UNSUSTAINABLE

33 comments

Posted on 28th November 2012 by Administrator in Economy |Politics |Social Issues

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At least holiday sales are strong and consumer confidence is at post crisis highs. We’ve got that going for us.

33 Comments

  1. efarmer says:

    Well I have my $400 mil Powerball ticket, so no worries for me.

    EF

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    28th November 2012 at 9:09 am

  2. youcanthavemyglock says:

    efarmer, it’s at 500$ mil now :) i’m buying 2 tickets tonight

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1

    28th November 2012 at 9:17 am

  3. ThePessimisticChemist says:

    I went ahead and bought a few tickets. I’m not a gambler, I surprised my wife when I bought a couple of $1 scratcher’s tickets here a couple of months ago so when I handed her some power ball tickets she about shit a brick.

    gif-scrubs-elliot-brick-379068.gif

    Anyways, I figure I’ll lose the money, and then never do it again.

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    28th November 2012 at 9:24 am

  4. Administrator says:

    EF

    Ten people in my office each put in $5 for this Powerball drawing. St. Thomas here I come. It’s a lock.

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    28th November 2012 at 9:25 am

  5. Eddie says:

    I see. It isn’t only boomers who plan to fund their retirement by winning the lottery.

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    28th November 2012 at 9:32 am

  6. KaD says:

    Thought you might find this interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/median-net-worth-2010_n_2193764.html

    Stunning new research from a New York University economics professor reveals just how wide the chasm between the rich and everyone else has grown over the past few decades.

    In 2010 median net worth in the U.S. hit its lowest point since 1969 at $57,000, according to a recent study by NYU Professor Edward Wolff, who studied Americans’ net worth from 1983 – 2010.

    During the same period, income inequality skyrocketed in the U.S., Wolff found, largely thanks to the housing bust, which took a significant bite out of middle-class Americans’ assets. Wolff found that while middle income earners lost 18 percent of their net worth, those in the top 1 percent increased their wealth by 71 percent over the same time period, according to Wolff’s report.

    The findings bring into sharper relief existing evidence that average Americans are getting squeezed ever tighter, while the country’s wealthiest watch their fortunes explode. In 2010, the annual median wage fell to $26,364, its lowest level since 1999, according to a separate study. The decline in wages may have, in part, contributed to growing wealth inequality, resulting in a member of the 1 percent’s worth equaling 288 times that of the median U.S. household, the Economic Policy Institute found in a report released in September.

    The Great Recession is responsible for much of that disparity with the wealth of the median family declining a record 38.8 percent between 2007 and 2010. Those between the ages of 35 and 44 were hit particularly hard. Partly as a result, half of American households now possess just 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.

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    28th November 2012 at 9:40 am

  7. youcanthavemyglock says:

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    28th November 2012 at 9:41 am

  8. TeresaE says:

    Love this chart, simple enough even a DC politician should be able to understand it.

    The problem comes with the interpretation of it.

    To a politician, left-leaning liberal, or struggling average Joe, the chart shows that we need to throw more gov money at the problem.

    Never enters their little brains that throwing money at the problem created the mess in the first place. Hell, they get richer based on this reality every single year.

    Very few people are of the type to welcome today’s pain for tomorrow’s gain. Very few. An insurmountable problem if ever there was one.

    When I was trained in sales management we were taught that money ceases to motivate the masses once their basic needs are met. Less than 20% of our population are truly motivated to put the effort into becoming truly successful for the long term.

    That training told me that in that group of 20%, that can be motivated with the opportunity of making more money, there is a subset – the top 5% (or top 25%of the top 20%) – that are over-the-top motivated. I bought that because of what I saw amongst my fellow sales guys; 80% were always on the verge of starvation/firing, 20% were making 80% of the money and 5% were massively motivated.

    Now I know the truth, that 5% will NEVER be satisfied, nor have “enough.” These are the guys that are running our country. The other 75% of the 20%’ers, are either savers & investors, or spenders, but at some point enough is most definitely enough. What is the point of making great money if you can’t see your child’s recital or game? What is the point if you never get to enjoy it while alive? I’m definitely one of those. Anyway.

    For the 5% it will never me “unsustainable,” well never until the day they can no longer find a dime left – anywhere – that they cannot move over to their own pile.

    The top 5% are motivated by pure greed and are incapable of stopping while the getting is still good. Enough will never be enough.

