What would you do to revive the US economy?

[MonacoMike]

So, when you make decision to vote, ask yourself, who understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn't? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of saving your job. While the media wants to tell you "It's the economy Stupid" I'm telling you it isn't.

If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever.

I remember having similar thoughts every time I wrote out a "quarterly", or, the "accountant's" check........and the hottest topic in a presidential debate was "gay rights" or some other subject that seemed to me to be coming from the moon.........like, does anyone care about these insane tax codes and needless paperwork?????

Like Hannity says:"Rich people hire people. Anyone here ever worked for a poor person?". Many, even so called, educated, people cannot see their own vested interests as they are brainwashed in college, blinded by the media. and harried by our fast paced society. Troubling further is both sets of people in the video Four Suns posted, will vote to "save the environment" while the country burns down. Not that a clean planet is not important, but living is THE TOP priority. MM

 

[AKBASSKING]

Simple really. Eliminate speculation on oil, announce we will start an agressive oil drilling policy and build some new refineries. This would have an immediate affect on the price and drive it down allowing for more cash in everyone's pocket and reduce the price of everything from boat parts to food in the stores..

Then work on taxes etc etc etc..............

 

[MonacoMike]

That attitude, coupled with the banks' willingness to loan money to anyone with a pulse, got us into the mortgage mess we're now in.

I agree with the main points, but want to add: I'm not a defender of banks, particularly big banks, but they were coerced by the Federal Government to loan to almost all comers in housing, or they might be audited in several ways including "Fair Housing", be turned down on merger application etc, or have SEC issues. Who wants to fight that when they can go along with crony capitalism. MM

 

[MonacoMike]

Simple really. Eliminate speculation on oil, announce we will start an agressive oil drilling policy and build some new refineries. This would have an immediate affect on the price and drive it down allowing for more cash in everyone's pocket and reduce the price of everything from boat parts to food in the stores..

Then work on taxes etc etc etc..............

All that is good, except the "speculation" part. Lets study markets and the affects of government meddling in them. Speculation keeps prices stable and less volatile than if there was no speculation. If you think gas or diesel will be $5 next year you should be stopped from buying now at a price you think is good and forced to buy when it is higher next year? And many here always infer that "speculators" make fortunes at the little guys expense. Many do not make ANYTHING if they guess wrong on the market. If it is such a sure thing you should join an oil speculation fund and invest ALL your money immediately. Let me know how that works out for you. MM

These comments are not directed to any one person but to all who are anti-speculation.

Some reading material and examples of Government intervention in market speculation from John Stossel:

"If Sanders and other economic illiterates get their way, we'll have new laws banning "speculation." That will raise prices further. Don't believe me? Think back to a previous time when a Senate committee said that "speculative activity causes severe and unwarranted fluctuations in the price. ..." That was in 1958, when people got upset about the price of onions. Fools in Congress addressed that problem by banning speculation on onion prices.
The result? A Financial Times analysis found that the ban made prices less stable. This year, the retail price of onions rose more than the price of gasoline -- 36 versus 24 percent. Most years, the price of onions fluctuates more than other goods. No mystery there. Speculators help keep prices stable. When they foresee a future oil shortage -- that is, when prices are lower than anticipated in the future -- speculators buy lots of it, store it and then sell it when the shortage hits. They know they can charge more when there's relatively little oil on the market. But their selling during the shortage brings prices down from what they would have been had speculators not acted.
Speculators are like the ants in Aesop's "Ants and the Grasshopper" fable: They save resources for lean times. Everyone benefits because everyone has a chance to buy from them in those lean times.
Speculators don't "artificially jack up the price of oil" -- they take risks. Those who guess wrong lose a lot of money.
Historically, speculators have been convenient scapegoats, and they have suffered greatly for it. So have the rest of us."

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2011/05/04/gasoline_and_onions/page/full/

 

[rcknecht]

For those that can't read... here's a video:

[video=youtube;BXRjmyJFzrU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXRjmyJFzrU[/video]

This movie was depressing, funny, and probably close to the truth, if nothing changes... I think its called Dysteria... Europe haas a negative population growth and if it was not for the immigrants to the US we would also have a negative population growth.

So the answer is, if you can't beat them, join them... Start having more child, you smart people...

 

[AKBASSKING]

All that is good, except the "speculation" part. Lets study markets and the affects of government meddling in them. Speculation keeps prices stable and less volatile than if there was no speculation. If you think gas or diesel will be $5 next year you should be stopped from buying now at a price you think is good and forced to buy when it is higher next year? And many here always infer that "speculators" make fortunes at the little guys expense. Many do not make ANYTHING if they guess wrong on the market. If it is such a sure thing you should join an oil speculation fund and invest ALL your money immediately. Let me know how that works out for you. MM

Do you speculate in oil MM? We don't have a supply and demand issue with oil. In fact it topped $100 again today. so if you are in oil, you may have made some $$$.

In the past when speculation was stopped stability was also not an issue.

One fact for sure, when spectulators are out of the picture in oil, fuel prices tend to go down almost immediatly and my wallet is a little fatter..........

 

[MonacoMike]

Do you speculate in oil MM? We don't have a supply and demand issue with oil. In fact it topped $100 again today. so if you are in oil, you may have made some $$$.

In the past when speculation was stopped stability was also not an issue.

One fact for sure, when speculators are out of the picture in oil, fuel prices tend to go down almost immediately and my wallet is a little fatter..........

No, I wish I had play money to do risky stuff like that.

