Thoughts on the economy

Since I last wrote here, the US economy has had major issues and caused a setback in life it seems. People have lost 40-50% in their retirement funds, banks are closing, and good companies are laing off and closing facilities. I was trying to think about why and how, and it isn't so easy. What have the last few years been based on? Well, greed, stuff, and consumption. Everyone wants money for nothing, we don't make anything here, and I think the priorities of many people are out of whack. I have to admit I have definitely been part of it, friving a nice car, buying TVs, spending money like nothing, etc. But at least I have an honest job, support my family, and generally try to make people happy. This isn't really about me though. I wonder being a nation of overwieght, tv-addicted, money hungry slobs has something to do with it. Sure, there are some with values, but the percentages just aren't high enough.

Now I'm thinking of the real estate tailspin we are into now. Things were humming along, going up steadily with the population (I'm talking before the bubble), and generally stable. Then banks, real estate brokers, clever investors, and careless lazy people got together to ruin it. Prices shot up, houses flipped too often, lonas were sold off and shuffled, and the fuse was lit. Honest hard-working people struggled to get into houses they could barely afford, with prices being driven up by false demand and all of the aforementioned players participation. Once the country realized that it wasn't going to continue, prices fell, equity disappeared, and banks fell apart. Simple, huh?

Whats left? Millions who can't get that equity line to pay off debt (read: stop charging shit), banks absorbing property and uncollectable loans, and stockholders holding things they can't sell. Honest loans are hard to come by, property isn't moving, and credit cards are becoming the only place to borrow from. If we as a nation had manufacturing and services to fall back on, we could simply say that people should work harder, live within their means, and be happy with what they have.

I know both candidates preached lower taxes and more handouts, but how can that help? Being more in debt as a country seems like a bad place, yet it doesn't seem like anyone cares. I don't want higher taxes, but I do want equity. I actually had a totally unrealistic thougth on that. Probably woth another musing, so stay tuned

I wanted to conclude here, but I don't really think I said much. There is no advice that wors across the board, but my pretty simple conservative lifestyle, even with some luxuries, seems to work. I guess my one conclusion is that it is a hard problem to solve, I don't have the answer (of course), but at least I can offer my philosphy that keeps me afloat: work hard, think ahead, eat right, and pay attention. Maybe I will post again when I think I can make sense.....

Old Onion Post

This is an old article, but still pretty funny.

Article

Formula, Medicine, Food

What else? Now we are feeding our children and sick people food and drugs stamped out over there. Again, I'm sure it could be ok, but when they take all of the lead, nuclear waste, and hazardous stuff we discard and use it in their factories, along with not having strict rules about production, what do you expect? Think of all of the wrappings and seals on products here. Do they do that or care over there?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/magazine/02fda-t.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/world/asia/17milk.html

When you go to the toy store or any dollar store, take a look at the food aisle. Most of the candy is made in China, right beside the plastic that holds it or wraps it. Are you 100% confident that plastic there is produced without lead or mercury? I doubt it. For the added price, I'll take a Hershey bar any day. On Halloween, I sorted the candy and tossed the Chinese stuff. The only smart thing to do.

Just Another Example

If you haven't noticed, the sizes on things have decreased, while the prices remain constant (actually, higher). I learned a long time ago to check the price per pound, which is printed on almost every price tag. You'll see that you pay way too much for things:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/ConsumerActionGuide/10ShrinkingProductsSlideShow.aspx

How bad is Applebee's??

Not really sure how to start or finish this entry. I always had a bit of disdain for the big chain fast-food restaurants that pretend not to be fast-food. So this will apply to TGI, Outback, Ruby, Chilis, and a host of others. A few months ago I downloaded all of the nutrition guides from these places to show exactly how bad the food is for you. Turns out that almost every meal or appetizer was worse than ANYTHING from McD, BK, or Wendy's. So I already knew that.

Wendy's advertises that their chicken is actually real, and it didn't occur to me that some other places (see title of this entry) use something called "SmartServe Chicken" from Sysco. On Sysco's website this explains that they "form" it, which makes it cheaper and more controlled portions. If you have ever had chicken that tasted like plastic or was foamy, this is what you are eating. I guess my problem here is spending 11 bucks on an entree that was microwaved and cost them less than a buck to produce. For 11 bucks, I could take the family to Wendy's and get 2 ACTUAL chicken sandwiches, plus fries and drinks.

Anyways, in addition, I should give a silver medal to the kids meals, because this is where the real shame is. Kids do not know better, and parents are powerless to do anything about it. For a mere 5 bucks you get a fully microwaved, low-nutrition, high-salt meal that was manufactured by Sysco, probably in China. Oh yeh, and getting the actual numbers? Applebees and others do not have to disclose this the way the big actual fast-food chains have to.

We used to make fun of Fridays a long time ago by saying we were going to "go get some crappy food and watered-down drinks." Never knew how true this was. Next time I am going straight to Wendy's.

Grocery III

Do they think we are stupid? Last week 12 packs of soda were 5/10$. SO 2$ each. Today they were "on sale" for 3/12$. So double. Do they think we are dumb, or is the math too much for the average american???

Finally Something Good (and some normal rants)

Saw something on the news that made me happy. Local farms will allow people to pay once per season to "own" some of the farm, giving them the right to 10lb of produce each week during the season. If everyone did it, it would discourage shipping in of mass-produced stuff from (you guessed it) other countries. What do you think happens when you grow a watermelon in a country with tainted water supplies? Plus it probably takes tons of fuel to ship food around, when it is easy to make it locally. And yes, when gas runs out, I will go a few months without tomatoes. This winter, I pulled a carrot from the ground in 10 degree weather, and it was fine staying underground. SO I think we can alter our winter diets and be FINE.

Anyways, wouldn't it save a ton of energy if every store in the US turned the A/C up 2 degrees all day, or at least for part of the day? Aren't you freezing when you leave a grocery store?

Oh yeh, and closing 600 starbucks stores is a good start.