The US Recovery

[gunnut]

I has seemed to me for a long time that an associates degree from 2 yrs junior college will eventually become the standard that a high school diploma now holds. How do you all feel about that?

We are moving that way. But I personally believe that we should reform education. Kids need to perform at a certain level to graduate high school. Not just be able to breath at 18 years of age to get a diploma. Junior college should concentrate on college prep courses and trade skills rather than being an extension of high school.

[astralis]

I has seemed to me for a long time that an associates degree from 2 yrs junior college will eventually become the standard that a high school diploma now holds. How do you all feel about that?

we're not just moving that way, we've already moved beyond it. a BA, not just an AA, is seen as the high school diploma minimum. the "new BA" is now the MA.

Master's degrees are as common now as bachelor's degrees were in the '60s - Vox

[DOR]

by the way, I do wonder what happened to the argument that because of the debt and the Fed, we'd all face hyperinflation by now.

Didn't you get the memo? The feds are lying about hyperinflation; it's real, it's here and it's being covered up by socialist Muslim radical African Christians.

Gas, for example, is more expensive than it was 25 years ago, but nobody remembers because it's "lower" than last year. Computer chips are dirt cheap compared to 25 years ago, but my iPhone still costs $400. Coincidence? I don't think so.

And, don't tell me that bunch of grass-fed, free-range, hyper-organic, gluten-free carrots cost the same as the one's we had when I was a kid. Tap water vs. Fuji water? Give me a break!

[DOR]

Economic Report to the President, February 2015

A comparative look at the recent housing market collapse.

Peak _ _ _ New
To _ _ _ _ Housing
Trough _ _ Starts_ _ _ _ Completions_ _ _ _ _ Sales
1962-66 _ _ -27.3% _ _ _ _ _ -27.2% _ _ _ _ _ _-19.8%
1971-75 _ _ -50.8% _ _ _ _ _ -57.7% _ _ _ _ _ _-27.7%
1978-82 _ _ -47.4% _ _ _ _ _ -45.3% _ _ _ _ _ _-49.6%
1986-91 _ _ -43.8% _ _ _ _ _ -46.4% _ _ _ _ _ _-32.1%
2005-09 _ _ -73.2% _ _ _ _ _ -73.0% _ _ _ _ _ _-70.8%
Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/defa...a_2015_erp.pdf
Economic Report to the President, February 2015

[GVChamp]

I has seemed to me for a long time that an associates degree from 2 yrs junior college will eventually become the standard that a high school diploma now holds. How do you all feel about that?

If the MNCs that pay zero tax and 4.5% interest want to fund it, go right on ahead. I fail to see why my generaton should be required to load on another $40,000 in debt at 6% interest because GE has shitty management and thinks more "Masters" will save their sorry asses.
hey, maybe outsource your CEO to India, I hear they do a good job with everything. :)

[JAD_333]

If the MNCs that pay zero tax and 4.5% interest want to fund it, go right on ahead. I fail to see why my generaton should be required to load on another $40,000 in debt at 6% interest because GE has shitty management and thinks more "Masters" will save their sorry asses.
hey, maybe outsource your CEO to India, I hear they do a good job with everything. :)

Not sure if you are talking about a masters or an associates degree...the latter would be like adding 2 years to high school. We underwent a similar evolution when high school surpassed the grade school standard. In those days college was for those who could afford it, and relatively few could. Now it's commonplace. If the evolution continues a masters will take the place of a bachelors degree and maybe a doctorate will take the place of a masters. Cost of an associates degree? Depends on how we pay for expansion of the school system. If it's an add-on to high school, then existing high schools could be expanded materially and the cost carried by the local school district thru real estate taxes, etc. Still won't be cheap, but if we do make it mandatory, students shouldn't have to pay full freight unless their parents send them to private schools.

[GVChamp]

I am referring to a Master's degree. The culture change boggles my mind. A huge chunk of my family has Master's degree, but most of it was absolutely essential and paid for by the company. And the companies utilized those people, and a lot of them were sent all over the country: they were Masters and their skills were desperately needed.
Can't think of anyone in my age group that has had their Master's education paid for. Scratch that, one guy, working for the charter schools in Chicago. And one guy had his CPA reimbursed. Other than that? nope, all your own, and you're still getting stuck in entry-level muck. Hopefully that'll change now that the 7 year labor market from hell is over.

[DOR]

If the MNCs that pay zero tax and 4.5% interest want to fund it, go right on ahead. I fail to see why my generaton should be required to load on another $40,000 in debt at 6% interest because GE has shitty management and thinks more "Masters" will save their sorry asses.
hey, maybe outsource your CEO to India, I hear they do a good job with everything. :)

What ever happened to working your way through college or grad school, as I did?

[DOR]

How much debt?

Including household, corporate, financial sector and government debt, 10 countries have debt-to-GDP levels above 300%. But, that measure is mainly used for government debt-to-GDP, not total.

The 10 are Japan (400%), Ireland (390%, Singapore (382%), Portugal (358%), Belgium (327%), Netherlands (325%), Greece (317%), Spain (313%), Sweden (304%) and Denmark (302%). The US comes in at 233%, Canada at 221%, China at 217%, Australia 213%.

Source: SCMP Feb 24,2015 p. B2 citing a McKinsey Global Institute report on end-2014 data.

