From the AP:
New Jersey added 10,400 private sector jobs in November
Holiday hiring helped drive a gain of 10,400 private sector jobs as New Jersey’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1 percent in November.
The state Labor Department says preliminary estimates indicate total nonfarm wage and salary employment grew to 3,881,000.
The trade, transportation and utilities sector led the growth in five of the ten industry sectors that saw gains in November, with an increase of 9,900 jobs. Most of that reflects a gain of 7,800 in the retail trade component as merchants increased staff for the holiday shopping season.
Officials also revised October’s employment numbers up by 2,000 jobs.
From the Star Ledger:
NJ added 10,300 jobs in November
New Jersey’s employment rose for the second month in a row in November, providing a shot of economic optimism with the addition of 10,300 jobs, although the unemployment rate remained steady, according to figures released Thursday.
The state added 10,400 private sector jobs and lost 100 government jobs, according to the monthly employment report by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The unemployment rate of 9.1 percent was unchanged from October, and remains higher than the national rate of 8.6 percent.
The report also revised upwards the October jobs figures, from the previously announced figure of 2,500 jobs created, to 4,500 created.
“New Jersey labor markets are closing the year with a bang,” said Joseph Seneca, a Rutgers University economist.
He said the figures show “acceleration,” and noted that the state has added 41,800 private sector jobs in 2011.
“With only one month to go New Jersey is sure to record the largest annual gain in private sector employment in more than a decade,” he said.
First!
hence, it has never been a better time to buy a home in NJ.
Nom I did make it to the Kilkenny House, guess I should have asked what everbody was wearing or looked like. After going through the posts when I came backI did see Libtard say he was wearing a white jersey and remember somebody at a table had one on. Oh well the Guiness was worth the trip.
Was he not making enough with his NFL salary?
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/bears-hurd-facing-drug-charges-15163374
Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd was locked up in federal custody Thursday as his stunned teammates learned he had been charged with trying to set up a drug-dealing network following his arrest with more than a pound of cocaine.
U.S. Magistrate Young Kim ordered Hurd held until at least Friday while prosecutors and defense attorneys work out bond details before he is sent to Texas to face charges.
snip
Maybe he can spin it as retirement planning. Although the guys I know who played in the NFL have made out very well with the NFL pension.
Congrats NJ. These minimum wage/no benefits temporary jobs are just what the state needed. The business climate is just dandy.
Shore – Nate Newton?
Gingrich is the smoothest cat in the room… so brilliant it’s almost dizzying. In a debate, Oblama would suffer so many body blows, I’d actually feel sorry for him.
[8] gary – Yep
Gingrich is the smoothest cat in the room… so brilliant it’s almost dizzying. In a debate, Oblama would suffer so many body blows, I’d actually feel sorry for him.
From the Star Ledger:
As Newark’s population grows for first time in 60 years, hope emerges for a city renaissance
No national headlines will come of this. Not yet.
For 10 years, something unusual has been happening in Newark, according to data from the U.S. Census.
While the inner ring of suburbs around the city have been losing population at a dramatic rate, Newark itself has gained population for the first time in more than 60 years.
The growth wasn’t extravagant — the city added around 4,000 people since the turn of the century — but some experts say the data suggests that maybe, just maybe, Newark is beginning to turn a corner after decades of decline.
“(The city is) really trying,” said Vivian Cook, 72, a Newark native who last year moved to the recently built Montgomery Heights apartment complex on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. “They are trying to make a better Newark.”
Newark’s problems extend beyond people fleeing its borders, and it could be decades before it’s known if the 2010 Census was a turning point. But stanching the bleeding provides hope. The city is attracting immigrants, has seen new public and private investment in development and may be benefiting from renewed interest in city living.
“What you are seeing is a common pattern in certain metropolitan areas — those that host a diverse urban economy and are well-positioned in the global economy,” said Douglas Massey, director of the office of population research at Princeton University. “Newark has the distinct advantage of being in the New York metropolitan area, and much of its comparative advantage stems from that fact, and from the fact that land and housing are relatively cheap and Newark is an easy commute into Manhattan.”
Massey said similar growth is taking place in cities like Chicago, Pittsburgh and Boston, while metro areas like Buffalo, Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio, more concentrated on single industries, have languished.
The democrats are secretly p!ssing their pants over the fact that Gingrich could get the nod. Unfortunatley, the pizza hut society we currently call America isn’t pragmatic or intelligent enough to recognize brilliance and would re-elect the Mope in Chief because that’s the instructions they’ll receive from the @sshats.
Either way, we’re fuct. It’s all way too gone now.
From the Philly Inquirer:
Philadelphia regional manufacturing still improving
Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region showed continuing improvement this month, with measures for general activity, new orders, shipments, and employment all suggesting year-end growth, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.
It was the third straight month of growth in the much-watched survey results. In addition, the Philly Fed’s monthly survey of manufacturers in eastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Delaware showed that the outlook for growth over the next six months also continues to improve.
The report added to positive economic news that helped lift stocks.
“All of the broad indicators remained positive and suggest a modest expansion of activity,” the bank said in a statement about its survey.
Manufacturers noted their costs were rising, and the report said there was an “uptick” in the number of firms reporting that they were increasing prices for their goods.
Twenty percent of firms reported an increase in employment from November; 10 percent reported a decrease, the survey report said. Twenty-four percent of firms said they expected to increase employment over the next six months, while 11 percent expect a decrease, according to the survey.
From MarketWatch:
Dec Empire State index at highest level since May
The Empire State manufacturing index rose in December to its highest level in seven months, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said Thursday. The Empire state index rose to 9.5 in December from 0.6 in November. The index had been at or below zero since June. The size of the gain in December surprised analysts. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected the index to rise to 3.0 in December. Underlying conditions were mainly strong. The new orders index rose to 5.1 in December from negative 2.1 in November. The employment indexes were mixed. The index for the number of employees rose to 2.3 in December from a negative 3.7 in November but the average workweek fell to negative 2.3 from 2.4 in the prior month. A reading of expected conditions six-months ahead climbed sharply in December to its highest reading since May.
Re #11 Gary – Effin’ hysterical!!!
Fantastic summary of rehypothecation and the MF Global collapse:
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/mf-global-hyper-hypothecation-creates-6b-out-2b-and-central-bank-couldnt-see-bankruptcy-
As soon as the holiday season is complete, The 10400 minimum wage private sector (Walmart) jobs that were created, will be eliminated and the unemployment rate will be back to 9.8%. Oh how they love to skew the news. Hey the good news is CEO pay is up 37% year over year. Isn’t that lovely
Is it premature to open the champagne bottle?
“The Empire state index rose to 9.5 in December from 0.6 in November. “
You want to know what the difference is between the other candidates and Gingrich? The others sound like they’re on an interview and Gingrich talks like he wrote the f*cking book. He’ll not only answer the question without hesitation but he’ll give you a history lesson, a life lesson and does it with conviction. He doesn’t stumble…. ever!!
(3) mike
Too bad. Moose, libtard and I had a good time. We had to bust it up cuz lib had a late hockey game.
Next time, perhaps.
(13) grim,
a few years ago I went to a holiday party and 1 of the writers of the philadelphia beige book was there. I commented that the beige book reports seemed more anecdotal than anything else, that it reflected general impressions of the writer based on conversations he had. This editor basically agreed and said that it is largely anecdotal.
sorry…cannot resist:
KRUGMAN: Gingrich Is The Stupid Man’s Idea Of What A Smart Person Sounds Like
any questions?
Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-21/politics/30424422_1_newt-gingrich-ethanol-lobby-freddie-mac#ixzz1ghtGJe59
seif,
And Krugman wrote the article.
Any questions?
yeah…its all the left-wing hippies that are piling on Newt like Will, Krauthammer, The National Review, Peggy Noonan, etc….damn hippie liberals!
#19 Gary
He also wrote the book, divorced the wife and cashed the check. When you get Ann Coulter juming on Team Mitt, you get to see how bad life in GOP land is. The Dems would love to get Newt for the race. Mitt backs up a box van of baggage to the race, while Newt backs up an 18 wheeler.
The Poll numbers are all going blue.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/president_obama_vs_republican_candidates.html
Yeah, it’s all about the baggage. Clinton didn’t have any, Bush II didn’t have any, Kennedy didn’t have any and no other president had any as well. Don’t worry, I get it. Vote for your guy again based on his stellar record and his complacency with America’s middle-of-the-road status and it’ll be done with. We’ll have four more years of the mope being the homer that he is and the American people can go back to staring at the Kardashians.
