Economic Depression

schwarcw

I've seen a lot of posts by money professionals and some non professional opinions on the topic of the congressional bailout of the banks. The Dow keep dropping. Could we be headed for a worse depression that the one in the mid '30's? 50% unemployment, soup kitchens, Carnivals, the Kennedy's get rich. What could be the outcome of this mess???

Dennis Gardner

Bring it on...........glad I'm debt free and self-employed. I could use some slowdown, I'm so busy I can't get caught up. Housing went up 23% in the last 8 months where I live with people sleeping in parks due to the lack of rentals or houses to buy. Damn oil booms......;)

NotaSuv

funny our sales have increased in the past 6 months, and we have opened 15 new accounts in 4 different states ........guess people turn to sushi in troubled times.....

bigaudiofanatic

Ha you should see my medical bills. Whats up guys all hopped up on pain pills but doing good the insurance agency is going to cover the bike fully and give me a new one but I dont know when I will be able to ride it again. I know people still need cd's and games getting them out tomorrow. Take care all.

Kex

schwarcw wrote: »

I've seen a lot of posts by money professionals and some non professional opinions on the topic of the congressional bailout of the banks. The Dow keep dropping. Could we be headed for a worse depression that the one in the mid '30's? 50% unemployment, soup kitchens, Carnivals, the Kennedy's get rich. What could be the outcome of this mess???

Methinks thou doth have a penchant for hyperbole, good sirrah!

But yes, these are troubled times ...

ESavinon

I'm glad i work for NYC.

[Deleted User]

actually, during the depression years of the late 20's, United States had the lowest unemployment rate.. statistically....

ESavinon

Lasareath wrote: »

Watch what you say Ed, You might be cleaning up more suicides and jumpers!

Not in the bronx .

TroyD

For a number of reasons....it won't happen.

BDT

dorokusai

schwarcw wrote: »

Could we be headed for a worse depression that the one in the mid '30's?

Nope.

stebesplace

I think our population is too large and diverse to return to the depression stage. So no, I do not feel we are going to wind up that way. We have so much to focus money on, and diversification that people spend on B if they can't get A.

brettw22

I've heard a few mentions about the DOW getting down to Mid 8000's before it all bottoms out..........fun times, huh?

MikeC78

I wouldn't be a bit suprised...

schwarcw

Interesting opinions. I am interested on your opinion of what will happen as a result of these problems in the markets. Regulations, loan guidelines, credit card limits, socialism, ????

I think we've put our selves into a corner, we don't want to make bad loans, but we want to ease credit so consumers can spend. I see a fine line that banks will have to walk when it comes down to lending money. This is not good news to new home builders, renovators or department stores. ****! They may even take away credit cards from college students!

Face

And they're still talking about cutting rates...this should be interesting.

jdhdiggs

Eh, I figure this one will be similar to the dotcom bubble burst combined with 9/11 collapse and not the late 30's depression...

Jstas

jdhdiggs wrote: »

Eh, I figure this one will be similar to the dotcom bubble burst combined with 9/11 collapse and not the late 30's depression...

DING! Fries are done.

Ron-P

TroyD wrote: »

For a number of reasons....it won't happen.

BDT

Exactly.

The good news is, housing is still down so I've started looking for a second. Hopefully within the next year I can swing it, not quite ready yet but if the market stays where it's at I'll make it work.

carpenter

This is a recession, and indeed, it has the potential to develop into a nasty one.
However, A recession, even a deep one, is still not a depression.
The (world's actually) economy is down with an incapacitating flu.
Not a massive stroke or a cardiac arrest (depression).
When a healthy person in infected with the flu, he can't go to work,
eat right, sleep well, there's pain,fever and headaches. not fun.
(a lot of people loosing their homes, jobs, and savings are threatened)
However, if treated properly (The governments and central banks take big action,
and do everything possible to ensure they better protect the pubic
in the future , and actually succeed in convincing folks of that),
the brain, heart, lungs and skeleton are not damaged.
After an inevitable painful hilling period (an unfortunate recession) the body recovers.

krabby5

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

Bring it on...........glad I'm debt free and self-employed. I could use some slowdown, I'm so busy I can't get caught up. Housing went up 23% in the last 8 months where I live with people sleeping in parks due to the lack of rentals or houses to buy. Damn oil booms......;)

We're happy for you..

cfrizz

This is a line banks should have been walking ALL THE TIME! Thier's & consumers stupidity and greed is why we are in this mess! If this reinstills people with some common sense then it will be worth it.

