The Nation's Financial Condition

[jhu72]

China's doing better in the trade war than Trumpnista propaganda would have you believe. Trump is blinking.

[Typical Lax Dad]

https://markets.businessinsider.com/amp ... 1028791832

[Peter Brown]

Why is it that the same people who supported a stunningly failed political campaign in '16, are the same ones telling me for 3 years straight now that the stock market is massively overvalued?

A report shows 7 of 10 Americans are struggling financially. Do you care?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/70-america ... nancially/

And that's one of the reasons why inflation isn't higher. Middle and lower classes are still underemployed / underpaid (or overcharged) with respect to a few major expenses, namely health care and housing and to a lesser extent higher education among others.

Facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rank-and-f ... 1577442600

[Typical Lax Dad]

Why is it that the same people who supported a stunningly failed political campaign in '16, are the same ones telling me for 3 years straight now that the stock market is massively overvalued?

A report shows 7 of 10 Americans are struggling financially. Do you care?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/70-america ... nancially/

And that's one of the reasons why inflation isn't higher. Middle and lower classes are still underemployed / underpaid (or overcharged) with respect to a few major expenses, namely health care and housing and to a lesser extent higher education among others.

Facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rank-and-f ... 1577442600

Dems fighting for minimum wage increases has paid off..... in addition

“The effective labor pool is smaller than what it has been in the past,” said Tony Darden, Mooyah’s president. “As you look to bring on folks, ultimately higher wages are used to attract them.”

[holmes435]

And that's one of the reasons why inflation isn't higher. Middle and lower classes are still underemployed / underpaid (or overcharged) with respect to a few major expenses, namely health care and housing and to a lesser extent higher education among others.

Facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rank-and-f ... 1577442600

Dems fighting for minimum wage increases has paid off..... in addition

“The effective labor pool is smaller than what it has been in the past,” said Tony Darden, Mooyah’s president. “As you look to bring on folks, ultimately higher wages are used to attract them.”

Yeah, and while it's great that their wages are rising, we still have 4+ decades of catching up to do to narrow the income and wealth gap. Wages are still nowhere where they need to be.

Peter's "Facts" also didn't address half of my statement - how much housing, health care and education expenses grew over those past few decades and how much faster they are still growing vs. those wage raises. That still has a pretty dampening effect on inflation.

[3rdPersonPlural]

And that's one of the reasons why inflation isn't higher. Middle and lower classes are still underemployed / underpaid (or overcharged) with respect to a few major expenses, namely health care and housing and to a lesser extent higher education among others.

Facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rank-and-f ... 1577442600

Dems fighting for minimum wage increases has paid off..... in addition

“The effective labor pool is smaller than what it has been in the past,” said Tony Darden, Mooyah’s president. “As you look to bring on folks, ultimately higher wages are used to attract them.”

Yeah, and while it's great that their wages are rising, we still have 4+ decades of catching up to do to narrow the income and wealth gap. Wages are still nowhere where they need to be.

Peter's "Facts" also didn't address half of my statement - how much housing, health care and education expenses grew over those past few decades and how much faster they are still growing vs. those wage raises. That still has a pretty dampening effect on inflation.

[CU88]

Always a good read:

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-j ... ch-1396086


Former President Jimmy Carter told a church congregation this weekend that he had spoken with President Donald Trump about China on Saturday, and said the commander in chief was worried that Beijing had outpaced its global rivals.

According to Emma Hurt, a reporter for NPR affiliate WABE, Carter spoke of the call during his regular Sunday School lesson at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

Carter, 94, said Trump was worried that "China is getting ahead of us," and suggested the president was right to be concerned.

He told the congregation that Trump feared China's growing economic strength. Economic modeling indicated that China would overtake the U.S. as the world's strongest economy by 2030, and many experts have said that we were already living in what has been dubbed the "Chinese Century."

Carter said he did not "really fear that time, but it bothers President Trump and I don't know why. I'm not criticizing him this morning," he added, to laughs from fellow churchgoers.

Carter—who normalized diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing in 1979—suggested that China's breakneck growth had been facilitated by sensible investment and buoyed by peace.

"Since 1979, do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody?" Carter asked. "None. And we have stayed at war." The U.S., he noted, has only enjoyed 16 years of peace in its 242-year history, making the country "the most warlike nation in the history of the world," Carter said. This is, he said, because of America's tendency to force other nations to "adopt our American principles."

In China, meanwhile, the economic benefits of peace were clear to the eye. "How many miles of high-speed railroad do we have in this country?" he asked. While China has some 18,000 miles of high-speed rail, the U.S. has "wasted, I think, $3 trillion" on military spending. "It's more than you can imagine. China has not wasted a single penny on war, and that's why they're ahead of us. In almost every way."

