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Friday Humor: "Trickle Down"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Pretty much what the title says.

h/t Jon

 

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Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:06 | 2171340 AldoHux_IV
AldoHux_IV's picture

The true lemonparty dot org cast.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:07 | 2171344 taniquetil
taniquetil's picture

I've never heard of the lemon party before. Just let me Google them an-OH MY GOD....

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:31 | 2171450 dlmaniac
dlmaniac's picture

A rhetoric question: If I work my butt off to earn some wealth then why should it trickle down to someone else who fails to earn it? 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:34 | 2171466 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

"Don't trickle down my neck and tell me it's raining!"

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:36 | 2171475 flacon
flacon's picture

> "If I work my butt off to earn some wealth then why should it trickle down to someone else who fails to earn it? "

 

You might find Peter Schiffi's book "How and economy grows and why it crashes" interesting. 

 

The answer is because of price deflation. For example if it costs $100,000 to build a new house, but you work your butt off making a factory to build "pre-fab" houses that cost only $50,000, that means that those who did not work their asses off only have to spend half as much as they would before. It's call "progress lifts everyone".

 

The reason why this doesn't work in today's world is because the bankers think price deflation is a bad thing, so they promise a 2% inflation in order to maintain "stable prices" (they are in effect sucking up all of the increased productivity through the use of monetary debasement). 

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:52 | 2171536 Max Hunter
Max Hunter's picture

I think the suicide bomber was actually sufficient for Friday Humor..

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:12 | 2171599 PrintingPress
PrintingPress's picture

You find Humor in such a serious potential terrorist act?!?!   What if the FBI wasn't there to encourage and provide him with fake munitions?  It could have been much worse had the FBI heros not been involved to bring this nut job down where he belongs in prison for the rest of his natural life.  

 

Natural life?  When are they going to start creating after life prison for the really bad eggs?  Or is that what we're using hell for these days?  Serious question!

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:13 | 2172007 Bansters-in-my-...
Bansters-in-my- feces's picture

@ PrintingPress....

Get off your knees Boy....

And wipe off your sticky chin,it looks dirty and whoreish

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:46 | 2172058 flacon
flacon's picture

I just have to figure out why last night I saw a DVD player at WalMart selling for $19.95. That's just a bit more than half an ounce of silver, or a small fleck of gold. In fact, there might even be more gold in the DVD player than the DVD player costs. I might have to buy them all up and melt them down just to get the raw materials out! Gresham's Law? :)

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 00:45 | 2172352 JW n FL
JW n FL's picture

 

Brady.. the reason to double tap.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 07:15 | 2172607 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

My only regret is that  I have but only one up arrow to give flacon.

Outstanding.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 09:01 | 2172685 AldousHuxley
AldousHuxley's picture

why bother with DVD players? toxic fumes from chinese plastic will probably give you lung cancer.

 

Try 1946 - 2012 Jefferson Nickels

Metal Composition:75% copper, 25% nickel.......$0.0556509 is the melt value for the 1946-2012 nickel on February 17, 2012.

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1946-2007-Jefferson-Nickel-Value.html

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 12:03 | 2172839 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

WTF were you doing at a Walmart?

Sun, 02/19/2012 - 03:11 | 2174435 foofoojin
foofoojin's picture

gold plating is down to 20 atoms thick. and only at the conectors to the chip. your looking at less then one cent.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:32 | 2172037 pods
pods's picture

Long way to go to catch a visa overstay?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:59 | 2172089 Snapperton
Snapperton's picture

Yeah and had they not been there to provide him with anything, he may have been a non-nut job productive citizen.  Silly FBI'zzles.

In retrospect, aren't the FBI'zzles the cell leaders here?  Who are the extremists?  Riddle me that you printingpress nut job.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 23:36 | 2172270 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

All da jerkz what gave ya red arrows have reading comprehension issues! :>D

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 09:41 | 2172713 Crummy
Crummy's picture

Am I the only one who finds it sad that 40 people failed miserably to comprehend the sarcasm in what they read from someone named PrintingPress?

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 10:22 | 2172743 carguym14
carguym14's picture

Well,two of us got it anyway......

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 12:07 | 2172848 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

I gave it a red because it's fucking tired sarcasm in a country gone full retard.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:20 | 2171604 economics1996
economics1996's picture
1981- recieved in taxes as a percent of GDP=19.6 1981 spent as a percent of GDP=22.2 Budget deficit as a percent of GDP=-2.6 1982 =19.2 1982=23.1 1982=-4.0 1983=17.5 1983=23.5 1983=-6.0 1984=17.3 1984=22.2 1984=-4.8 1985=17.7 1985=22.8 1985=-5.1 1986=17.5 1986=22.5 1986=-5.0 1987=18.4 1987=21.6 1987=-3.2 1988=18.2 1988=21.3 1988=-3.1 1989=18.4 1989=21.2 1989=-2.8

Ronald Reagan's record of "conservitive" spending.

