Up, but just barely

From the Star Ledger:

Home prices rose in N.J. in 2014, still a long ways off peak

Single-family homes in New Jersey sold for more at the end of last year than they did in 2013.

There’s still a long way to go before the market approaches its 2006 peak, though.

Those are two of the main takeaways from a year-end report released today by Core Logic.

On average, single-family homes in Garden State were 1.2 percent higher at the end of December compared to the previous year, but still 22.9 percent less than when prices reached their high point in June 2006.

Nationally, home prices rose 7.4 percent in 2014. Colorado (8.4), Texas (7.8) and New York (7.6) experienced the largest increases. Still, home prices are off 13.4 percent from their April 2006 peak nationwide.

In Connecticut, the average priced dipped by 2.2 percent, the largest in the country last year. Maryland and Vermont were the only two other states where prices fell in 2014.

The Core Logic report didn’t include actual prices, but a November report from Coldwell Banker said the average price of a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home in New Jersey was $440,354. That was the fourth-highest in the nation.

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110 Responses to Up, but just barely

  1. grim says:

    For those in North Jersey, the CSBA data is, of course, more interesting than the statewide..

    New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ
    Including Distressed 4.1% YOY
    Excluding Distressed 4.5% YOY

  2. grim says:

    From now on, references to income equality that include the Nordics will result in immediate deletion and banning. I’ve seen all I need to see in 3 days of Copenhagen to know that should someone make this reference, they’ve never actually been here. It’s the equivalent of saying there is little poverty in Short Hills or Alpine, see, look how good it is here!

    There are no poor because it’s impossible to be poor and say here. Other than the refugees which are stockpiled into tenements made from shipping containers (not the pretty ones), I’d imagine in migration is limited to the extremely wealthy who are bringing jobs with them.

    Gary’s head would explode. Living in NJ is basically free in comparison. You’d need to have an income of about $200,000 a year to live in Copenhagen, more to live comfortably, especially if you’d like to own a car and not have to commute by bicycle. I wonder what a nice BMW or Mercedes costs here, probably the equivalent of $100k usd.

    By the way, I got my taxi fares wrong, in 2.5 days of being here, we spent nearly $400 on taxi fare, that was 4 rides.

  3. anon (the good one) says:

    are all kids above average in Copenhagen too?

  4. nwnj says:

    #3

    Compared to your local, yes.

  5. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Has anyone had trouble loading this blog page the past two days. After 4 yesterday, I couldn’t load the page. The day before, after 8ish, could no longer load the page.

  6. nwnj says:

    *locale*

  7. The Great Pumpkin says:

    2- Grim, why doesn’t the U.S. do the same? Why do we flood our country with the poorest immigrants? I’m talking 3rd world nation type. Why don’t we restrict immigration to only the wealthy?

  8. The Great Pumpkin says:

    This guy commenting gets it. We share similar thoughts on these issues. Going to post his comments I find interesting.

    “I loved President Reagan, because he brought pride and respect back to our country after those embarrassingly weak Carter years, but unfortunately his shortsighted economic policy sent us down the wrong path. – Reaganonomics was a huge mistake. Under Clinton jobs to China, Under Bush I & II influx of illegals/cheap labor into the US and jobs to Mexico/NAFTA – Bush started it and it was signed into effect by Clinton. – Jeez and the wizards on Wall Street wonder why the American people aren’t putting as much money into savings and their 401k plans anymore. Maybe it’s because the shortsighted economic policies, from the 1980’s to the present, have come back to bite the hands that feed them. – I guess the thought of changing from a manufacturing based economy to a service based economy of smoke and mirrors is working out just great? – Not!

    The people with all of the excuses as to why we can’t, shouldn’t or aren’t willing to manufacture products here in the US are the same people who have provided us with the very same shortsighted thinking that’s gotten us into this mess in the first place.

    If more people would have listened to Ross Perot back in 1992, America wouldn’t be in this mess.

    I think Reagan’s heart was in the right place, but he was being led astray by the free-traitors from both parties that were being backed by the Wall Street crowd and foreign interests.”

    http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/02/christie_vetoes_nj_buy_american_legislation.html

  9. 1987 condo says:

    #7…something about that Statue in the Harbor?
    Let’s let the experiment play out.
    You can always move to Europe.
    Let’s see if diversity carries the day…

  10. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “Let’s face it both parties are just doing the bidding of their masters, while lamely trying to look like they’re trying to represent us. – Wouldn’t it be nice, if some of these puppet masters were conscientious loyal Americans who loved their country and cared enough about their fellow Americans that they would finally start pointing their lap-dog-politicians in the direction of doing right by the American People? – Maybe that’s delusional on my part – But if this doesn’t start happening soon, the American people and the future of the country that we love is doomed.

    Over the last 25-years, our government has allowed and enabled our country’s industries to get sucked out to countries like Communist China, India, Mexico, etc and allowed illegal aliens and H-1B foreigners to come into our country and take away income-tax-paying American’s jobs and drive down wages.

    What the American People need is Americans who are more like Ross Perot was to get involved – If more Americans would have listened to Ross Perot back in 1992, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now – The American people and the real American economy would have been much better off today – I and many other people, who were able to see through all of the left vs right BS, did vote for Perot, because he was straight forward and just used common sense – He got in it because, he cared about his country and the American people and didn’t like the direction that our political leaders were headed – Turns out that he was right.”

    “We need to bring manufacturing back to the United States of America and both parties are ignoring tariffs as a way to level the playing field, raise money and bring jobs back home. – Let’s guess why. – Oh that’s right, tariff is a dirty word. – Hum, maybe it’s that our so called leaders (political leaders) are beholden to the same people who are exporting our jobs.

    I guess we should keep letting Corp Boards, Wall Street, CEOs and Foreign Lobbyists promote sending US jobs to countries where they work for slave wages, no benefits, no OSHA safety standards or no real environment regulations.

    Foreign Lobbyists here in the US promote sending US jobs to countries like Communist China, India and Mexico where they work for slave wages, no benefits, no OSHA safety standards or no real environment regulations. – It also doesn’t help us compete when many of these Chinese company’s factories are subsidized by China’s communist government. – Just check out the current Chinese extreme pollution issues – We all live in the same world, but not every country plays by the same rules.

    The so called “Global Market Place” is not a level playing field. Companies may have made higher profits by “outsourcing”, but they’ve been putting middle class Americans who are a good part of the world’s customer base out of work.

    It has all happened way too fast – Our government leaders should have put measures in place to make it slower, so that it wouldn’t devastate our country, which has no chance when competing with other countries that don’t play by the same rules or have pay scales that are even remotely close.

    That’s where our government leaders have to step up and put some sensible measures and incentives in place to keep jobs here in the USA or the real economy and infrastructure of the country we love will be destroyed along with the future of the American people.”

  11. The Great Pumpkin says:

    ” Tar!ffs don’t work, if we don’t use them. – We could have proportionally decreased and monitored them rather than just eliminating them altogether, which just allowed the floodgates to pop wide open.

    * Humm – Let me guess – Oh, here comes the Old Tar!ffs = Social!sm / Trade war BS – *** Sorry, they’re right removing them has worked out so well for the American People and the Real American Economy. ***

    The cold, hard truth is that the unholy alliance between Washington and Wall Street has sold out the American worker and exported our standard of living.

