Hows your US Recession?

[Quixotic]

The recession won't exist anymore once we elect Ron Paul into office and we get back on the gold standard 8)

While I do like Ron Paul, moving back to a gold standard wouldn't really do much if other countries don't follow suit. US and other countries that were on gold standard like France, Britain, Germany, etc fell off the gold standard during the Great Depression era because trying to maintain parity with gold during a time of economic crisis can limit the power of monetary policy. In the case of the great depression (that affected countries worldwide, not just the US), you had two choices: try to maintain the same convertibility of gold to domestic currency (which means you can't conduct expansionary monetary policy to decrease deflationary movements), or get off the gold standard so you can attempt the necessary market interventions without anything impeding your results.

This is exactly why the recession in 1987 turned out okay, and why the recession today should turn out okay as well: the devalued dollar should bring more exports and less imports, spurring production and jobs. I can't say much about the credit and financial markets in the picture because honestly I haven't read up a lot about it, but how well the economy turns depends greatly on that too.

[Elesirdur]

Shue, to give you a bit of perspective, the minimum wage here is $5.15 an hour unless you're a waitress or someone that gets tips, which it can be as low as $2.something.

And per average, I drive almost 20 miles round trip to work if I'm working in the CLOSE store. If I go back to work in Alexandria, it's almost 50 miles round trip per time.

Your gas is more expensive, but your country is much smaller.

Well, that's not totally true.

American city designing and planning in the post-war years has paved the way for this kind of problem. Prior to the Second World War, most Americans that were urban dwellers lived in cities that looked and were laid out much like their European counterparts; urban cores filled with apartment blocks, factories, offices, stores, and transit systems. While America's love affair with the car was beginning, most people in cities lived in apartments or row housing (brownstone) places - the exceedingly wealthy were the ones who had the resources for a fashionable 'country home' and access to a private car to get to it. The middle class (ie. whites) lived in the city with minorities, blacks, hispanics, Irish, etc. forced to live on the outskirts of the urban centers or in ghettos near industrial areas.

However, beginning in the 1930s, but really taking off after the war, was suburban development. Banks started selling whites on the idea of mortgages as a way to get out of the crowded cities, own a car, and especially get away from the blacks and immigrants that were starting to flood into the urban environs. What really made this all possible was the automobile. Without cheap cars, gas, and a nation so infatuated with the freedom and power that came with owning a car the American (and I should say, North American, because the exact same things happened in Canada) city as we now it now was conceived.

Europe, on the other hand, did not experience this post-war consumerist revelation for quite some time. Even the 'winning' nations of Britain and France were absolutely devastated, both economically and socially, in the 20 years following VE Day; not many people are pining for cars when they can't get enough heating oil to keep their homes warm at night. Interestingly enough, I think that if America had been economically wracked at the end of WWII, and the 'white flight' from the urban centres never occurred, American cities today would likely look much like cities in Europe in the 1980s and early '90s. Compact, filled with apartment buildings, well served (by North American standards) public transportation, and largely with the rich and middle class living in the city centres and the poor and minorities out in the suburbs - Paris is probably the most well-known example of this kind.


Sooooo, what does this have to do with gas prices? It's in the best interest of American gas companies to keep prices low (reletively speaking to the rest of the world) because people absolutely need a car to live in a metropolitan area - the cities are just designed on roads and highways, not centralized living and public transit.

[Olo401]

This recession just makes me wonder how to invest my money to make a killing.

Tips?

BG Financial GO!

Convert all your dollars to Euros NOW. Don't fuckin' wait either.

I converted about 500 bucks to Euros about a year ago cuz I had a feeling this shit would be goin' down.. and I've made about 25% profit so far, tax-free.

[Olo401]

The recession won't exist anymore once we elect Ron Paul into office and we get back on the gold standard 8)

Pffffffffffft. He's not gettin' elected.

..

..because Bush is gonna pull a Pervez Musharraf. You can't stop Commander Guy, you can only hope to contain him.

[levish]

Actually, no.

http://www.petrolprices.com/price-of-petrol.html

Basically 66% goes to the government in two forms of tax, Duty and VAT.

