporatist scumbags once you escape the bastion of freedom and liberty.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 07:57 | 3281147 blindfaith

I don't see very many refusing to pay it...doing with out. Everyone just holds their collective noses and pays which encourages the practice.

Gave up cable 12 years ago, not missing a thing! Simple cell phone plan, don't care about a fancy fone and when this plain one dies, I will be off the air. I don't like being abused, so I won't fly.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 00:59 | 3280812 Oldrepublic

anyone who has lived or traveled outside the US much can immediately note the very high price differentials between the cost of services in the

US and abroad. This is especially true in the medical field.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 22:27 | 3280350 bulldung

I wonder if Dutch Boy Burger rounds down to the nearest dollar if the bill ends in .49 ?

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 07:32 | 3281130 MillionDollarBoner_

I wouldn't spend too long wondering about that...

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 22:47 | 3280435 Buck Johnson

Yep, America is turning into a third world nation that has to by hook or by crook get it's money from anybody in it's borders.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 00:38 | 3280778 rotagen

A Nation of Snivelling, whining, weaselly little rat-faced twits.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 20:18 | 3279891 Seasmoke

When I go to the BLT Burger. I always order Makers straight. When they try and charge me an extra $2. I tell them to add the ice cubes.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 21:16 | 3280090 SilverIsKing

Well played. I will try to do likewise next time at BLT Steak. I'd bet they have the same stupid policies.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 20:25 | 3279909 knukles

All will undoubtedly raise the velocity of Money thereby boosting Nominal GDP.
Krugman should have a 6 hour hard-on.

^{At least Kerry's overseas trip goes well, I hear, piece in our time....}

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 20:38 | 3279968 kaiserhoff

Peace on who's time?

OK, is it my imagination, or does that job make you ugly as sin? No matter how bad they were going in, they come out looking like the troll under the Mule Creek Bridge. Remember Madeline Albright? That Bitch was so fugly she scared the horses.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 21:18 | 3280095 Marge N Call

She was no bargain going in...

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 23:39 | 3280632 willwork4food

She? I always thought it was a fat man.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 04:56 | 3281034 tenpanhandle

They just gave her the job to get her out of the cuntry.

Wed, 02/27/2013 - 02:20 | 3280922 piliage

I found it very difficult to know when she stopped talking as after her lips stopped moving, the jowls rolled slowly back and forth, like waves on the sea, for a good 5 seconds afterwards. It was like watching two mounds of jello copulating.

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 20:42 | 3279979 Híppos Purrós