The End.
(25) fabius
“The poll numbers are going all blue.”
Invest accordingly.
Gingrich’s only stupid move was running for president.
I’m not so patriotic that I would take on such a Sysiphean task as trying to head off the decline of American civilization—I would have continued on as he had before and cashed in.
Gary,
When a tsunami is coming, the best response is to head for higher ground. What I learned from observing the rich is that they don’t try to slug it out with their opponents. Unless they can ignore or crush their opponents, they leave them behind.
nom – ha, funny thing is that he – like Cain – started out just looking to continue cashing in and selling books and raising speaking fees and getting more pundit gigs…and a funny thing happened on the way to the forum.
gary – newt throws the red meat and you run right after it. believing what he says (because he is smooth-talking? the sleaziest and best salesmen around are smooth-talking and never miss a beat, they have an answer for any rebuttal) is like once again believing the real estate broker that talked you into buying at the height of the market. all you have stated is “he’s smooth…he talks like he wrote the book…he scares democrats.” Am I missing the policy ideas and plans that he is gonna use to turn everything around?
(30) seif,
What makes you thing that he left the reservation fully?
This whole campaign exercise could be buoyed by the fact that it can only help his profile. It’s like a yearlong dog and pony show or book tour, and so long as he doesn’t put up his own cash, he wins either way.
i agree with you. it is working out exactly as planned. he has already achieved his goals: moving more product, raising profile, etc. both newt and cain. they could each hang a “mission accomplished” banner.
seif,
…throws the red meat and you run right after it. believing what he says (because he is smooth-talking? the sleaziest and best salesmen around are smooth-talking and never miss a beat, they have an answer for any rebuttal) is like once again believing the real estate broker that talked you into buying at the height of the market. Am I missing the policy ideas and plans that he is gonna use to turn everything around?
Are you talking about Gingrich or Obama?
(i’m sorry for hijacking this with politics for a few posts)
is this what the GOP primary season has become? was huckabee really running for president last year or was he just looking to raise his profile, sell some books and get a tv job? is that the new model? if so, should we be disturbed by it?
huckabee – last cycle, not last year
8
Gary
An academic and great public speaker… what joke of a politician currently in office does that remind you of?
So Gary you like a bought and paid for washington insider who talks a good game.
all hope is lost, Nom do you have those Canadian citizenship forms? Because if Newt and Obama are the candidates of choice there is no point in hanging around here. I mean f*ck Gary, Michelle Bachman as bat sh*t nuts as she is, presents a better alternative than The Stay Puft Politician. As much as I detest Krugman he is right, the dolt bible thumpers whose intelligence resembles Slim Pickens role in Blazing saddles think Newt is a profound thinker. those of us with functioning brain cells see a hubris filled opportunist, who may be smart but has no soul.
#36 – haha. so true! “your smooth talking academic is a fraud! my smooth talking academic is just what the dr. ordered!!!”
26
Gary
let’s not vote for Obama because his record is crap
but let’s also NOT VOTE for Gingrich because his record is crap as well
Like I said, at the end of the day, big ears will eek out a 2nd term and we can all talk about the further disintegration of a once great nation. I’m done.
the desperate search of Republicans for someone they can nominate not named Willard M. Romney continues. New polls suggest that in Iowa, at least, we have already passed peak Gingrich. Next up: Representative Ron Paul.
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Paul Krugman
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In a way, that makes sense. Mr. Romney isn’t trusted because he’s seen as someone who cynically takes whatever positions he thinks will advance his career — a charge that sticks because it’s true. Mr. Paul, by contrast, has been highly consistent. I bet you won’t find video clips from a few years back in which he says the opposite of what he’s saying now.
Unfortunately, Mr. Paul has maintained his consistency by ignoring reality, clinging to his ideology even as the facts have demonstrated that ideology’s wrongness. And, even more unfortunately, Paulist ideology now dominates a Republican Party that used to know better.
I’m not talking here about Mr. Paul’s antiwar views or his less well-known views on civil and reproductive rights, which would horrify liberals who think of him as a good guy. I’m talking, instead, about his views on economics.
Mr. Paul identifies himself as a believer in “Austrian” economics — a doctrine that it goes without saying rejects John Maynard Keynes but is almost equally vehement in rejecting the ideas of Milton Friedman. For Austrians see “fiat money,” money that is just printed without being backed by gold, as the root of all economic evil, which means that they fiercely oppose the kind of monetary expansion Friedman claimed could have prevented the Great Depression — and which was actually carried out by Ben Bernanke this time around.
O.K., a brief digression: the Federal Reserve doesn’t actually print money (the Treasury does that). But the Fed does control the “monetary base,” the sum of bank reserves and currency in circulation. So when people talk about Mr. Bernanke printing money, what they really mean is that the Fed expanded the monetary base.
And there has, indeed, been a huge expansion of the monetary base. After Lehman Brothers fell, the Fed began lending large sums to banks as well as buying a wide range of other assets, in a (successful) attempt to stabilize financial markets, in the process adding large amounts to bank reserves. In the fall of 2010, the Fed began another round of purchases, in a less successful attempt to boost economic growth. The combined effect of these actions was that the monetary base more than tripled in size.
Austrians, and for that matter many right-leaning economists, were sure about what would happen as a result: There would be devastating inflation. One popular Austrian commentator who has advised Mr. Paul, Peter Schiff, even warned (on Glenn Beck’s TV show) of the possibility of Zimbabwe-style hyperinflation in the near future.
So here we are, three years later. How’s it going? Inflation has fluctuated, but, at the end of the day, consumer prices have risen just 4.5 percent, meaning an average annual inflation rate of only 1.5 percent. Who could have predicted that printing so much money would cause so little inflation? Well, I could. And did. And so did others who understood the Keynesian economics Mr. Paul reviles. But Mr. Paul’s supporters continue to claim, somehow, that he has been right about everything.
Still, while the original proponents of the doctrine won’t ever admit that they were wrong — my experience is that nobody in the political world ever admits to having been wrong about anything — you might think that having been so completely off-base about something so central to their belief system would have caused the Austrians to lose popularity, even within the G.O.P. After all, as recently as the Bush years, many Republicans were all for printing money when the economy slumps. “Aggressive monetary policy can reduce the depth of a recession,” declared the 2004 Economic Report of the President.
What has happened instead, however, is that hard-money doctrine and paranoia about inflation have taken over the party, even as the predicted inflation keeps failing to materialize. For example, in February, Representative Paul Ryan, who is somewhat inexplicably regarded as the party’s deep thinker on matters economic, harangued Mr. Bernanke on how terrible it is to “debase” a currency and pointed to a rise in commodity prices in late 2010 and early 2011 as evidence that inflation was finally coming. Commodity prices have plunged since then, but there is no sign that Mr. Ryan or anyone else is having second thoughts.
Now, it’s still very unlikely that Ron Paul will become president. But, as I said, his economic doctrine has, in effect, become the official G.O.P. line, despite having been proved utterly wrong by events. And what will happen if that doctrine actually ends up being put into action? Great Depression, here we come.
Paul Krugman
22
seif
(I’m not saying you’re guilty of this) Why do people even refer to Krugman as an economist anymore?
He’s pundit or pundit wannabe, plain and simple. Plus, he’s an idiot and is wrong on almost everything… bad combination.
Nom [27];
“The poll numbers are going all blue.”
Invest accordingly.
Invest? What’s left to invest? I lost it all at the craps table and the track, Mr. Tax Man, $9,900 at a time…
41
Another example of what an @ss-clown Krugman is.
What is it about Paul’s views on civil liberties that would horrify liberals?
Go to the gas pump and tell me there’s no inflation (save the last week or two) Go the supermarket and tell me there’s no inflation. The size of the containers are getting smaller, price staying the same or rising – no big deal. What did one Fed chief say? “The iPad 2 came out which was much faster than the original, that’s deflation.” with a great retort by a person in the crowd… we can’t eat iPads.
Paul gave speeches on the house floor in congress almost a decade ago predicting the housing collapse, inflation, and wars. Yeah, he’s a chump.
And all the objective people on this blog know that the actions taken by the Fed have no prevented a depression, they merely bailed out their bankster friends and kicked the can down the road all while the middle class and poor suffer.
Pain [37];
Immigration Visa price tag starts at $1.6MM. No discounts.
Willard Romney??
I smell a rat.
