JUST SOME POSTS

I am sure all of you have heard someone in the last year comment about how America doesn't make anything anymore. You may have even said it yourself. I have come across some interesting figures (at least to me - I love numbers!) about that. What if I told you that manufacturing output, measured in dollar value, was at its HIGHEST in 2010. OK, I am telling you that. It's true. The U.S. manufacturing output was a record 1.7+ trillion dollars last year. How is that possible? We don't make anything anymore! (FYI, I have found some other figures that show the manufacturing output for the U.S. much higher - over $2.3 Trillion last year. So, it may be even "better" than I have presented. I am going with my original research however. I did want you to know.) First, obviously we do make "things". One of the reasons that people feel that we don't is the fact that there are a LOT less people employed in manufacturing jobs than there were even at the turn ...

I am an optimist at heart. Senator McCain was ridiculed during the campaign for saying the fundamentals of our economy are strong (there is another post a ways back about that, so read it if you care). They are. When allowed to function, the free market economy is the best system devised. Are there inequalities? - Yes. Are there people that will go broke? - Yes. But, if left to be truly free, there will be a much larger number of people that accumulate more wealth. Our problem now is we are being led into a disastrous economic situation by people that think the down times and the "losers" in a capitalistic system can be turned around and/or saved. That is insanity. There can be no good without bad. There can be no winner without losers. To appreciate the light, one must experience darkness. The "feel-good" notion that we can bail out all the downtrodden and speculators that lost, is not only wrong - it is suicidal to our economy. Here is a blog by a business repo...

I have not felt very motivated lately to write. I have ideas, and even formulate blog posts; but it is always when I am hours away from actually being able to sit at a computer and type it out. One of the things I am really tired of hearing is the doom and gloom over our economy. Here is an analysis by a money manager from Raleigh I just read: 1.US employment: Today, our unemployment rate is roughly 5%. Last year at this time, the unemployment rate was 4.5%. Five years ago, the rate was 6%. The average rate of unemployment over the past 50 years is 5.86%. So, the rate of unemployment is higher today than a year ago, but it is by no means stark. A fair number of economists have set the “natural” rate of unemployment at about 6% to account for those people temporarily off of payrolls. Some would argue that the current trend is bad, but they typically go too far in assuming that small trends will become long-term trends. (These are the same types of forecasters who, in the 60s, projec...

Hide the wimmen an' chilren - I'm rantin' again.... I just heard ANOTHER news story that contained the word recession. I am sick of the media trying to make the financial situation sound worse than it is! Does the economy face some issues - both short-term and long-term - ? Yes. It always does and always will. This latest "crisis" however is almost totally (IMHO) media based. The employment rate and number (not UN-employment, but the number working) is at an all-time high. (The unemployment is at or near historic lows, however, so don't panic about that one either) Our economy has more people working than at any time in history. The stock market, even with the recent drops, is STILL near all-time record highs. You hear reports that "the stock market took a 112 point PLUNGE today!" , and you feel we are headed for a depression. A PLUNGE - OH MY!! The problem is, a one hundred plus PLUNGE is less than ONE PERCENT! Yeah, a 100 point drop when t...