Depression? Is it coming?

[sundance]

Try living on SSA in these days Yes we are in a RECESSION, and it will not get any better.

marrie

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
Don't get me started.
They want us, the common person, to go green. They have no intentions of giving up private jets, tour buses, excessive lawns, etc.
I read a report on the worst celebrity offenders, and wouldn't you know it? Almost all of them are "greenies". More like hypocrites!

 

[happyhen]

Shop the perimeters of the grocery? I do, but then can't afford the toilet paper on the "inner"aisles.

Any suggestions? What do you use?

I also make my own pasta, noodles, breads, ketchup, pickles, yogurt and cheese, buy in bulk, have a garden (30x26 on a typical suburban lot), chickens, DH and DS hunt and fish, I freeze and can.

 

[CrowinKing]

I think it is a 50/50 blame here we've become so used to having luxury items that most depend on them, I have a cell phone. And depend on that cell phone to do some of my side job. I drive a truck cause I need a truck Ya can't haul dirt, garbage, etc. in a car!!!! Most people have to realize that were not in the 70's 80's 90's so technology is changing, the world is changing! I buy a lot of stuff online so I don't have to drive as much!! I have chickens I raise my own beef I try to stay as self relying as possible and me and my wife have good paying jobs and side jobs and still are having trouble getting by! The government needs to set the oil companies straight! Its sad the economy is so dependent on gas, heating oil, diesel, etc. and the oil companies no it so now there gonna tighten there grip up!! When gas first went up they said it was because of the katrina hurricane, then it was the pipe line in Alaska they keep coming up with excuses to keep the price high.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

Quote:
Get rid of all those dogs and that SSA check will go farther.

 

[Carolina Chicken Man]

Well this is an interesting thread.

Are we in a recession? We will not know for six months or so. A recession is two quarters of negative growth. We never know we are in a recession officially until it is almost over.

I know we all feel that it is definitely getting tougher out there. It seems more like stagflation, something we haven't experienced since the 70's. Slowing economic growth at the same time as rising prices. Rising prices (inflation) is usually caused be rising economic growth, or an overheating economy. The current increase in prices is being driven by oil, not fast economic growth. It's external, so there is nothing the government can really do about it, at least in the short term.

As far as gas prices, well we are getting the gas prices we deserve. It was kind of funny to me, President Bush going to Saudi Arabia begging them to increase oil production. Charles Shumer, the other Senator from NY, wants to penalize the Saudis, by not selling them a billion dollars worth of arms unless they increase their oil production by 1 million barrels a day. This is the way I see that, we don't want to pump our own oil out of the ground, ie the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, and 85% of our off shore reserves, because we want to preserve our pristine wilderness and we don't want anybodys fat a-- sitting on the beach to see an off shore rig. No, we want you to pump more of your oil to decrease its value because that would be better for us. Oh, by the way, we can't live within our means either, please keep loaning our money we give your for oil, back to us please. Charles Shumer, voted against drilling in the Artic Wildlife Preserve, but now he wants to blame the Saudis for our problems.

Remember when GM came out with the new brand the Geo, back in the early 90's. Geo Metro, got 50 mpg. They went out of business because nobody wanted small cars that were good on gas. The market is taking care of that now, people are buy old Metros with a blue book value of $1000 fixing them up, and selling them for $7,000. Meanwhile, you can't give away a SUV. I'm sure Hummer isn't doing very well either.

Gas prices will not be going back down to $1.50 per gallon, ever. The biggest cause of the current situaltion with gas, is the rising demand in China and India. We've been guzzling gas for years, and now their economies are growing and their developing middle classses want cars too. That is the bulk of the current rise, I'd say to around$3.00 per gallon. From $3-$4, that's just speculators driving up the price to make a buck. They will get there's soon though.

I may sound like a pessimist, actually I'm quite the optimist. We put a man on the moon, we can produce a car that will get 60 mpg, and it will not be a hybrid. The market is creating the demand.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

Quote:
why would you want the govt messing about in private business' operations? hello fidel

 

[happyhen]

Well said Carolina Chicken Man!

 

[DuckyBoys]

Quote:
I think Michagin has been a depressed state for a very long time regardless of what's going on with the rest of the country.

****************

I'm not sure "government denying a recession" is accurate because strictly speaking what is happening doe NOT qualify as a recession yet.

Oil companies...hmmm here we go again. I don't buy the let's blame the oil companies rant. How about lets blame people who live on too much credit and then can't pay it back? Or how about we blame people who bought a house they could never afford...I mean we could blame LOTS of people....but what is the POINT? Does it make people feel better to blame it on the President or the oil companies or their neighbor or their banker or the auto industry?

I find it interesting that people like to dwell in the negative like this - ??? How many threads are there now on this topic??? I realize people are hurting..but seriously this negativity and complaining is what is depressing.

Life has ups and downs, people need to learn to roll with the punches and save for a rainy day.

I don't see anything positive about complaining.

 

[nautical_bouy]

You can thank EPA and government for much of the gas prices.
We have not built a single refinery in about 30 years, in Warren PA, United Refining has been trying to jump thru all the red tape to build a 750 MILLION dollar coker, we don't have the refining ability to fuel the 2 car homes, and the EPA is not letting anyone build or expand them.

Finally we are building new nuclear plants,,, in the last 10 years mostly we have built gas and oil fired turbine peaker units for electric, here comes the supply and demand, if a utility wants 5,000,000 gallons of heating oil for a turbine plant,,, do you think the oil company cares about a ma and pa heating oil company that wants 25,000 gallons to sell for home heating? It's the same with natural gas.

It wouldn't matter if the Great Lakes were filled with crude, we cannot refine to meet the wants of this country,,