    Seems our entire way of life is absolutely unsustainable. And eventually the reality of this is going to turn very, very, ugly for the majority of us. Regrettably, I feel it is also absolutely unavoidable.

    This puppy is going down and I find my only solace is that a whole bunch of rich assholes and a whole bunch of lazy worthless blobs, will be crying in their soup someday.

    Not much satisfaction, but I’ll take what I can get.

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    28th November 2012 at 9:43 am

  9. TeresaE says:

    Eddie says: I see. It isn’t only boomers who plan to fund their retirement by winning the lottery.

    You’re funny. For any late Bloomers, or any of us that have followed including those being born right this minute, winning the lottery is maybe our only and best option.

    And that is only if the winner(s) can figure out a way to keep their assets from both the government’s greedy hands AND their own stupidity.

    We should have gotten together, set up an official lottery “club” and put in money to pool our tickets.

    I’d rather win with you all than with a bunch of sheeple that would use the money on Cadillacs,blow and hookers. Or Apple products, cruises and hoverounds. Whichever.

    $2 for a dream seems cheap considering inflation and all. Good luck guys and gals!

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    28th November 2012 at 9:49 am

  10. ThePessimisticChemist says:

    @TeresaE – Unfortunately a capitalistic society needs those 5% sharks to overachieve, because they are the ones doling out the jobs.

    The problem we face right now is that our government has completely failed to provide a capitalistic market where competition may be fierce, but fair.

    Now the cards are stacked in favor of a tiny fraction of a percent of that 5%, and the rest are starving just like the rest of us.

    “I’d rather win with you all than with a bunch of sheeple that would use the money on Cadillacs,blow and hookers. Or Apple products, cruises and hoverounds. Whichever.”

    My wife and I had a discussion last night about what would we do with it.

    “Ummmmm…..pay off our debt? Then…buy a house I guess.”

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    28th November 2012 at 10:06 am

  11. Mark says:

    How do you know Holiday spending is going strong?

    Maybe, people rushed out for bargain prices now and will refrain latter because the economy is dire?

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    28th November 2012 at 10:12 am

  12. Administrator says:

    Mark

    I was being sarcastic.

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    28th November 2012 at 10:37 am

  13. It's me, bitches! says:

    They just put it all on their credit cards because these fucking idiots think that buy spending more money that they are saving money, which is just shitty math.

    The lottery is a tax on poor people who are also bad at math.
    9z1kI.gif

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    28th November 2012 at 10:40 am

  14. TeresaE says:

    @it’s me

    Casinos are the biggest “stupid” tax going in this state. I haven’t been in years because it depresses me.

    This is what I know about the lottery, and big jackpots in particular.

    1. I will NEVER “earn” that much money in my life. No matter how hard I work, how lucky I get, or how well my investments pay off. NEVER. Sidenote, I’ve never been good enough looking, nor connected, to marry into it. Anyway,

    2. The government will NEVER, EVER, let us savers keep our 401(k)s if the gov unions or SS goes belly up. Bank on it. Odds of this happening are increasing by the moment.

    Facing those odds and barring a miracle, I’m realistically planning on going in to work on the day I die.

    Today, right now, at this instant, I have a couple bucks to my name that somebody else hasn’t claimed.

    If I take that two bucks and buy, what, a candy bar?, I will enjoy it for a moment, fight the effect on my ass tomorrow, then forget about it. OR, it gives me food poisoning and I suffer for a few days thus never forgetting my eating it, but wishing I could.

    If I play the lottery, I can dream for a second, and for someone, find themselves with a whole world of new and better problems. And retirement and leisure.

    Return on investment from #1 will ALWAYS be negative – money gone, nothing good comes from it tomorrow. I have a 100% GUARANTEE of that.

    The second options allows for a 0.0000000000001 (or whatever it is) chance that I get really lucky.

    100% of nothing is nothing. $2 could be 100% of more money than I could ever put my hands on legitimately.

    To each their own.

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    28th November 2012 at 10:53 am

  15. Administrator says:

    KARL IS SUCH A DOWNER

    Posted 2012-11-28 10:27
    by Karl Denninger

    Admit It, You Did It

    It’s commonly known as The Stupidity Tax.

    I speak of the lottery, of course.

    Powerball, which has reached over $500 million, has a 1 in 175,223,510 shot at winning. Since a play is now $2, this means that you must have more than about $350 million in the pot before it becomes “reasonable” as a gamble to play. And oh by the way, that has to be the cash payout, not the “face” value which is a 20-year alleged “annuity.”

