Friday, January 22, 2010

Cheery reading.

Via that ever-bubbly source of feel-good news, SurvivalBlog, I got a link to a cheery little Forbes article entitled The Global Debt Bomb.

I'd really rather go read about the New Madrid fault again. It's not as scary.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tam,
Re: my rant. You're right and I offer a public apology.
YOF

perlhaqr said...

It would be really great if we could hire some people for this "running the government" gig whose primary motivation was to just. Fucking. Stop. Spending more money than we actually have.

Or, I'd even take them just repealing all the big and little laws that make it hard to run a business (such as the laws that make there no regulatory difference between driving [your] own boat across state lines once a year and running United Van Lines for a small company) and thereby loosen the reins on actually increasing that GDP figure some.

I mean, ideally, we'd get both, but that would require electing actual libertarians, and everyone knows those guys are just crazy, with their freedom and liberties and shit.

Joanna said...

Well aren't you just a ray of frickin' sunshine. XD

I can honestly say that I'm not afraid of economic catastrophe. I'm young, mobile, unattached and broke as shit to begin with. It probably won't be that much different.

Anonymous said...

The Forbes article is optimistic, with the overall tone being that something can and will be done to Save. Us. All.

What is being done and likely will continue to be done is more of what got us into this mess in the first place: More debt.

Joanna, you're only broke because you like it that way. The whole deal of capitalism is, "Find a need and fill it." 20% unemployment means 80% employment which means that over a hundred million working people have disposable income. Lotsa folks need something done, so figure out what's needed...

Stranger said...

For those who are interested in how bad it can get, go to shorpy.com and search for "depression." Pictures of a couple of kids I knew are up among them.

But Forbes is conservative. Unless you live in the Memphis area the next New Madrid earthquake will probably do less damage than the "debt bomb."

Stranger

Joanna said...

Joanna, you're only broke because you like it that way.

I'm broke because I have a job that pays for crap and a lot of debt, and I'm focusing on paying that down before I make any changes. Although I do like how it puts everything into sharp focus -- I'm much more driven to work towards a personal goal that will pay off in the long run.

Anonymous said...

I'd rather face the New Madrid fault straight up than the impending economic collapse. I'm almost to old for this to try and go around again.

PS... Happy Birthday this Sunday, hope you have a great time celebrating!

Gmac

Jenny said...

Wow... the "by country" chart is interesting... that *we* are on the little end is more than a little disturbing.

But you know, I wouldn't even have *that* much of a problem with a lot of this spending if it was going somewhere that would pay us back... if we knew Iraq would become a good trading partner, if all this "stimulus" BS was going to capital improvements that were actually *needed*, SBIR loans, R&D projects in energy and such.. it wouldn't be as efficient as free markets sure, but at least it wouldn't be an expensive mud pie...

*sigh*

I just want politicians who truly understand where the money comes from. I'll settle for that much these days.

Schmidt said...


I just want politicians who truly understand where the money comes from. I'll settle for that much these days.


Oh, they know. Out of Federal Reserve computer systems. That's why the deficit could've been that big...

Anonymous said...

Back when I had a job that didn't pay enough to suit me, I found ways to add to my billfold. For me, it was coins, guns and car repairs. Turned my hobbies into profit. Wound up netting more from those than from my day job.

Retired early...

Art

alath said...

iousathemovie.com

Worth a watch.