[43] Moose,
Careful to keep losing $100 below the CTR limit all the time. Client No. 9 was high profile and democratic enough to skate on a structuring charge, but we aren’t.
Ron Paul is a good, decent, and honorable man. So was Jimmy Carter. I respect Ron Paul and the country is better off for his having been in the race but,I do not believe he would be a very good presudent.
Joyce,
I don’t depend Krugman,I just think he is right on some issues.He never said there was no inflation in the last 3 years,what he said was it is a mere 4.5%.An annual increase of 1.5%CPI.Again those numbers are debatable but the truth is,what was believed to be a massive inflation after debasing the dollar and printing trillions of dollars never happened.DXY dollar index is at 80,same as it was 5 years ago.
And there is always yearly inflation,you know that.The question is,if it is tolerrable.
Pain,
Here ya go.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/prcard.asp
President, either. Frick’n Android keyboard.
Depend=defend
english is the hardest language to learn
#45 Moose
It is lower than that:
Eb(5) Immigrant Investors.
Individual invests $500,000 in a high unemployment area (150% of national unemployment rate) or $1,000,000 elsewhere and hires 10 persons within 2 years, or invests in a Regional Center and may use job multiplier studies instead of direct employment. Because this category has been controversial INS processing times are slow and unpredictable
http://www.immigration.ca/us/investment.asp
[37, 45] pain and moose,
We were discussing this last night, and I noted that a little more than a year ago, the price tag for investor class immigrants was $400K investable assets. Now it is $1.6M, and you must invest $800K immediately (Cdn $s).
There was also an entrepreneur class application. Interestingly, the Canadian government stopped taking these applications during the summer and have not reopened the program.
So the Canadians are no longer accepting entrepreneur applications, and raised the threshold for investors from $400K to $1.6M. What is the takeaway?
The takeaway is that the Canadians are so awash in wealthy applicants from the U.S. that they can afford to be selective. So they up their asset threshold and stop another class altogether. They aren’t the US and they aren’t obligated to take the wretched refuse.
The conspiracy theorists may also suggest that the Obama administration leaned on the Canadians to curtail expatriation. But if that were true, the Obamunists would be settling for leaving the barn door mostly open. Maybe it is a realization that you can’t keep the truly wealthy anyway, that they will skate, but that represents a lot of capital and tax revenue going north of the border. Personally, I think that if the pressure were brought to bear, the Canadians would be chuckling to themselves cuz they get to keep peace with the Obamunists and get the wealthy folks that they want. In essence, they agreed to do something that they were going to do anyway.
Oh Canada, indeed.
[53] yo
That’s a private site, and may not have been updated. What does the CIC site say?
[10] grim, Newark pop going up. Makes sense to me. The post WWII tide washing out to the suburbs has hit it’s high water mark. For the next several decades the tide reverses, going back toward the cities. Only the flotsam and jetsam will be pushed the other way.
49
yo
The idea that there has to be constant inflation is a fraud. Inflation ONLY benefits those with access to the money first. Those with first access can buy assets at current market prices while those who get the only 2nd/3rd/4th hand etc after it’s circulated for a while have to now buy goods and services at INFLATED prices. Who are those that get the new money toward the end or every end… the very poor. The ones who spend the majority of their income on food, energy, and other necessities. Food and energy, you know the things that the Fed doesn’t count in its inflation statistics.
Inflation does not decrease the value of everyone’s dollar denominated assets equally. Inflation is a transfer of wealth upward.
Deflation is the natural state of an economy due to productivity and efficiency gains. Those gains have been stolen by the banksters and others who are “connected” with the assistance and protection of the government.
[53] yo
I thought you were describing the US program and you were. Here is info on the canadian program, and talks about the doubling of the minimum investment.
http://www.eb5exclusive.com/eb-5-news-and-updates/eb-5-visas-news/canada-ups-price-on-eb-5-like-visa-program.html
“only” in the second sentence should be “money”
FWIW, the only way into Canada right now is through the normal familial routes or as a “self-employed” person. These are limited to the arts/sports and farming. Thus, if a wealthy person wanted to get PR status, they would need to buy a farm and show that they have the means of running it.
Hmmmmm. A farm.
Got Nompound?
Some of these terms could be applied colloquially to populations and real estate:
In maritime law, flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict describe specific kinds of wreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage.
Flotsam is floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo. Jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposefully cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore. Lagan is cargo that is lying on the bottom of the ocean, sometimes marked by a buoy, which can be reclaimed. Derelict is cargo that is also on the bottom of the ocean, but which no one has any hope of reclaiming.
Well, off to the salt mines and a very busy weekend. Gotta finish my last client matters and close the books on 2011. See you all next week.
Damn Canadians shutting the door on a fine academic like myself : )
in the ruh roh file, Corslime better get a chastity belt. Because if these politically connected moonbats are getting served his former marine butt is next
http://news.yahoo.com/us-charges-ex-fannie-freddie-ceos-fraud-155050498.html;_ylt=AvvoSA23guU5aJrue4Cijwi1qHQA;_ylu=X3oDMTFkamFtOHNzBG1pdANCcmVha2luZyBOZXdzBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJyZWFraW5nTmV3cw–;_ylg=X3oDMTJwczRzdnMxBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZDA0NDM1YmMtY2JlYy0zNzhiLWI2MWMtYjg3YjJiMGNlMWMzBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdlBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3
[57] joyce Inflation ONLY benefits those with access to the money first.
I disagree. Inflation heavily favors debtors, hyperinflation even more so. In the case of inflation debts are paid back with less valuable currency. In the case of hyperinflation, debts are erased for free. At the height of the Weimar hyperinflation ALL mortgage debt in Germany could be paid off for less than one American cent.
Reference: esocap.com/uploads/files/Dying%20of%20Money.pdf
I waited to throw my $0.02 until I read all the posts, but this one captures it sans the attack of gary. Honestly, the idea that the far right can hold their nose and vote for Gingrich under the ruse of forgiveness and redemption is a crock…..the scumbag has never repented for anything. I really want some lurid story to come out that involves sex, drugs and bribes…the problem is that it will be held back until he gets the nomination.
Painhrtz – I ain’t dead yet says:
December 16, 2011 at 10:23 am
So xxxx you like a bought and paid for washington insider who talks a good game.
all hope is lost, Nom do you have those Canadian citizenship forms? Because if Newt and Obama are the candidates of choice there is no point in hanging around here. I mean xxxx xxxx, Michelle Bachman as bat sh*t nuts as she is, presents a better alternative than The Stay Puft Politician. As much as I detest Krugman he is right, the dolt bible thumpers whose intelligence resembles Slim Pickens role in Blazing saddles think Newt is a profound thinker. those of us with functioning brain cells see a hubris filled opportunist, who may be smart but has no soul.
OT – Back in the day some of you posted some interesting content regarding 529 plans for college but am having trouble digging them up using the search function. Any quick take on these things?
My father is looking to open one for my son and Schwab’s fees seem very high (.91% to 1.4% per year), Vanguard is more reasonable. I am wondering if the benefits really warrant it or if we are better off just saving the $ and being able to invest it in a broader range of investments.
Thanks
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/s-e-c-sues-6-former-top-fannie-and-freddie-executives/?partner=rss&emc=rss&utm_source=Credit+Card+Gist&utm_medium=twitter
Nobody gets arrested. Sad
Good news of the day:
A two-fer: There is a deal to avoid federal government shutdown AND it retains the rider to suspend a ban on 100W incandescent light bulbs set to go into effect beginning 2012.
Finance geek (Zero Hedge) talks survival gear
When Should you Default on Your Mortgage
Jill [91, prev thread]
You will never convince me that Sam Walton’s kids have that much money because they work SO MUCH HARDER than the rest of us.
Perhaps you can explain to me why some deadbeat who bought a house they could never have hoped to afford, or any of the other various and sundry beneficiaries of small-scale communist wealth redistribution are any more deserving to receive money they didn’t earn than the Walton’s kids are? Is there some reason that Sam Walton should have the right to give his money to whoever he wants to? Would it have been OK if he gave it to his mistress in addition to or instead of his kids since they weren’t realted?