    But it gets worse than that, because (1) you must pay taxes on the winnings, but do not get to deduct losses, so the amount post-tax must exceed $350 million. That we’re geting close to, but not yet surpassed — on the 20 year annuity, not cash value.

    And then there’s the final problem — you could have more than one winner, in which case you have to split the money.

    So even with the $500 million (estimated) jackpot, the odds still suck — just not as badly as they usually do. And yet huge numbers of Americans will play for this evening, just as they did for Saturday (and none won.)

    Now to be fair you might win $1 million (about $500k after tax) which is 1 in 5.153 million as well, or any one of a number of lesser prizes. The total odds are 1 in about 32.

    But again, remember that each play is $2, not $1, since they changed the game a while back. This, of course, was done to intentionally pump up the numbers on the size of the jackpot and suck more people in.

    If you choose to buy tickets for tonight, just remember the golden rule — you almost-assuredly flushed the money down the toilet. You’re far more likely — by more than a factor of 100 — to be hit by lightning (1 in a million) than win the Powerball (1 in 175 million.)

    Nonetheless I’m sure that this evening half the nation will be furiously looking at these little slips of paper, and half of those folks will have already figured out how they’re going to spend the money.

    The stupidity tax will have won again in aggregate, irrespective of the individual results.

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    28th November 2012 at 10:56 am

  16. youcanthavemyglock says:

    admin how do I post pics?

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    28th November 2012 at 10:58 am

  17. TeresaE says:

    @TPC, nice to dream for a second isn’t it? Worth every penny of two bucks.

    I’ve known for a long time, I would use the money to open up viable small businesses across the country, starting it with my own family (and a way to “give” outside the GD IRS gift tax bullshit), then helping others try to help themselves.

    I’d set up scholarships for the middle class kids that aren’t the very top student.

    I know I’d end up giving away a huge lot of it, my heart would demand no less of me.

    As for what I’d buy, I’d buy/rent small places around the world. My ideal life would be to travel between cottages and submerse myself in each place while there, then not own enough property to care all that much when somewhere else.

    In America our items own us, we only think we own them. It is bad enough being owned now, the last thing I would want is to be owned by half a billion dollars worth of things.

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    28th November 2012 at 11:01 am

  18. ThePessimisticChemist says:

    @TeresaE – “nice to dream for a second isn’t it? Worth every penny of two bucks.”

    It was, however the more we discussed the more we realized our life plans wouldn’t really be affected by it.

    Neither of us would quit our jobs. We’d still be picky assholes when it comes to buying a house. I’d still get a ford focus for a new car.

    About the only thing that would change is that I’d be debt free today, rather than 5-10 years from now. I guess that would be nice.

    Ultimately, I don’t need the money, and I think that realization in and of itself was worth the $6 I spent (1 for me, 1 for wife, 1 for mother-in-law).

    PS: Oh yeah, at age 30 we would quit working for “the man” and each start our own companies. I would like to start a chemical company, and she would like to start a marketing company, as well as doing a lot of charity work. This is still feasible given our current life direction, so again, we aren’t exactly reaching for the stars here.

    Our vacations would kick ass though! FIRST CLASS BABY! And I’m checking TWO bags, PER PERSON!

    Whats got two thumbs and lives dangerously? THIS GUY.

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    28th November 2012 at 11:24 am

  19. youcanthavemyglock says:

    How dumb can I get? It was right under the ‘submit comment’ button
    PowerballProbChart.gif

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    28th November 2012 at 11:32 am

  20. Eddie says:

    I once knew a guy who won the lottery. Not well, but I met him a couple of times.

    He was a former pro football player who got hooked on cocaine…ended up pawning his Super Bowl ring…lost everything. Ended up down and out.

    He eventually got sober and involved himself in Twelve Step work and worked a lot with kids in his old neighborhood.

    Then he won 24 million bucks. Evidently his addictive personality started expressing itself in gambling…after he won, he admitted to buying many hundreds of lottery tickets.

    He’s still around and doing fine as far as I know…the story didn’t end by him running through the money and ending up back in the gutter or anything like that…no moral here, just a true story.

    To me it’s a story about karma. The karma of fame. People with the karma of fame are just different from the rest of us. Certain shit just happens for them..and sometimes to them. It’s a trade..they get something and it almost always costs them a lot somewhere down the line.

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    28th November 2012 at 11:34 am

  21. AWD says:

    Huge government spending increases since 2008, especially food stamps, welfare and disability, while private employment was reduced by 2%. $20 trillion dollar deficit, here we come!