    Driven by the insatiable greed of Wall Street profiteers and accelerated by the false promise of free trade, our manufacturing base has been chased out of this country and along with it the livelihood of millions of hard-working Americans.

    * It used to be fashionable among politicians, pundits and so-called experts to claim that free trade is actually good for us. – They say it enables us to buy cheaper goods made with cheap foreign labor and this, in turn, raises our standard of living. – But, if most Americans lose their jobs or are reduced to jobs with much lower pay and little or no benefits, it really doesn’t make any sense.”

  12. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Last one.

    “* The Free-Traitors need to ask themselves a more fundamental question – How will Americans buy those goods when they don’t even have a paycheck that covers their mortgage, much less the college tuition for their children, etc………………..?

    Foreigners will be coming here and buying our houses after we all foreclose. – They’ll also be taking over our government too, after it defaults from lack income tax revenue, due to businesses in the USA shutting down and or US jobs being outsourced and everyone being out of work.

    If Ross Perot had been elected president in 1992, the American people and the American economy would have been much better off today!

    Our leaders need to start remembering that they are elected by the Citizens of the United States of America to represent the interests of those citizens and the country itself. – They are NOT elected by or to represent the Global Market Place, Lobbyist, Foreign citizens or Illegal Aliens!

    The bottom line is that “Our Government” has to protect domestic industry and the jobs that those industries provide. If they do that, the rest will take care of itself.

    We need to add tariffs that are proportionate to the inequities in wages and regulations in the country where the goods were produced and or where we’re importing them from. – We could then use the money raised by these tariffs to help companies build state of the art manufacturing plants here in the USA, which would create more jobs here at home for US citizens, which would then in turn increase our income tax revenue.

    The people with all of the excuses as to why we can’t, shouldn’t or aren’t willing to manufacture products here in the US are the same people who have provided us with the very same shortsighted thinking that’s gotten us into this mess in the first place.

    Over the past 15-20 years, I’ve seen too many of our customer’s close manufacturing plants here in the USA and move those plants to different countries, decimating entire areas here in OUR COUNTRY. – And I’m not alone. – Returning jobs to American Citizens will provide income tax revenue to OUR Government versus our government having to pay unemployment benefits to those who would be jobless instead.

    Bringing manufacturing back to the US not only gives jobs to the US citizens who would be working in those manufacturing facilities, but to the people that would be working in the businesses that would spring up all around them. – This should also include the safe harvesting, production and distribution of our own natural energy here in the USA, rather than paying for fuel from countries where they hate us. – Let’s keep that money and those jobs here in the US.

    And for those that will say that many jobs are being replaced by robotics and automation, you still need people to maintain and service the automated equipment, warehouse personnel, truck drivers to deliver the products, purchasing people to buy the materials, managers, office staff, etc.

    Also, let’s manufacture the automated equipment and develop the software to be used for this automated manufacturing, etc. – This not only gives jobs to the US citizens who would be working in those manufacturing facilities, but to the people that would be working in the businesses that would spring up all around them.

    Many American jobs have been replaced by automation, but many more have been replaced by “out-sourcing”, H-1B workers and non-income-tax-paying illegal aliens here in the USA.

    The ONLY REAL FIX for Our Country is to Raise Revenue by Bringing Back Businesses and Jobs to Tax-Paying American Citizens.

    Returning private sector jobs to American Citizens will provide income tax revenue to OUR Government versus our government having to pay unemployment benefits to those who would be jobless instead. – We need our elected officials to Start Protecting American Jobs and do whatever it takes to bring back the jobs they let go. – We need leaders who will actually stand up for the American people.

    The “Global Market Place” is not a level playing field! – The whole idea of the tariffs is so we can pay our factory workers a decent wage and not be blown out by these other countries where they don’t play by the same rules.

    The bottom line is that “Our Government” has to protect domestic industry and the jobs that those industries provide. If they do that, the rest will take care of itself.

    We may have to pay a bit more for products made here in the USA by US citizens, but at least we’ll still have jobs and a future for our children.

    The American People need Loyal American Leaders who will stop selling us out to countries like Communist China, India and Mexico.”

  13. 1987 condo says:

    Jobs guess: 189k

  14. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I have no problem with diversity. I have a problem of using these type of immigrants as a means of holding down wages. Yes, some of the work Americans won’t do, but enough with that bs. We have people not working and on welfare. Tell them to go do the jobs nobody wants.

    1987 condo says:
    February 6, 2015 at 8:18 am
    #7…something about that Statue in the Harbor?
    Let’s let the experiment play out.
    You can always move to Europe.
    Let’s see if diversity carries the day…

  15. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Totally agree. Man I need a vacation!! lol

    Libturd in the City says:
    February 5, 2015 at 1:57 pm
    Been to both spots. Definitely a beautiful beach. I did the volcano bike ride too with Gator PF. Probably my favorite thing to do is to don the snorkel and mask and just jump in the water in the most remote locations. The sea turtles are everywhere and if you don’t expect them, they can scare the krap out of you. you really don’t need fins either. They make it hard to get in and out where it’s rocky, which is pretty much 99% of the islands’ shores.

  16. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You would get along with my wife. LOl We went down from the summit. We rented the bikes from one of the company’s that let you go down by yourself. Not with a group. Not sure if you can still do that. I was last there in 2009. Cool experience.

    NJGator says:
    February 5, 2015 at 1:59 pm
    Pumpkin 124 – I hated that bike ride. My hands killed from having to use the brakes for pretty much the entire ride. They used to let the clueless tourists start their ride from the Summit. So many people got hurt that they eventually starting bussing them halfway down the mountain before setting them free on their bicycles.

  17. 1987 condo says:

    Actual: 257K, UE 5.7

  18. Liquor Luge says:

    Punkinhead, you dunce, BC Bob was here eight years ago, making the call that outraged cries for protectionism would be the sign that the final spin-the-drain is on.

    You would be well served to spend your time reading some old threads from this site, rather than dousing us innocent victims in your intellectual vomit.

  19. Liquor Luge says:

    Punkin’ want a Milkbone?

  20. 1987 condo says:

    Large Revision Up in December, up 329k vs 252k original

  21. Comrade Nom Deplume with extended middle finger to the haters. says:

    Punkin,

    You can erect trade walls and that will force manuf back to our shores. It will raise employment for awhile. But only for domestic consumption. Our sales to other nations will tank as theirs tank here. You won’t replicate the 50s and 60s because we sold to the world then. We won’t if we wall ourselves off.

    Further, you must accept a lower standard of living. You aren’t old enough to remember when your only car options came from three companies in Detroit that rusted out after a few years. Higher costs come with restraint of trade and elasticity means diminished demand for higher-priced, lower quality goods. So employment goes back down. Meanwhile, even larger swaths of the service industry go underground.

    So you find yourself with a huge black market economy, no long term change in employment, higher costs for less choice and mediocre quality, and no net improvement in the overall economy. I’ve already lived this scenario: it was called the 70s.

  22. Anon E. Moose says:

    Welcome home, Grim. Re: [1]… Ummm, what distressed property (in NJ)? I suppose the question answers itself by way of the miniscule gap.

