I think a deep recession will be good for society.

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot
anyways unless the savings bubble ends (which fueled the credit bubble) we'll just have another credit bubble.

Not if banks aren't allowed to leverage a $1 deposit into $70 in loans.

 

[JMapleton]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$30k is like a V6 EX Accord these days with TTL. Not that much money for a car, plenty of people buy it on 50k salaries and live financially responsible lives.

Uh no it's not financially responsible. In my opinion, you should never take out more than a 2 year loan on a car (I encourage paying cash for cars) and you should never be spending more than 75% on your salary to live, but saving 25% of it.

 

[JMapleton]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Regulation is what's needed. People forget too easily.

The bigger problem has to do with the US Economy as a whole. It has become a Consumption Economy that relies too heavily on People Spending Money. It discourages Saving and encourages Debt.

I agree to an extent, but we have to have people to "make" things to have an economy. If we all lived like the Amish we wouldn't have an economy.

 

[JMapleton]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Won't be good as cities turn feral. Won't be good for elderly and yutes. Won't be good as producers develop lock jaw and stop producing.

I don't know how things will turn out - we could have full blown communism/fascism/civil war/states succeeding, just a bunch of mess. I don't look at it as a good thing any which way you cut it.

Ahhh another "Political Forum Nutjob." And 9/11 was a conspiracy, Roswell had aliens, the US Dollar has secret illuminati code on it, and the Rockefellers secretly control the United States in an underground bunker.

 

[JMapleton]

Originally posted by: nobodyknows

Originally posted by: JMapleton
I think a deep recession will be good for society.

recession, maybe. deep recession? bad idea IMO

Most people never feel a normal recession. This is the first recession we've had in a long time that will scare people.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: JMapleton

Originally posted by: sandorski
Regulation is what's needed. People forget too easily.

The bigger problem has to do with the US Economy as a whole. It has become a Consumption Economy that relies too heavily on People Spending Money. It discourages Saving and encourages Debt.

I agree to an extent, but we have to have people to "make" things to have an economy. If we all lived like the Amish we wouldn't have an economy.

Who gives a damn, we'd be all toasty as hell! Heat Surge

 

[Balt]

I don't think high unemployment rates will be good for the psyche of the country. Most people need to feel like they are productive and can provide for themselves and/or their family. A long, deep recession will put such people into a very dark place.

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: JMapleton

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$30k is like a V6 EX Accord these days with TTL. Not that much money for a car, plenty of people buy it on 50k salaries and live financially responsible lives.

Uh no it's not financially responsible. In my opinion, you should never take out more than a 2 year loan on a car (I encourage paying cash for cars) and you should never be spending more than 75% on your salary to live, but saving 25% of it.

That is true.

Just because the automobile industry has ingrained in the American psyche that the average car should cost $30K doesn't make it so. Most people finance cars over five years. Even assuming a 0% interest rate that's still $500/mo for a car.

$500/mo. For a car.

That's a lot of damn money. Hell, I make a pretty healthy income and even I hesitate at the thought of spending $500/mo on basic transportation. Include gas, insurance, taxes and you're looking at $700/mo.

Now tell me again Imdmn04 how it's fiscally wise to spend $8,400/yr on a car with a $50,000/yr salary.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn
The second the economy turns around all the people who have been saving and living on a tight budget will rush out to buy the things they have been putting off due to the poor economy.

Based on headlines such as this:

Credit card delinquencies hit index record
Bank's future woes in one word: plastic

and the fact that home equity has dropped in many parts of the country, I just don't get the impression that the average consumer is sitting on a pile of cash right now.

 

[StageLeft]

Those numbers are about right, $700/month for somebody netting $3200 (?) month is crazy.

 

[StageLeft]

I just don't get the impression that the average consumer is sitting on a pile of cash right now

Actually I agree with prof's sentiment quite a bit, although some will have already learned a lesson, but if not with cash, with credit. You are right, though, that most are not sitting on much cash right now. The average family is not waiting for this to be over then buying a new hummer!

 

[JMapleton]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...wads-apf-14598438.html

This article mentions what I wsa talking about.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: JMapleton
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...wads-apf-14598438.html

This article mentions what I wsa talking about.

Haha, like I said, it can be a hobby!

cutting lotion bottles in half so she can scrape out the last drops.

Wow, that is hardcore (and psychotic).

"I do it out of fear because I would rather put that money in the bank or purchase something we really need," said VanDeventer, who now saves about 50 percent of her take-home pay, up from 25 percent before the recession began more than a year ago.

Damn!

A self-proclaimed cheapskate, he has spent no more than $100 over the past five years

wtf

BTW beingfrugal.net I Just went to it. Site crashed, it appears.

I wanna look into these detergents because I know they are pretty expensive. Still, these people are truly frugal.

