Absolutely Nothing Has Been Fixed (December 7, 2009)

[Crewleader]

charles hugh smith

Let's start with The Obvious:
None of the fundamental causes of the global financial meltdown have been fixed in 2009.

As we careen toward 2010, it's a good time to return to basics, starting with this question: have any of the causes of the global financial meltdown been fixed? No.

Rather than address the actual causes, which would have required various financial Elites to absorb staggering, crushing losses, and a re-ordering of political swag, The Powers That be opted to mask the systemic rot with massive, unprecedented giveaways of public taxpayer funds to various banking cartels and other financial Elites.

The political and financial Elites augmented this stupendous transfer of public monies to private hands with simulacrum "reforms" which do nothing to inhibit systemic looting, fraud, debauchery of credit and pillaging of the public coffers.

Lastly, these same Powers That Be orchestrated (with the collusion of the handful of corporations which own/control the vast majority of the world media) a vast, pervasive propaganda campaign to persuade the distracted, worried populace that the great ship of the global economy (2/3 of it owned by the top 1%) had been righted by government easing of money and credit and other interventions.

Bogus government statistics form the rotten core of this propaganda campaign. Thus the GDP supposedly rises even as the only accurate measures of economic activity--sales and income tax receipts--continue declining. While the government touts a drop of "only" 11,000 in November payrolls, private calculations arrive at a much different conclusion: 255,000 jobs were lost.

Given that almost 300,000 people supposedly "left the labor force" (meaning they ran out of unemployment and thus dropped off the count) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics ginned up tens of thousands of phantom jobs via their laughable "birth-death model," then we might conclude that 255,000 jobs lost is a dramatic undercount of the actual reality.

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogdec09/nothing-fixed12-09.html

[JonQ]

1. Defeatist

why do you want the economy to fail?

:sarcasm:

[FrenchieCat]

3. Because that would make y'all right about something....

anything?

[Jim Sagle]

11. That would be one more time than YOU'VE ever been right.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[FrenchieCat]

2. What in the fuck is "private calculations"? A fucking RW organization

set up to look like a "think-tank" so that someone out there can talk trash
about this President? Something like Climate Change deniers making their
own private weather reports?

[IrateCitizen]

12. "Private calculations" simply means "not relying on the government story."

Learn to read in context before you start throwing profanity around and spouting nonsense -- otherwise you tend to look foolish. The article states:

Bogus government statistics form the rotten core of this propaganda campaign. Thus the GDP supposedly rises even as the only accurate measures of economic activity--sales and income tax receipts--continue declining. While the government touts a drop of "only" 11,000 in November payrolls, private calculations arrive at a much different conclusion: 255,000 jobs were lost.

Given that almost 300,000 people supposedly "left the labor force" (meaning they ran out of unemployment and thus dropped off the count) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics ginned up tens of thousands of phantom jobs via their laughable "birth-death model," then we might conclude that 255,000 jobs lost is a dramatic undercount of the actual reality.

See. "Private calculations" means simply looking at the data, taking into account the way in which the government manipulates data on Unemployment and GDP in order to make them look much rosier than they are, and then developing an alternative estimate that minimizes those government manipulations while remaining as true to realities on-the-ground as possible.

It's not a think tank, and despite what you seem to fervently believe, not driven by some irrational desire to "talk trash about this President." It's simply an attempt to look at what the President DOES and assess it objectively, rather than to buy into what he SAYS and reject anything that shatters the worldview you have constructed, because reality is just too unpleasant to deal with.

Snarky fluff-posts such as this may suffice for "debate" in GDF, but you need to bring more than that if you want to discuss anything in this forum.

[babylonsister]

4. This guy should have started a few years earlier. Not credible imo. nt

[jschurchin]

13. Wow. I hope you are not talking about

Charles Hugh Smith, cause if you are, what PLANET have you been living on?

I've been reading his blog since 2006, and he's been writing one since before that, so........

[sendero]

14. Denial..

... is not just a river in Egypt.

There IS no recovery. There isn't going to BE a recovery within the next several years, and when there finally IS a recovery it is going to be very very slow and weak.

All the folks who wish this mess would just go away can light green candles and wish upon a star, but it is NOT going away.

[Double T]

5. Let US see; it is an important election year and glimmers and green shoots abound.

Yep, the numbers just don't add up, but then they NEVER did. The government 'inflation' number is a bogus, worthless piece that is an absolute and TOTAL FRAUD telling US nothing, specially the inflation truth. The unemployment numbers are hatched from the same; REAL UNEMPLOYMENT is at least 17+% with little or no hope of jobs coming back or being created anytime soon. The criminals on wall street have been bailed out, made their getaway and left the American people holding their bag. The credit card reform bill is so watered down it does little or nothing for consumers. Financial institution reform will go much the same way; little or nothing to keep bubbles and fraud out of our economy. We are the most corrupt nation on earth and the sad part is no one is doing ANYTHING to really change that. I'm certain WE will continue to ignore our problems of corruption until our economy and financial system go away.

THANK YOU CREWLEADER FOR THIS IN OUR FACE POST!! I'm afraid the truth won't set US free as many of US are going to end up dirt poor in the 'corporate republic of greed'.

[Crewleader]

8. Hello Double T

My dear friend you say it like it is and I always appreciated that. :hug:

[snagglepuss]

6. .

[girl gone mad]

7. Have you been keeping up with BAC's TARP repayment news?

From what I can gather, BAC was in no real position to repay the $45 billion, still lingering close to insolvency, even taking into account all of the backdoor Fed subsidies. But they decided to repay the virtually free TARP loan anyhow, to get out of the compensation limit ball and chain. Treasury allowed this, on the grounds that in order for BAC to lure in a suitable replacement for Ken Lewis, they would need to be able to offer a large salary. Now it appears that the replacement will be consumer banking head Brian Moynihan. In other words, they didn't need to attract top level outside talent since they are merely promoting from within.

Nothing fixed, indeed.

[Double T]

9. Nothing fixed and obscene humongous compensation packages for the perpe-traitors.

OKed and certified by our own corrupt government officials. Business BEYOND usual continues.

[madrchsod]

10. has any new banking regulations been passed

other than giving the credit card companies time to totally screw their cardholders. what about regulations on speculation? short selling? fdr was the only president that understood what the hell happened and did something about it. if anyone thinks we are out of the woods look at the 30`s.