  23. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    Interesting hypothesis. I’ve always thought the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6s were just larger version of the the iPhone 4s. Not really innovating anything new. I will say that I think their iWatch will probably be amazing once it comes out and definitely better than any of the current smart watches.

    The smartphone market continues to grow albeit at a slower pace but the growth has been in China and India whose population does not have a lot of disposable income to spend on a phone. Its where Google is looking to get their next BILLION of users on the platform.
    ———–
    We Shouldn’t Be Dazzled by Apple’s Earning Report.

    To see that larger picture, let’s locate Apple within its larger context as a once disruptive innovator that’s now essentially an incumbent.

    A fundamental tenet of disruptive innovation is that established firms normally do not react to disruptors. And for a good reason. Generally, disruptors take over the least profitable customers of the industry, and as that happens, established firms usually redirect the resources they might have spent defending their low-value consumers toward their high-value consumers. For instance, when Dell started its upmarket march, Hewlett-Packard’s executives weren’t too concerned. They considered HP to be too premium a brand to justify investing resources in defending the low end. When Southwest Airlines started to occupy the same market space as established air carriers, the incumbents predictably focused more on business class and international routes. When Curves (a gym that specialized in women) started to grow, established chains didn’t see it as competition. When online banks first started to appear, retail banks did not consider them as “real banks.” Insurance companies initially neglected selling insurance by phone and later online.

    But one thing has changed. Apple used to revolutionize industries, announcing record sales numbers because it had introduced a new technology, feature, or product that we had never imagined but that, when we saw it, we all instantly wanted. That Apple seems no longer present. In this instance, all Apple has done is copy a feature for its own best customers. While that’s very effective for today, it does not solve the problem of tomorrow for a company that competes on serial innovation.

    https://hbr.org/2015/02/we-shouldnt-be-dazzled-by-apples-earnings-report

  24. Anon E. Moose says:

    Pumpkin,

    Why are you obsessed with re-posting blog comments? If I didn’t know the people involved here I wouldn’t give a whit about any comments.

  25. chicagofinance says:

    Booya….

    Liquor Luge says:
    February 6, 2015 at 8:35 am
    Punkin’ want a Milkbone?

  26. JJ says:

    Inflation and wages are rising. In around ten years we will start seeing stories about folks with five million dollar in their 401ks.

    Meanwhile back at my first orientation at work I recall signing up for a 401k and the chart projected that one day I would have a 100k 401k.

    I guess in 1985 a 100K next egg was a big deal. Today if you retired with only 100K in retirement savings and safe investments like treasuries, munis and bank CDs paying almost nothing you be dead meat.

    Remember back in 1985 the 30 year US Treasury had an 11% yield for most of year.

    In 1985 you could leave work at the age of 65 take that 100K in your 401K roll it over to an IRA and buy a single 30 year treasury bond and be guraranteed $11,000 a year income for then next 30 years and if you dropped dead today at 95 your heirs would still inherit the whole 100K bond as it matures.

    Today if you bought at 100K Treasury at 2.5% you only get $2,500 a year interest, which means you have to pull out $8,500 a year principal each year to get the same $11,000 income stream. Which means in around 10 years all your money is gone. And things are around 4x the cost they were in 1985.

    This is why retirees buy Puerto Rico Bonds, Genworth Bonds, Energy bonds. They have to take on a huge amount of default risk on top of interest rate risk just to get some yield.

    My Mom when she bought bonds she only bought investment grade corporate bonds, govt backed Mortgage bonds and five year FDIC insured CDs. And she got 8% from that bond portfolio with only a 5-10 year duration and Philip Morris, IBM and GE were types of bonds she bought. Not junk at all. And that was only back in the period of 1992 to 2002. If she was alive today, 100% of the bonds would have rolled over and her income stream on her 100K bond portfolio would have gone from $8,000 a year to like $2,000 a year unless she jacked up credit risk.

    She had that 100K bond thing set up in 1992 when she retired from work at Smith barney back when 100K was a good account. And only time we talked to a broker was once a year when one of her laddered bonds matured. Credit risk what is that? Duration Risk what was that? Everything held to maturity. Not like today where old folks on top of credit risk will go out 20-30 years on a bond to get yield.

  27. Comrade Nom Deplume, who needs to stop screwing around and get back to work says:

    anon,

    How about a tweet on income equality and Nordic countries?

  28. Comrade Nom Deplume, who needs to stop screwing around and get back to work says:

    punkin,

    “The economic simulations show the highly negative effects of increased border protection. Border measures, both on the import side and the export side, are found to have the largest negative effect of all measures considered. On average, one dollar worth of increased tarif revenue leads to a 2.16 dollar drop in world exports and to a 0.73 dollar drop in world income. Moreover, an import barrier while reducing exports from partner countries also reduces own exports – and even more so. Because import barriers raise domestic prices, through higher costs for intermediate inputs and through lifting the general price level for consumer products, export products also become more expensive and lose market share in the face of international competition. While the sectors being shielded by higher import barriers may benefit from increased prices, overall domestic production in the implementing country will contract – each dollar of increased border protection leads to a drop of GDP of 66 cents. In other words a tax on imports is a tax on exports.”

    http://www.oecd.org/trade/45293999.pdf

  29. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Thanks for the write up. I’m not as old as you guys and I’m doing my best to understand the issue. I am grateful for sharing with me your knowledge.

    I have a question. How do these other countries in Europe get away with protectionism. Even China does it.

    Also, how come some of our industries are protected and others are not?

    Do you have any ideas on how to fix this issue in America if protectionism is not an option?

    Comrade Nom Deplume with extended middle finger to the haters. says:
    February 6, 2015 at 8:46 am
    Punkin,

    You can erect trade walls and that will force manuf back to our shores. It will raise employment for awhile. But only for domestic consumption. Our sales to other nations will tank as theirs tank here. You won’t replicate the 50s and 60s because we sold to the world then. We won’t if we wall ourselves off.

    Further, you must accept a lower standard of living. You aren’t old enough to remember when your only car options came from three companies in Detroit that rusted out after a few years. Higher costs come with restraint of trade and elasticity means diminished demand for higher-priced, lower quality goods. So employment goes back down. Meanwhile, even larger swaths of the service industry go underground.

    So you find yourself with a huge black market economy, no long term change in employment, higher costs for less choice and mediocre quality, and no net improvement in the overall economy. I’ve already lived this scenario: it was called the 70s.

  30. The Great Pumpkin says:

    When I get some time, I will do my best to go over old threads. I’m sorry for bring up issues that have already been discussed on this blog.

    Liquor Luge says:
    February 6, 2015 at 8:34 am
    Punkinhead, you dunce, BC Bob was here eight years ago, making the call that outraged cries for protectionism would be the sign that the final spin-the-drain is on.

    You would be well served to spend your time reading some old threads from this site, rather than dousing us innocent victims in your intellectual vomit.

  31. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s for the ideas. I am trying to spur discussion on issues that I am interested in learning more about.

    Anon E. Moose says:
    February 6, 2015 at 9:02 am
    Pumpkin,

    Why are you obsessed with re-posting blog comments? If I didn’t know the people involved here I wouldn’t give a whit about any comments.