 

[Siddhartha]

OP,

In my world, losing my job, my family losing health care benefits, my kids not being able to go to college, losing my home, etc is not a good thing.

Are you rich enough that a deep recession would not affect you in the mid and long term?

Please quit your job and become homeless to show us how it will benefit the country.

 

[Pocatello]

How about personal fiscal responsibility, government fiscal responsibility, private companies need to invest more in the US instead of shipping jobs to China or other countries, just to name a few things that are wrong.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: BoberFett

Originally posted by: JMapleton

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$30k is like a V6 EX Accord these days with TTL. Not that much money for a car, plenty of people buy it on 50k salaries and live financially responsible lives.

Uh no it's not financially responsible. In my opinion, you should never take out more than a 2 year loan on a car (I encourage paying cash for cars) and you should never be spending more than 75% on your salary to live, but saving 25% of it.

That is true.

Just because the automobile industry has ingrained in the American psyche that the average car should cost $30K doesn't make it so. Most people finance cars over five years. Even assuming a 0% interest rate that's still $500/mo for a car.

$500/mo. For a car.

That's a lot of damn money. Hell, I make a pretty healthy income and even I hesitate at the thought of spending $500/mo on basic transportation. Include gas, insurance, taxes and you're looking at $700/mo.

Now tell me again Imdmn04 how it's fiscally wise to spend $8,400/yr on a car with a $50,000/yr salary.

B/c the $8,400/yr is only for a limited number of years and you'll still have the car after it's paid off.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

B/c the $8,400/yr is only for a limited number of years and you'll still have the car after it's paid off.

You can buy a perfectly good car for $4000, ONE time, and you'll still have the car for many many years.

 

[Infohawk]

As others have mentioned, it doesn't matter because people forget to easily.

 

[nobodyknows]

Originally posted by: JMapleton

Originally posted by: nobodyknows

Originally posted by: JMapleton
I think a deep recession will be good for society.

recession, maybe. deep recession? bad idea IMO

Most people never feel a normal recession. This is the first recession we've had in a long time that will scare people.

Instead of "scaring" people, we need to hold them accountable for their actions and bad decisions. That accountability needs to start at the top and "trickle down".

 

[tvarad]

Most of the stuff being sold for consumption is based on "image" and people buy it to keep up with the Jones's and was financed by easy credit. I hope this recession rebuilds the world economy to grow based on need rather than based on consumption.

 

[dmw16]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$30k is like a V6 EX Accord these days with TTL. Not that much money for a car, plenty of people buy it on 50k salaries and live financially responsible lives.

Disagree. If you make$50k a year you should be driving a used car. There are plenty of perfectly good reliable used cars that are much less than 30k. Like a used Accord.

I do agree with the OP that the recession, although painful, will reground people. The US population (in general) was acting like children. Buying what they wanted when they wanted it whether they could afford it or not. The recession will force people to rethink how they use money.

 

[nobodyknows]

Originally posted by: dmw16

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$30k is like a V6 EX Accord these days with TTL. Not that much money for a car, plenty of people buy it on 50k salaries and live financially responsible lives.

Disagree. If you make$50k a year you should be driving a used car. There are plenty of perfectly good reliable used cars that are much less than 30k. Like a used Accord.

I do agree with the OP that the recession, although painful, will reground people. The US population (in general) was acting like children. Buying what they wanted when they wanted it whether they could afford it or not. The recession will force people to rethink how they use money.

I didn't need to be "regrounded". I agree the people who drove the prices of everything up thinking they were beating the system may need that, how did it get so out of control that now everybody has to pay the price for their greed, mistakes, and bad judgment?

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: dmw16

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$30k is like a V6 EX Accord these days with TTL. Not that much money for a car, plenty of people buy it on 50k salaries and live financially responsible lives.

Disagree. If you make$50k a year you should be driving a used car. There are plenty of perfectly good reliable used cars that are much less than 30k. Like a used Accord.

I do agree with the OP that the recession, although painful, will reground people. The US population (in general) was acting like children. Buying what they wanted when they wanted it whether they could afford it or not. The recession will force people to rethink how they use money.

It may reground them for a short period of time, but people in general have very short memories. Eventually we will probably move back toward deregulation, easy credit, and living far beyond our means. The bubble will eventually pop, and the process will start all over again.

 

[TheSlamma]

Originally posted by: Special K
It may reground them for a short period of time, but people in general have very short memories. Eventually we will probably move back toward deregulation, easy credit, and living far beyond our means. The bubble will eventually pop, and the process will start all over again.

Couldn't agree more with this statement. Not that I wish it was so, but it's reality.

 

[BoberFett]

People will have short memories because we're borrowing our grandchildren's money to pay off these assholes debts for them.

If we let nature take it's course, let some people starve and and die due to their stupidity, I bet a lot of people would remember a lot longer that you shouldn't get in over your head.