tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post7987441067835065003..comments2023-12-30T10:06:37.450+00:00Comments on HousingPANIC - The Housing Bubble Blog with an Attitude Problem, 2005 - 2008: HousingPANIC Quotes of the Day - Crumbling Infrastructure Editionbloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06585266242070350399noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-75357396606175364902008-08-11T18:07:00.000+01:002008-08-11T18:07:00.000+01:00"yeah let's spend trillions of dollars so old peop..."yeah let's spend trillions of dollars so old people and kids can have high speed trains<BR/><BR/>damn there are some idiots on this board"<BR/><BR/>It doesn't surprise me that this is a novel concept to much of America.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-34978966216737562612008-08-11T15:59:00.000+01:002008-08-11T15:59:00.000+01:00"A silver dollar up to 1964 had 3/4 an ounce of si..."A silver dollar up to 1964 had 3/4 an ounce of silver in it. In other words, a gallon of gas is about 30 cents in silver dollars . . . which still holds today!"<BR/><BR/>There is something to be said for this argument. I'm still curios to how this will work out when we have finished off another 1/4 of our oil supply in the next 15 years. I guess a gallon of gas will still be worth 30 cents in silver dollars, it's just our labor will be worth a lot less?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-89140991702925340592008-08-08T12:33:00.000+01:002008-08-08T12:33:00.000+01:00Hedonistic approach does work. It doesn't work for...Hedonistic approach does work. It doesn't work for those who have a romantic notion of "the good old days" which never existed.<BR/><BR/>The reason you can't find a computer has as fast is the same reason you can't find a K-Car for sale....there is no demand for it. <BR/><BR/>The average size of a house in 1970 was 1400 sq ft. Today it's 2500 sq ft. You do the math on whether you're comparing apples to apples.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-82510352932576657132008-08-08T02:18:00.000+01:002008-08-08T02:18:00.000+01:00Anon 10:01,Sorry, your "hedonistic adjustment" arg...Anon 10:01,<BR/><BR/>Sorry, your "hedonistic adjustment" argument doesn't fly. What your are suggesting is the same sort of nonsense that BLS uses to claim that computer prices have halved because it is now twice as fast! Try find that slower new computer at half the price. The very fact that the slow computer doesn't exist on the market as new units anymore shows that the cost of making a slow computer now is not half the cost of making a fast one . . . therefore it can not be sold at half the price, therefore it's not sold any more.<BR/><BR/>Likewise, Model-T's are not sold anymore because a Model-T can not be made and sold profitably today for $200 like it was in the 1920's, or for $2000 in American factories if you rely on BLS inflation adjustment, or for $6000 in American factories if you use gold price for inflation adjustment. $25k price for an average car indicates that that's more or less the sweet spot where cars can be made profitably (and consumers still willing to pay); much lower than that price you run into costs that can not be easily cut . . . ever notice almost all the cheap cars are imported?<BR/><BR/>The house price is the same. The cost of adding a central AC doesn't even come close to the cost of land and the basic house itself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-2601529599018175822008-08-07T22:01:00.000+01:002008-08-07T22:01:00.000+01:00reality,The number of hours to buy a car are meani...reality,<BR/><BR/>The number of hours to buy a car are meaningless when comparing a 2008 car with a 1928 car. Hell even compared to a 1988 car. A car today is infintely better than a car from 20 years ago. It's safer too. A base car today is the equivalent of a fully loaded car 20 years ago. Things like A/C, power windows, cd player were luxury items in 1988 and didn't exist in 1968. Plus the reliability of a car today cannot even begin to be compared with the reliability of cars from 20 or 40 or 60 years ago.<BR/><BR/>The number of hours worked to buy a car has increased. But you get a hell of a lot more for your labor.<BR/><BR/>A better argument would be to compare hours of work to something constant between the ages. Try number of hours (or minutes) for a long distance phone call today vs. 50 years ago. Or how about a movie. Or a hamburger. Or a gallon of milk. Or a flight between NY and LA. You'll see that when you compare apples to apples (a phone call 50 years ago is the same as a phone call today, a movie is essentially the same as it was 50 years ago, etc) the number of labor time needed is much less today.<BR/><BR/>It boils down to this. A median income earner today leads a better life - in economic terms anyway - than his counterpart of 1971 or 1951 or 1931.