ShcShc11

Its working pretty well in other countries

Yeah but skydiving WHILE playing ping pong is off the charts! hahaha. loved this post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3lqMRHwGsRA#! I wonder if they deliver across the border.

A little off-topic but the problem with the Euro is the fundamentals. Europe is essentially working as a country of the 1930s with gold-standard. Countries are unable to control their currency hence a country like Spain is 30% at a disadvantage in export industry while Germany is 15% at an advantage in export industry. To solve it, there needs to be federal transfers (like how New York would give money to Texas if Texas was in debt), Excpet Germany wants none of it. 1) Your credit card will never pay you to lend their money while we actually profit through interest by taking other people's money (which is a rare phenomenon) and we are currently refusing to take free money 2) This isin't a TV. More like you're refusing to send your kids to College because of some unfounded fears of debt. In fact, the people who suffer the most because of our paranoia are people age 20-35. The longer they do not work or work for a "lesser" job, the less money they will produce over their lifetime and affecting long-term growths. 3) With the 2008-2013 experience, trying to tackle debt brought in more debt. So even in the most basic fiscal sense, it doesn't work. There was a multiplier of 1.7$ according to IMF. See Britain's experience 2009-2013 as well. Cheers! Shc

This is a dangerous line of thought because there isin't any signs where people would "stop lending" to the U.S. In fact, people are willing to pay the U.S extra cash for the Gov to keep their money. (See Bloomberg 10 years U.S bond). I don't know any banks who are willing to give me money if I borrowed money from them. ... Its as if you're telling me we should ban people from using water because drinking water might "theoretically" dry out if we use it too much. Its possible, but there are no signs of that as of yet. And if there are no signs then why induce unnecessary and self-inflicting suffering to millions of people in the name of paranoia. Cheers! Shc

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/18/us-global-economy-debt-herndon-idUSBRE93H0CV20130418 Two big economists who argued that debt surpassing 90% of GDP would make a country impossible to grow economically has been proven wrong (with glaring mathematical errors). The same research paper has been used by Western countries to justify austerity policies (including the infamous "reducing debt will make the economy grow in a zero-bound economy by raising market confidence"). So not only was it wrong contextually (The 2008 crisis is in no way similar to 1970), but had basic mathematical assumptions wrong. The intellectual edifice of austerity economics rested on these academic papers Cheers!

Polli's next stunt: Having his whole body hit a rock and surviving.

Interesting, thanks for posting.

http://vimeo.com/62398328#at=0 Video explains pretty decently. Cheers! Shc

What was it that we were supposed to learn from this? In my opinion, basically that the gov't shouldn't be trying to pick winners and losers in new technology. If the researchers are left to figure out technologies with best return for their investment, they will. Gov't support of one technology over another (for instance, cf lightbulbs) kills competing ideas, and is not necessarily the best way forward. Then as soon as the subsidy ends, you're left with either something that doesn't work, or something you can't afford... Gov subsidies: Corn & oil

Exactly this. Its what makes skydiving addictive :)

You think it’s an accident? Do you think there weren’t some backroom dealings meant to ensure that there were larger interests that would be protected? I’d be surprised if the Russians didn’t grease the regulators to let them keep a bigger chunk. Considering how economically unstable this country has been, I'm sure the majority of the money in the banks left long ago. Cyprus was actually a very sound country in the pre-Greece crisis era. It is now about to enter a Great Depression-like economy unless if they leave the Euro or unpeg their "Cypriot-version" of the Euro Cheers! Shc

On a quick note: Cyprus technically left the EU currency. By imposing capital flight limitations (meaning people can't freely take Cyprus money and put it in another European bank nor can they buy other countries' goods with Cypriot EU currency), Cyprus is NOT using the same EU money. They are using "Cypriot EU" that is pegged 1:1 with the actual EU. In other words, Cypriot's version of EU currency is FAR more overvalued than the actual EU currency. Cheers! Shc

hahaha, great find!