"And I think the difference is if you take $3 trillion and put it in American infrastructure you'd probably have $2 trillion leftover. We'd have high-speed railroad. We'd have bridges that aren't collapsing, we'd have roads that are maintained properly. Our education system would be as good as that of say South Korea or Hong Kong," Carter told the congregation.

Before he left the pulpit, Carter noted, "I wasn't comparing my country adversely to China. I was just pointing that out because I happened to get a phone call last night."

I have said it before and will say it again, tell your kids to learn Mandarin Chinese; as their kids will know it for sure...

[Peter Brown]

Why is it that the same people who supported a stunningly failed political campaign in '16, are the same ones telling me for 3 years straight now that the stock market is massively overvalued?

A report shows 7 of 10 Americans are struggling financially. Do you care?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/70-america ... nancially/

And that's one of the reasons why inflation isn't higher. Middle and lower classes are still underemployed / underpaid (or overcharged) with respect to a few major expenses, namely health care and housing and to a lesser extent higher education among others.

Facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rank-and-f ... 1577442600

Dems fighting for minimum wage increases has paid off..... in addition

“The effective labor pool is smaller than what it has been in the past,” said Tony Darden, Mooyah’s president. “As you look to bring on folks, ultimately higher wages are used to attract them.”

The fact that unemployment sits at 3.5% and employers can no longer pay anyone minimum wage to attract even half-capable labor is a far more direct impact on wages. We pay on average $15/hour for starting wages for unskilled labor at most of our locations. The absolute lowest wage we pay anywhere across this country for our entire company is $13/hour. And I can tell you for a fact that at $13/hour, it is very difficult to attract anyone. Once hired at $13/hour, those individuals rapidly advance past $15/hour. Minimum wage is $7.25.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Why is it that the same people who supported a stunningly failed political campaign in '16, are the same ones telling me for 3 years straight now that the stock market is massively overvalued?

A report shows 7 of 10 Americans are struggling financially. Do you care?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/70-america ... nancially/

And that's one of the reasons why inflation isn't higher. Middle and lower classes are still underemployed / underpaid (or overcharged) with respect to a few major expenses, namely health care and housing and to a lesser extent higher education among others.

Facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rank-and-f ... 1577442600

Dems fighting for minimum wage increases has paid off..... in addition

“The effective labor pool is smaller than what it has been in the past,” said Tony Darden, Mooyah’s president. “As you look to bring on folks, ultimately higher wages are used to attract them.”

The fact that unemployment sits at 3.5% and employers can no longer pay anyone minimum wage to attract even half-capable labor is a far more direct impact on wages. We pay on average $15/hour for starting wages for unskilled labor at most of our locations. The absolute lowest wage we pay anywhere across this country for our entire company is $13/hour. And I can tell you for a fact that at $13/hour, it is very difficult to attract anyone. Once hired at $13/hour, those individuals rapidly advance past $15/hour. Minimum wage is $7.25.

So you are saying the minimum wage increase has had no impact on upward pressure on wages and most low wage employees make at least what your company pays? That’s your math? $15 a hour is the average minimum now?

[Peter Brown]

Why is it that the same people who supported a stunningly failed political campaign in '16, are the same ones telling me for 3 years straight now that the stock market is massively overvalued?

A report shows 7 of 10 Americans are struggling financially. Do you care?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/70-america ... nancially/

And that's one of the reasons why inflation isn't higher. Middle and lower classes are still underemployed / underpaid (or overcharged) with respect to a few major expenses, namely health care and housing and to a lesser extent higher education among others.

Facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rank-and-f ... 1577442600

Dems fighting for minimum wage increases has paid off..... in addition

“The effective labor pool is smaller than what it has been in the past,” said Tony Darden, Mooyah’s president. “As you look to bring on folks, ultimately higher wages are used to attract them.”

The fact that unemployment sits at 3.5% and employers can no longer pay anyone minimum wage to attract even half-capable labor is a far more direct impact on wages. We pay on average $15/hour for starting wages for unskilled labor at most of our locations. The absolute lowest wage we pay anywhere across this country for our entire company is $13/hour. And I can tell you for a fact that at $13/hour, it is very difficult to attract anyone. Once hired at $13/hour, those individuals rapidly advance past $15/hour. Minimum wage is $7.25.

So you are saying the minimum wage increase has had no impact on upward pressure on wages and most low wage employees make at least what your company pays? That’s your math? $15 a hour is the average minimum now?