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-77145387156104166962008-08-07T18:55:00.000+01:002008-08-07T18:55:00.000+01:00Vanilla Ice,There is nothing special about oil or ...Vanilla Ice,<BR/><BR/>There is nothing special about oil or gasoline. An ounce of silver is still equivalent to a little over 4 gallons of gasoline. A silver dollar up to 1964 had 3/4 an ounce of silver in it. In other words, a gallon of gas is about 30 cents in silver dollars . . . which still holds today! It's the silver price for gasoline for the last half century . . . all the rest you see is just the debasement of the dollar and devaluation of human labor.<BR/><BR/>Real wages in America stopped growing from 1930's through 1971; it went into negative after that. Before that, American real wage increased at 2% a year from the founding of the country to about 1840, when canals (privately funded) linked the midwest to New York. From 1840 to 1930 the growth rate was about 4%. At 2%, the real living standards could expect to double every 36 years, or roughly each generation. At 4%, the real living standards could expect to double every 18 years . . . that's the sort of rapid growth that attracted millions of European immigrants to the US in the second half of 19th century and beginning of the 20th. Those growth rate can be easily verified just by reading wage records from the time, as gold and silver were circulating coin money from the founding of the country through 1933.<BR/><BR/>The math after 1933 gets a little trickier as money was no longer constant. We can use cars and houses for proxies. The number of hours of work demanded of an average American worker to acquire a car or a house did not change much, net net, from 1920's to 1971: about 400hrs for a car, and about 4000hrs for a house. $0.5/hr, $200/car, $2000/house in the 1920's; $3/hr, $1200/car, $12000/house in 1971. The picture is a lot worse now: $18/hr ($12-14 after tax), $25,000/car, $220,000/house . . . that's about 1500-2000hrs for a car, and 15,000-18,000hrs for a house! The real wage of the average American worker has dropped by 2/3 over the last 37 years . . . that's what a 2.5% annual decline can produce over 37 years. That's the rate at which the American middle class is being destroyed.<BR/><BR/>BTW, in case anyone is worshipping the 1950's, please don't. A continuation of 4% per year growth from 1933 to 1971 should have more than quadrupled the average real income; that's what the "Robber Barons" and "Guilded Age" of the second half of 19h century and early 20th century would have delivered, despite the devastating Civil War and WWI. Even at 2% rate that had been sustained in the pre-industrial America, from 1930 to 1971 still should have doubled the average worker's real income. Yet, there was no real improvement in standards of living from 1930 to 1971.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-456385228214296202008-08-07T18:06:00.000+01:002008-08-07T18:06:00.000+01:00Anonymous Anonymous said... Lots of people thi...Anonymous Anonymous said...<BR/> Lots of people think the infrastructure projects in the New Deal were socialist. However, projects like Hoover dam have paid for themselves over and over and continue to provide water control and needed electricity. The $600 billion stimulus could have paid for 100+ new nuclear power plants. <BR/>--------------------------------<BR/>OMG. This site is crawling with Marxists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-91051176807143016022008-08-07T18:04:00.000+01:002008-08-07T18:04:00.000+01:00I'm a Libertarian and I see no problem with using ...I'm a Libertarian and I see no problem with using federal money to pay for infrastructure repairs and upkeep. <BR/>------------------------------<BR/>You are a MARXIST.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-64983436131994488672008-08-07T16:22:00.000+01:002008-08-07T16:22:00.000+01:00yeah let's spend trillions of dollars so old peopl...yeah let's spend trillions of dollars so old people and kids can have high speed trains<BR/><BR/>damn there are some idiots on this boardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-14585225703182092822008-08-07T13:10:00.000+01:002008-08-07T13:10:00.000+01:00"Americans like their cars. They don't want to rid..."Americans like their cars. They don't want to ride a train or a bus. They don't want to come and go based on a bus schedule. They don't want to be stuffed in a bus with 100 people. They don't want to wait for a bus in the rain or snow or 95 degree heat."<BR/><BR/>What a bunch of whiners. What you want is not necessarily what you get. The days of cheap gasoline are coming to an end, and not everyone will be able to afford to drive.<BR/><BR/>Also, some people don't want to drive, and are too young or too old for it. What about those people. Our singular mode transport system sucks for people who can't use it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-1474049136798898802008-08-07T12:12:00.000+01:002008-08-07T12:12:00.000+01:00union members = human filthunion members = human filthAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-43202337038109361892008-08-07T03:48:00.000+01:002008-08-07T03:48:00.000+01:00New infrastructure can only be developed at a reas...New infrastructure can only be developed at a reasonable cost with non-union construction labor.