Interesting. thanks

I meant to write a topic about this last week though I don't have much time these days. But if it passes (which seems unlikely now): 2 words: Bank Run. .. These are the sort of decisions which discredit EU's basic knowledge of economics (not to mention that its actually illegal). EU's economic decisions are really the worst (worse than sequester idea, far worse than anything GWBush did). Cheers! Shc

I already know about it. Its been proven false and he's using the same sources. ... "The nonpartisan organization released a report that finds the cost of repealing the reform will balloon government deficits by $109 billion between 2013 and 2022. Repealing ACA would be a form of tax to Americans and businessmen. The CBO's report reveals the practical hurdles to repeal and underscores a growing pattern in which the key stakeholders -- states, medical providers, businesses, insurers and consumer groups -- are moving beyond the partisan squabble to the no-nonsense work of building the market place of 2014, where everyone will be able to purchase affordable insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions." http://cbo.gov/publication/43471 "What Is the Impact of Repealing the ACA on the Federal Budget? Assuming that H.R. 6079 is enacted near the beginning of fiscal year 2013, CBO and JCT estimate that, on balance, the direct spending and revenue effects of enacting that legislation would cause a net increase in federal budget deficits of $109 billion" ... or can also go to this topic about ACA costs: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=4288245;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25; Cheers! Shc

We have to look debt proportional to our overall GDP potential (which is only maximized when employment is full). My spending is your income. Essentially, if this was a credit card, every dollar you spend, the credit card is paying you 1.2-1.8x more income. Ofc, credit cards don't do that. They charge you ridicilous amount of interest to keep you in debt. To take the classic example, America never did pay off the debt from World War II — in fact, our debt doubled in the 30 years that followed the war. But debt as a percentage of G.D.P. fell by three-quarters over the same period. In fact, there are portions of debt from the Great Depression which are STILL not paid to this day. But it doesn't matter because it makes for an insignificant fraction (1/10 of a penny on a dollar). Foreign countries (including Canada) has this obsession to look down to U.S debt yet the U.S have overall a healthier budget outlook than their respective country. Cheers! Shc

A deficit during zero-bound economy and a deficit during full-employment economy is very different. During zero-bound, a $ spent gives GDP output upwards of 1.1. The IMF's latest report on multiplier effects estimated even more to around 1.7. Full-employment deficit is probably around 0.3-0.6. Remember that in spite of globalization, 85-90% is still spent on the States meaning the money I spend is your income hence a deficit in an economy in no way resembles to a personal credit card debt. Cheers! Shc

If that is the case, then Obamacare must be ended because of the lie that it is The CBO reported that the ACA (aka Obamacare) reduces the debt over the 10 years period. You do know I actually read these reports right? See my previous posts on the CBO numbers on ACA savings (i.e: where the numbers come from, what the numbers mean, how some news did not understand the accounting part of some of the numbers). Cheers! Shc

And that is exactly why comparing the economy to a credit card/personal finance is wrong. CBO reports are considered to be most trusted sources in terms of pure economic numbers. Here is another graph on U.K vs U.S recovery where spending cuts added to the overall deficit/debt: http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7246/hocuspocus.png You can also read what Office of Budget Responsibility has to say about the impact of austerity on UK growth during zero-bound economy. Cheers! Shc

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/5420/cbodeficit.png So CBO is now out with its latest report on automatic stabilizers. Nominal GDP grows by approx 4% (super-conservative btw) which amounts to about 460 to 490 billion $ (we're at 423 billion $) per year. 11.5 trillion $ is less than 4 percent as well. A balanced budget and fiscal position is, by definition, to ensure that debt grows more slowly than GDP. http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43977 People won't "believe" this and continue to compare our economy to a credit card (false equivalence/bad analogy), but you could crunch the numbers as well. Years spent on unnecessary austerity cuts ended up being snake oil and ended up wasting billions of $ of unfulfilled potential GDP. Yet, what had (in the 90s) and what is currently bringing the deficit down is the revenue-side of it. On the other side of the continent, spending cuts had made the overall deficit ratio worse (see UK experience 2008-2013). Austerity had good intentions, but was just bad policy. Cheers!

Lawrocket, not to be rude, but you're making very basic economics mistakes (misconceptions) with these sort of statements. see IMF report concerning austerity experiences 2007-2012 and its corresponding multipliers. Cheers! Shc

See latest 2012-2013 IMF reports on austerity measures on the different countries. Each dollar cut resulted in a fall of worker output of approximately 1.2 to 1.5$ Austerity during zero-bound economy does not make sense. Kind of like a construction worker refusing to pay to fix his right arm in the name of "budget cuts". Cheers! Shc

Correct if I'm wrong but I don't think Harper has much of a green energy plan. And even then, Canada is geographically misplaced for any sort of efficient system for solar or wind electricity. + Canada is having its own natural gas "fracking" boom which should be more or less insanely cheap as America's fracking. Shc.