This is good stuff.
Call ’em what ya want, but businessmen are good at business. Usually that is. See, the system tends to flush the poor ones out. Now, to be sure, there are exceptions, even notable ones. And there are even cases where men and women have done well for a very long time only to stumble later on.
Say what’cha will. But one thing is for sure. Business is in the business of making money. And for all of us, that is a most wonderful thing.
That is the thing that brings us I-Pods, Phones and Pads.
This is what gives us blueberries in January and corn on the cob in April. French wine, Swiss chocolate and German sausage all in one safe well lit air conditioned warehouse.
But I digress. These people are in it to win it. And God help the man that gets in the way of that.
Posted in Economy, Politics: National
Tagged Barack Obama, Leftist, Liberal, Socialist, Steve Wynn
Barack Obama has refined the art of turned profit making into an evil horrible endeavor.
If you are a bank that makes money, you are the evil rich taking advantage of middle class America, who is suffering through the worst recession since the flood.
Oil company? Corporate greed destroying the planet all the while taking billions in tax payer money to fund their record breaking profits*.
It never ends. Well, actually, it does. It ends when Obama actually LIKE a company and would enjoy that company to reap profits. Like windmill farms, battery corporations and other green firms that go bankrupt in months after Obama comes calling.
After the recession ended and the banks began to report their earnings, Obama was on the news reporting their profits. “Record breaking and excessive.”
I expect that he’ll be on the same bully pulpit expressing concern for our brothers on Wall Street:
Bank of America reported a second-quarter net loss of $8.8 billion, or 90 cents a share, against a profit of $3.1 billion, or 27 cents a year ago. Economists had forecast a loss of 85 cents a share.
$8.8 billion. That’s “illion” with a “B”!
I don’t expect Obama to announce this or perhaps even notice this. But I find it interesting and even irritating that he continues class warfare even as that class he hates drives, or tries to drive, our economy.
Posted in Economics, Economy, Politics: National
Tagged Banks, Barack Obama, Class Warfare, Loss, Profit
This just in from CBSNews:
Over to our correspondent’s desk in Raleigh for related news:
100% of Pino children polled Disapprove of the Parents handling of the “Veggies for Dinner Crisis”.
Back to you….
Hat Tip SkyDancingBlog
Posted in Economy, Fun, Government, Politics: National
Tagged Barack Obama, Debt Limit, Democrat, Republican
My last post in this space demonstrated that the Middle Class in America has gotten larger, not smaller, over time.
I made the point that more and more people are making more and more money even as we keep the dollar values locked into 2008 values:
In 1967 [earliest data available] 83.7% of the families in America made less than $75,000 in constant 2008 dollars.
That percentage in 2008? 59.7%.
In other words, 16.3% of Americans were making $75k or more in 1967. In 2008, better than 4 in 10, or 40% of Americans were making that same money.
And the mean income in 2008? $79,634.00 compared to $49.606.00 in 1967. Not only has the median income gone up, but the % of people making it has gone up as well.
But how does it FEEL today vs. yesterday? Are we able to enjoy a standard of living that is significantly better now than it was then?
Well, I think so:
So, I was going through some old blogs and looking for some quick insightful nuggets and came across this little gem from TJIC:
http://pajamasmedia.com/ronradosh/2011/0…
Krugman gets to his main point: that in the national debate, his side is that of morality, justice, and reason â?? while his opponents on the conservative side are immoral, uncaring, and actually want the poor to die or disappear.
Speaking for myself, I don’t want the poor to die.
I want them to work harder, to bring themselves up into the middle class (recall: the main thing that seperates the poor from everyone else is that poor people work about 15-20 hours per week, middle class people work 40-45 hours, and upper class people work 60+ hours), or – if they prefer – I want them to keep working very little, and enjoying the trade off of potential cash for increased free time – as long as they do it with out dollars stolen from others.
So I did a little looking. By God he’s right:
| Hours Worked | Number of Workers | Median Weekly Earnings |
| 1 – 34 | 21802 | 233 |
| 1 – 4 | 548 | 62 |
| 5 – 9 | 1203 | 69 |
| 10 – 14 | 1865 | 112 |
| 15 – 19 | 2729 | 156 |
| 20 – 24 | 6425 | 212 |
| 25 – 29 | 2953 | 262 |
| 30 – 34 | 6079 | 337 |
| 35 or more hours | 94452 | 750 |
| 35 – 39 | 8200 | 485 |
| 40 | 67195 | 700 |
| 41 or more hours | 19056 | 1153 |
| 41 – 44 | 1084 | 867 |
| 45 – 48 | 5294 | 994 |
| 49 – 59 | 8450 | 1246 |
| 60 or more hours | 4228 | 1338 |
Amazingly, the more you work, the more you make. However, there is a flip side; the more you work, the more you work.