<BR/><BR/>You asshole, you have never worked a day in your life nor have you ever had to be truely productive. When this shit caves in I want you working for me. The last time this fake economy hit the skids I had great fun watching you barbie fu fu suites attempt to work for a living, what a pathetic joke. Your a girly man. Oh, maybe you think you could compete with a 25 year get it done contractor. Bring it, your IT job and day trading deal are done. When its time to rebuild sit down jobs won't pay shit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-37507626381890968352008-08-07T03:11:00.000+01:002008-08-07T03:11:00.000+01:00"Taxpayer funded transit = socialism."Does this me..."Taxpayer funded transit = socialism."<BR/><BR/>Does this mean roads=socialism, or are the roads priavatized where you live?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-54683518213243654272008-08-07T02:22:00.000+01:002008-08-07T02:22:00.000+01:00What do we need roads for, with all those SUV's ou...What do we need roads for, with all those SUV's out there? Aren't those designed for use off-road?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-52984991482963208782008-08-07T02:11:00.000+01:002008-08-07T02:11:00.000+01:0010:02pm:You are so typical of the libtards. When y...10:02pm:<BR/><BR/>You are so typical of the libtards. When you can't refute an argument, you change the subject to Iraq.<BR/><BR/>Now try again, this time sticking to the topic. Think you can do that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-15660990832046122822008-08-07T01:14:00.000+01:002008-08-07T01:14:00.000+01:00Fellows, the days of the tram car are over. The au...Fellows, the days of the tram car are over. The auto/oil industries, via NCL holding group, did away with it decades ago. <BR/><BR/>Today, it's cars for local transit and planes over distances greater than a 3-4 hr drive. Now, how about fixing those planes and airports and increasing capacity at all regional and municipal airports? Provide a govt subsidy for better air transit and those industries can literally take off. I suspect that when departure/taxi-ing to take off/landing get shortened to the time it takes to check-in all the customers than we'll see a massive surge in air transport and this could even include local flights, Boston to Providence in 5-10 mins, DC to Philly in 20 mins, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-74015607627674444852008-08-07T01:08:00.000+01:002008-08-07T01:08:00.000+01:00I have never seen a bunch of dumber comments about...I have never seen a bunch of dumber comments about such a serious subject. This country is in big trouble.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-4385061686677667962008-08-07T01:00:00.000+01:002008-08-07T01:00:00.000+01:00so if and when they start these infastructure rebu...so if and when they start these infastructure rebuilding will these be the new jobs for illegal mexicans who will undercut American workers. Bet on it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-66937253023556099812008-08-07T00:58:00.000+01:002008-08-07T00:58:00.000+01:00Another socialist Utopian post from Keith. What yo...Another socialist Utopian post from Keith. What you and your fellow leftists don't seem to understand is this: Americans like their cars. They don't want to ride a train or a bus. They don't want to come and go based on a bus schedule. They don't want to be stuffed in a bus with 100 people. They don't want to wait for a bus in the rain or snow or 95 degree heat. <BR/><BR/>They want the comfort of a car and the freedom to come and go as they please.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-80272401378040183172008-08-07T00:51:00.000+01:002008-08-07T00:51:00.000+01:00think positive.....invest in ferries!Macacathink positive.....invest in ferries!<BR/><BR/>MacacaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-43268524383959606982008-08-06T23:50:00.000+01:002008-08-06T23:50:00.000+01:00They're just priming the pump folks, get the sheep...They're just priming the pump folks, get the sheeple subconcious ready for house bill blah blah blah. You know, the one that mandates GPS in all vehicles by 20XX so you can pay for every inch you drive, it will be deducted from your bank/credit card every time you stop moving for more than 2 minutes.<BR/><BR/>DOPES<BR/><BR/>Time to start the revolution.<BR/><BR/>Vote for Andy Taylor<BR/><BR/>Andy TaylorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-66184446562727931602008-08-06T23:49:00.000+01:002008-08-06T23:49:00.000+01:00To Opps You have taken the high road,so I will tak...To Opps<BR/> You have taken the high road,so I will take the lower road.<BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/>Very good Question,and I should have my ass blistered for not being specific.