Dollar stands on a precipice

FT ^ | January 2 2003 | ?

[Happy2BMe]

"God, I haven't seen a man so out of touch since LBJ."

In all fairness to Bush, we WERE attacked, weren't we?

(Or is America going to just bend over every time a 9/11 occurs?)

[MonroeDNA]

Ping!

[Soren]

The Federal Reserve was created in 1913. Read The Creature from Jekyll Island and you will understand what he means.

[hinckley buzzard]

Well...for many years, 1967 was used as a benchmark year ("1967 dollars") because the economy was just about ideal. And, we had a balanced budget in 1969, when Johnson was already history.

The economy was doing pretty well, although inflation was a stubborn worry back then, until the "oil shocks" of the early '70s tipped it toward recession.

The real economic collapse came after, during the Forgotten Administration, and yes required the actions of President Reagan and Fed Chairman Volker to straighten it out.

[hinckley buzzard]

I remember paying $1.39 for a gallon of gas in 1973. You need a little sense of history before launching such an ill-informed rant.

[Happy2BMe]

"By no means am I living a lavish lifestyle, but finally realize that I can live on a fraction of what I was living on before, work a lot less, with less stress and spend more time with my 4 kids."

~~~~~~~~~~

On their deathbed, no one ever wishes they had spent more time at the office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations! You have discovered that money is NOT the source of happiness. Many, many souls have gone to their grave thinking it was.

If you can manage to NOT have either a car payment or a house payment (both is of course much better), you can increase your living standard by at least 20%.

The vast majority of Americans have both a car payment (or two) and a house payment.

So who is getting rich? (Or should I say, who WAS getting rich?)

It is (was) the bankers, developers, speculators, and big-ticket vendors (cars).

The saying on the street is that if the "bottom falls out," everyone will be on the same floor. The average American household is in debt in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Yet, the entire world still is beating down the doors, jumping fences and swimming rivers in a mad frenzy to enjoy the priveledges of living in America.

[freeper12]

>>I don't. The Consumer Price Index since 1972 is up about 180%. The price of a barrel of oil in that same time is up 1500%!

That doesn't seem right...are you saying that a barrel of oil was only about $2 in 1972??

[boris]

"He sort of epitomizes a caricature of a conservative: an, elitist, white man who only cares about himself and his rich friends."

What is an elitist black man who only cares about himself and his rich friends?

How about an elitist black man who only cares about himself, his rich friends, and golf?

What about an elitist, white man who only cares about himself and not a fig for his friends?

===================

Nice word there: only. I suppose you have detected by extremely fine judgement that Bush cares nothing about the United States or his oath of office, but only about himself and his rich friends.

Would you prefer an elitist, white man who only cares about himself, his rich friends, and hates America (think Al Gore if you are having trouble forming an image).

Would it be OK if it were an elitist, white woman who only cares about herself and her rich friends (say, for instance, Hillary Clinton, spawn of Satan)?

--Boris

[PGalt]

That's what I am saying. Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/chron.html

[Lion's Cub]

Does anyone believe the government's phony inflation numbers?

Absolutely not--at least no one who has to do the weekly shopping. Even my paper towells have more than doubled in price in the last two years. Bread hasn't quite doubled yet, but it won't be long. The only reason we still live as well as we do is that I try not to buy things that aren't on sale. When something I use is on sale, I try to buy enough to last until the next sale.