Oh, and yes, it might be OK to ignore the inheiritance as a general rule because there are, statistically speaking, quite few of them. From “The Millionaire Next Door”, less than 1 in 5 millionaires inherited more than 10% of their wealth, half inherited none of it. If you start making rules based on the exceptions, the tail wags the dog and the country begins to look like its run like a venial faculty lounge or junior high lunch room, cliques and all… oh, wait…
Buy your Nompound today or be priced out forever:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204844504577098581283225666.html
A Bubble Down on the Farm?
snip
The big question mark hanging over the farm economy is whether a bubble is building in Midwest cropland. Prices have doubled over the past five years in states such as Nebraska and Indiana. Iowa State University reported Wednesday that the average price of an acre of farmland in Iowa, the nation’s biggest producer of corn and soybeans, reached $6,708 this year, up 32.5% from 2010 for the biggest annual increase in the history of the 70-year-old survey.
But a look at the buying suggests that, while prices may be running too fast, there are reasons to think that a price bust can be avoided, absent some outside shock to the farm economy: Less than 2% of the cropland in Iowa is sold each year, and 74% of it ends up in the hands of local farmers, who tend to buy for the long term and often buy with cash instead of debt.
Part of what has economists and rural bankers on edge is that Midwest farm prices are climbing at rates last seen in the go-go 1970s, the period that set the stage for the farmland bust of the 1980s, when prices sank by half. The bust ignited a rural crisis that pushed many farmers out of business and hundreds of their banks to the brink of collapse.
“Land prices are too high. Things are getting out of whack” said Michael Swanson, an economist at banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. He figures that Midwest farmers have historically bought an acre of land for the value of corn it can produce over four years. Now, an acre of land easily fetches six years of crop production—at a time when crop prices are well above historical averages.
snip
When exactly did it become the the grandparents job to pay for the grandkids college?
I had this very discussion with my aunt not one month ago. We were talking estate planning and she mentioned she had 529 plans in place for her grandkids and she committeed to paying 100% for all her grandkids college. I say your parents did not pay for your college and in fact she does not even have a college degree. I then say you paid 100% for both your kids to go to very expensive schools and they have good jobs. She goes yes but know you are expected to pay for both your kids and grandkids college. I go wait my Mom did not pay a nickle towards my school and charged me rent when I was in college. She then goes it is different now. I go well do the other grandparents feel need to know chip in she was like you can’t rely on the other grandparents or your kids it is important for your grandkids to have an education fund. Then she goes maybe in your estate planning you should consider how you will pay for your grandkids education. I go I have approximately 600 bucks in my kids education fund for all three kids let alone grandkids. They can take out loans and when they graduate if I am healthy and well off I will pay them off. I guess next we are supposed to pay off our daughter in law and son in laws student loans too. Plus unless you are maxing out 401k 529s serve no purpose. Odds are when you are eating dog food and your Harvard educated son is living in a mansion he is not returning the favor by letting you move in with him. Asians will pay every cent they have to make their son a doctor as son will take care of mom and and dad in old age. White, Spanish, Indian, Blacks etc who use up all their money to Ivy league educate their kids end up in the poor house while kids drive 100K cars and go to club med.
iimplosion08 says:
December 16, 2011 at 11:40 am
OT – Back in the day some of you posted some interesting content regarding 529 plans for college but am having trouble digging them up using the search function. Any quick take on these things?
My father is looking to open one for my son and Schwab’s fees seem very high (.91% to 1.4% per year), Vanguard is more reasonable. I am wondering if the benefits really warrant it or if we are better off just saving the $ and being able to invest it in a broader range of investments.
Thanks
When exactly did it become the the grandparents job to pay for the grandkids college?
“and i walked uphill both ways to school everyday in the snow…blah, blah, blah”
where is the part where anyone said that it is the grandparents job too pay for college for their grandkids? aren’t grandkids allowed to do it just because they want to?
grandkids 3rd time = gandparents
If you wish to use CollegeAmerica, then please consider using me for that service.
http://corporate.morningstar.com/us/pr/529_PaperUpdate.pdf
implosion08 says:
December 16, 2011 at 11:40 am
OT – Back in the day some of you posted some interesting content regarding 529 plans for college but am having trouble digging them up using the search function. Any quick take on these things?
My father is looking to open one for my son and Schwab’s fees seem very high (.91% to 1.4% per year), Vanguard is more reasonable. I am wondering if the benefits really warrant it or if we are better off just saving the $ and being able to invest it in a broader range of investments.
Thanks
sorry…..cut to the chase, the ratings are on page 37…remember they fluctuate year to year…
JJ [77];
Guilty conscience? Todays grandparents are The Locust Generation.
11. How long did you ride the short bus before you figured out being “special” wasn’t such a good thing, gary?
Grandparents should do what is good for grandkids not cause they want to. To this day I seek first generation kids from Brooklyn, Queens, SI, Bronx or Working class parts of NJ who put themselves through good local schools. I can’t get a lick of work out of rich LI/BC kids whose parents bought them a car, paid for expensive college and never worked a day in their life. I am supposed to beieve magically at 22 they can work? I need kids with work ethic who have great fear of slipping back into poverty, not I can always move home to Mommys and Daddys mansion or they will pay my rent. But getting harder and harder to find those kids. I have to sort through hundreds of resume. Nowdays mainly aisians and some spanish kids fit that profile. Funny most upper level mgt I talk to were all born poor and scrapped by the drive is incredible.
Old Great Neck School Joke
Old Jewish man one, I walked three miles to school each day in snow with shoes with holes in them.
Old Jewish man two, I walked ten miles to school each day in the snow in my barefeet.
Old Jewish man three, You had feet?
seif says:
December 16, 2011 at 1:03 pm
When exactly did it become the the grandparents job to pay for the grandkids college?
“and i walked uphill both ways to school everyday in the snow…blah, blah, blah”
where is the part where anyone said that it is the grandparents job too pay for college for their grandkids? aren’t grandkids allowed to do it just because they want to?
Chifi [74];
Thanks for that.
Bocephus [77],
Obviously not as long as the people who’ll pull the lever a 2nd time for the mope currently occupying the Whitehouse.
Wow, I think I stumbled into one of John’s favorite topics. Except I really didn’t, no one said that grandparents are paying 100% for college, no one said it was their job or that we were not doing our own planning, etc. I was really just asking about the pros and cons of a particular vehicle.
Chifi, I’ll check it out. Thanks
Krugman must be really worried about Ron Paul getting the nod.
From the Debate last night.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1216/GOP-candidates-blast-Ron-Paul-over-Iran-policy.-Is-one-side-crazy
Shore[70] thats good news for my wife’s family as they own 3000+ acres of prime midwest farmland. Now the unfortunate thing is she has a huge family. People are paying crazy money for farms, a lot of it has to do with it seeming like a safe place to park capital vs. the markets, people always need to eat and the population isn’t shrinking.
Per NYPD a potential violent demonstration will take place in the Wall Street area today between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM. Please take all precautions necessary to avoid dangerous situations should this escalate. If you see or hear large crowds, it is advised to remain in the office until the situation is under control.
lol
Hired: Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has appointed a Playboy model Maria Kozhevnikova to parliament
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2074815/Vladimir-Putin-appoints-Playboy-bunny-Maria-Kozhevnikova-parliament.html#ixzz1gj83kkzT
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2074815/Vladimir-Putin-appoints-Playboy-bunny-Maria-Kozhevnikova-parliament.html
Juice [82];
I think RP won’t win but is prime for getting a nice comfy appointment – like Fed Chair.
I am actually also against parents paying for their kids college. The huge escalation in college tuition ocurred between 1981 and 2011 is largely a result of parents willing to pay large amounts for kids tuition. Back when kids paid their own way via low paying jobs in fast food, supermakets, restraurants, or clerks in offices schools could not charge more than 4K tops. Once parents felt it was worth paying anyprice tuition jumped to 40K. If parental money was out of equation college costs would have to fall down around 80%. They should ban all student loans and parental funds from undergratuate colleges and let kids pay on their own. I would love to see that.
implosion08 says:
December 16, 2011 at 1:56 pm
Wow, I think I stumbled into one of John’s favorite topics. Except I really didn’t, no one said that grandparents are paying 100% for college, no one said it was their job or that we were not doing our own planning, etc. I was really just asking about the pros and cons of a particular vehicle.
Chifi, I’ll check it out. Thanks
I asked my mother for money to go to college and she opened her purse and said, “is 20$ enough to get there?” as she pulled out a 20$ bill.
She assumed I needed gas money. I realized then it was going to be a long, tough road if reality was going to meet my dreams.
I love this from Krugman:
“Unfortunately, Mr. Paul has maintained his consistency by ignoring reality, clinging to his ideology even as the facts have demonstrated that ideology’s wrongness. And, even more unfortunately, Paulist ideology now dominates a Republican Party that used to know better.