<BR/> "Banks" ,specifically I mean The Fed,or London central banks etc.Any Bank with a trademarked paper currency,and access to printing presses.Federal Reserve notes, to remind everyone ,are not money,but function as a"stand in" for it.<BR/> The Federal Reserve Bank,a private organization,has dominance, complete with enforcement on the currency(notes) used in the US.<BR/>Meaning that we may be subject to serious scrutiny for competing directly with Federal Reserve Notes.An Example would be laws of contracts(notes),and the self proclaimed decider of contracts,the US district courts.<BR/>Go for it,to date no body has succeeded in challenging the Federal reserve,and their notes.Why is that?Google it for yourself.I know the answere,why don't you?<BR/> You are right about banks being no different than a corporation.They both are about the money.The US Dollar is trash over it's lifetime,especially lately,and for example GM is trash too.When given the choice(choices regulated away)Men ,and women in most cases are not repeat buyers of GM cars unless they are under duress,or have no other viable choice.GM is about the money,not cars,and competition is killing them,and their CEO gets Millions to lose 15 billion per quarter or more.COOL.<BR/> The Federal Reserve has no competing currency operating as a note,and probably never will.<BR/> I have traded gold,it retains great value,but the majority are clueless about it.<BR/> If I know of any "BAD" bankers I'll just keep that under my tinfoil hat,because if I do,I was probably in on it.We are at there feet,and they know it ,and like it.By "at their feet" I mean there is no real competition to the Federal Reserve within America.By the way check out the Indian interest rates ,and compare those with the FEDs.Check China,Check the EU.<BR/> Bankers don't control anything?<BR/>Dude. Oh well,guess that absolves them from losing all that money(fictional value).Ooopsy,my bad.<BR/> Do you mean to say that all banks have the same interest rates?The same guidelines for setting a rate? OK if you say so.<BR/> Can you do me a favor Opps.Look into certain banks that offer loans for 90% interest.Crazy talk.<BR/> Get your own facts if you have the guts,and who is "we"?<BR/> The banks are not at fault for applicants lying on loan documents?OK,it is their fault for loaning the money right?You were just kidding right?Oh the poor bank couldn't control anything,and those blood thirsty vampire applicants all got away with MURDER!!The Gall.<BR/> If any applicant has gotten away with a liar loan,and turned the contract around on the lender then more power to that applicant.They both entered into a nasty gamble,and Fair is fair right?<BR/> One more thing.Since I have elected the low road,I must say you come off like a BITCH,or a six year old brat,or maybe you are just a FAG.If there are any unanswered questions,Google it dipstick.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-28580958326906155252008-08-06T23:20:00.000+01:002008-08-06T23:20:00.000+01:00Has anyone ridden the bus from Thailand/Cambodia b...Has anyone ridden the bus from Thailand/Cambodia border to Siem Reap(ankor wat)? 100km's takes over 8 hours, the worst potholes I've ever seen, big enough to swallow a car...all dirt road. That's 8 hours of pure sacrum hell...i still don't poop right!<BR/><BR/>Let's hope it never turns into that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-34969370831827473512008-08-06T22:50:00.000+01:002008-08-06T22:50:00.000+01:00Living in California, I know I get screwed but her...Living in California, I know I get screwed but here is what I pay in taxes and fees- I have an Isuzu 12 ft box truck for business $450.00 a year registration, a van $250.00 a year in addition to the 18.5 cent Federal tax per gallon of gas there is an 18 cent State tax, plus sales tax on top of that! Some counties have additional sales taxes to pay for "infrastructure" projects. The Feds collect something like $2.7 trillion in taxes but run a $500 billion deficit!<BR/>I'm wrinting in "Andrew Hac" on my ballot in November.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18675105.post-12193034244741360892008-08-06T22:28:00.000+01:002008-08-06T22:28:00.000+01:00"The best thing that ever happened to the USA was ..."The best thing that ever happened to the USA was high gas prices."<BR/><BR/>Yes! It's amazing how few people hold this thought. When making the suggestion that gas prices should be higher, the response I get at best is "You want to pay higher gas prices?!" to the worst being "drop dead."<BR/><BR/>I'll tell you what though. Gas prices will continue shooting up well into the next decade whether our oblivious fellow citizens like it or not. <BR/><BR/>The coming oil and gasoline crises are shooting straight for us from a mile away. It should be obvious to everyone just like the stock market and housing bubbles were. Oh yeah, no one saw those either except for some people on the internet and Peter Schiff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com