patrick.net

Call it Crazy says

This chart demonstrates that "adjusting for inflation" does not adjust for inflation. If it did, then the average price of all goods and services as based on what people actually buy would actually make their adjusted prices.

Just because some idiot says his formula adjusts for inflation, does not mean it actually does.

Strategist says

So what if the dollar loses value? Has no relevance to the standard of living.

Actually, it has quite a big impact particularly in the medium term. It's not inflation, but rather the specific mechanism of inflation that is the problem. If we wanted to expand the currency supply to ten fold its level, we could do so fairly and socially justly by simply increasing everyone's bank account, wallet, wages, bills, and debts by a factor of ten. Simply move the decimal place over one spot. Doing so would have zero effect on the economy.

The way in which inflation is actually implemented, however, is vastly different. It transfers purchasing power from savers to banks, from the middle class to the rich elite.

Currency debasement, as it is implemented and was designed to do, taxes the money people save up for a large purchase like
1. A house
2. A business
3. A car
4. College tuition
5. Medical expenses

And in doing so, it vastly diminishes what the saver can buy for his hard earned money. The financial loss of the working man is the banker's gain. He gets to buy a third yacht, while the working man goes from being able to buy a 3,000 sq. ft. house to having to live in a 1,000 sq.ft. house. That's the difference.

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

Say hey! This was in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 1999. Note "... how much it will buy."

Holy cow/interesting/compelling ...!

And where is it up to date??? Right here ... see the first chart shown in this thread.
Recent Dow day is Thursday, January 2, 2014 __ Level is 105.4

WOW! It is hideous that this is hidden! Is there any such "Homes, Inflation Adjusted"? Yes! This was in the New York Times on August 27, 2006:

And up to date (by me) is here:
http://patrick.net/?p=1219038&c=999083#comment-999083

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

And http://patrick.net/?p=1230886

SoftShell says

And you deserve your own straightjacket.

Only if it's white though.

"7 in 10 felons register as Democrats."

The message being,don't mess with Democrats?

The voters may be different, but the party platforms are the same in every issue that actually matters to the well being of the country and the economy.

The drug wars are to provide an easy source of black money for our intelligence agencies to use for world wide agenda pursuit and domestic freedom suppression. That's really all there is to it.

What cold weather? it's 75 and balmy here...
Call it Crazy says

Moderate Infidel says

SoftShell says

And you deserve your own straightjacket.

Only if it's white though.

And the long sleeves are great to stay warm in this cold weather!!

wrong. the percentage of white on white crime is far greater than black on white crime. ( don't forget to count 'white collar crime' you jackass )

foxmannumber1 says

At rates so high, it brings up the question that Whites could have far happier and more pleasant lives without blacks around.

Statistically heterosexuals are responsible for 98% of all crimes.

Obligatory Family Guy TV show references:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/JduR-9sHk8w

http://www.youtube.com/embed/kUg-yYNmZlk

When asked after the assassination if Oswald could have been an intelligence agent, de Mohrenschildt dismissed the thought: “I never would believe that any government would be stupid enough to trust Lee with anything important.”

Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK
by Gerald Posner

https://kindle.amazon.com/work/case-closed-harvey-oswald-assassination-ebook/B000AHTKS6/B00F3QYGAG/posts

I'm with ya BGA. I believe the Texas mafia stuck a false flag up Kennedy's ass.

bgamall4 says

Texas oil mafia was to blame for the assassination of John Fitgerald Kennedy.

There is no reason on earth for anyone in Texas to have disliked Kennedy.

For one thing he was creating the space program and building a huge budget most of which would go into southern states like Texas and Alabama. In fact, Johnson was pushing it even as Vice President because he saw it as a "new industrial revolution" and jobs creation engine for the South.

when the same number of people using arms now equals the number that used arms in 2006, we will hit peak bubble.

Well this guy shot Kennedy then some other dude shot that dude, then that dude died of Cancer a year after he was convicted.

Sounds like the Cancer was in on it all along and cleaned up the all the lose ends quite nicely don't you think?

waiting_for_the_fall says

when the same number of people using arms now equals the number that used arms in 2006, we will hit peak bubble.