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals

Table 1-3 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:24 | 2171637 economics1996
economics1996's picture

Reagan fooled millions of Republicans to this day who think he believed in his speeches.  Reagan is an example of a stooge up there giving a speech and the uneducated, ignorant masses gobbling it up while the elites fuck them in the ass.

To this day he is worshiped as a fiscal conservative, nothing could be further from the truth.  Jimmy Carter was more of a fiscal conservative than Reagan was.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:05 | 2171748 Xkwisetly Paneful
Xkwisetly Paneful's picture

No Reagan tax cuts, no technological revolution.

Spin till your head falls off and delude/pretend to yourself otherwise.

getting fukked in the ass hard existing in the top .00000001% of all time humanity

Trickle down is and always will be a complete failure, the obese, car and home owning US underclass labelled as "poverty stricken" is more an indication that stupid rules than any statement about trickling.

The US system sucks ass and had nothing to do with improving the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet!

the big centralized government agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:

  • creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
  • satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
  • augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
  • rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.

 

that would be you and the other obviously needs medication, I have a link that says I am the victim of a fascist oppressive wretched existence-oh but I live like royalty does elsewhere 1%ers around here.

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:00 | 2171871 rocker
rocker's picture

I feel the trickle down effect every day that I put gas in my car.

How much does a banker make off of gas when they buy super tankers of Oil and hold it offshore.   

It makes the heart warm to know that Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, and now the Koch Brothers are the middle men that are making 20 to 40 censt off of every gallon I buy.

I don't believe this is doing God's work.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:41 | 2171952 Conrad Murray
Conrad Murray's picture

Don't forget Barack Hussein Obama's role, bombing every country he can to not only use up VAST amounts of oil, but to also simultaneously raise the price of oil for his Wall Street masters.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:19 | 2172010 economics1996
economics1996's picture

For the record federal tax receipts increased 69% under Reagan, spending increased 76%.  His tax hikes were focused onto he middle class, Social Security from 13% to 15%, small business Social Security from 9% to 15%, SS receipts up 98% under Reagan, and numerous smaller taxes that impacted the middle class.

I am all for cutting the top tax rate to 28% but could the mother fucker do the same for the little guy?

Could he cut the federal government budget instead of talking shit to the ignorant masses?

Could he cut regulations instead of piling on more and talking shit to the uneducated masses?

He was a fucking clown for the inner circle jerk going on at the Federal Reserve, Wall Street, and Washington.

Not much different than Obama today, only difference was Reagan had the baby boomers working their ass off making a living, Obama has a bunch of imported 5th grade educated Mexicans he has to rely on.

 

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:52 | 2171961 Caviar Emptor
Caviar Emptor's picture

The theory: Supply-Side tax cuts will make "The Job Makers" richer, therefore they'll re-invest more and expand their supply-side capacity and create more jobs. This sets up a virtuous cycle as more jobs and income raises demand and feeds back to the supply-side as consumer spending increases, encouraging more production and expansion. 

 

The reality: Supply-side tax cuts resulted in more money bening plowed into passive investment and personal wealth items: capital gains are cheaper than business income. Making money in the "paper economy" became more profitable than the "real economy". When capital accumultes beyond a certain critical mass it Never gets depployed back into the real economy. It  goes into jewelry, art, yachts made in Germany, foreign sports cars, property in the South of France, Tuscan inns, fine wines,  dresses made in paris, shoes made in Florence, Asian electronics, and even drugs from all parts of the world. Parking money in every foreign bank, making sure your broker/dealer rips off smaller clients to your benefit (because he gets millons off you). Building giant mansions. 

Here were the fatal policy flaws that simply added fuel to the fire and ensured that supply-side tax cuts never were re-invested in the economy: offshoring facilitated by the "deal" with China, capital gains and dividend tax cuts, favorable treatment for financial sector firms (Hedgie Tax Cut), favorable treatment for LBO firms and vulture capitalism, repeal of Glass-Steagle and  tax increases for the little guy in 1986: repeal of the consumer loan interest and student loan interest deductions, a flatter more regressive bracket system and other hidden tax increases. 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:22 | 2172021 economics1996
economics1996's picture

Glass-Steagall was a 1933 payback to J.P. Morgan from the Democrats/Rockefeller in retaliation for the 1890 Sherman antitrust act.

