Had enough of obamanomics?

[BigRob]

I don't think I agree with that. Today, what we see is ONLY run ups. . .without the speculators, maybe the prices would be less stables. . . less stables with upward trends!

We would actually have a chance to see some DOWNWARD trends. . .even for just a few days or weeks!

We do see downward movement. Just a month or so ago when 60 million barrels of oil were released onto the market, we saw a dramatic decline in the price of oil in a very short time, even though 60 million barrels is nothing and in terms of supply and demand and is almost meaningless.

 

[Lagboltz]

To be the President means to be Supreme Leader and Inspirator. I've posted in the past that we have never heard the kind of speech that a football coach might give to pep up his team. Here is a quote from FDR:
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He would have difficulty even participating in this forum! But he might learn some things he needs to know.

A rather inspiring post. One problem I see with American politics is that too many that are elected are lawyers, entertainers, and military brass. We need more elected officials that are versed in macroeconomics. Most of those that are elected to run the government are not statesmen but those that have skills in defiling their opponents using dirty ad campaigns. And the people buy it.

 

[BigRob]

A rather inspiring post. One problem I see with American politics is that too many that are elected are lawyers, entertainers, and military brass. We need more elected officials that are versed in macroeconomics. Most of those that are elected to run the government are not statesmen but those that have skills in defiling their opponents using dirty ad campaigns. And the people buy it.

I think part of the problem is that politicians are not paid enough. For example, take a look at a State Representative in Texas. They are paid $600 a month (plus a per diem etc, but their pay is hardly anything to write home about).

If you look at the average job, you have to either own your own business that can go on cruise control while you go away for months to do the session, or be a lawyer or other independently wealthy person that can afford to simply not work for 6 months (or whatever the session length may be) and serve in elected office.

 

[Lagboltz]

I think part of the problem is that politicians are not paid enough. For example, take a look at a State Representative in Texas. They are paid $600 a month (plus a per diem etc, but their pay is hardly anything to write home about).

If you look at the average job, you have to either own your own business that can go on cruise control while you go away for months to do the session, or be a lawyer or other independently wealthy person that can afford to simply not work for 6 months (or whatever the session length may be) and serve in elected office.

Also going through interminable campaigns takes a toll too. It's hard to say what would bring a higher quality of politicians. A stint as a state rep has little guarantee in job security, but it is a great avenue for networking and would certainly look good on a resume for future potential.

Many during a campaign unlawfully use campaign funds and credit cards for personal use. At a low salary there are many temptations.

In Florida Ray Sansom got millions of extra dollars to a Florida college, and on the same day he was elected speaker, he accepted an unadvertised $110,000 job at that same college. He was indicted and lost both jobs.

 

[Hobo1]

Speculators do effect the price (to an extent), but they also make price swings far less volatile. If you truly tried price to supply and demand and eliminated speculation from the market (which is really just private parties entering into agreements) then you would see huge overnight price changes instead of gradual run ups etc.

I can see that might be true in something like the housing market with face to face negotations, and the seller needing money and a speculator recognizes a good deal.

But in large, diverse markets such as oil, the speculators play games with the price - often at the expense of the amateur investor. For example, take the massive and sudden run up in oil prices when the Libya war began. If everybody had to wait a week between trades, then I believe the mob mentality which temporarily ran up the market would not have happened.

Speculators make money when the market makes frequent and large swings. They could care less what the fundamental value of the commodity really is. They look at every opportunity to create panic - and the business news programs encourage this panic.

 

[Hobo1]

Not a major one for sure. However, to say it plays no role is kind of simplistic. Human traffickers smuggle in cheap labor here in the US to work in "sweat mills", not just as prositutes. In the cacao fields of Africa children are kidnapped, and sold as slaves, to pick the beans necessary for the production of cocoa. The American corporations that buy this product turn a blind eye to the problem since it keeps the cost of their chocoltes down, an decreases profits. If it were not such a problem the US would not have had to pass laws against it in recent years.

I think we can both agree human trafficking is a horrible crime and should be stopped. I don't have any statistics, I just think it is not a major factor in macro economics.

So, you are saying the American worker should accept the lower standards of the rest of the world, corporations should be allowed to dump their industrial waste in waterways, pollute the air, and generally speaking just be allowed to do as they please for the sake of profit.

No, I was just making a point that other factors contribute to American competitiveness than cheap foreign labor.

The corporations are thriving, the people are little better off. One o fth ehings that is often ignored is that the corporation is allowed to declare their losses in those countries here in the US thus lowering the tax liability. Then they are allowed to declare their proifts here in the US in the other countries to avoid taxation on those profits. That is one way GE was able to pay no taxes. It also accounts for the idea that corporations make 50-80% of their profits overseas which is questionable considering the poverty there.

No question in my mind that multinational corporations use many accounting techniques which to avoid paying taxes in the US. Individuals can do the same thing by opening an overseas bank account in a country with no taxes. The money just builds up in a foreign bank tax free. The tax code was written for the 20th century. High speed, secure communication allows people/ corporations to move money all over the world quickly and easily. Hence avoiding any tax liability.