"We do do not have a supply demand issue with oil?" What runs the oil market then?

'One fact for sure, when speculators are out of the picture in oil, fuel prices tend to go down almost immediately" Could you point to when the the oil market had a no speculation regulation? I know of no such and therefore the point is not a "fact".

MM

 

[Pack66Dad]

 

[MonacoMike]

View attachment 22239

Wealth is not a foregone conclusion of hard work. MM

 

[Woody]

Wealth is not a foregone conclusion of hard work. MM

Yes you are correct and I suspect being in the lower 50% of income earners, on food stamps or unemployment because they are all lazy and of inferior intelligence shouldn't be one either. Hard to tell that sometimes by some of the commentary in these threads.

 

[Pack66Dad]

Yes you are correct and I suspect being in the lower 50% of income earners, on food stamps or unemployment because they are all lazy and of inferior intelligence shouldn't be one either. Hard to tell that sometimes by some of the commentary in these threads.

Thanks Woody, my point exactly.

 

[MonacoMike]

Yes you are correct and I suspect being in the lower 50% of income earners, on food stamps or unemployment because they are all lazy and of inferior intelligence shouldn't be one either. Hard to tell that sometimes by some of the commentary in these threads.

Point made. In a forum like this it is easy to paint with to broad a brush. It is also easy to find examples that make folks prone to stereotype. MM

 

[AKBASSKING]

No, I wish I had play money to do risky stuff like that.

"We do do not have a supply demand issue with oil?" What runs the oil market then?

What I meant here the price of oil right now is more about speculation than supply and demand. There is now more supply while demand is down, yet the price continues to increase.

'One fact for sure, when speculators are out of the picture in oil, fuel prices tend to go down almost immediately

" Could you point to when the the oil market had a no speculation regulation? I know of no such and therefore the point is not a "fact". MM

Off the top of my head I think Reagan and Clinton had a law in place eliminating speculation on oil futures. I think..........

 

[CROSE]

Like Hannity says:"Rich people hire people. Anyone here ever worked for a poor person?". MM

Wait a minute, didn't Herman Cain allegedly try to get a job from an unemployed woman? :wow:

 

[MonacoMike]

What I meant here the price of oil right now is more about speculation than supply and demand. There is now more supply while demand is down, yet the price continues to increase.

It is all about supply and demand, I agree we are not experiencing shortages, but oil prices have fallen since April and have been stagnant until a little uptick recently. So the price cannot "continues to increase". Yes it is true that as speculators buy the price will go up, but it is just as true that when they sell it goes down so it is a net equal and stops the price from going higher. Did you read the article? Did it make sense to you? MM


http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=crude-oil

 

[Ka1oxd]

One point about oil speculation. Back in the 50's the "drill baby drill" worked. Oil has been traded on the commodities market since the late 18th century. But is was the change that occurred in 1993 CFTC rule change that let noncommercial traders (investment banks like Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs through its subsidiary J Aron) into the oil markets. That is when oil started not to follow supply and demand nor the stock markets. It is now driven on fear.

 

[MonacoMike]

One point about oil speculation. Back in the 50's the "drill baby drill" worked. Oil has been traded on the commodities market since the late 18th century. But is was the change that occurred in 1993 CFTC rule change that let noncommercial traders (investment banks like Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs through its subsidiary J Aron) into the oil markets. That is when oil started not to follow supply and demand nor the stock markets. It is now driven on fear.

Yes, fear of a shortage, Stossel says: "No mystery there. Speculators help keep prices stable. When they foresee a future oil shortage -- that is, when prices are lower than anticipated in the future -- speculators buy lots of it, store it and then sell it when the shortage hits. They know they can charge more when there's relatively little oil on the market. But their selling during the shortage brings prices down from what they would have been had speculators not acted.
Speculators are like the ants in Aesop's "Ants and the Grasshopper" fable: They save resources for lean times. Everyone benefits because everyone has a chance to buy from them in those lean times.
Speculators don't "artificially jack up the price of oil" -- they take risks. Those who guess wrong lose a lot of money." MM

 

[Woody]

Look what happened in '07-'08, demand increased along with production, the supply/demand equation had balance, but still the price of oil nearly tripled during that same period before it suddenly fell to $40/bl, which is probably where supply/demand dictate it should have been all along anyway. I can’t help but get a sense of manipulation, especially knowing some of the bigger speculators are the oil companies themselves.

 

[MonacoMike]

Are you union boys paying attention while Obama turns away thousand of skilled trade jobs and a source of oil to appease the environmental Hollywood types? MM

[h=3]By DANIEL HENNINGER, WSJ[/h]

"The decision by the Obama administration to "delay" building the Keystone XL pipeline is a watershed moment in American politics. The implication of a policy choice rarely gets more stark than this. Put simply: Why should any blue-collar worker who isn't hooked for life to a public budget vote for Barack Obama next year?

Within days of the Keystone decision, Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, said his country would divert sales of the Keystone-intended oil to Asia. Translation: Those lost American blue-collar pipeline jobs are disappearing into the Asian sun. Incidentally, Mr. Harper has said he wants to turn Canada into an energy "superpower," exploiting its oil, gas and hydroelectric resources. Meanwhile, the American president shores up his environmental base in Hollywood and on campus. Perhaps our blue-collar work force should consider emigrating to Canada."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204323904577040430486060086.html

 

[CV-23]

SSI should be for Seniors only! Sorry kids and alcohol and drug addicts....you didn't pay in enough yet, if any, to draw from the fund. I think that would be a start, Mike.