  32. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Thanks for the data to back up the argument. Thinking about this issue. Is the quest for lower prices become the quest for lower pay? If we are constantly searching for the cheapest costs, doesn’t this in turn destroy the wages ability to grow? Is this what is happening in the U.S.?

    Comrade Nom Deplume, who needs to stop screwing around and get back to work says:
    February 6, 2015 at 9:35 am
    punkin,

    “The economic simulations show the highly negative effects of increased border protection. Border measures, both on the import side and the export side, are found to have the largest negative effect of all measures considered. On average, one dollar worth of increased tarif revenue leads to a 2.16 dollar drop in world exports and to a 0.73 dollar drop in world income. Moreover, an import barrier while reducing exports from partner countries also reduces own exports – and even more so. Because import barriers raise domestic prices, through higher costs for intermediate inputs and through lifting the general price level for consumer products, export products also become more expensive and lose market share in the face of international competition. While the sectors being shielded by higher import barriers may benefit from increased prices, overall domestic production in the implementing country will contract – each dollar of increased border protection leads to a drop of GDP of 66 cents. In other words a tax on imports is a tax on exports.”

    http://www.oecd.org/trade/45293999.pdf

  33. 1987 condo says:

    #29…they don’t get away with it forever and there will be a price to pay, weather poverty, insurrection or war. Nothing is free.

  34. Comrade Nom Deplume, who needs to stop screwing around and get back to work says:

    [29] punkin,

    That isn’t a discussion, its a semester. These are really broad questions; tomes have been dedicated to them. However, I submit that common sense and some research would aid you in answering a lot of your own questions. There is a vast ocean of information at your fingertips.

  35. Libturd in Union says:

    Also PF,

    Not everything in Europe is as rosy as the progressives paint it. It helps to both travel to Europe periodically and have relatives who live over there. One of my four sisters married a Frenchman. Their healthcare system, single payer, is godsend. But their unemployment rate on average is like 11%. And their tax rates are like triple ours. I’m not just talking income tax. I’m also talking VAT, corporate and payroll taxes. And it’s like this all over Europe. If you manage to get a good job, it’s a pretty good gig. If you don’t (and a lot don’t), you move to where the jobs are. Sure there’s a safety net, but it’s pretty much as krappy as ours and with much less opportunity to escape it. What most poor Europeans do is move to where the jobs are. Often, that’s in the Middle East or Asia or Africa. Occasionally, they even come here. American’s don’t seem to move to where the jobs are, perhaps because our safety nets are too rich and our standard of living is too high? Once our SOL lowers, I think we’ll be fine. But it will take a while to occur as long as easy money (debt) is so simple to obtain and when the sh1t hits the fan, the government forgives.

  36. Libturd in Union says:

    And I know a lot of younger people over there in their 20s and 30s. A good job for many of them is working at Fridays. They don’t make much money and couples usually share one car and live in much smaller apartments and houses than we do, but their education, medical, and retirements are taken care of. They are c0ntent not getting rich and taking one vacation per year. This certainly helps. Most of my peers over here would rather take the risk of having the opportunity to do really well for themselves than the no-risk option of getting by relatively comf0rtably for life. Soc1alism is definitely a cultural phenomenon. It also might explain why exec
    pay in Europe is not quite out of control as it is over here. I would also argue that some of the governments in Europe are not nearly as c0rrupt as ours and still do what’s best for the people, but like here, are getting much larger than they need to be.

  37. Juice Box says:

    re” “It helps to both travel to Europe periodically and have relatives who live over there.” Yeah France is expensive for sure 44.6 % of GDP is tax revenue, one if the highest in Europe.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_revenue_as_percentage_of_GDP

  38. yome says:

    Lower population does not equate to lower GDP and lower Productivity. High Productivity (Robots,Automation) will produce higher GDP with Low population.
    Low population will increase salaries to fight for talents but will not certainly decrease productivity.
    Decreasing population of the US will guarantee jobs compare to Countries with high population.

  39. Libturd in Union says:

    JJ. Better dust off that DOW 18K hat. If oil somehow recovers a bit, we could see 19K easily before we see 17K again.

  40. Libturd in Union says:

    “Decreasing population of the US will guarantee jobs compare to Countries with high population.”

    Perhaps we should all become hippy-dippy non-vaccinators?

  41. Juice Box says:

    Tard – rig count is falling.

    “A total of 382 onshore rigs have gone off-line since November 21, representing a decline of ~20%.”

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/texas-feels-brunt-cuts-onshore-210612878.html;_ylt=A0LEVvxc4tRURHoAy1wnnIlQ

  42. DuckVader says:

    My contribution, hopefully useful — We are planning a move out of NJ, actually out of the US because of a work assignment. I was taking a look at reasonable (not expat) housing in Southeast Asia. As a whole, good housing is expensive. I’m looking to rent in a gated community just in the suburbs of Manila and it costs about $3500 per month for a 2500 sq foot, good home; expat would run 2-3x that. So considering that a 500K house in NNJ would be around 3.5K, give or take in terms of PITI, the whole thing is a wash. Utilities are more expensive in Manila (have to run AC at that house for 8 out of 12 months). Vehicles are actually more expensive and so are utilities, but the absence of a state tax makes up for that.

    But the real difference is actually healthcare costs; I’m talking to an insurance agent and a good top of the line insurance for Manila is about 8000 USD for my family. I contribute close to 15K a year for my insurance here. And we know of other expats who have lived in Manila and they say that the coverage is what you need 90% of the time — unless you’re looking for hip replacement or stuff that hits you in your 70s. Or some exotic drug cocktail. None of which I expect in the next 2-3 years.

    So it’s not so much the taxes, but the healthcare. My 2 cents.

  43. Libturd in Union says:

    Tard – rig count is falling.

    Of course it is. One of my investment clubs owns SLB. We follow the industry pretty closely. Why would anyone rent a rig when oil is selling for 100 was not right. That number was based on peak oil fears. Oil probably should have been in the 80s for the past few years. She’ll settle around 70 eventually. But I really don’t see it happening in the coming year.

  44. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    My college professors were never nothing to look at when I was in school but I hear this happens all the time now. He77, its happening in high school now.
    —————

    Harvard bans $ex between professors and undergraduates

    Harvard University banned romantic and sexual relationships between professors and undergraduate students in a revised policy published Monday.

    The previous policy cautioned against relationships with undergraduate students, but did not formally ban them, Anna Cowenhoven, Harvard’s director of communications, told USA TODAY Network.

    Relationships between faculty and graduate students are not prohibited unless a student is under the supervision of the professor.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/02/05/harvard-bans-student-professor-sexual-relationships/22934877/

  45. yome says:

    Rigs that where closed produce hardly anything. They can not just close Rigs that are producing money. Oil surplus will be here for a long time

  46. yome says:

    But just because rig counts are falling doesn’t mean production is, especially given productivity gains U.S. shale producers have achieved in recent years. U.S. production actually increased to a record of 9.3 million barrels per day during the week of January 23, according to Yardeni Research.

    http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/04/investing/oil-prices-not-bottom-yet/

  47. Libturd in Union says:

    Sleeping with the prof for a better grade is commonplace at UNLV. Of course, many of the students are also paying for school by hooking. Might as well get the good grades to go along with the degree as well.