Nope

When you start seeing jumbo loans given to unemployed strawberry pickers and humanities graduate students THEN we will be at peak bubble.

CaptainShuddup says

Well this guy shot Kennedy then some other dude shot that dude, then that dude died of Cancer a year after he was convicted.

Sounds like the Cancer was in on it all along and cleaned up the all the lose ends quite nicely don't you think?

Sells books and some make a career out of it...

no mafia could pull off the cover up. here's now it went down.

the Military Industrial Complex wanted JFK dead so they could escalate the Vietnam war, a war that wasn't meant to be won but profited. they probed into LBJ's past and saw a bunch of skeletons in the closet. they had their next puppet president that would do everything they asked.

their CIA guys carried out the assassination (Howard Hunt, one of the hitmen, confessed on deathbed), their FBI guys (JEH) did the cover up. they setup a phony Warren Commission to do a phony investigation and cover up with their lone gunman theory.

http://www.rense.com/general76/hunt.htm

what pawns like Hunt didn't know was that both LBJ and JEH answered to a higher power, the power that owns this country. those guys alone wouldn't be able to do crap without facing consequences.

Quigley says

he drug wars are to provide an easy source of black money for our intelligence agencies to use for world wide agenda pursuit and domestic freedom suppression. That's really all there is to it.

if you are concerned over black money and freedom suppression, then you would be infavor of bombing the coke and heroin fields.. how can you not be.

good question to ask why Clinton ended the war on drugs since we were wining it with our military assets.

foxmannumber1 says

When a drug dealer is arrested, there are multiple charges. These charges are usually parole violation, assault and battery, robbery, breaking and entering, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with

the intent to distribute, felon in possession of a firearm, firearm used in commission of a felony, felonious assault(pointing the weapon), attempted murder(using the weapon) and the list goes on and on.

The drug dealer is then offered a plea deal: Plead guilty to only the drug charges, receive a stiff sentence and all the other charges will be dropped OR go to trial for all of it and once convicted they're pretty much done for life. They always take the plea deal because the evidence is usually overwhelming and they know they were caught red handed.

and very often .. too often they are members of organized crime. would the people today be complaining that we locked up all the Italian Mobsters from the Don down to the street thugs. no of course not... but they are the same Crips, Bloods, Ms13 et c etc They are all violent members of organized crime. So yes, they do belong behind bars.

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

Gangs in the United States include several types of groups, including national street gangs, local street gangs, prison gangs, motorcycle gangs, and ethnic and organized crime gangs. Approximately 1.4 million people were part of gangs as of 2011, and more than 33,000 gangs were active in the United States.

Many American gangs began, and still exist, in urban areas. In many cases, national street gangs originated in major cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and New York, and they later migrated to other American cities such as Atlanta, Memphis, Orlando,Houston, and Detroit.

American gangs are responsible for an average of 48% of violent crime in most jurisdictions, and up to 90% in other jurisdictions. Major urban areas and their suburban surroundings experience the majority of gang activity, particularly gang-related violent crime.

Gangs are known to engage in traditionally gang-related gambling, drug trafficking, and arms trafficking, white collar crime such as counterfeiting, identity theft, and fraud, and non-traditional activity of human trafficking and prostitution.

It's just pretend currency for criminal enterprise to launder the money. Why would an average person buy into this scam is beyond me...

If you don't mind holding a bag of worthless pretend money at the end it's your call.

FortWayne says

It's just pretend currency for criminal enterprise to launder the money.

Please stop bad mouthing the Dollar. My wallet is full of them just now.

donjumpsuit says

I'm buying bullets.

Seems much more prudent than real estate, stocks, bitcoin, ripple, and gold.

Cigarettes, booze, condoms, old-school printed pornography: also very valuable quite soon.

HydroCabron says

pornography: also

What a thrilling usage of the colon: an abused and forlorn punctuation mark.

Sorry Timmy, I don't think so.

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

Say hey! This was in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 1999. Note "... how much it will buy."

Holy cow/interesting/compelling ...!