However, as I considered the numbers, it occurred to me, “Of COURSE you earn more when you work more–you’re working more hours! Duh!”
But check this out:
| Hours Worked | Rough Dollar per Hour |
| 1 – 34 | |
| 1 – 4 | 24.8 |
| 5 – 9 | 9.86 |
| 10 – 14 | 9.33 |
| 15 – 19 | 9.18 |
| 20 – 24 | 9.64 |
| 25 – 29 | 9.7 |
| 30 – 34 | 10.53 |
| 35 or more hours | |
| 35 – 39 | 13.11 |
| 40 | 17.5 |
| 41 or more hours | |
| 41 – 44 | 20.4 |
| 45 – 48 | 21.38 |
| 49 – 59 | 25.43 |
| 60 or more hours |
It turns out that the more you work, the higher your hourly wage. [Though I do admit that the two low values look abnormal.]
We are now 7 quarters into our recovery from the previous recession. I have long thought it time to conduct a review of this current recovery as compared to previous recoveries.
I have gone back to the previous 4 recessions and their recoveries. Above is a graph showing the growth of GDP for each recovery starting with the date in which the NBER calls each recession cycle.
The numbers above reflect the GDP growth in current dollars. Further, I have only gone out 12 quarters, or 3 years. Anything past this and I think we have normal economic cycles taking place that have little to do with the recovery efforts put in place during the recessions described.
There has been little secret that the current administration holds the previous administration responsible for the recession. However, if that is true, the current administration is responsible for the recovery. So, how has it done?
At this point, the Obama’s recovery is only slightly ahead of any of the other 3. The current quarter represented a 4.0% increase in GDP over the previous quarter. The only other recovery that had a worse showing was the Reagan recovery of 1982; it had a 3.9% increase. However, unlike the Obama recovery, the Reagan recovery had significant growth for the first 6 quarters. Obama’s recovery has not shown that degree of success.
Reagan vs Obama
Here is the direct comparison:
The visual is clear, the Reagan recovery was much more vibrant than the current Obama recovery. While Obama did better this quarter, the lack of growth in the preceding quarters is disappointing.
Obama vs Bush
Perhaps a more damning comparison, at least for this specific political cycle, is the comparison of Obama vs Bush:
Here the Obama recovery is very similar to the previous Bush recovery. However, the pressure is on. Beginning in the 8th quarter on, Bush had a very impressive record of strong GDP growth.
We’ll see if Obama is able to match that record.
Posted in Economy, Politics: National
Tagged Barack Obama, GDP, George Bush, Recession, Recovery, Ronald Reagan
Minnesota is closed.
As of 12:01 AM July 1, the state has shut down. A disagreement over how to balance the budget between the Democrat governor and the Republican Senate has caused a stalemate. Without a budget, the state government officially closed Friday morning. State parks, rest areas, road construction and other services were shuttered.
State employees were sent home.
The battle just got real for a whole bunch of people; a WHOLE bunch.
Posted in Economics, Economy, Elections 2012, Government, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly
Tagged Barack Obama, Budget, Deficit, Government Shutdown, Mark Dayton, Minnesota
That’s the call from the Left. In order to balance the budget, or begin to balance the budget, we’re gonna have to at least consider raising revenues.
I’m beginning to resonate more and more with this, so, for this sake, I’ll stipulate.
We need to raise revenues.
Posted in Economy, Government, Politics: National
Tagged Abuse of Power, Barack Obama, Budget, Debt, Democrat, Liberal, Private Jet
Greece is in trouble.
Big trouble.
Of course, this is what happens when you tax and tax and tax all the while believing that government won’t spend and spend and spend.
In the end, people don’t see the expenditures as a method to deal with a short-term crisis or as a stimulus; they see it as an entitlement. These people literally feel it is their ‘effin birthright to be be born, work a little while, and then retire to a life of luxury at the ripe old age of 52.
Vacations and wine for everyone!
Well, when the excess of the Leftist rears its ugly hangover, this is what you get:
(Reuters) – Greek riot police with teargas and batons fought hooded youths near parliament on Tuesday as violence broke out at a rally against anti-austerity measures international lenders have demanded from the Athens government.
With Greece on the edge of bankruptcy, parliament is due to vote this week on a package of spending cuts, tax increases and privatizations agreed as part of a massive bailout aimed at averting the euro zone’s first default.
In the face of massive default, they can’t let go the concept that they don’t own what they didn’t earn.
Lord help us!