I'm saying that almost no employer can pay minimum wage...anywhere. I know we couldn't sniff minimum wage. We are double that for entry level, and we run advertisements every day on multiple job boards at $13-15, and we are still not getting enough candidates. You know what our next move is to counter that? We are going to raise entry level wages yet again.

[jhu72]

Jobs report out with sub 200K number. Yet again showing significant job loss in manufacturing in upper north east and midwest.

[Peter Brown]

Jobs report out with sub 200K number. Yet again showing significant job loss in manufacturing in upper north east and midwest.

Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.

The national unemployment rate (for those keeping score) is 3.5%. And the Dow is at 29,000. But hey, thorns.

[jhu72]

Jobs report out with sub 200K number. Yet again showing significant job loss in manufacturing in upper north east and midwest.

Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.

The national unemployment rate (for those keeping score) is 3.5%. And the Dow is at 29,000. But hey, thorns.

Well, speaking as an employer that does not have a single employee making less than $15 an hour, I am not much impressed by jobs numbers that are treading water and showing signs of worse to come.

[a fan]

Hear, hear, JHU72. I don't have anyone making less than that either.

You're ignoring the context, Pete.

The reason we are all grumbling is the stupid trade wars, coupled with massive spending increases and irresponsible tax cuts. As of two weeks ago, Trump is up to $3 Trillion in new spending, and every cent of it is borrowed.

We're waiting for CBO scoring on the new spending bill, waiting to hear what it does to the debt.

BEFORE this last $500 Billion spending bill? Payment on interest will exceed our spending on defense in 2026. If that doesn't flat our scare you....


We have mortgaged our future. This is a wholly borrowed economy.

I'm curious. Has your company paid corporate taxes? If so, at what rate?

[Peter Brown]

Hear, hear, JHU72. I don't have anyone making less than that either.

You're ignoring the context, Pete.

The reason we are all grumbling is the stupid trade wars, coupled with massive spending increases and irresponsible tax cuts. As of two weeks ago, Trump is up to $3 Trillion in new spending, and every cent of it is borrowed.

We're waiting for CBO scoring on the new spending bill, waiting to hear what it does to the debt.

BEFORE this last $500 Billion spending bill? Payment on interest will exceed our spending on defense in 2026. If that doesn't flat our scare you....


We have mortgaged our future. This is a wholly borrowed economy.

I'm curious. Has your company paid corporate taxes? If so, at what rate?

I am not in the habit of revealing our corporate information online, so I have to respectfully decline your last question. What I will say is between federal and property taxes (I will ignore all of the various tax fees I pay in every single instance of living...phones, sales, transfer, ect...), I pay enough tax to buy a home in most states.

What I think you guys on the left should get your gander about is hypocrites like Bill Gates who loudly say they want to pay more tax, so please tax me higher. lol. What he means is tax my income higher. Easy to say after you've already made it!

What Bill should do (if he is so earnest about being taxed more; hint, he's not) is cut a check (or simply assign his MSFT stock certificates) to the US Treasury...it's legal and encouraged! Instead, what he does is woke-signal to the perennially aggrieved (Democrats, that is) who hate success and the evil rich, all the while transferring (tax free!) his entire estate (minus what he will give his kids) into a tax free foundation which he controls and from which he can pay his kids and anyone else he deigns to pay a salary of his choosing. Nice gig if you can get it!

Meanwhile, here is a hard fact (it's 3.5% now...):

Unemployment Rate.png (92.23 KiB) Viewed 1059 times

[a fan]

I am not in the habit of revealing our corporate information online, so I have to respectfully decline your last question.

Completely fair. I didn't mean to offend. I had thought your firm was publicly traded. My apologies.

What I think you guys on the left should get your gander about is hypocrites like Bill Gates who loudly say they want to pay more tax, so please tax me higher. lol. What he means is tax my income higher. Easy to say after you've already made it!

As a reminder, when it comes to economics, I'm about a mile to the right of you. I'm not a lefty.

Don't care about taxing Bill Gates. What I care about is taxing Microsoft. It is the height of insanity that my piddly company frequently pays more money to keep America's lights on than Fortune 500 companies. Our tax system is beyond broken.

Meanwhile, here is a hard fact (it's 3.5% now...):

You're still not listening.

Ever hear the centuries-old fable of the grasshopper and the ants?

The fable concerns a grasshopper that has spent the summer singing while the ants worked to store up food for winter. When winter arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and begs the ant for food. However, the ant rebukes its idleness and tells it to dance the winter away now.


All you keep telling us that things are great here in the summertime. We get that. Everyone at the forum, to my knowledge, is doing fine or doing great. This summer weather, to stick with the metaphor, is great....but when winter arrives, and we can't borrow money anymore, and we finally have to raise taxes?