Nothing but a political payback.  Less than 5% of the bank in the housing crisis were affected by the 1999 repeal.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 07:21 | 2172611 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

My only regret is that  I have but only one up arrow to give Caveat Emptor.

Outstanding.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:33 | 2173158 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

How much of a market did those "5% of banks" control, sparky?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:14 | 2172120 Xkwisetly Paneful
Xkwisetly Paneful's picture

Must have missed the supply side:

Double workforce buy adding women.

Watered down education to nothingness providing your citizenry little unique or valuable skills.

and that is just appetizers.

as if outsourcing was invented the last 10yrs and somehow the debt problem is a taxation issue.

 

 

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 00:46 | 2172353 Benjamin Simon
Benjamin Simon's picture

Now see here my good man, I dont see any reason for that kind of talk on a friday night. It's not as bad as all that. Lets keep it upbeat and bullish, walking arm in arm into a bright future!

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:39 | 2171949 frosty zoom
frosty zoom's picture

plus, he looked way better in sweaters.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:56 | 2171724 Fluffybunny
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If I work my butt off and earn wealth, the socialists want to force me to trickle it down through their redistributive schemes to those who fail to earn it.

 

I want to believe that is what he meant.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:23 | 2172025 economics1996
economics1996's picture

If you save or invest the money other people ARE using your money for THEIR benifit.  

Get it?

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:35 | 2173163 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

He wants to believe he "worked his butt off" irrespective of reality.

We're not talking about people who work at all...unless collecting coupons and dividends has been redefined as "work".

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:09 | 2171759 cranky-old-geezer
cranky-old-geezer's picture

 

 

The reason why this doesn't work in today's world is because the bankers think price deflation is a bad thing ...

Not any more after mark-to-market died.

Now they don't care what real world prices are.  They have asset value models they use to up-value assets that are declining in the real world,

Like homes for example.  Mortgages are still being carried on banks' books at 2007 highs yet real world market value has dropped 40% on average.

Plus they have the Fed pouring money into paper asset markets keeping them inflated, like MBS for example.

The whole game is rigged for bankers now.  The real world economy and real world prices don't matter anymore.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:22 | 2171785 flacon
flacon's picture

That is a very good point. Thanks!

And I thank God every day that in the end mathematics, especially the exponential function, is infallable, immutable, and uncorruptable.

 

Someone said it well that all corruption carries the seed of it's own demise - it is only a matter of time... perhaps March 20th will be a watershed moment; let's hope so. 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:59 | 2171874 Doña K
Doña K's picture

The problem is that even if there is a reset, the governing elite will find a way to cheat by using the congress of organized crime.

But... We hold the keys if we can educate everyone to live within their means. 1/4 for housing, 1/4 for food, 1/4 for taxes and fees and 1/4 to buy silver and gold on a monthly basis. Can we all do it? I am afraid that most Americans are into instant gratification.

Maybe after the reset, it can happen.   

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:44 | 2171955 flacon
flacon's picture

When gold and silver were real money (no debt money) nobody had to convince anyone to live within their means because when the gold/silver was gone, all the spending was gone too and starvation motivated people to go out and find their own means of sustinance instead of BORROWING what they had not earned with a "promise to repay, plus interest". Promises can be broken. 

 

But then along came DEBT.... and DEBT allowed people to spend more than their means. But debt always has to be paid back (and also WITH INTEREST). 

 

Abolish debt money!

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:34 | 2172044 economics1996
economics1996's picture

Nothing wrong with debt, if you use it judiciously. 

I think it was Schiff who used the example of drinking alcohol, its fun to get buzzed once in awhile, but if you drink everyday you’re a disgusting, irresponsible drunk.

It might have been another economist, not sure.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:17 | 2172127 flacon
flacon's picture

Debt is only advantageous when one uses it in such a way that the returns on borrowed money exceed the value of the money borrowed. It is never OK to charge interest on debt... a dividend is acceptable, but "money can not beget money" (usuary) - a dividend depends on the investment being profitable, interest on the other hand is the "pound of flesh" regardless if the venture is profitable or not. 

 

Borrowing money to spend on CONSUMPTION is wealth destruction, not wealth creation. ("I'm going to Disney Land, I put it all on my Credit Card!").

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:41 | 2172176 Milestones
Milestones's picture

Here, here!! Excellent post sir.           Milestones

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 23:01 | 2172201 Matt
Matt's picture

I think you are confused. If the money is invested and paid back as dividend, and the invested money is at risk with no guarantee of return, it is equity, NOT debt.

