S
Smee
Guest
Wasn't the last economic collapse fun? Before anyone accuses this of being political, please read the entire post. It is not for or against any party, just observations of what lead to all the fun times we have had the last couple of years with all of the foreclosure mess, high unemployment and poor economic performance.
Does anyone remember when the throttle on the outboard motor in the cesspool got stuck? You know what I mean . . . when the scat hit the fan, so to speak?
Beginning in shortly before Katrina, speculators became heavily involved in oil trading (sound familiar yet?) and because of their "speculating" prices began to increase dramatically. In 2006 or 2007 (don't remember which), we saw $4.00/gallon gas for the first time, about the same time we began hearing about people who couldn't afford to pay their mortgages because they hadn't planned on having to face such expenses.
This was when the foreclosure mess got its start. As more and more foreclosed homes came onto the market, demand for new houses began to decline. When that happens, home builders begin getting laid off or fired because there is no work for them to do. Thus, not only does unemployment increase, but spending necessarily decreases as people have less and less disposable income. The ripple effect is why there is now almost 10% unemployment in this country, but let's go back to 2007.
Now, when one factors in the increases in fuel costs along with the decrease in spending in other areas, we were setting the stage for the financial collapse we saw two years ago.
Sure, during the year leading up to the presidential election of 2008 we did see fuel prices drop dramatically. Does anyone remember why? "Drill baby, drill!" became the cry of some in politics. Once the U.S. declared that they were going to boost domestic production, oil prices dropped almost overnight. I remember seeing gas in my town drop by almost $.30/gallon in a single day.
The problem was that the snowball was already rolling. The foolishness of allowing the speculators to push oil prices higher and higher had done its damage and there was no way for the lowering of fuel prices to ward off the coming collapse. It was destined to occur because of the weight of the building unemployment, the building foreclosure crisis, and the financial shenanigans carried on by some banks and financial institutions involved in the speculation that started us "rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell", as Merle Haggard would say.
We have yet to recover from that crisis. Unfortunately, like a crazy person, some feel that if they continue to do the same things that got us into this mess, somehow it will get us out. Wasn't it Einstein who defined insanity as, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?" Someone once told me he was a pretty smart guy.
BP was run by a bunch of ID10TS, but because of their folly, we told the speculators and the Arabs that we decided to pay them instead of drilling our own oil fields. The Arabs aren't stupid. Speculators will continue to puff up the market until the bubble bursts again. The Arabs would be stupid not to get all they can of the wealth of the Americans.
Every extra dollar spent on gas, is a dollar that cannot be spent on one's mortgage. Every extra dollar spent on gas is a dollar that cannot be spent on entertainment. Every extra dollar spent on gas is a dollar that cannot be spent on groceries. On the bright side though, every extra dollar spent on gas is a dollar our government can't send to China.
This country needs to get the fuel cost problem under control NOW, or the collapse of 2008 will look like simple child's play. We won't have to worry about bailing anyone out this time, as we've already spent trillions we don't have.
I just had to rant, because the stakes of everyone remaining passive in this matter are much too great.
This isn't democrat, this isn't republican.
It IS about using common sense. History from less than 5 years ago is repeating itself . . . are we too stupid to see it?
Does anyone remember when the throttle on the outboard motor in the cesspool got stuck? You know what I mean . . . when the scat hit the fan, so to speak?
Beginning in shortly before Katrina, speculators became heavily involved in oil trading (sound familiar yet?) and because of their "speculating" prices began to increase dramatically. In 2006 or 2007 (don't remember which), we saw $4.00/gallon gas for the first time, about the same time we began hearing about people who couldn't afford to pay their mortgages because they hadn't planned on having to face such expenses.
This was when the foreclosure mess got its start. As more and more foreclosed homes came onto the market, demand for new houses began to decline. When that happens, home builders begin getting laid off or fired because there is no work for them to do. Thus, not only does unemployment increase, but spending necessarily decreases as people have less and less disposable income. The ripple effect is why there is now almost 10% unemployment in this country, but let's go back to 2007.
Now, when one factors in the increases in fuel costs along with the decrease in spending in other areas, we were setting the stage for the financial collapse we saw two years ago.
Sure, during the year leading up to the presidential election of 2008 we did see fuel prices drop dramatically. Does anyone remember why? "Drill baby, drill!" became the cry of some in politics. Once the U.S. declared that they were going to boost domestic production, oil prices dropped almost overnight. I remember seeing gas in my town drop by almost $.30/gallon in a single day.
The problem was that the snowball was already rolling. The foolishness of allowing the speculators to push oil prices higher and higher had done its damage and there was no way for the lowering of fuel prices to ward off the coming collapse. It was destined to occur because of the weight of the building unemployment, the building foreclosure crisis, and the financial shenanigans carried on by some banks and financial institutions involved in the speculation that started us "rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell", as Merle Haggard would say.
We have yet to recover from that crisis. Unfortunately, like a crazy person, some feel that if they continue to do the same things that got us into this mess, somehow it will get us out. Wasn't it Einstein who defined insanity as, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?" Someone once told me he was a pretty smart guy.
BP was run by a bunch of ID10TS, but because of their folly, we told the speculators and the Arabs that we decided to pay them instead of drilling our own oil fields. The Arabs aren't stupid. Speculators will continue to puff up the market until the bubble bursts again. The Arabs would be stupid not to get all they can of the wealth of the Americans.
Every extra dollar spent on gas, is a dollar that cannot be spent on one's mortgage. Every extra dollar spent on gas is a dollar that cannot be spent on entertainment. Every extra dollar spent on gas is a dollar that cannot be spent on groceries. On the bright side though, every extra dollar spent on gas is a dollar our government can't send to China.
This country needs to get the fuel cost problem under control NOW, or the collapse of 2008 will look like simple child's play. We won't have to worry about bailing anyone out this time, as we've already spent trillions we don't have.
I just had to rant, because the stakes of everyone remaining passive in this matter are much too great.
This isn't democrat, this isn't republican.
It IS about using common sense. History from less than 5 years ago is repeating itself . . . are we too stupid to see it?