Was gonna say this

On a side note I wish the US government would stop taxing Diesel so much to make it worthwhile.

[Odon]

Pity exactly the opposite is true of Los Angeles. Drive or die here.

I'd say that holds true for most of the country.

Thank god I live in NYC. I still never bothered to learn how to drive because who needs to?

Ay men. I still don't have my permit at 19 Hah.

[Bunnykillah]

My parents live in a town of ~600 that is 12 miles away from any other town, much less city. Personally atm it is still cheaper for me to drive places and live where I do because rent is so expensive in this part of the country.

I hear yeah, the nearest town(20,000 population) from where my parents live is 17 miles away. Our closest neighbor lives 1 mile away. The town my parents live in has 160ish people. Have to drive 25 miles round trip to work every day. Would be easy to buy a small fuel efficient car if it wasn't for the fact that South Dakota is known for some of the deepest snow fall. At least one 4wd truck is a must for a family. On the up-side land/housing is dirt cheap. I believe my parents spent $120,000 on their single floor, 3 bedroom, 2 and a half bath house built in 2002. And instead of propane/electrical heating they got a heater that burns corn for the winter. I believe gas here is $2.99 for 10% ethanol. It doesn't affect me too much because my college is in a nice town, only need to fill up maybe once a month.

[Intense]

I believe gas here is $2.99 for 10% ethanol. It doesn't affect me too much because my college is in a nice town, only need to fill up maybe once a month.

Im beyond jealous. I fill up 2 times a week @ $3.00~. Today I only put $24 in my tank because it went up to $3.15 where I go as of this morning. I really wish I was in a position to get rid of my car!

[HAcoreRD]

Soon China will sell us Gas for Gil/Gold

Okay, that'll be 150,000 a gallon - fuck, time to farm kindred seals

[Correction]

Pity exactly the opposite is true of Los Angeles. Drive or die here.

I'd say that holds true for most of the country.

Thank god I live in NYC. I still never bothered to learn how to drive because who needs to?

Ay men. I still don't have my permit at 19 Hah.

pro tip: insurance rates factor in how long you've had a license in years when they figure out your payments. Get that license now or suffer.

[Blarg]

Do magazines still make you pay like 30% more in Canadian dollars?

[Marsala]

this is why I <3 my bike. Bikes ftw.

[Chips]

Canada seems to be getting screwed on gas prices though; it's $1.01 per liter right now (southern Ontario), which equates to $3.82/gallon.

[Dolmen]

Right around $2.86-$2.93/gallon in Ashburn, VA, for regular. Mid-grade, add about 20 cents, and premium add about 30 cents.

[sephir]

Just wait, this high dollar will spell recession in Canada's manufacturing and resource industry soon enough.

actually our manufacturing jobs are getting destroyed but somehow jobs in other sectors are booming. in the last month with the dollar surging we made something like 37,000 new jobs nationwide. Im still trying to figure out why thats happening, but it is.

[Kiro]

This recession just makes me wonder how to invest my money to make a killing.

Tips?

BG Financial GO!

I've made a killing buying Apple stock at $12/share about 13 years ago... It's split since then, and now worth ~$185/share. >.>

Haha, I've been trying to go for stocks too, never could really figure out what to go for though. Looks like you made a nice choice though.

[Vinen]

Happy I have an incredibly well paying job for my age along with cheap living expenses... Makes owning my gas guzzling WRX affordable!

[Plow]

How do people not learn how to drive a car?


This pedal is go.


This pedal is stop.


Turn this thingy right and you go right.


Turn this thingy left and you go left.


Red is stop.

Green is go.

Yellow is floor it.

What is there to learn, really?

[netz]

How do people not learn how to drive a car?

*snip*

Yellow is floor it.

What is there to learn, really?

When "yellow is floor it" is a bad idea?

[Lordwafik]

Screw your fuel, this is what I do for recession :

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/4241/halfpricept0.jpg


Not all mine, but I bought this for me and my cousin. 9 for the price of 4 games if they were sold here. Also bought a bunch of books, thinking of buying a ton of other crap while the dollar is rubbish enough, scared the Aussie dollar will plummet anytime

America to Australia is now like a giant bargain bin, everything is half price