If you are proposing we switch to an "Equity only" model, that may be feasible. If you are suggesting we switch to a system where someone gets to decide if the money is being loaned for a productive or consumptive reason, I doubt people will go for such a subjective system.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 00:03 | 2172305 flacon
flacon's picture

If the money is invested and paid back as dividend, and the invested money is at risk with no guarantee of return, it is equity, NOT debt.

 

I agree, unless that money is conjured into existance by fractional reserve banking. 

 

 If you are suggesting we switch to a system where someone gets to decide if the money is being loaned for a productive or consumptive reason, I doubt people will go for such a subjective system.

 

The only person to decide what they do with their money should be the individual themselves. There is nothing wrong with wealth destruction. It's perfectly fine and a ligitimate use of one's wealth. But if that behaviour continues unabated then it might lead to a hungry stomach and nowhere to lay one's head at night. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact that is neither good nor bad, it just is... There is nothing wrong with being wealthy and there is nothing wrong with being poor. Nothing wrong with giving birth and nothing wrong with dieing. We all do it eventually. 

 

People should be FREE to CHOOSE the life they want to live, wheather rich or poor, saving or spending, producing or consuming, alive or dead. 


Sat, 02/18/2012 - 10:25 | 2172746 economics1996
economics1996's picture

I agree with 100% fractional reserve banking.  Typically in a free market banks loan out 79% and hold 21% as reserve. 

In the past the number ranged from 50% to 17% held in reserve, before the Federal Reserve. 

I am pointing this out so people know just how fucking crazy a 10% reserve requirement is today.  Even in the wild, wild, west days bankers were much more conservative than today.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:36 | 2173169 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Try 2%.

Sun, 02/19/2012 - 06:51 | 2174531 Kobe Beef
Kobe Beef's picture

rehypothecated.

Sun, 02/19/2012 - 10:02 | 2174639 Tegrat
Tegrat's picture

yeah...i went into hock years ago taking my few thousand in savings to buy rentals. Most rentals have paid themselves off. One sold in 2002 paid off two others. Last 10 years pure spendable income. Income producing debt. Nothing like using OPM to make a few extra a month for life. Def need to throw more back into repairs/maintenence but nothing like never having to go to the ATM for beer money....

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:53 | 2171968 gmrpeabody
gmrpeabody's picture

The 1/4 for taxes just might be a problem. Unless you are a tax recepient instead of a tax payer, 1/4 doesn't come close to covering fed, state, local, this license, that fee, property taxes (for the chillrun to lurn), sales tax, etc., etc., etc., oh, and don't even get started on medical.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:09 | 2172109 Dapper Dan
Dapper Dan's picture

I googled "march 20th" and this was 3rd on the list

Steak and Blow-job" Day

  www.minbu.connectfree.co.uk/holiday.htmCached - Similar You +1'd this publicly. Undo

March 20th is now officially "Steak & Blow-job Day." Every 14th of February you get the chance to display your fondness for your wife or girlfriend by showering

http://www.minbu.connectfree.co.uk/holiday.htm

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:27 | 2171921 Caviar Emptor
Caviar Emptor's picture

Trickle Me!

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:11 | 2172002 The Fonz...befo...
The Fonz...before shark jump's picture

Flacon well said

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:31 | 2172035 economics1996
economics1996's picture

We have a winner, student of the month....flacon.

 

Good job dude!

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:46 | 2172045 flacon
flacon's picture

Thanks. The trick is to see the invisible. Keynes saw it too:

 

"John Maynard Keynes quotes

By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."

 

Guess I'm just one in a million. Thanks to the internet it's more like one in a thousand nowadays. 

 

PS: I have never taken a single "university/establishtment" course in economics, which is partly why my mind is still able to comprehend common sense

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:03 | 2172098 economics1996
economics1996's picture

I got a new text book (for a class I am teaching) and had to read a chapter on fiscal aggregate demand.  It was 100% fictional bull shit, and it is taught to students as if it was gospel.  Very sad.

Schiff is a good teacher.  He knows his Austrian economics.

I do what I can to counter the crap in the books, Money, Sound and Unsound Money by Salerno is available for free.

I love Rothbard.  Gary North is probably my favorite living blogger, Dan Mitchell. 

There is so much available today that is not propaganda that was unimaginable 20 years ago.  I remember reading the Bell Curve and being shock it was available on book shelves.

