The budget deficit of Japan's economy was more than twice the country's GDP (as of June 2010) before the current tsunami/nuclear crisis.
Most of the major European economies are struggling with massive debt.
The United States, UK, Europe, Japan...and so it goes...announcing that things can only get worse if austerity measures aren't introduced right away.
What conclusions can be drawn from what has been widespread and collective economic mismanagement? Could this be the end of Capitalism or is that Doomsday talk?
Economics experts predict conflicting views, but then most 'experts' disagree with each other anyway. However, austerity measures being pursued throughout the world will surely have a recessionary effect.
Less spending power in people's pockets = less to spend on goods and services = businesses and business turnover will suffer = tax revenues will fall and unemployment payments rise.
Japanese governments have been borrowing heavily since their economic bubble burst 20 years ago. Ongoing deficits have been shored up by issuing long-term government bonds which are now unsustainable. It is the same for the United States, UK, Europe etc.
So many countries in financial turmoil...why?
The problem seems to be not a failure of Capitalism as a philosophy, but more a failure of the reporting mechanisms that support governments with their collection and interpretation of economic data. That and poor decisions...buy now, pay later.
The impact of the economic news coming out of Japan, the UK and EU are a threat to economic and political stability. So far, we've seen very few civil protests by disaffected workers forced to accept cuts in their incomes. So far that is.
It may be that the airplane called Capitalism has been flying off course for so long that the collision no-one thought possible...running out of fuel and ditching in failure.
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
How do illegal immigrants actually harm?
Our society maintains an infrastructure of support to its citizens, paid by its citizens, earned by its citizens and defined by them. Whenever a non-citizen makes use of the infrastructure resources, it reduces the availability to those who rightfully deserve it.
Roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, social services, markets etc. are examples.
Your family is limited in its resources...how would an uninvited stranger living in your home, eating your food, using your electricity etc. affect your life? There is some degree of degradation to you in every aspect of your family's life by the presence of that stranger.
The degree of degradation of infrastructure resources, and the increased cost of the infrastructure, is significant in direct proportion to the number of illegal immigrants. 11-12 million illegals living within the 300 million persons in the United States may only be 3-4 percent nationally, but in some border areas that percentage is much much higher. Additionally the great majority of these require above average infrastructure support and contribute below average support for the infrastructure...medical care for example...making the effect more like 8-10 percent.
So take a 10% cut in your income and consider the impact.
Roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, social services, markets etc. are examples.
Your family is limited in its resources...how would an uninvited stranger living in your home, eating your food, using your electricity etc. affect your life? There is some degree of degradation to you in every aspect of your family's life by the presence of that stranger.
The degree of degradation of infrastructure resources, and the increased cost of the infrastructure, is significant in direct proportion to the number of illegal immigrants. 11-12 million illegals living within the 300 million persons in the United States may only be 3-4 percent nationally, but in some border areas that percentage is much much higher. Additionally the great majority of these require above average infrastructure support and contribute below average support for the infrastructure...medical care for example...making the effect more like 8-10 percent.
So take a 10% cut in your income and consider the impact.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
What has changed?
"Their concerns must be our cause," said President Barack Obama in his first speech to Congress on Feb. 24, 2009. To demonstrate the focus of the goals of his administration he physically presented three persons with real life concerns. This is where change would be made. Now a year later here are the results.
Leonard Abess (Banker)
distributed his $60 million payout on retirement as majority stakeholder in Miami's City National Bancshares among current and former employees, deciphering amounts based not on job title but on years of service. Some janitors received more than vice presidents.
"The risk here is that people are going to lose hope. I worry about what it does to our society, having people out of work for so long and struggling so hard to find work and getting into despair and things like that. People want to work and need to work. It goes beyond making a living. A lot of people are very scared, and they're starting to lose their spirit."
He once inspired hope but is now greatly depressed at Wall Street's behavior. He sees Wall Street bonuses, and says "Wait a minute! Didn't anybody learn their lesson? "
Bob Dixson (Mayor) Greensburg, Kansas
Tornado devastated 95% of city. Federal money spent to rebuild - $20 Million. Another $20 million from state and donations. Half the residents left. Small businesses initially interested in Greensburg have been unable to procure loans. "We think we're about ready to land a company and bring in some jobs, but then reality hits. They don't have the cash. They can't get a loan."