I’m not talking here about Mr. Paul’s antiwar views or his less well-known views on civil and reproductive rights, which would horrify liberals who think of him as a good guy. I’m talking, instead, about his views on economics.”
I read something similar in NY Magazine, something to the effect that Paul can’t win because his views are whacko or extreme. Nothing like being a true “journalist” or “pundit” and marginalizing somebody with a pen stroke without an ounce of any substantive discussion of their beliefs or of their track record. It’s done so routinely to Paul its as if its being ordered from above.
Personally hope Paul never gets elected or nominated because you can be certain he’d be “taken care of” by the real people who run this country.
RUDY! RUDY! RUDY!
SEC Charges Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger and 12 Others in Scheme to Pump Stock in Sports Drink Company
http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2011/2011-268.htm
64
expat
you make the mistake of thinking banks are mostly creditors
when they are levered 40-1 or more, they are the biggest debtors of us all
re # 86 – Dunno who will get the nod from the GOP but I think he may jump ahead for a while. Ron Paul will raise more money than any other GOP candidate this quarter. His only real competition in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Nevada is Romney’s checkbook. There is still another 255 days until the GOP convention in Tampa. Allot can and will happen.
Remember: if grandparents are chipping in for college and student is receiving financial aid, then make sure the grandparents hold back their help until the after the package is set for the final year the student will be attending. The grandparents are “off the radar”, but if money starts showing up in the burar’s account from parts unknown, then the college zeros in on that and knows there is outside help and will stiff the student if they can (as they should)….
implosion08 says:
December 16, 2011 at 1:56 pm
Wow, I think I stumbled into one of John’s favorite topics. Except I really didn’t, no one said that grandparents are paying 100% for college, no one said it was their job or that we were not doing our own planning, etc. I was really just asking about the pros and cons of a particular vehicle.
Chifi, I’ll check it out. Thanks
burar = bursar
re:”Allot can and will happen”
Romney or someone else is spreading rumors that Perry is a switch hitter. They should put enough of a bad taste in the Evangelical mouths to vote for a mormon.
I agree somewhat with John that it should be the child responsibilty to make the effort. The parents should be there to make sure the child doesn’t get hurt or make huge mistakes. Too often kids don’t take school seriously because it cost them nothing to continue to use someone elses resources to delay having to knuckle down and get to work.
I don’t like 529’s because they offend my sense of flexibility. You are contributing for 18 years to a fund for your child’s education, defering taxes. If you don’t spend it on education then there are huge penalties that usually more than negate the benefits of putting the money in there tax deferred. You have some serious risk on the table: the risk that your child doesn’t go to college, the risk that they will be f-tards and blow your money on drugs and alcohol, the risk that they will get a degree and go to work in job that doesn’t require degree, and finally the risk that they die before they become eligible.
If you don’t use a 529 and put the money away after taxes then you have a much greater flexibility if those tail risks become a reality.
There are some other reasons why not to participate in types of plans (401ks come to mind). I see these types of investment vehicles as being for the sheep because every month money is taken out and put into your 401k which is then placed into some mutual fund which then buys assets. You can imagine the predictability of this giant machine that leads the sheep to slaughter. They also tend to have very opaque management fees and it is impossible to determine if you are getting fleeced (see how I keep up the sheep metaphor…) I contribute to my 401k but only to the matching limit of my company.
The finances in my household are not partitioned into little bins or “pots”. My wife comes from a household that regularly did this, one envelope for rent, one envelope for groceries, one envelope for gas, one envelope for clothing. She had this concept of “extra money”, money that wasn’t pre-allocated to any purpose. I think this is an awful way to run a budget and household and leads to massive inefficiency and waste. I see 529 plans being in this same catagory of thinking, placing money into pre-allocated parcels. Thanks but no thanks.
I think of income as little trickles that come together into a river. The water in that river is then diverted or channeled to accomplish goals. Those goals are prioritized and only the ones in the top get funded the ones that are down low do not. There is never enough water to meet all goals. If there was, a new list of goals is written up. I think that the issue with the 529 is that my child’s college education is lower than paying off my mortgage. My child’s college education is lower than pretty much all capital investments. It isn’t going to do my child any good to have a college education and have to take care of me when I’m old. It would likely be better to not have an education and not have to fund your parents.
Higher education is a very personal decision and has more to do with the temperment and smarts of the individual. Consider that when funding a 529 plan because the reality is that there is a good chance that you will come to regret the decision before the 18 years is up.
In case you weren’t aware…….
Colleges Love Rich Students
Dec 1, 2011 12:00 PM, By Lynn O’Shaughnessy
It pays to be rich. You already knew that, but you might not appreciate that being rich helps students who are applying to college.
This reality isn’t something that colleges and universities are proud of and they certainly don’t publicize it. Wealthy students, however, can enjoy an advantage in the college admission process simply because of their parents’ net worth. Affluent students can also capture price discounts from the vast majority of colleges even when they are fully capable of picking up the entire tab.
Evidence of the rich-student advantage is plentiful.
A recent survey of 462 senior college admission officers across the country, for instance, revealed that a growing percentage of state and private schools are increasingly interested in attracting more rich students to their campuses. Among state universities, 51 percent of administrators said their top focus was attracting full-pay (i.e. affluent) students, according to the survey by Inside Higher Ed, a respected trade publication. Among liberal arts colleges, 31 percent said they are paying more attention to students’ ability to pay.
In the survey, the interest in rich students was so strong that 10 percent of colleges admitted that the wealthy students they were accepting earned lower test scores and grade point averages than other applicants.
The growing popularity of merit scholarships to wealthy students was also documented by a major federal study released in October that compared the use of merit scholarships in the mid-1990s with the practice in the 2007-2008 school year. During those years, colleges shifted more and more merit awards to wealthy applicants. In the mid-1990s, 24 percent of merit awards at private colleges were given to students with no financial need, but 12 years later the figure had jumped to 42 percent.
There are many pragmatic reasons why rich students enjoy favored status. In part, they are in big demand because they can help schools underwrite the cost of educating low- and middle-income students. This is actually commonplace at most private colleges. These so-called tuition-driven schools need to attract enough wealthy applicants to help defray the financial aid costs of other students.
Public universities are also keenly interested in attracting affluent students from outside their own states as financial support from state governments continues to dwindle. Nonresidents pay a stiff premium to attend schools like the University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Colorado and University of California, Berkeley. The growing number of wealthy nonresidents attending public institutions has led to accusations that some state flagships are looking more like private schools.
The New York Times wrote a front-page story in 2009 about the admission process at Reed College, a prestigious school in Portland, OR, that illustrates the necessity of most colleges to attract rich students. The college, faced with finite financial aid resources and a large number of new and returning students who needed more assistance in the recession, decided it had to cut 100 needy students from the accepted freshmen list before the acceptance letters were sent out. Those unlucky students were replaced with wealthy applicants, who hadn’t survived the original selection process.
While there was condemnation from critics about what Reed did, what got overlooked was this fact: Colleges routinely make similar decisions that favor wealthy applicants. Other schools, however, don’t reveal their plans to swap out needy students with rich teenagers when a New York Times reporter is on campus.
Another reason for the rich-kid favoritism can be traced to the colleges’ obsession with U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings. The methodology of U.S. News’ college rankings is terribly flawed — that will be a subject for a future column — but they matter to people who count in the admission process. College presidents and boards of trustees care deeply about how their institutions fare in the rankings, and affluent parents also are more likely to put stock in the rankings, beauty contest.
Colleges believe that they need these coveted wealthy teenagers to help them inch up in the rankings, or at least prevent themselves from dropping a few notches. These students, after all, are more likely to attend private or high-achieving suburban high schools that better prepare them for college and will lead them to graduate in four years. These teens are also more likely to have earned higher SAT/ACT scores and grade point averages, which are things that U.S. News cares about.
Colleges compete for these desirable students by offering them merit scholarships. Nearly all colleges and universities attract wealthy students in this way. In fact, there are probably only three dozen colleges and universities in the country that don’t provide merit scholarships to wealthy applicants. Schools in this category include all the Ivy League institutions, Georgetown, MIT and the most elite liberal arts colleges including Amherst, Williams, Haverford, Swarthmore and Pomona. They don’t have to offer carrots to wealthy students because their parents will eagerly write checks for more than $225,000 if their children get into what they perceive to be the best and most prestigious colleges in the land.