Keep learning.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:10 | 2172110 flacon
flacon's picture

Here's one that should be turned into a nursery rhyme to be sung to newborns - although it's all just common sense:

 

Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics

Henry Hazlitt 

http://www.amazon.com/Economics-One-Lesson-Shortest-Understand/dp/0517548232/

 

Sun, 02/19/2012 - 06:51 | 2174532 Zero Debt
Zero Debt's picture

And then we told them that we must bail out the rich to help the poor. (hilarious laughter ensues)

Did they really fall for that one? (the room goes awkwardly silent)

Sure they did. (laughter, cheers)

And then we told them that gold is a barbarous relic! And that gold is overvalued and will go down! (laughter, cheers, golf clap)

Sir, please stop this madness, you are killing me! (chuckles, cheers, back slaps)

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 07:26 | 2172603 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

I toss my hat into the ring with those claiming that Keynes' views have been so bastardized via hijacking by modern economists (despite that Keynes was obviously not infallible; it's just that he was very bright, and may have gone off the rails a bit whenever he tried to impose economic theory upon what he deemed as social and economic injustice in the real world), that conventional Keynesianism bears little relationship or nexus to JM Keynes.

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:39 | 2171489 Cheesy Bastard
Cheesy Bastard's picture

What if there were no rhetorical questions?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:47 | 2171521 xela2200
xela2200's picture

What if 87.3% of all statistics were not made on the spot?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:30 | 2171658 Biosci
Biosci's picture

I question the precision of your made-up statistics.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:49 | 2171703 redpill
redpill's picture

It's the seasonal adjustment that's the problem

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:21 | 2171782 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

close enough for government work...

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:55 | 2171862 el Gallinazo
el Gallinazo's picture

When that expression was invented, it was a compliment.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:26 | 2172030 economics1996
economics1996's picture

Sarcastic asshole? 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:46 | 2172062 Cheesy Bastard
Cheesy Bastard's picture

Sorry, no, you're just a regular asshole.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:09 | 2172107 Yes_Questions
Yes_Questions's picture

 

 

and so rhetoric sublimates..

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:38 | 2172167 Cheesy Bastard
Cheesy Bastard's picture

Ouch.  Alas, this is fight club, but they may have mentioned the site you're thinking of in the first comment.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 10:27 | 2172749 economics1996
economics1996's picture

Seasonally adjusted?  Sarcastic asshole?  The stats are bs.

Get it asshole?

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 11:50 | 2172821 Cheesy Bastard
Cheesy Bastard's picture

I might have gotten it if that was the comment to which you replied.  I thought you were taking a swing at me, but since you weren't, I will apologize, give you a greenie on the bs stats, and move on. 

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 13:01 | 2172930 xela2200
xela2200's picture

I question the precision of your made-up statistics.

------------------

Then you are a terrorist.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:25 | 2171642 streetcrawler
streetcrawler's picture

So the wealthiest 1% have worked 200% harder than everyone else in the country? Becuase that is what their salaries have increased by comparitively. You might be naive in what "trickle down economics" was meant to do: give tax breaks to the very rich, and they would in turn invest in their businesses, give employees salary increases, etc. Instead they just invest it in hedge funds and only pay 15% income tax like Mitt Romney.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:11 | 2171765 Xkwisetly Paneful
Xkwisetly Paneful's picture

What do you call folks who live in the top 1% of the world's population and are envious of those in the 1% above them?

Stupid american self loathing imbeciles comes to mind.

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:31 | 2171810 Toolshed
Toolshed's picture

Food.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 12:13 | 2172854 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

Idiot bastard children.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:28 | 2172032 economics1996
economics1996's picture

If we had 100% fractional reserve banking and gold/silver reserves none of this shit would happen.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:19 | 2172135 Xkwisetly Paneful
Xkwisetly Paneful's picture

If there are no buyers there is no market.

Eliminate the stupid people who bought and you eliminate the market.

Oh can't eliminate the supposed professional money manager buying worthless financial instruments?

Can't elimiinate the problem.

If we had 100% reserve fractional currency, the capital would have been locked up in a closet somewhere and most of the advancement of civilization would not have happened. Fun to pretend otherwise though.

 

 

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:37 | 2173171 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Middle: excluded.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 09:26 | 2172701 hamurobby
hamurobby's picture

Yes but you cant buy votes with that system.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 23:05 | 2172207 Matt
Matt's picture

So the wealthiest 1% have worked 200% harder than everyone else in the country? Becuase that is what their salaries have increased by comparitively

I Think a better question to ask is, how much has productivity increased at the management level ( C Suite) versus how much has productivity increased at the common employee level?