  48. Juice Box says:

    I gather the DOJ needs to investigate something else since they can’t nail Governor Christie for Bridgate. So is Bennett Barlyn going to bring Governor Christie down? Allegations seem pretty serious and are bubbling up again.

    Not a new story but it is bubbling up again from 2013.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/nyregion/43-count-indictment-of-a-christie-ally-quashed.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

  49. The Great Pumpkin says:

    34- I will do my best to research this. Thanks for helping out. Appreciate it.

  50. yome says:

    Because Doctors, Lawyers etc have strong lobbyist. Who lobby for the Middle class?

    “Also, how come some of our industries are protected and others are not?”

  51. The Great Pumpkin says:

    35,36- Thanks for the excellent write-ups. Really helped a lot.

    I have to agree with the quote below, I would rather have the risk of having opportunity than the no-risk option. Didn’t always think this way, but def do now.

    “Most of my peers over here would rather take the risk of having the opportunity to do really well for themselves than the no-risk option of getting by relatively comf0rtably for life. “

  52. Libturd in Union says:

    Wow…not a peep about the Menendez Xanadu 50K kickback in the NYT, yet another unproven allegation against Christie is made. Oh right, he is close to declaring his presidential run. Baa, Baa. How’s bridgegate going?

  53. JJ says:

    Dow 20K hat. 401Ks need to change their name to 802Ks as they have all doubled the last five years.

    Libturd in Union says:
    February 6, 2015 at 10:49 am
    JJ. Better dust off that DOW 18K hat. If oil somehow recovers a bit, we could see 19K easily before we see 17K again.

  54. Juice Box says:

    re # 45 – Yome rigs are being idled because the cost to drill and frack is crazy. I have heard as much as 12 million for wells that only produce 1,000 barrels a day. They simply aren’t goign to attract investment capital anymore. It won’t take long for the 2 million workers in the industry to start getting pink slips.

  55. hlnjNZ Hello.This post was extremely motivating, especially since I was browsing for thoughts on this matter last Tuesday.

  56. Juice Box says:

    re # 53 – Eric Holder AKA “that the Department of Justice hasn’t been politicized on his watch. ” will be getting an award tonight for acting a the 46th annual NAACP awards.

  57. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    [55] JJ

    Some do it for free. Especially when they visit the islands. Never understood why you would want to see your wife with another man but to each his own.

  58. joyce says:

    Surprised that wasn’t against some law (under the “vulnerable adult” interpretation)

    FKA 2010 Buyer says:
    February 6, 2015 at 10:56 am
    My college professors were never nothing to look at when I was in school but I hear this happens all the time now. He77, its happening in high school now.
    —————

    Harvard bans $ex between professors and undergraduates

    Harvard University banned romantic and sexual relationships between professors and undergraduate students in a revised policy published Monday.

  59. yome says:

    #56 Juice, Exactly! This Rigs are non producer. They are not closing Rigs that produces. Production increase to 9.3 million barrels /day after the non producing Rigs were closed

  60. nLnU8b Usually I do not read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do so! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, quite nice post.

  61. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    ‘Property Brothers’ casting call seeks area residents

    Hey, all you HGTV addicts out there — “Property Brothers” is holding a casting call for homeowners in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

    Now starting its fifth season, “Property Brothers” features identical twin brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott as they help couples find, buy and transform fixer-uppers in various states of disrepair into budget-savvy dream homes. Drew is a seasoned real estate agent while Jonathan has more than 15 years experience as a licensed contractor.

    Want to be part of the new season? The show has a firm set of rules about eligibility and a lengthy online application, available at propertybrothers.castingcrane.com.

    Here’s the must-have list of requirements to be considered for the show:

    • You must be at least 21, living in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut and in the process of buying and renovating a fixer-upper.

    • In need of expert design and construction help, and enthusiastic about working with experts on the show.

    • Have a minimum renovation budget of $65,000-$100,000, with financing in place and ready to pull the trigger.

    • Have some personality! As in opinionated, outgoing, fun and energetic.

  62. yome says:

    It will take 2 to 3 years for existing producing rigs to dry up without new R&D. My view let the small one die and new cheap technology will take over. It is the technology that made us do fracking it is not the $100 per barrel price. We will find a technology that will do this. Oil will always be there

  63. Juice Box says:

    re # 64 – Except that cheaper tech does not yet exist. The petroleum engineers are gathered this week to work on it at the Woodlands hydraulic fracturing conference.

    http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/02/05/adversity-stirs-innovation-at-hydraulic-fracturing-conference/

  64. yome says:

    I think we hit bottom in price of oil. At $50 $60 most of the big companies will be operating. Will buy the small ones that will fold. They will not be throwing money to investors but they will be operating at a profit.

  65. POS cape says:

    [2]

    I don’t know Grim, this article states Denmark is the best place to be poor.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/world/europe/danes-rethink-a-welfare-state-ample-to-a-fault.html?_r=0

  66. Ragnar says:

    I just saw this Facebook post from Mike Rowe, below that guy who does the “Dirty Jobs” show, answering a question about minimum wage hikes. He offers a story that sounds a bit like Libturd’s, while offering comments on its impacts, automation, and the virtues of work and ambition. I like his optimistic outlook. Sorry for the long quote, but at least it’s not just some random blog comment, but from a guy who has experiences of his own, and spent years meeting and interviewing people who are doing what are often pretty tough jobs.
    [post from Mike Rowe follows]

    Back in 1979, I was working as an usher for United Artists at a multiplex in Baltimore. The minimum wage was $2.90, and I earned every penny.

    When I wasn’t tearing tickets in half and stopping kids from theater hopping, I was cleaning out the bathrooms, emptying the trash, and scrapping dubious substances off the theater floor with a putty knife. I wore a silly outfit and smiled unnaturally, usually for the entirety of my shift. I worked 18 hours my first week, mostly after school, and earned $62.20. Before taxes. But I was also learning the importance of “soft skills.” I learned to show up on time and tuck my shirt in. I embraced the many virtues of proper hygiene. Most of all, I learned how to take shit from the public, and suck up to my boss.

    After three months, I got a raise, and wound up behind the concession stand. Once it was determined I wasn’t a thief, I was promoted to cashier. Three months later, I got another raise. Eventually, they taught me how to operate a projector, which was the job I wanted in the first place.

    The films would arrive from Hollywood in giant boxes, thin and square, like the top of a card table, but heavy. I’d open each one with care, and place each spool on a separate platter. Then, I’d thread them into the giant projector, looping the leader through 22 separate gates, careful to touch only the sides. Raging Bull, Airplane, The Shining, Caddyshack, The Elephant Man – I saw them all from the shadowy comfort of the projection booth, and collected $10 an hour for my trouble. Eventually, I was offered an assistant manager position, which I declined. I wasn’t management material then, anymore than I am now. But I had a plan. I was going to be in the movies. Or, God forbid, on television.

    I thought about all this last month when I saw “Boyhood” at a theater in San Francisco. I bought the tickets from a machine that took my credit card and spit out a piece of paper with a bar code on it. I walked inside, and fed the paper into another machine, which beeped twice, welcomed me in a mechanical voice, and lowered a steel bar that let me into the lobby. No usher, no cashier. I found the concession stand and bought a bushel of popcorn from another machine, and a gallon of Diet Coke that I poured myself. On the way out, I saw an actual employee, who turned out to be the manager. I asked him how much a projectionist was making these days, and he just laughed.
    “There’s no such position,” he said. I just put the film in the slot myself and press a button. Easy breezy.”