And where is it up to date??? Right here ... see the first chart shown in this thread.
Recent Dow day is Friday, January 3, 2014 __ Level is 105.6

WOW! It is hideous that this is hidden! Is there any such "Homes, Inflation Adjusted"? Yes! This was in the New York Times on August 27, 2006:

And up to date (by me) is here:
http://patrick.net/?p=1219038&c=999083#comment-999083

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

And http://patrick.net/?p=1230886

It was the weather.
Not everyone lives in beautiful and sunny Southern California, you know.
We spent the afternoon on Christmas day at the beach, while the rest of the country was freezing to death.
High prices in California? Worth every penny.

Here goes....
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/chrysler-says-snow-ice-pressured-135808196.html;_ylt=AwrSyCNKQcdS2C0AW2CTmYlQ

Call it Crazy says

Strategist says

Here goes....

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/chrysler-says-snow-ice-pressured-135808196.html;_ylt=AwrSyCNKQcdS2C0AW2CTmYlQ

Or maybe shoppers are strapped for cash and had to make a decision where to spend:

....."but also people were more impacted by the compressed shopping season, most of which was in December," Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer said. "People were doing more Christmas shopping than car shopping."

Are retailers offering sub-prime loans for Christmas presents??

Credit cards. Worse then sub-prime loans.
29.99% apr. What a scam.

Call it Crazy says

Ahhhh.... I know the reason!

People had to send in their first premium payment for their Obamacare insurance (which just went up). So, that just used up their disposable income they were going to use for their new car payment....

Isn't that a responsible thing to do? Spending limited funds on healthcare, rather than a new car you may not need?
I even have health insurance for my German Shepherd. $350 annual premium. What's that? 100 trips to Taco Bell?

Walked by 4 dealerships at 7pm last night. Not one customer. This was in LA County South Bay Area....probably one of the wealthiest areas in the US.

I was going to get a new car just before the new year. But then I thought to myself "why bother." My current car runs just fine.

Call it Crazy says

Oh come on... Don't be a cheapskate... Do your part for America and buy a new car!!! I did!!

I prefer to call myself responsible with my money. I also pay cash for a car. Nope, maybe next year.

Weird: I can swear I've heard a very upbeat report re car sales on NPR this morning.

This in spite of doubling down on the "Buy a car as a christmas present" themed commercials this year.

I'm in the car repair biz. A lot of people got rid of their perfectly good cars with 100-200,000 mile life potential remaining during the bubble years, over some $600 list of repairs, declaring angrily, "I'm getting a NEW car!" Now these 2005-2008s are coming in for repairs when the owners are strapped for cash, and they're finding it has a list of $1200 repairs needed- that's $1200 EACH! Lots of regret now, letting those earlier model but durable cars go.
Wait till you see what it costs when your 2013-14 has 80,000 miles and needs repair. The rearview mirror alone has more computing power than the Apollo spacecraft of the '70s! I am not even exaggerating.

Automan Empire says

"Buy a car as a christmas present"

I never heard of people actually doing this in RL.

Should illegal alien be allowed to practice law?

Straw Man says

I never heard of people actually doing this in RL

I know, right? But every year come the 6 figure budget commercials.

Automan Empire says

I'm in the car repair biz. A lot of people got rid of their perfectly good cars with 100-200,000 mile life potential remaining during the bubble years, over some $600 list of repairs, declaring angrily, "I'm getting a NEW car!" Now these 2005-2008s are coming in for repairs when the owners are strapped for cash, and they're finding it has a list of $1200 repairs needed- that's $1200 EACH! Lots of regret now, letting those earlier model but durable cars go.

The average price of new car is what - $30K? This means throwing away $3K in sales tax alone. Getting a new car over $600 repair bill is just silly.

Straw Man says

is just silly.

Oh, I agree. They are thinking of a monthly payment that they saw in a commercial, which is probably waaay less than the actual payment would be. "Why spend $600 on an OLD car (a few times a year mind you) when I could have a NEW one for $450/mo!" is the likely thinking. Never mind the increased cost of full insurance required by financing, and the fact that it depreciates like an ice sculpture off the lot.

I always say, the new car market would practically collapse in a world of rational thinkers.

Straw Man says

The average price of new car is what - $30K? This means throwing away $3K in sales tax alone. Getting a new car over $600 repair bill is just silly.

I agree! I just saw something on TV that said the average new car price is 30K, and I can buy vintage Ford Escorts for around 1K and run them for years for next to nothing!