I suggest that innovations in computer databases and availability of information, internet connectivity, etc. has likely had a far more profound impact on management than front line employees.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:48 | 2171697 Quinvarius
Quinvarius's picture

If the government gave you some free wealth in order for it to trickle down, where do you think they got it from in the first place?  Those same poor bastards they are saying you should let it trickle down to.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:29 | 2171808 VodkaInKrakow
VodkaInKrakow's picture

That was true with Reagan. He decreased taxes on the rich... and in that 1986 tax deal, and expanding the tax base by including more people who were not taxed, or taxed as much - the untermensch making 1/1000th of what the top .1% makes now.

You are correct, Quinvarius.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:05 | 2171880 el Gallinazo
el Gallinazo's picture

Yeah, the big payroll tax increase to protect social security which got dumped into a "lock box."  Only the bottom of the box was a conveyer belt to the MIC.  And now the money that Joe Bagodonuts pumped in there is soon to become an exorbortant entitlement (said with a sneer.)

 

Another caption to today's feature picture might be, "Let's call it a lockbox."

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:55 | 2172188 Matt
Matt's picture

Excluding the current collapse, say in 2007, was the average person better off or worse than in 1987? Did houses get smaller and fewer people have cars and vacations and smaller houses and less educated? Did their quality of food and water get worse?

Tue, 02/21/2012 - 11:02 | 2180779 dhengineer
dhengineer's picture

Did their overall level of debt increase?  Did the amount of interest paid on their savings go waaaaay down?

Tue, 02/21/2012 - 13:25 | 2181381 Matt
Matt's picture

If people chose to borrow more, than they got further into debt. That's how it works. Nobody forced them to borrow.

The decline in interest rates has more to do with the run-away inflation getting under control; the high interest rates were there temporarily. Nothing to do with tax cuts.

You are upset that people couldn't get as much money from compounding interest on debt; how do you feel about banks collecting compounding interest on debt? You cannot reasonably take both positions, that compounding interest on debt and high interest rates are great for savers, while demonizing banks for doing the same thing.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 23:06 | 2172211 Matt
Matt's picture

If the government gave you some free wealth in order for it to trickle down, where do you think they got it from in the first place?

Not quite. in this case, it is a matter of the government stealing less and having less to redistribute. I have simply been left with a larger chunk of the fruits of my own labour.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:21 | 2171784 granolageek
granolageek's picture

And you will tell me with a straight face that Dubya worked harder than a UAW machinist in Michigan?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:28 | 2171801 Toolshed
Toolshed's picture

It's real simple, rhetorically speaking. If the playing feild was level, than there would be no need for the "trickle down." But the playing feild is not level. Tax laws, monetary policy, financial rules and regulation, etc., etc., are all in favor of the wealthy elites. If you can't see this to be true, stop watching fox and listening to am talk radio and try and find some truth for a change.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:35 | 2171818 whoisjohngalt11
whoisjohngalt11's picture

You're being down voted here by all the Communist who hate achievers..Jus Sayin..

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:26 | 2173137 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

"Achievers"...lulz

You're a sycophantic bootlicking lackey with a shinebox who they pat on the head for being a good boy!

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:20 | 2171906 Advoc8tr
Advoc8tr's picture

The people at the top of the trickle down ponzi don't 'work' hard.  Making lots of money in no way reflects the 'difficulty' or 'skill' or 'physical hardship' of the work performed. In fact the exact opposite is generally true these days.

You could take any one of a large number of mid-level executives at any large coproration (or government) and comfortably put them in charge with zero negative effect on the performace of the organisation. 

The problem is that reward for effort, skill, kowledge is a fantasy.  The rewards go to the connected individuals who believe they are entitled to rule, subjegate and generally own your ass because of who they are not what they know or how good they are at doing it.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:33 | 2171934 Caviar Emptor
Caviar Emptor's picture

Making a million from a thousand: This is most difficult

Making ten million from one millon : This is inevitable

-Old Chinese Proverb

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:39 | 2173175 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Highly dependent on how long you're willing to take to make the million.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 11:05 | 2172774 engineertheeconomy
engineertheeconomy's picture

Dimaniac you fucking troll

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:10 | 2171366 Shizzmoney
Shizzmoney's picture

I swear that famous picture (like this one) has David Gergen in it, and it was filmed at Bohemian Grove. 

Overall, pretty lulzy

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:23 | 2171421 King_of_simpletons
King_of_simpletons's picture

There still exists a large number of people who believe in this "trickle down" theory. What's going on is the opposite. The fat cats are hoarding.