    To answer your question Darrell, I’m worried. From the business owners I’ve talked to, it seems clear that companies are responding to rising labor costs by embracing automation faster than ever. That’s eliminating thousands of low-paying, unskilled, entry level positions. What will that mean for those people trying to get started in the workforce? My job as an usher was the first rung on a long ladder of work that lead me to where I am today. But what if that rung wasn’t there? If the minimum wage in 1979 had been suddenly raised from $2.90 to $10 an hour, thousands of people would have applied for the same job. What chance would I have had, being seventeen years old with pimples and a big adams apple?

    One night, thirty-six years ago, during the midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I sat in the projection booth and read a short story by Ray Bradbury called “A Sound of Thunder.” It was about a guy who traveled back in time to look at dinosaurs, but against strict orders, ventured off the observation platform and accidentally stepped on a butterfly. When he returned to the present, everything in the world had changed. “The Butterfly Effect” is now an expression that describes a single event that leads to a series of unanticipated outcomes, resulting in a profoundly unintended consequence. (Ironically, it’s also a movie with Ashton Kutcher, which I had to pay to see 30 years later.)

    Anyway, I’m not an economist or a sociologist, but I’m pretty sure a $20 minimum wage would affect a lot more than the cost of a Big Mac. Beyond the elimination of many entry-level jobs, consider the effect on the skills gap. According to the BLS, they’re about three million available positions that companies are trying to fill right now. Very few of those jobs require a four-year degree, but nearly all require specific training. And all pay more than the current minimum wage. If we want a skilled workforce, (and believe me, we do,) should we really be demanding $20 an hour for unskilled labor?

    Last year, I narrated a commercial about US manufacturing, paid for by Walmart. It started a shitstorm, and cost me many thousands virtual friends. Among the aggrieved, was a labor organization called Jobs With Justice. They wanted me to know just how unfairly Walmart was treating it’s employees. So they had their members send my foundation over 8,000 form letters, asking me to meet with unhappy Walmart workers, and join them in their fight against “bad jobs.”

    While I’m sympathetic to employees who want to be paid fairly, I prefer to help on an individual basis. I’m also skeptical that a modest pay increase will make an unskilled worker less reliant upon an employer whom they affirmatively resent. I explained this to Jobs With Justice in an open letter, and invited anyone who felt mistreated to explore the many training opportunities and scholarships available through mikeroweWORKS. I further explained that I couldn’t couldn’t join them in their fight against “bad jobs,” because frankly, I don’t believe there is such a thing. My exact words were, “Some jobs pay better, some jobs smell better, and some jobs have no business being treated like careers. But work is never the enemy, regardless of the wage. Because somewhere between the job and the paycheck, there’s still a thing called opportunity, and that’s what people need to pursue.”

    People are always surprised to learn that many of the subjects on Dirty Jobs were millionaires – entrepreneurs who crawled through a river of crap, prospered, and created jobs for others along the way. Men and women who started with nothing and built a going concern out of the dirt. I was talking last week with my old friend Richard, who owns a small but prosperous construction company in California. Richard still hangs drywall and sheetrock with his aging crew because he can’t find enough young people who want to learn the construction trades. Today, he’ll pay $40 an hour for a reliable welder, but more often than not, he can’t find one. Whenever I talk to Richard, and consider the number of millennials within 50 square miles of his office stocking shelves or slinging hash for the minimum wage, I can only shake my head.

    Point is Darrell, if you fix the wage of a worker, or freeze the price of a thing, you’re probably gonna step on a few butterflies. Doesn’t matter how well-intended the policy – the true cost a $20 minimum wage has less to do with the price of a Big Mac, and more to do with a sound of thunder. Frankly, it scares the hell out of me.

    Mike

  67. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Focusing specifically on this quote from the passage below. This is where I’m torn on the issue. Common sense tells me that if prices are lower, it means wages will be lower. Meaning if we have to compete with Mexico and China, it’s inevitable we will lower to their standard of living based on their population sizes. I think the powers that be that made this decision honestly did think it would be a positive result for this country. They assumed that you could take advantage of these people in other countries without it having much of an effect on this country. So cheap products without it affecting our wages and big profits for our corporations. Everyone wins. I think their experiment failed miserably. It made Mexico and China more powerful at our expense. Obviously, I don’t have enough knowledge on this issue to really take a position, these are just my thoughts on the issue as I research it.

    “NAFTA and WTO advocates promoted an optimistic vision of the future, with prosperity to be based on intellectuals skills and managerial know-how more than on routine hand labor. They promised that free trade meant lower prices for consumers. Opposition to liberalized trade came increasingly from labor unions, who argued that this system also meant lower wages and fewer jobs for American workers who could not compete against wages of less than a dollar an hour. The shrinking size and diminished political clout of these unions repeatedly left them on the losing side.[60]”

    “1980s to present[edit]
    The GOP under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush abandoned the protectionist ideology, and came out against quotas and in favor of the GATT/WTO policy of minimal economic barriers to global trade. Free trade with Canada came about as a result of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1987, which led in 1994 to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It was based on Reagan’s plan to enlarge the scope of the market for American firms to include Canada and Mexico. President Bill Clinton, with strong Republican support in 1993, pushed NAFTA through Congress over the vehement objection of labor unions.[58][59]

    Likewise, in 2000 Clinton worked with Republicans to give China entry into WTO and “most favored nation” trading status (i.e., the same low tariffs promised to any other WTO member). NAFTA and WTO advocates promoted an optimistic vision of the future, with prosperity to be based on intellectuals skills and managerial know-how more than on routine hand labor. They promised that free trade meant lower prices for consumers. Opposition to liberalized trade came increasingly from labor unions, who argued that this system also meant lower wages and fewer jobs for American workers who could not compete against wages of less than a dollar an hour. The shrinking size and diminished political clout of these unions repeatedly left them on the losing side.[60]

    Despite overall decreases in international tariffs, some tariffs have been more resistant to change. For example, due partially to tariff pressure from the European Common Agricultural Policy, US agricultural subsidies have seen little decrease over the past few decades, even in the face of recent pressure from the WTO during the latest Doha talks.[61]”

  68. Comrade Nom Deplume, Duckboat Commander says:

    “I bought the tickets from a machine that took my credit card and spit out a piece of paper with a bar code on it. I walked inside, and fed the paper into another machine, which beeped twice, welcomed me in a mechanical voice, and lowered a steel bar that let me into the lobby. No usher, no cashier. I found the concession stand and bought a bushel of popcorn from another machine, and a gallon of Diet Coke that I poured myself. On the way out, I saw an actual employee, who turned out to be the manager. I asked him how much a projectionist was making these days, and he just laughed.
    “There’s no such position,” he said. I just put the film in the slot myself and press a button. Easy breezy.”

    In anon’s dream world, someone would get paid $15 an hour to stand next to each machine to “man” it. This, incidentally, is how government and some private sector jobs have to work (those with strong unions or government contracts). There aren’t as many “make work” jobs as there used to be but I predict that with the right administration at all levels of government, they will come back. And we can spend ourselves rich.