That's when you and I will have this conversation again.

[Peter Brown]

I am not in the habit of revealing our corporate information online, so I have to respectfully decline your last question.

Completely fair. I didn't mean to offend. I had thought your firm was publicly traded. My apologies.

What I think you guys on the left should get your gander about is hypocrites like Bill Gates who loudly say they want to pay more tax, so please tax me higher. lol. What he means is tax my income higher. Easy to say after you've already made it!

As a reminder, when it comes to economics, I'm about a mile to the right of you. I'm not a lefty.

Don't care about taxing Bill Gates. What I care about is taxing Microsoft. It is the height of insanity that my piddly company frequently pays more money to keep America's lights on than Fortune 500 companies. Our tax system is beyond broken.

Meanwhile, here is a hard fact (it's 3.5% now...):

You're still not listening.

Ever hear the centuries-old fable of the grasshopper and the ants?

The fable concerns a grasshopper that has spent the summer singing while the ants worked to store up food for winter. When winter arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and begs the ant for food. However, the ant rebukes its idleness and tells it to dance the winter away now.


All you keep telling us that things are great here in the summertime. We get that. Everyone at the forum, to my knowledge, is doing fine or doing great. This summer weather, to stick with the metaphor, is great....but when winter arrives, and we can't borrow money anymore, and we finally have to raise taxes?

That's when you and I will have this conversation again.

So far as Microsoft, that begets an entire discussion of the tax code. I (like you) rely on professionals to help make some time-sensitive capital investment decisions which invariably affect our year-end corporate tax. My suspicion is many tech companies game the tax code way more than the average company is able, though I also recall when I was a GE shareholder (no longer) that they seemed adept at those tricks, too.

I happen to be a believer in a flat sales tax, but man is that a long discussion.

Now as to our country's debt, I believe there will eventually be a settlement of debts in exchange for a lowering if not elimination of tariffs. I have never understood how it is not a bigger deal to much smarter folks than I, but it isn't. Hence, my guess is there is always some 'out' which most people are not factoring in when we think the debt is practically insurmountable.

[Peter Brown]

I am not in the habit of revealing our corporate information online, so I have to respectfully decline your last question.

Completely fair. I didn't mean to offend. I had thought your firm was publicly traded. My apologies.

What I think you guys on the left should get your gander about is hypocrites like Bill Gates who loudly say they want to pay more tax, so please tax me higher. lol. What he means is tax my income higher. Easy to say after you've already made it!

As a reminder, when it comes to economics, I'm about a mile to the right of you. I'm not a lefty.

Don't care about taxing Bill Gates. What I care about is taxing Microsoft. It is the height of insanity that my piddly company frequently pays more money to keep America's lights on than Fortune 500 companies. Our tax system is beyond broken.

Meanwhile, here is a hard fact (it's 3.5% now...):

You're still not listening.

Ever hear the centuries-old fable of the grasshopper and the ants?

The fable concerns a grasshopper that has spent the summer singing while the ants worked to store up food for winter. When winter arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and begs the ant for food. However, the ant rebukes its idleness and tells it to dance the winter away now.


All you keep telling us that things are great here in the summertime. We get that. Everyone at the forum, to my knowledge, is doing fine or doing great. This summer weather, to stick with the metaphor, is great....but when winter arrives, and we can't borrow money anymore, and we finally have to raise taxes?

That's when you and I will have this conversation again.

So far as Microsoft, that begets an entire discussion of the tax code. I (like you) rely on professionals to help make some time-sensitive capital investment decisions which invariably affect our year-end corporate tax. My suspicion is many tech companies game the tax code way more than the average company is able, though I also recall when I was a GE shareholder (no longer) that they seemed adept at those tricks, too.

I happen to be a believer in a flat sales tax, but man is that a long discussion.

Now as to our country's debt, I believe there will eventually be a settlement of debts in exchange for a lowering if not elimination of tariffs. I have never understood how the debt is not a bigger deal to much smarter folks than I, but it isn't. Hence, my guess is there is always some 'out' which most people are not factoring in when we think the debt is practically insurmountable.

[CU88]

President Trump: "We're signing a monster. A big, beautiful monster. Forty to fifty billion dollars to our farmers. Our farmers will be taken in, I keep saying go buy larger tractors."

More Dole for famers...

[youthathletics]

President Trump: "We're signing a monster. A big, beautiful monster. Forty to fifty billion dollars to our farmers. Our farmers will be taken in, I keep saying go buy larger tractors."

More Dole for famers...

Maybe Willie Nelson can have another concert circ: 1985

afan has always told us we are already a socialism country....does this prove it?