Bottom line: Obviously, the students who require the least amount of help getting accepted into college and paying the tab are the ones benefiting the most from the current higher-ed practices. I don’t see this trend changing anytime soon.
WRITER’S BIO:
Lynn O’Shaughnessy is a college consultant, author and speaker. She writes three college blogs for CBSMoneyWatch, U.S. News & World Report and TheCollegeSolutionBlog.com.
John 87 – Interesting point. But is it that parents have increasingly helped? Or that lenders have increased lending (amount and breadth) to anyone who wants a college education? Resulting in ever-increasing demand for spots in college thus supporting higher prices? And pass-along off the losses that these colleges have had on their investments? Reducing the costs of education is necessary but I’m not sure your means of achieving it is realistic. Maybe we need to decrease demand by increasing demand for options where kids can make some $ without spending 4 years and going into debt.
Other thing I don’t get abut 529 plan is you can only put 10K a month in it. Someone with 8 kids is punished vs. a person with one kid. it really should be kid based. Most people I know don’t save for college anyhow, the broke ones stiff the kids and the rich ones just take it out of bonus money. Plus this year someone who took my advice and went in all muni bonds in January made 10% tax free this year, the 529 equity money you would have lost and even with minor tax break you are screwed.
Colllege increased so rapidly my first entire year of college tuition cost less than my last 3 credit class in grad school. And that was only a ten year period. That is crazy. A single class could cost as much as a years tuition ten years later. Even when comparing grad vs. undergrad still crazy.
Nick: I understand your thought process. However, you need to appreciate that not everyone approaches their personal situation with the confidence that you do, or the overall cynicism of “the system”. To reflexively brand anyone who uses a 529 as “sheep” is really overreaching for an insult.
Nicholas says:
December 16, 2011 at 2:57 pm
I don’t like 529′s because they offend my sense of flexibility. You are contributing for 18 years to a fund for your child’s education, defering taxes.
=>EXEMPTING taxes on investment gains; 529 is more like a Roth IRA
If you don’t spend it on education then there are huge penalties that usually more than negate the benefits of putting the money in there tax deferred.
=>10% penalty on investment gains; no penalty on your original contributions; also like a Roth
You have some serious risk on the table: the risk that your child doesn’t go to college, the risk that they will be f-tards and blow your money on drugs and alcohol, the risk that they will get a degree and go to work in job that doesn’t require degree, and finally the risk that they die before they become eligible.
=> you can change beneficiaries at any time and also use the money for your own education if you wish
If you don’t use a 529 and put the money away after taxes then you have a much greater flexibility if those tail risks become a reality.
I UNDERSTAND YOUR POINT, BUT IF YOU ARE FREE TO PERUSE THE MORNINGSTAR DOCUMENT AND COME TO YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS
There are some other reasons why not to participate in types of plans (401ks come to mind). I see these types of investment vehicles as being for the sheep because every month money is taken out and put into your 401k which is then placed into some mutual fund which then buys assets. You can imagine the predictability of this giant machine that leads the sheep to slaughter. They also tend to have very opaque management fees and it is impossible to determine if you are getting fleeced (see how I keep up the sheep metaphor…) I contribute to my 401k but only to the matching limit of my company.
=> Honestly, if you are so disciplined, good for you. The bulk of people are there are not, and it does not make them sheep. Also, there is a strong sense of paternalism that exists which is healthy and natural, and does not stay into helicopter parenting. Things are not black and white. You can help and still manage to foster a sense of responsibility.
Chifi;
How do colleges treat 529 money for the financial package? Considering many relatives can have money in their own 529s for one beneficiary, and that the beneficiary can change at any time, could I park the 529 money in an account naming the youngest child until the oldest gets their package, then change beneficiary as needed?
529 plans that charge 2 percent should perform stellar since they charge hedge fund fees
Parents and students disclose…no one else does; everyone else off radar. Schools can ask whether the student is the beneficiary of an account, but there is no way to verify such things unless a distribution occurs under the student’s SS#. Most people usually shoot their load paying for college in year 1-2, when in reality it is the reverse. Hold back everything you can until the last minute…..
Anon E. Moose says:
December 16, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Chifi; How do colleges treat 529 money for the financial package? Considering many relatives can have money in their own 529s for one beneficiary, and that the beneficiary can change at any time, could I park the 529 money in an account naming the youngest child until the oldest gets their package, then change beneficiary as needed?
I find the whole concept of what is an asset for financial aid crazy.
Neighbor 1 makes 75K and has 100K in bank vs Neighbor 2 who has two classic cars, a harley and a boat in his driveway worth 100K.
Neighbor 1 is expected to spend 100K towards college, Neighbor 2 gets a ton of financial aid and still keeps his classic cars, harley and boat.
Indians for instance often hate stocks and US banks have money in gold, cars and property owned in india etc. and often own business. While kids are in school they can plow money back into business and since most of their assets don’t count as assets have a great shot at financial aid.
The guy who makes like 150K on the books with 200K in bank is expected to spend it all.
The biggest and bet loophole is financial aid does not count 401K and SS payments. I have friends who had their first kids in late 40’s and plan to have kids in their early 50’s. They could be sitting on two million in 401k and big ss payments since they always put in max and meanwhile get financial aid for all the kids.
Best financial advice I can give is to have your first kid at 50. Free ride baby. My final college check I have to pay for one of my kids will be in the year 2029. I will be retired by then. Se La Vie.
Just wonder is if financial aid people catch on given the amount of rich men who have second families with younger wives who don’t work. Should we really be given them financial aid.
Chifi, BTW you need to give me some YDM cause even I when I was yelling in Janauary for everyone to jump into the muni bond pool against Whitney advice’s that munis were going BK even I did not realize it would be the number one performing asset class for 2011.
But Chifi, 2012 looks like a tough on to call. Unless Whitney slaps another sell signal on something.
[97] Translation:
Rich kids of all colors are given an advantage by the current system.
Blacks, Latinos, Eskimos, _________, __________ [fill in the blanks with anything but white] and increasingly even the “minority” (global majority) Asians are given an advantage by the current system (if you happen to have the right skin tone AND money, well, you get double-advantages).
Poor white kids?* Suck it.
Reason enough to not vote for Obama or anyone else who supports this type of racial discrimination.
(* the majority of all American children who live in poverty are white)
However, hot young beautiful 18-24 year old poor girls are Vivid Entertainment’s whole business model.
Funniest ever I met two super white trash 18 year old girls when I was 18 and picked them up with a friend at their stepdads house in my 200 dollar buick that was jacked up in air in rear and had blacked out windows. Girls get in car as we head to 7/11 for a case and girl goes this is a really nice car. I go well it is kinda old and has a dent on the side, she goes, only one dent? wow that is pretty good. Nothing better than a broker 18 year old girl from a disfunctional family, if I owned scores I would have hired her on spot. Please don’t try to squash this demographic
Happy Renter says:
December 16, 2011 at 4:23 pm
[97] Translation:
Rich kids of all colors are given an advantage by the current system.
Blacks, Latinos, Eskimos, _________, __________ [fill in the blanks with anything but white] and increasingly even the “minority” (global majority) Asians are given an advantage by the current system (if you happen to have the right skin tone AND money, well, you get double-advantages).
Poor white kids?* Suck it.
Reason enough to not vote for Obama or anyone else who supports this type of racial discrimination.
(* the majority of all American children who live in poverty are white)
Happy [107];
I remember on a group college tour once when the topic of discussion turned to admission preferences the (black, female) admissions rep rattled off some of the groups that got preferences (of course she didn’t say it that bluntly, but that’s what it was). Someone in the crowd asked about Asians. It was all the rep could do not to laugh as she said that Asians were not considered “underepresented” in the school. (Which was true enough, given where we were standing and the makeup of the student body milling around.)
Hope springs eternal.
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/losing-a-home-but-not-the-desire-to-buy-another.html
Then again, I suppose its this sort of clear-eyed analysis that got them overextended in the worst bubble market of modern history in the first place.
Con’t [108];
And fast forward to today…
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/285943/applying-while-asian-rich-lowry
A Greek Parable:
It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough. Everybody is in debt. Everybody lives on credit.
On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village. He stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.
The guy at the Farmers’ Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna.
The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him “services” on credit.
The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism. And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works!
[108] Yeah, for years Asians have actually been getting screwed over as well, but lately they are getting wise to the game (can’t blame ’em) and pressing their case for “minority” status (laughable on so many levels) for admissions.