  69. JJ says:

    There was this guy in Hedonism who had a hot wife. He actually was kind of pudgy. Guess he was loaded. Anyhow he could only get hard when he watched a guy bang his wife. He sit in the closet wait till guy was done pop out and do his wife. Now that was weird.

    FKA 2010 Buyer says:
    February 6, 2015 at 11:40 am
    [55] JJ

    Some do it for free. Especially when they visit the islands. Never understood why you would want to see your wife with another man but to each his own.

  70. The Great Pumpkin says:

    68- Rags, I agree we shouldn’t have a min wage in theory. Problem I see is that we are competing with other workers that have a much lower cost of living. How can you compete? The minute we eliminate the minimum wage is officially when we are no different than China. Our wages will go down to that level. Wages will follow competition. Do we really want to go the way of China or India? That place sucks.

    Also, I think this guy is wrong about being able to start off at the bottom and move up. I don’t believe there are that many steps to move up these days.

  71. Bystander says:

    “Today, he’ll pay $40 an hour for a reliable welder, but more often than not, he can’t find one. Whenever I talk to Richard, and consider the number of millennials within 50 square miles of his office stocking shelves or slinging hash for the minimum wage, I can only shake my head.”

    The problem is that the government is in the student loan game thus allowing every overnight sham of an institution to ride the gravy train while pushing their useless education on 18-25 year olds looking for a leg-up. The debt is often crippling and forces them back into menial jobs to pay minimum premiums. The kid stocking shelves is told Devry or ITT tech is the answer, not welding. Obama’s failure will be pushing more into the system. He should be pushing more into trade skills and scaling back student loans backed by US taxpayer.

  72. The Great Pumpkin says:

    72- Steps, meaning it’s hard to move up. Not many positions available and not many options to start a small business.

  73. 1GW0dV What’s Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve found It positively helpful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to contribute & help other users like its aided me. Good job.

  74. Bystander says:

    Also I worked at a movie theatre from 16-18. Usually 4 hour shift, 4 times a week. Job was easy. 1 busy hour if that 30m prior to first movie and 30m after final movie. End of the night, we put month old popcorn in garbage bag, refilled “butter” warmer from big plastic jug of oil and soaked crusty, syrup dispensers from soda machine in water. This guy makes it seem like slave work. Doubt he cleaned the theatre. Even basic places had cleaning people.

  75. Happy Renter says:

    [68] “‘Some jobs pay better, some jobs smell better, and some jobs have no business being treated like careers. But work is never the enemy, regardless of the wage. Because somewhere between the job and the paycheck, there’s still a thing called opportunity, and that’s what people need to pursue.’

    People are always surprised to learn that many of the subjects on Dirty Jobs were millionaires – entrepreneurs who crawled through a river of crap, prospered, and created jobs for others along the way. Men and women who started with nothing and built a going concern out of the dirt.”

    I have been assured by sources at the highest level that those entrepreneurs didn’t build that.

  76. Against The Grain says:

    Minimum wage is actually less now then it was in 1979, inflation adjusted:

    http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=2.90&year1=1979&year2=2014

  77. anon (the good one) says:

    @NYTimeskrugman: Debt Is Money We Owe To Ourselves

    “….debt is money we owe to ourselves — an obviously true statement that, I have discovered, has the power to induce blinding rage in many people.”

  78. Anon E. Moose says:

    JJ [55];

    Dow 20k/802k’s

    There’s your inflation, Puffin Stuff; not wages. Just like the last bubble in housing, inflation will occur in things that aren’t measured as inflationary. There’s no control over what isn’t measured. That’s why I got off the sidelines bought a house in 2012; and it’s why I’m fully invested in my 802k.

  79. jj says:

    Anon Back the day I joined my 401K as a young lad the person was saying one day I would have 100K and it would be a lot of money.

    Well today between my wife and I have one million in my 401k give or take a few thousand and if flashes I need to save another one million if I want to retire.

  80. Juice Box says:

    JJ your wife works?

  81. jj says:

    My wife has not worked at a Job with a paycheck since January 2001.

    But her 401k is a pretty big size considering she average around a 40K salary in that time period she worked.. You leave them mainly in stocks and reinvest all dividend even small accounts get big. She opens the statement once a year and does not even have an online password. The two huge sell-offs in 2002 and 2008 since she reinvests it all really caused it to bounce up. She also has a cash balance pension.

    Small potatoes but compounding over 30-40 years is amazing.

  82. Juice Box says:

    Here you go Grim.

    End times: Hipsters drinking craft moonshine

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/moonshine-from-manhattan-not-hazzard-county-2015-02-06

  83. Juice Box says:

    Snippet for the 2016 Budget the Obama administration submitted.

    1) cap the amount folks can save in their retirement accounts; 2) stop two common Roth IRA savings strategies (rollovers of after-tax contributions in 401(k)s and IRAs into Roth IRA 3) change tax laws that favor those who own company stock in their 401(k) plans; and 4) change laws favorable to owners of inherited IRAs.

  84. Comrade Nom Deplume, who needs to stop screwing around and get back to work says:

    [85] juice,

    The fact that the administration is turning over more rocks than ever to find $$$$, and is now looking at reneging on promises made by this and prior administrations and Congresses, means that the canaries are starting to drop at an alarming rate.

    Have to check to see if the last quarter expat number is out yet. It’s late but if it isn’t good, a Friday night is usually when they publish.

  85. Ragnar says:

    I just found this interesting article from the NY Times in 1987 on the minimum wage.
    http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/14/opinion/the-right-minimum-wage-0.00.html

    “Raising the minimum wage by a substantial amount would price working poor people out of the job market. A far better way to help them would be to subsidize their wages or – better yet – help them acquire the skills needed to earn more on their own. “

  86. anon (the good one) says:

    @MMFlint:

    The REAL story is how ALL the media drank the war KoolAid, esp NYTimes hoodwinking the public bout WMD. THAT’S the story-not a chopper ride.

  87. xAgCa4 I am typically to blogging and i actually appreciate your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your website and keep checking for new information.

  88. Fabius Maximus says:

    Grim

    An nice piece on Copenhagen. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/07/copenhagen-really-wonderful-reasons

    A lot of European cities are like San Francisco. Very expensive in the center, the poor are well hidden and a lot of people commute in.

  89. XgkL1U Greetings! I’ve been following your blog for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Porter Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the excellent work!

  90. Fabius Maximus says:

    #21 Eddie Ray

    Your argument deep discounts the fact that that the “domestic consumption” is actually the third largest market in the world.

  91. Liquor Luge says:

    Keep the Mike Rowe stuff coming. I think it’s dissolving the ossified pellet that serves as Punkinhead’s brain.

  92. Liquor Luge says:

    Thanks to this blog, I’m now current on cuck0ld f<tushes.

  93. Liquor Luge says:

    Wish I had known jj back in the days when NYC was a fetid swamp of vice.

  94. Fabius Maximus says:

    #68 Rags

    While I like Mike Rowe and a lot of what he stands for, his numbers need some investigation. His $2.90 in 1979 works out to about $8.10 in todays numbers. Abouve the current Minimum wage for a job that today is excluded. His $10 as a projectionist is $28 bucks today. If that was a full time gig that is a $58K salary. Median pay for a projectionist today is around $30K.
    He is right for the need for entry level no skill jobs.