[Maximillian]

Zero Hedge on the Plunge Protection Team whistleblower and today's controlled markets:

Ex-Plunge Protection Team Whistleblower: "Governments Control Markets; There Is No Price Discovery Anymore"
Tyler Durden's pictureSubmitted by Tyler Durden on 02/23/2015 23:42 -0500

Market Crash Matterhorn Asset Management




One year after the great stock market crash in 1987, US President Ronald Reagan launched the "Working Group on Financial Markets." Conspiracy theorists believe, however, that the real task of this committee is to protect against a renewed slump in the stock market. In the jargon of Wall Street, the working group is known as the "Plunge Protection Team."

One glimpse at a few days suring 2007/8 and it is clear that 'someone' with infinitely deep pockets was able to support markets on several critical days - though, of course, anyone proclaiming intervention was propagandized away as a conspiracy theory wonk. However, as Dr. Pippa Malmgren - a former member of the U.S. President’s Working Group on Financial Markets - it is not conspiracy theory, it is conspiracy fact: "there's no price discovery anymore by the market... governments impose prices on the market."

* * *

In this 38 minute interview Lars Schall, for Matterhorn Asset Management, speaks with Dr Pippa Malmgren, a US financial advisor and policy expert based in London. Dr Malmgren has been a member of the U.S. President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (a.k.a. the “Plunge Protection Team”). They address, inter alia:

Malmgren’s recent book “Signals: the breakdown of the social contract and the rise of geopolitics”;
the “inflation vs deflation” debate
the closer ties between Russia and China
the future of the Euro
Germany’s gold reserves
and the phenomenon of “financial repression”
Moreover, Dr Malmgren explains what she foresees as the endgame of the financial crisis.
Full interview:





Source: GoldSwitzerland.com

* * *

Still don't believe?

Here is Scott Nations in 2008 getting "Schiff'd" by the CNBC anchors (Liesman) and some other guest muppet when he dares to suggest the Fed is intervening and that the President's Working Group (i.e. Plunge Protection Team) is hard at work...



"look at the market action on the 10th and 28th and tell me what else might have generated a 100 point rally in the S&P under that situation?" Liesman fobs him off as some conspiracy wonk...

Yep looks normal to us... 10/10/2008





and 10/28/2008





Those are 100 point moves on a 700/800 S&P!! Nothing to see here eh Liesman, Kiernan, Quick?

* * *

And of course there's last October's Bullared bounce... the longest most consistent trend higher in stocks ever.

[astralis]

the end game of the Austrian school: conspiracy theory.

[GVChamp]

What ever happened to working your way through college or grad school, as I did?

College costs a lot of money, especially if you don't get substantial financial aid. I know of no people who did this in my university/social circle. I guess there was that one GI, which sort of counts because she worked for her GI grant. She definitely didn't cover her tuition while working IN-school, though.

It wouldn't have been as big of a deal had the economy not collapsed. We all accumulated debt and graduated right into $9/hour temp jobs for 2-3 years. When we actually started getting full-time jobs, average pay was like $35k a year. As the economy heated up, those numbers all shot up dramatically. My office doesn't have any temps anymore because the going rate is now a reasonable $15/hour to the temp and $28 to the employment agency, rather than $9/temp and $19.50/agency. Starting wages have similarly jumped, as have the wages of young employed at firms when HR re-scaled bands. Virtually all of us received 5% bumps JUST from re-banding.

[Maximillian]

the end game of the Austrian school: conspiracy theory.

Would you care to elaborate what exactly you mean?

[astralis]

your source is ZeroHedge. highly disreputable economic analysis at best. in this case veering into conspiracy theory with no evidence. a random quote from someone trying to sell a book on "GoldSwitzerland.com"...

[Maximillian]

your source is ZeroHedge. highly disreputable economic analysis at best. in this case veering into conspiracy theory with no evidence. a random quote from someone trying to sell a book on "GoldSwitzerland.com"...

Highly disreputable in your opinion perhaps. But not in mine.

It's a source of interesting and sometimes insightful information often not carried in the mainstream media. Zero Hedge publishes a wide range of stories, some of which I agree with, and some of which I do not. As with any media outlet these days, mainstream included, we need to exercise caution, common sense and critical thinking in determining validity and reaching conclusions.

In any event, by now we should know not to toss out the baby with the bath water.

In this case the story centres on an interview given by Dr. Pippa Malmgren. This is her Vitae from Wiki:

Philippa "Pippa" Malmgren is a politics and policy expert who used to be Special Assistant to the President of the United States for Economic Policy on the National Economic Council and former member of the U.S. President's Working Group on Financial Markets*. She is currently founder of DRPM Group. She is also on the advisory board at MIT and Indiana University. She has lectured at INSEAD, TSINGHUA University, Duke University and LSE.

Malmgren was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2000.[1]

* my bolding

Those credentials should allay anyone's fears about her expertise. No sporting of a tinfoil hat for her I think you'll agree.

Unfortunately, when I copied and pasted the piece from Zero Hedge the associated Youtube clip of the interview with Malmgren was excised by the system - even though she was clearly referenced in the piece as being the focus of the story.

The link to that video is

.

In closing, the fact that the person conducting the interview is selling a book really is neither here nor there imo. Name me a mainstream media outlet that focuses on financial and economic stories (or any others for that matter) that doesn't sell something -- usually objectionable advertising and loaded promotional content. That's simply the world we live in today.... Ugly.