Tue, 02/21/2012 - 13:35 | 2181417 Matt
Matt's picture

Why do you think that is? Is it because they suddenly stopped enjoying making money, or is it because constant government intervention and especially uncertain future, created by the government and banks, makes investing the money into productive assets too risky?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:43 | 2171507 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

From Wiki

On 29 April 1945, the bodies of Mussolini, Petacci, and the other executed Fascists were loaded into a moving van and trucked south to Milan. There, at 3:00 am, they were dumped on the ground in the old Piazzale Loreto. The piazza had been renamed "Piazza Quindici Martiri" in honor of 15 anti-Fascists recently executed there.[122]

After being shot, kicked, and spat upon, the bodies were hung upside down on meathooks from the roof of an Esso gas station. The bodies were then stoned by civilians from below. This was done both to discourage any Fascists from continuing the fight and as an act of revenge for the hanging of many partisans in the same place by Axis authorities. The corpse of the deposed leader became subject to ridicule and abuse. Fascist loyalist Achille Starace was captured and sentenced to death and then taken to the Piazzale Loreto and shown the body of Mussolini. Starace, who once said of Mussolini "He is a god,"[123] saluted what was left of his leader just before he was shot. The body of Starace was subsequently strung up next to the body of Mussolini.

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:11 | 2171596 fuu
fuu's picture
When the fall is all there is, it matters.
Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:28 | 2171651 economics1996
economics1996's picture

Hang Zog bankers, five at a time, slow.  Let them kick a few minutes.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:26 | 2171646 candyman
Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:57 | 2171866 SILVERGEDDON
SILVERGEDDON's picture

" And, then he told me that equal opportunity also applied to paying taxes on MY real income ! I laughed so hard, I pooped my pants - then, and - just now - again ! "

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 13:51 | 2173059 _ConanTheLibert...
_ConanTheLibertarian_'s picture

.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 13:51 | 2173062 _ConanTheLibert...
_ConanTheLibertarian_'s picture

I had to giggle

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 17:13 | 2173584 FuentesElla23
FuentesElla23's picture

a best friend's mother-in-law makes $73 hourly on the computer. She has been laid off for 6 months but last month her income was $14399 just working on the computer for a few hours. Go to this web site and read more .... LazyCash9.com

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:08 | 2171341 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

Greenspan is out of camera range, but he had just said "trickle down means they'll be getting one giant golden shower, but they just don't know it yet," before farting in the general direction of flyover country.

 

Trickle down = Bernank's 'virtuous circle' theory of wealth creation =  Piss on You - YouTube

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:08 | 2171352 resurger
resurger's picture

Goldenshower and Snowball each other!

Bunch of fucking fags!

Have a nice weekend TIS and all ZH's

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:19 | 2171397 Comay Mierda
Comay Mierda's picture

they need some of that R Kelly Doo Doo Butter

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:18 | 2171617 Temporalist
Temporalist's picture

"What's all that chocolate on your face?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh7B7s3-pGs

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:26 | 2171437 duo
duo's picture

Trickle Down Economics is when diaper sales drop 20% and diaper rash ointment sales are up 20% (which happened last quarter).

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:46 | 2171519 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

@ TruthInSunshine,

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold. If everyone decided, for example, to convert all his bank deposits to silver or copper or any other good, and thereafter declined to accept checks as payment for goods, bank deposits would lose their purchasing power and government-created bank credit would be worthless as a claim on goods. The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves.

This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard."

--Alan Greenspan, Gold & Economic Freedom (1966)

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:55 | 2171722 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

1966.

What happened to ole' Alan Greenspan to disabuse him of such silly notions about 'real money' and confiscation of wealth through fractional reserve banking methods (and I mean the literal methods; see MODERN MONEY MECHANICS - as published by The Non-Federal Reserve-less Non-Bank under its own hand) between 1966 and the time he served on the Fed, ultimately rising to Chairmanship of that esteemed entity?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:09 | 2171761 Meta Fundamentalist
Meta Fundamentalist's picture

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
~ David Brin

 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:28 | 2171804 eddiebe
eddiebe's picture

And what a fucking weenie he turned out to be.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:31 | 2171659 krispkritter
krispkritter's picture

I think someone just reminded Buffet to 'shake twice'...somehow I don't think there's any 'gold' in the shower unless they're doing shots of Goldschlager...

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:08 | 2171347 blu
blu's picture

Biggest. Con. Evar.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:07 | 2171348 Seasmoke
Seasmoke's picture

and thats the way it was..........

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:07 | 2171349 alien-IQ
alien-IQ's picture

The caption should read "Wanted Dead or Alive".

