Capitalism Hits the Fan

[Kidlicious]

That guy is a tremendous idiot.

You must believe that stating facts is idiotic.

[chequita guevara]

That guy is a tremendous idiot. But I'm sure what he's saying makes lots of sense to those without basic fundamental understandings of economics.

Sez the guy cheering the system that put him out of work.

[Asher]

Sez the guy cheering the system that put him out of work.

It's part of capitalism. C'est la vie.

I live in the real world. Any system that can guarantee employment is not one I want to live in. They're bull****.

The difference between you and me is simple, che: you lose work, you cry and want the government to fix it for you. I lose work, I bust my ass to train myself with useful skills and aggressively seek new work ASAP.

It's really a fundamental difference between a communist (I don't wanna do anything, I want bigger government) and capitalism (How can I contribute to the economy).

[Kidlicious]

I like the way asher thinks that only communists stay unemployed. That's

[Kidlicious]

btw, I'm employed and asher isn't.

[Asher]

btw, I'm employed and asher isn't.

Already got an interview lined up tomorrow. Won't be too long, Kid.

[Kidlicious]

Already got an interview lined up tomorrow. Won't be too long, Kid.

Just stating facts. I know you think thats idiotic though.

[Asher]

Stating facts

Fact: Communism has failed.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Not sure I buy the whole causation from wage-gap to debt-gap

You shouldn't. Real wages staying stagnant doesn't mean real wages go down. Social norms changed when credit became easier to obtain (mostly due to technological advances). It is ok to take on extra debt now when before it wasn't.

[Aeson]

You shouldn't. Real wages staying stagnant doesn't mean real wages go down. Social norms changed when credit became easier to obtain (mostly due to technological advances). It is ok to take on extra debt now when before it wasn't.

Social norms might have changed, but economic realities didn't change to accommodate them. It's rather obvious that the prior ease of credit was undeserved... the ability to pay it back does not exist to adequately support the price levels that the ease of credit promoted.

If incomes had kept up with debt (and the prices promoted), there wouldn't need to be a devaluation. But they didn't, so we get the devaluation and the related pain that comes with such an event.

[Theben]

Easing of credit also came with what should be considered ridiculous APR rates... credit cards charging upwards of 12% even with good credit ratings, and up to 30% for bad, in monthly installments.

And check cashing and cash advance places are even worse, charging 25% of the value of the advance with a 2 week loan! These should be illegal. I'm not a big fan of Wal-mart but their new $3 paycheck-to-cashcard is a great thing for people w/o accounts.

[GePap]

You shouldn't. Real wages staying stagnant doesn't mean real wages go down. Social norms changed when credit became easier to obtain (mostly due to technological advances). It is ok to take on extra debt now when before it wasn't.

For credit to become easier to obtain, you need lenders out there willing to lend their stored capital, which seems to be what would happen under this guy's scenerio. It doesn;t matter people become more willing to borrow without there being someone equally willing to lend.

[Imran Siddiqui]

What's your point? For lenders being able to lend their capital, they need people willing to take on more debt. Doesn't change the underlying fact that the social norms have changed (which is why the older folk in our country are less interested in taking on debt and for the most part consider it a shameful thing).

[Kidlicious]

Interesting vid. Not sure I buy the whole causation from wage-gap to debt-gap, but it's an interesting theory.

Something had to be done with the capital that was raised by not increasing wages. If it had been invested to increase production then wages would have increased. But that would have brought lower profit margins. Buy lending they actually increased their profit margins. It's not really causation. It's just capitalists taking advantage of the situation and ****ing everything up.

[Theben]

It didn't appear that they needed to invest to increase production, it was already increasing. I think cheap overseas labor probably had more to do with the decline of U.S. wages than anything.