"We're just trying to fill in the town."
The only way to lure people back is with jobs and the only way to create jobs is by bringing in employers. But in the continuing recession, Greensburg's redevelopment seems unlikely. Town redevelopment cost todate equals $50,000 per remaining citizen, but they have no jobs to sustain living there.
Ty'Sheoma Bethea (8th grade student) Dillon, S.C.
112 year old J.V. Martin Junior High School's gym is a converted boxing arena with a leaky ceiling and a wooden floor that buckles and slopes. During his campaign Obama visited J.V. Martin twice...once spending two hours touring the decrepit old building. "He's getting us a new school," she said.
Architects and CEOs flew in from across the country to propose plans for a new school. Gone would be the condemned auditorium with busted-out windows, the cold classrooms in mobile trailers and the dirt playing fields surrounded by barbed-wire fencing. School officials contemplated a $55 million proposal. "We just wanted a working ceiling, and now we were talking about having the finest of this, the best of that." Dillon's unemployment rate is 18 percent. Its largest employer is a chicken processing plant that pays $9 an hour. All six of the town's schools remain in various stages of disrepair.
"There was a lot of smoke, a lot of talk about getting a new J.V. Martin, but it's just gone nowhere," the mayor said.
The only stimulus money that arrived has gone to road resurfacing. The city struggled to procure a substantial loan in an unstable economy. With no immediate funding, CEOs stopped touring J.V. Martin, and architects moved on to other projects. The superintendent of school's budget will be cut by 15 percent next year, so that means slashing administration jobs, furlough teachers and no substitutes.
The basic information used in the above article was taken from an article written by Washington Post Staff Writer Eli Saslow and published on 26 January 2010.
Leonard Abess (Banker)
distributed his $60 million payout on retirement as majority stakeholder in Miami's City National Bancshares among current and former employees, deciphering amounts based not on job title but on years of service. Some janitors received more than vice presidents.
"The risk here is that people are going to lose hope. I worry about what it does to our society, having people out of work for so long and struggling so hard to find work and getting into despair and things like that. People want to work and need to work. It goes beyond making a living. A lot of people are very scared, and they're starting to lose their spirit."
He once inspired hope but is now greatly depressed at Wall Street's behavior. He sees Wall Street bonuses, and says "Wait a minute! Didn't anybody learn their lesson? "
Bob Dixson (Mayor) Greensburg, Kansas
Tornado devastated 95% of city. Federal money spent to rebuild - $20 Million. Another $20 million from state and donations. Half the residents left. Small businesses initially interested in Greensburg have been unable to procure loans. "We think we're about ready to land a company and bring in some jobs, but then reality hits. They don't have the cash. They can't get a loan."
"We're just trying to fill in the town."
The only way to lure people back is with jobs and the only way to create jobs is by bringing in employers. But in the continuing recession, Greensburg's redevelopment seems unlikely. Town redevelopment cost todate equals $50,000 per remaining citizen, but they have no jobs to sustain living there.
Ty'Sheoma Bethea (8th grade student) Dillon, S.C.
112 year old J.V. Martin Junior High School's gym is a converted boxing arena with a leaky ceiling and a wooden floor that buckles and slopes. During his campaign Obama visited J.V. Martin twice...once spending two hours touring the decrepit old building. "He's getting us a new school," she said.
Architects and CEOs flew in from across the country to propose plans for a new school. Gone would be the condemned auditorium with busted-out windows, the cold classrooms in mobile trailers and the dirt playing fields surrounded by barbed-wire fencing. School officials contemplated a $55 million proposal. "We just wanted a working ceiling, and now we were talking about having the finest of this, the best of that." Dillon's unemployment rate is 18 percent. Its largest employer is a chicken processing plant that pays $9 an hour. All six of the town's schools remain in various stages of disrepair.
"There was a lot of smoke, a lot of talk about getting a new J.V. Martin, but it's just gone nowhere," the mayor said.
The only stimulus money that arrived has gone to road resurfacing. The city struggled to procure a substantial loan in an unstable economy. With no immediate funding, CEOs stopped touring J.V. Martin, and architects moved on to other projects. The superintendent of school's budget will be cut by 15 percent next year, so that means slashing administration jobs, furlough teachers and no substitutes.
The basic information used in the above article was taken from an article written by Washington Post Staff Writer Eli Saslow and published on 26 January 2010.
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