In the meantime, if you work for an insurance company or bank, I hope you wern't dumb enough to buy thier stock outside of what you already have tied up with them as far as a job/401k!

schwarcw wrote: »

... I see a fine line that banks will have to walk when it comes down to lending money. This is not good news to new home builders, renovators or department stores. ****! They may even take away credit cards from college students!

bobman1235

cfrizz wrote: »

This is a line banks should have been walking ALL THE TIME! Thier's & consumers stupidity and greed is why we are in this mess! If this reinstills people with some common sense then it will be worth it.

How about our own government not forcing banks to give out risky loans under the guise that everyone deserves to own their own home?

Not to say the banks and greed aren't largely responsible but let's not forget there are many factors at play beyond the trite and lazy excuse of "corporate greed."

MLZ

Two major mistakes after the crash of 1929 were Hoover raised the top tax rate from 25 to 63% (Revenue Act of 1932) and greatly increased tariffs (Smoot - Hawley Act) which stopped most world trade.

Mr. Obama wants to greatly increase taxes to a top marginal rate of over 50% and wants to unilaterally ditch NAFTA and stop GATT and most other world trade deals.

So, if history repeats itself, as it often does, and Obama is elected and he will not learn from the past, we will have a depression.

Lowell_M

MLZ wrote: »

Two major mistakes after the crash of 1929 were Hoover raised the top tax rate from 25 to 63% (Revenue Act of 1932) and greatly increased tariffs (Smoot - Hawley Act) which stopped most world trade.

Mr. Obama wants to greatly increase taxes to a top marginal rate of over 50% and wants to unilaterally ditch NAFTA and stop GATT and most other world trade deals.

So, if history repeats itself, as it often does, and Obama is elected and he will not learn from the past, we will have a depression.

I'm no politics expert, nor do I feel very strong about either candidate, but I can't stand generalizations... The tax plan that is semi-detailed on Obama's website shows a tax CUT for anybody making under $250,000 per year and tax rates will go back up to what they were in the 1990's for those making over $250,000 per year. That effects around 2% ish of the population.

http://www.barackobama.com/taxes/

hearingimpared

Me and my family feel the crunch.

bobman1235

My 401k is down over 30% year to date. 30%!

Luckily I'm 28 years old and won't need it for a while, but STILL. I would have been better off stuffing 7% of my money under my mattress.

phuz

bobman1235 wrote: »

My 401k is down over 30% year to date. 30%!

Luckily I'm 28 years old and won't need it for a while, but STILL. I would have been better off stuffing 7% of my money under my mattress.

Think of it this way, you're buying in at 30% off.

Kex

brettw22 wrote: »

I've heard a few mentions about the DOW getting down to Mid 8000's before it all bottoms out..........fun times, huh?

I heard that number several times recently, stating that this was where we would go without the rescue package. We got the rescue package and we're here anyway.

I'm not convinced we will stop here either. The selling volume is still very heavy. I should have just spent my spare cash on new gear ...

shack

It's panic. We have probably been in a recession...and it will continue...because everyone believes it will. Probably another year. The depression probably won't happen because there are too many safeguards in place that weren't there in '28. The bailout will help the banks and put capital into the market and that will help us ease out of the recession.

Hopefully everyone will learn from this...quit being greedy, work hard and earn what you have and forget the "get rich quick" strategies, live within your means, understand what you invest in, and on..an on...and on...

Realize too that this is the stock market...and the problems are not really based on anything to do with the companies that make up the market and their underlying strength. Most people have no idea what they have invested in and so have no clue whether they are good investments or not. There are many good companies that will make money..regardless of the fears of investors. We will get through this when we quit panicing and get back to basics and quit worrying about our "investments". The economy has problems but IMO it is not as bad as the MARKET acts like it is. Time will tell.

George Grand

"...quit being greedy, work hard and earn what you have and forget the "get rich quick" strategies, live within your means,....."


This country needs a healthy dose of that, even if it has to be shoved down its throat.

AndyGwis

Am I the only one that realizes Ra's Al Ghul is behind all this?

He's trying a new weapon - economics.