Here’s a ground-breaking idea: if we’re going to give out advantages, how about we do it on an economic basis? That’s the real advantage/disadvantage in this country, and it by default factors in all of the past leading up to today, because where you are is obviously influenced by what your ancestors had to deal with. No doubt larger percentages of, e.g., blacks, will be economically disadvantaged than the percentage of whites, so a larger percentage of blacks would get some help, but that’s fair.
But nah, the wealthy minority “elite” who benefit most from the current system will scream and holler, and the guilty rich whites whose only concern is making sure they can pretend to be egalitarian and sleep soundly at night after getting the latest copy of the United Colors of Benneton University magazine (full of photos of rich kids of all hues) will never let that happen without a fight.
#108, after visiting 6 colleges with my son and always being out numbered 3 to 1 girls to boys on the tour and checking stats that show 60% of college students are females, boys are getting a priority these days.
chi [97]
Ms. Lynn O’Shaughnessy shouldn’t open her trap on the topic. Her whole business is based on helping the rich kids get into the colleges of their [parents] choice.
My personal opinion is that we all will be better off if top 5% or 10% of the students in the country were given a full ride at whatever college they go to. We can pay for it by not lending education money to those who are fully expected never to graduate.
Chifi,
Good news:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/education/stanford-exits-contest-for-new-york-science-school-leaving-cornell-as-front-runner.html
Not high above
The Old East River
(and so on and so forth)
1987 (113)-
That’s just another sign of imminent disaster. I bet the ratios were better during WW2.
Nation of friggin’ layabout girly men.
Tebow that, mf’er.
Yeah Shore….it’s starting to filter around….
NY POLITICS
DECEMBER 17, 2011
Stanford Drops City Bid
By JOSEPH DE AVILA and MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL
After months as a presumed front-runner in an international competition to build a new applied-science campus in New York City, Stanford University unexpectedly dropped its bid on Friday.
A short time later, the other top contender, Cornell University, released its own surprise update: The school said it had received a $350 million anonymous donation toward building a campus, the largest gift in the university’s history.
The fast-moving developments came as the city nears the end of the competition, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a year ago and lauded as a sign of New York’s growing influence as a science and technology hub.
Out of dozens of initial inquiries, the city received seven proposals, some of them joint bids between two or more institutions. The prize: city-owned land for the campus and up to $100 million in infrastructure.
Stanford’s exit appears to leave Cornell as the favorite to win the race.
A person familiar with the matter said the administration was surprised by Stanford’s decision. “There were conversations as recent as this week,” the person said.
“It’s possible that Stanford came to the conclusion that they were not likely to be selected and withdrew rather than be the runner-up,” this person said.
Another person familiar with the matter said the Palo Alto, Calif.-based university pulled its bid in part because of what school officials saw as unexpectedly difficult negotiations with the city, this person said.
This person pointed to a November speech Mr. Bloomberg delivered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during which he indicated that after receiving enthusiastic response to the competition, the city would step up its behind-the-scenes tactics.
According to news reports, Mr. Bloomberg said during the speech: “Stanford is desperate to do it….We can go back and try to renegotiate with each” finalist.
Others suggested the $350 million donation to Cornell—which city officials knew about before it was made public—was swaying the city away from Stanford.
“Our decision had nothing to do with Cornell,” said Stanford spokeswoman Lisa Lapin. “It had everything to do with our proposal and the terms put forth by the city.”
The mayor, one of the nation’s top philanthropists who has donated millions of dollars to higher education and has made many anonymous donations, is not behind the $350 million donation to Cornell, a City Hall aide confirmed.
Another person familiar with negotiations said that as talks intensified, Cornell put “compelling” offers on the table. Stanford was reluctant to make similar commitments. Both Stanford and Cornell proposed opening their campuses on Roosevelt Island on the site of Coler-Goldwater Memorial Hospital.
One of the issues that surfaced is the cost of remediating the hospital site, the person confirmed. That was a “major” sticking point, the person said.
“[W]e were honored to be selected as a finalist,” Stanford President John Hennessy said in a statement. “We were looking forward to an innovative partnership with the city of New York, and we are sorry that together we could not find a way to realize our mutual goals.”
Mr. Hennessy met with the Stanford’s Board of Trustees on Friday and decided that the school would pull its bid. “It’s a disappointing outcome,” Ms. Lapin said.
Stanford informed the mayor of its choice soon afterward. “The conversation was cordial,” a City Hall aide said.
Mr. Bloomberg’s office put out a statement following Stanford’s decision. “We are in serious negotiations with several of the other applicants, each of whom has a game-changing project queued up. We look forward to announcing a winner soon,” said a mayoral spokeswoman.
Stanford had teamed up with the City University of New York. School officials say that partnership will continue in some form. But some projects, such as a planned joint degree, cannot move forward because Stanford will not have a campus or faculty based in New York, according to school officials.
With Stanford out, Cornell and its partner, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, have no other rivals who matched their bid to build a 2 million-square-foot campus.
“Our vision is to build a truly 21st-Century campus that will fuel the city’s growing tech sector and spur the creation of new businesses and new industries for decades to come,” said Cornell University President David Skorton in a statement.
Other schools still in the running include Columbia University and New York University. NYU proposes to build a research center at a city-owned site in downtown Brooklyn. Columbia’s proposal calls for making the applied-science campus part of a planned expansion of its upper Manhattan campus.
It’s possible that there will be other, smaller winners aside from the top bidder, a person familiar with the matter said.
The middleclass is the key to a prosperous country
http://blogs.reuters.com/david-rohde/2011/12/15/milwaukees-middle-class-is-evaporating/
“For the past 40 years there has been a huge shift from labor to capital. It is driven by corporate greed and globalization. The corporations and the elites that run them are stateless and have no sense of responsibility towards their communities. Their only concerns are self-enrichment first and short term profits second. Nothing else is on their radar scope.”
Strongly suggest adding a “google+” button for the blog!
Santa’s sexual harassment trial:
Did you or did you not look at my client in front of her children,and called her not once but three times a “HO”?
@lib;
Hope your game went better than this guy’s:
http://deadspin.com/5868584/how-a-senior-league-hockey-fight-ended-with-one-player-pooping-in-an-opponents-glove/
One quote sums up the 99IQs nicely:
>“We need more; you have more,” one protester, Amin Husain, 36, told a Trinity official on Thursday<
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/nyregion/church-that-aided-wall-st-protesters-is-now-their-target.html?_r=1&hp
Moose :111
Your Greek Parable, while an interesting story, lacks relevancy in the real US economy.
The US Parable went something like this…..a Middle-Class Tourist tries to get a room at the Hotel. The Hotelier tells him that the rooms are all in very bad shape and that the Hotelier needs a $100 to expedite the repairs. A Government Official takes the Middle-Class Tourist’s money and gives it to the Hotelier under the premise that the Hotel Industry is on the verge of collapse and this calamity will affect the entire Global whatchamacallit.
The Hotelier takes the money, does nothing to fix up a room for the Tourist, and votes himself a nice little “bonus” for his efforts. The Tourist sleeps in a room with the same problems that plagued it before, and neither the Butcher, the Farmer, The Bartender, nor the Hooker see any benefit from the money the Gubmint took from the Middle-Class Tourist.
The Hotelier then makes a nice Contribution to the PAC of his local Government Official.
I hope that’s clearer now.
#95: Where ya been? Rumors about Rick Perry have been swirling around for at least a decade.
An interesting Gallup Euro survey
http://www.gallup.com/poll/151559/Troubled-European-Economies-Stifle-Entrepreneurship.aspx
Looks like the easiest place to start and run a business is Sweden with its almost world’s highest taxes but non-existent corruption.
JJ on fire.
[128] cobbler,
Sweden used to be a tax outlier but the rest of the developed world caught up. Also, Sweden’s famous welfare state has been curtailed somewhat. Also, while Sweden taxes incomes heavily, and has a high VAT, it taxes relatively little else. As for corporate taxation, Sweden is actually similar to the US, but has a lower top rate and a flatter tax structure.
http://www.taxrates.cc/html/sweden-tax-rates.html
The ease of business may stem from the fact that the government handles benefits, and there is a more homogenious workforce, which negates the requirement for government intervention in nearly every facet of commerce.
nom [130]
What I am trying say is that taxation levels by themselves (I am not talking about the confiscatory 70+% which clearly discourage the taxed activity, and maybe should be used for something like profits from high-frequency trading – but this is off-topic) should not be a critical factor in business decision-making. You don’t pay tax on profits if your business is run at a loss.