    His $40 welder jobs shows the other side of your market forces argument Manufacturing was so decimated by downsizing, overrun by cheap immigrant labor and outsourcing US welders can not compete. The average salary is $28 for those that are left. Those $28 jobs are probably down to union protections. Ask yourself why can’t he fill slots even paying so far over market rate.
    This is part of the other side of the Atlas Shrugged argument I have been pointing out to you for years. What if the workers disappear to the Gulch. What if he offers $100 for a welder and still can’t fill the slot.
    That’s the problem with your free market model. You squeeze the lemon so hard, and then wonder why there is no juice left.

  95. Fabius Maximus says:

    So JJ, as we are all only half the man you are we only need half the size of your retirement account to get by.

  96. Comrade Nom Deplume with extended middle finger to the haters. says:

    [92,96] Fabian

    Your bare reliance on single statistics, viewed in isolation and without context, reminds me of a Mark Twain quote.

  97. Liquor Luge says:

    The only thing arbitrarily setting a minimum wage does is disqualify from employment anyone whose skills don’t merit that rate of pay.

    That is all.

    Oh, and listening to people like gluteus- who left a failed, burned-out shell of a welfare state- explain labor/stagnant wage issues to us is like taking investment advice from a three card Monty hustler.

  98. Liquor Luge says:

    Very likely gluteus is a cuck0ld f<tishist.

  99. Liquor Luge says:

    Plume (98)-

    I resent the fact that you bash gluteus better than I.

  100. Fabius Maximus says:

    #98

    Your argument holds for smaller countries, where market size and Global consumption are not a factor. When discussing the US, you cannot discount market size. There is a big difference between Canada (2% worldwide consumer consumption) closing its borders and the US (29% worldwide consumer consumption). How many multinationals take a hit, if it cant sell to Canada.

    If we are into Twin quotes then yes,
    “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”

  101. Fabius Maximus says:

    #99 Clot

    That “failed, burned-out shell of a welfare state” gave me a world class education for free and had me transferred over here to fill a skills gap.

    There is no common core credits in Europe. You go to college based on the solid grounding in education that you already have. How many common core credits did your daughter have to sign up for to make up for the defective High School education?

    For the lawyers, my nephew is considering this. http://www.independentcolleges.ie/faculty-of-law/new-york-california-bar-programme-attorneys

    He has his JD and wondering where to go in the world. At the moment he is in Brazil.

  102. Comrade Nom Deplume with extended middle finger to the haters. says:

    [103] Fabian

    “That “failed, burned-out shell of a welfare state” gave me a world class education for free and had me transferred over here to fill a skills gap.”

    Your gov transferred you here? I think we should cut off diplomatic relations.

    Now, if you left of your own accord, I submit you are little different than those US expats who make their money here then renounce their citizenship. You’ve taken from the mother country, then skated.

  103. Comrade Nom Deplume with extended middle finger to the haters. says:

    [102] Fabian,

    Your premise w/r/t the US holds only if the percentage of foreign trade we would lose isore than offset by domestic consumption. I think that is where you are going, however inarticulately. Otherwise size is irrelevant (easy there JJ).

    But my point has to do more with elasticity. It costs more to produce here. A lot more and in a protectionist regime,those costs will skyrocket. Unless incomes kept pace, I don’t foresee how we don’t have contraction in the long term.

    It doesn’t matter how large your domestic consumption is relative to other nations. It matters how much GDP you lose as a result of losing foreign trade. Will China be crushed relative to us? Absolutely. We may weather it better than most. But the OECD summary I pointed punkin to makes clear that there will be a slowdown and I see that translating to what I predicted.

  104. Comrade Nom Deplume with extended middle finger to the haters. says:

    [103]. Fabian

    Finally, did it ever occur to you to wonder why there was a skills gap here and not in your country? Clearly, if there was sufficient demand for your services in your own land, you would never have left.

  105. Liquor Luge says:

    Gluteus (103)-

    None, straw man.

    “There is no common core credits in Europe. You go to college based on the solid grounding in education that you already have. How many common core credits did your daughter have to sign up for to make up for the defective High School education?”

    If your country is so great, why can’t you make a living there? Or, is it that you can make a living there, but your well-known aversion to taxation is the real reason you’re here?

    Thee-not-me product of a failed collectivist state.

  106. Fabius Maximus says:

    #104 Eddie Ray
    I am a very unique individual as I am still in my first job out of college. This job has taken me round the world. I could have settled anywhere, but I choose the US. I came over here on a short project, liked it and stayed. With my job, the mother country still gets a cut of the revenue I generate. As does Uncle Sam and several other countries. Some years I get multiple W2’s. I still have the option to transfer back, or go to another county. The last team member to leave my group, transferred to Tokyo.
    Could I have stayed? Yes, I had other offers leaving college, including a very nice job in Telecoms. I was flown to London for three days of interviews in a hotel with 49 others for 10 slots. I wanted to see the world, so I turned them down. Given how Telecoms blew up, it was a good call. Could I go back, yes, there are lots of jobs in my field, but why would I? I have a settled family, a job I like, work stretching out for the next five years and a nice pair of Golden Handcuffs. I know I could be canned tomorrow, in that unlikely event, I have plans. I have a skill set that is always in demand. Many of the clients I work for would pick me up to save themselves a lot of hassle. I could hang a shingle or even head back to Europe. Maybe when the kids are in College, I’ll transfer to Singapore for a few years. I always liked it there. Yes, taxes are slightly cheaper here, but not that much. The cost of some basic essentials like food balance some of that out.
    As to why there is a skills gap here, go look at the H1B breakdown. Not a lot of low skill industries represented. Funny story, when I came over here we were in the process of terminating an US employee. They had gone to a good school, graduated with a good GPA and interviewed well. Company sent the person to London for six months to train, came back to the US and was sent out to a few clients. One client said “if that person sets foot in our office again, we will can the project”. So the company offered a termination package and let the person go. They sued for unfair dismissal, appealed all the way to the NY Supreme court and lost. The case set a nasty precedent for employees and has been quoted in several cases since. Last I saw, the person was sitting in front of a congress committee railing on that they had been fired to be replaced by a H1B. The kicker is that the person was a second generation immigrant.

  107. Fabius Maximus says:

    #105 Eddie Ray
    If you take a look at the top 10 exports and imports aside from oil coming in and planes going out the areas are the same. The difference is that most of what is coming in, is the manufacturing outsourced to other countries. We import as much medical and Pharma as Export.
    Will prices go up, yes and no. Yes, will revert back to the levels they were before we started importing all the iKrap. All the Junk that came in in the past 15 years, pushed prices low and profit up. If iKrap, prices go up, they can still be imported, but at least the American firms have a chance to compete. Harbor Freight can choose to sell toolsets from Pittsburg instead of China. If Apple bring iPhones to Cupertino, it will still be a $600 phone. The difference is that Apple will make less money and will actually have to pay taxes and not defer to Infinity.
    People here complain that after the tech bubble prices were artificially held high, the other side of that is that in some ways the prices of goods were held artificially low. Both need to revert to mean.

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