    When God wants to torture you, he lets you win the lottery.

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    28th November 2012 at 11:41 am

  22. efarmer says:

    My dad used to talk about casino’s in my state that went belly up in the depression, showed me where they used to be.

    There are 91 casino’s in Oklahoma. Anyone think they will be around when the SHTF????

    I wonder if there is a way to short casino stock…………..

    EF

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    28th November 2012 at 12:58 pm

  23. Micro-Be says:

    “The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned, even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculations and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made a living simply by selling systems, forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the running of the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being non-existent persons. In the absence of any real intercommunication between one part of Oceania and another, this was not difficult to arrange.”

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    28th November 2012 at 1:17 pm

  24. JJ3 says:

    The absolute first thing I would do if I won would be to call Agora Financial and get with Bill Bonner and others at the Daily Reckoning, Laissez Faire Books and their other sites and sit down and talk about the best way to invest, probably heavy in gold and silver.

    I would start a coalition of liberty minded people including members on this site, Lew Rockwell and his contributors, Jordan Page music, Alt Market, Alex Jones, silverbearcafe, Tyler Durden, Mish. and create a real political party that would continue the message that Dr. Paul began.

    I would create a news media empire dedicated to the ideals of freedom and liberty, I would buy a house in the mountains and on the ocean. I would establish non profits that would take on the issues of orphans and I would create private schools and offer scholarships to liberty minded people. I would create an alternative to the dollar, backed by gold, but only after getting my lobbyist to make it legal. I would buy an island off the coast of Florida and seceed. So many things I could do with that money to further the cause of liberty.

    Oh and of course lots and lots of hookers and blow. But that goes without saying right?

    JJ3

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    28th November 2012 at 1:58 pm

  25. Eddie says:

    First the hookers and blow, then save the country. LOL!

    It’s good to play these “what if” games about winning ther lottery. But here’s Eddie’s real advice. Make that list of what you’d do with all that moolah…and make your priorities. What comes first and then second and so on.

    And then figure out a way to do it all anyway, without winning the lottery. Because it’s not about having huge amounts of money. What causes the things to happen in the world is mostly focus and persistence. Most people don’t accomplish much….not because they can’t…but rather because they never figure out what it is they really believe in…what they really want to do…and if they do they don’t make it their number one priority.

    Just look at admin. He’s changing the world.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0

    28th November 2012 at 8:54 pm

  26. Llpoh says:

    For $2 I can by a couple bottles of beer. Savored, I will get an hour of happiness drinking those suckers. I will never be disappointed. A lottery ticket? I will be disappointed millions of times before I ever hit the jackpot.

    Life is too short to pay for almost certain disappointment.

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    28th November 2012 at 9:33 pm

  27. AKAnon says:

    Sadly, $2 only gets me one bottle an a bit of the second. Things are expensive in the far north, and I have grown to appreciate good beer. Still a better investment than the lottery.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0

    28th November 2012 at 1:13 am

  28. crazyivan says:

    If I won the lottery, I would fund the development of little butane powered dune buggies for all my little gopher buddies within sight of my porch.

    Crazy little fuckers would trash half of them the first day. Set out a couple of bowls of watermellon and tequila on the second day and by the third day the colony would be in full blown collapse.

    Regards,

    C. ivan Rothchild

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    28th November 2012 at 1:39 am

  29. Kill Bill says:

    f I won the lottery, I would fund the development of little butane powered dune buggies for all my little gopher buddies within sight of my porch. -CIR

    If I won the lottery I would fund alcohol education for the gophers just so they could continue to be a nuisance to you.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0

    28th November 2012 at 2:18 am

  30. crazyivan says:

    So who do you think they are going to listen to, KB? Me with my dune buggies, tequila and watermellon or you?

    This is the course of a failed nation.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0

    28th November 2012 at 2:34 am

  31. Bullturd says:

    CI….You Sir, are a Moron.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1

    28th November 2012 at 8:26 am

  32. Kill Bill says:

    The nation that is most likely to fail anytime soon is Mexico

    I suggest you taking your band of tequila soaked borrowing rodents and head for the border where the sativa is cheap. =)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

    28th November 2012 at 10:13 am

  33. TeresaE says:

    @crazy

    Thank you for my first laugh out loud of the day.

    The picture you painted of trashed gophers crashing into each other in dune buggies is priceless.

    *big smiles*

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

    28th November 2012 at 11:38 am

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