Regarding your point on benefits being handled by the government, this is the case in all or almost all countries in Gallup survey, including those with terribly difficult business conditions. Corruption (that comes from regulatory climate) is a different story. Maybe an important factor in Northern Europe that we always overlook is much greater consensus within the society about the desired level of regulation than what we have here – and as a result, not only less supply, but also much less “demand” for corruption.
Jon Stewart on Newt. Priceless.
http://gawker.com/5868649/jon-stewart-to-the-republican-electorate-dont-do-this
nom[130]
What I am trying say is that taxation levels by themselves (I am not talking about the confisc.a.tory 70+% which clearly discourage the taxed activity, and maybe should be used for something like profits from high-frequency trading – but this is off-topic) should not be a critical factor in business decision-making. You don’t pay tax on profits if your business is run at a loss.
Regarding your point on benefits being handled by the government, this is the case in all or almost all countries in Gallup survey, including those with terribly difficult business conditions. Corruption (that comes from regulatory climate) is a different story. Maybe an important factor in Northern Europe that we always overlook is much greater consensus within the society about the desired level of regulation than what we have here – and as a result, not only less supply, but also much less “demand” for corruption.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/bergen_safety/135754818_Midland_Park_officer_arrested_on_DWI_charges_in_Wyckoff.html
Payroll tax cut bill boosts cost of new mortgages
http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/Payroll_tax_cut_bill_boosts_cost_of_new_mortgages.html
Fiddy Cents:126
Moose :111
Greek Parable…I’m kind of with Fiddy on this one. It’s a rich guy who loans the money to make all the middle classers whole and then gets his money back. In this country, the middle loans the money and the rich guy gets the breaks. The poor guy and the rich guy continue to benefit. The middle gets anally raped.
Awesome poop in glove story and I could see it happening in our league, where every team has a case of beer on ice in the locker room as well.
http://deadspin.com/5868584/how-a-senior-league-hockey-fight-ended-with-one-player-pooping-in-an-opponents-glove/
Whoops. Looks like Gator was logged in again from my machine.
HE (89)-
If Ron Paul’s candidacy gained even a sliver of traction, he’d have a “tragic and mysterious” car crash within hours of whatever poll showed him advancing.
This place has officially become a bit boring. And boring in the same way geriatric homes are boring.
No blame for this goes to Grim. In the past two weeks, he has posted 2-3 of the best pieces ever placed on this blog (which is good, since it’s his blog).
I accept whatever proportional share of the blame that needs to be distributed upon myself. I’m pretty much out of the business, work way too many hours in another business and really have no interest in RE beyond the average gawker’s fascination at a slow-motion car crash. I’ve also been a poor contributor, since I achieved my newly-found status of “permanently broke”. If I cared at all about the business, I’d up my game. However, I can’t even pretend to care.
Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. And smoke ’em while you got ’em.
What the Government did not realize,it is not the bankers and businesses that creates profit and jobs.It is the consumer which is the middleclass.Without demand there will always no business.They bailed out the bankers and now pushing for more tax cuts for the higher tax bracket while squezzing the disapearing middleclass.Let us face it,a large middleclass is what made businesses profitable and made this country more billionaires than anywhere else in the world.The government and businesses should realize this fact,without the middleclass that creates demand,there will be no thriving economy
I still like being a home owner when compared to the alternatives. Sure I could have had all my cash in stocks…and it would be gone now in the blink of a correction. I like the roof over my head. Yo.
139. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. And smoke ‘em while you got ‘em
Sad but True!
Hello! aeceeaa interesting aeceeaa site! I’m really like it! Very, very aeceeaa good!
boy…moving is a bitch. two truck loads and still not done. Thank god I still have to the end of the month.
Slept in the house for the first time: nice feeling.
Thanks all for your help.
(134) fabius
“Not one thin dime” was Obamas “read my lips” moment.
Some of us called Obama out on that years ago. Curiously, the media seems to be missing it.
(132) cobbler,
Important thing to consider is that in a closed system, taxes are neutral insofar as they are a drag on every business. It’s a cost to be passed on. But in an asymmetric world, the Swedish and US systems are disadvantages to domestic business that tries to compete internationally. Think about how many Swedish companies we patronize, and ask if they are really totally Swedish (IKEA) or if they are heavily subsidized (Volvo and Saab).
There is another reason business is not always antithetical to taxes. I often see tax policy used as a shield to ward off taxation, but also used as a sword. I see businesses arguing for higher taxes on their competition, or higher taxes that will support their markets (and they can always avoid the taxes later). The latter is the Buffett approach, BTW.
meat, 139
re: boring. Sometimes boring isn’t bad…
I have been working like crazy and trying to sort out the future, so I haven’t been much in the way of contributing…
Besides, the stories I could tell you would be nightmarish.
Plus, this time of year folks are just trying to get the holiday stuff in order and are too busy.
As for the ER? We are seeing record numbers of suici.des/attempted suici.des of all ages. Our psych evaluation numbers are through the roof.
sl
Death pays all debts. How many suicides do you see in the ER where someone figures he’ll be dogged by undischargeable student debt for the rest of his life, so he just says eff it?
nom[147]
The article that started this discussion was primarily about small businesses, so probably the cross-border disadvantage was less important as you suggest. What strikes me here is the level of protest against the high-bracket tax increase here with the main argument that it hurts small business job creation.
Btw, didn’t Saab (the one that builds cars, not jets) go out of business altogether?
(149) cobbler
There is an apples and oranges arguments when you compare small biz taxation. There are differences in the Swedish and US systems, and possibly in both the nature of the small biz economies in each country and the degrees to which they are subject to foreign competition and demand elasticity. Without knowing more about the latter points, I can’t chalk up the attitudinal differences to anything other than culture. Which may be your answer.
(136) meat,
Hingham is on par with Summit or Mendham in terms of being an upscale suburb. Still, rink location is meaningless, and Weymouth is next door and Quincy beyond that. Plenty of meatheads there.
But the idea of that happening in Hingham is priceless.
(136) lib
I meant libtard, not meat. Sorry
Agreed! But you loose the oportunity to migrate.
Essex says:
December 18, 2011 at 9:17 am
I still like being a home owner when compared to the alternatives. Sure I could have had all my cash in stocks…and it would be gone now in the blink of a correction. I like the roof over my head. Yo
(153) Yo
Absolutely right. If I knew how mobile I was going to be due largely to my wife’s career, I and she would never have bought. Considering how much I am probably losing on this house, all the money we made on prior homes has been wiped out.
Property should only be owned if it generates income or you know you will retire on it.
Boy, Jets are just imploding in this half. Needless to say, I am an Iggles fan for today.
And another Iggles touchdown!!!!!
Meanwhile out in Denver, a slugfest. Brady and Tebow are both lighting it up.
If Jets lose, and with Giants loss earlier, next week is a must-win for both NY teams.
And JJ is glad he sold his tickets.
J E T S, Jets, Jets, Jets.
Nom,
My Giants are done, that we know.
But, all I can say is: Pats 41 – Tebow 23
Part of the problem wit gvmt today is that Bonehead an Palpatine have no control over their caucaus.
House GOP revolts on payroll deal
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70592.html
159
Wouldn’t it be a good thing to decentralize power and not have the congresscritters blindly following “the party leaders”?
#160 joyce,
That would be fine if you you get to a point of majority rule.
Mayor Bloomberg is set to announce tomorrow that Cornell University has won the bid to construct a massive new science and engineering campus on Roosevelt Island, sources told The Post.
The upstate Ivy League school had been expected to claim the prize after its main rival, Stanford University, suddenly withdrew Friday.
Cornell also announced Friday that it had received an anonymous $350-million gift towards the state-of-the-art campus.
The Ithaca-based school, which also had outbid Stanford, was willing to spend more to help pay for the toxic cleanup required at the Roosevelt Island site, the sources said.
The new campus will spread Cornell’s presence in the Big Apple, as its medical school is right across the river from the proposed new site.
Besides getting the city-owned land to build the campus, Cornell is also set to collect $100 million in city-financed projects.
The nationwide search for top-tier colleges to build a new site was announced in July. It also drew interest from Columbia, NYU, Carnegie Mellon and Purdue University.
I got what you plan, thanks for putting up. Woh I am gladsome to conceive this website through google. Thanks For Share “With only one month to go New Jersey is sure to record the largest annual gain in private sector employment in more than a decade” | New Jersey Real Estate Report.