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:26 | 2171799 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

It could have simply read... MONDALE

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:08 | 2171350 gimli
gimli's picture

And another joke --- 2 million Federally funded steam gatherers to be hired in 2012:

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The White House expects two million jobs will be created in 2012, slightly above the 1.8 million pace last year, according to Alan Krueger, the top White House economic adviser, on Friday. Krueger spoke to reporters as the White House economists released their annual Economic Report of the President. The administration expects the economy to continue to gather steam this year although the pace of the recovery will still be subdued given the after-effects of the debt and financial crisis. The White House said that uncertainty about government regulation is not holding back growth. This is a common argument of Republicans.  


Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:08 | 2171353 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Interesting close today. April 29th 2011 SPY closing high of 136.43. Spy today 136.42. I look forward to Tuesday with a big old short position.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:10 | 2171364 EscapeKey
EscapeKey's picture

You must be fucking crazy. No fucking way I'm going short, when liquid Ben stands by to covertly splooge the markets.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:16 | 2171375 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Your point is well taken and that is my first thought too. But I just think too many people are thinking that way and afraid to go short. So I put a short trade on today. I have to go with my gut on this one. Apple is starting to drag so that will help my case.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:32 | 2171459 CompassionateFascist
CompassionateFascist's picture

Stop playing the JewPonzi. Get out altogether. Real soon.  

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 12:41 | 2172902 TheSilverJournal
TheSilverJournal's picture

And get into what? Paper? No thanks.

TheSilverJournal.com

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 18:37 | 2173734 VisualCSharp
VisualCSharp's picture

Who says you need to get into anything, except improving your and your family's skillsets and ensuring you are all valuable members of society?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:35 | 2171470 Pennywise
Pennywise's picture

Closed out AAPL at 508 and change, net.  Some people called me stupid but I'm happy with my cash. 

This market is a goat rodeo.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:41 | 2171501 Gringo Viejo
Gringo Viejo's picture

BLASH baby! Smart move.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:46 | 2171520 TheSilverJournal
TheSilverJournal's picture

Bernanke's goal is to destroy the value of that cash.

TheSilverJournal.com

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:24 | 2171640 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

Pennies. Bulldozer.

That anyone would place any money in any market after Corzine successfully stole billions of safely segregated funds... well, all I can say is...

Really?

As for "happy with your cash," did you really withdraw it, or is it still riding in the system as a cash equivalent?

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 00:47 | 2172355 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

That'd be a goat blow out Window Rock way.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:22 | 2171787 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

Thank you for posting your position and date of execution; I always enjoy it when I get to come back later and laugh at you.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:37 | 2171945 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

That's okay. I'm a big boy, I can take it. It won't be the first and last time I'm wrong. But I win because I cut my losses quick and let my winners run. We shall see how Tuesday plays out. At least I'm not Robo pointing out moves after the fact.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:09 | 2171358 EscapeKey
EscapeKey's picture

Most of those would now be bankrupt, had it not been for the bailouts.

Bailouts = biggest capital injection to the upper class ever.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:13 | 2171377 GeneMarchbanks
GeneMarchbanks's picture

It was a last binge before a bankruptcy. I'm surprised it's lasted this long.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:09 | 2171361 meltdown
meltdown's picture

What's Cronkite laughing at? 

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:12 | 2171374 Alea Iactaest
Alea Iactaest's picture

If you can't spot the biggest fool in the room it's probably you...

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:14 | 2171381 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

You don''t think he wasn't paid handsomely for his roll in the play do you?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:53 | 2171969 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

upvote for the smirk your "roll in the play" line gave me. . . "role" as in part, "roll" as in dice. . .

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:50 | 2171852 Bam_Man
Bam_Man's picture

This photo was taken during Cronkite's March, 1981 "hail & farewell" at the White House. Reagan had just told a very dirty joke involving Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 20:55 | 2171976 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

. . . aaaaaaaaaand, boys will be boys. . .

(the joke's on. . . yeah.)

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 21:27 | 2172028 Bam_Man
Bam_Man's picture

Reagan would be shot by Hinckley outside the Washington Hilton 3 weeks later. Karma?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 23:39 | 2172275 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

So that explains what Bush 41 was laughing about... What about the rest?

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 00:51 | 2172357 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

a very dirty joke involving Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters.

Wait, was that one about a finger in a dyke?

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:10 | 2171363 1fortheroad
1fortheroad's picture

If you dont stand for something, you will fall for anything.

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 17:30 | 2171449 InconvenientCou...
InconvenientCounterParty's picture

have you considered a military career?

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 00:55 | 2172364 Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus's picture

Brown shoes don't make it - just ask Ernst Röhm.

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