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Post by michelle on Oct 10, 2008 12:08:59 GMT -8
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to get some personal views of the "economic crisis" without it being attached to a political discussion.
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Post by Josh on Oct 10, 2008 17:25:44 GMT -8
Good idea! I'm always trying to think of polls to do and can never come up with good ones.
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Post by meghan on Oct 10, 2008 21:37:23 GMT -8
it doesn't really bother me. I have no money in stocks. In fact, I don't have much money at all, so even if my bank went kaput and stopped spitting money out of the atm, I'd be bad for a little while, but be recover by working. I'm not really hurt by the small price hikes at the grocery store. The only way I could see it affecting me is if people stop going out on the weekends and getting nannies for the night. but i don't see that happening yet.
i do worry about my parents, however, and I know they are worried about it.
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Post by michelle on Oct 11, 2008 7:48:53 GMT -8
Good idea! I'm always trying to think of polls to do and can never come up with good ones. Do I get extra points?? ;D
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Post by Douglas on Oct 11, 2008 11:20:07 GMT -8
None of this has affected us in Costa Rica yet. Banks here are extremely careful about lending. Five years is about the longest loan you can normally get to my knowledge. The idea of a 50 year mortgage is totally unheard of. I dont think we have any banks in trouble. At least not the national ones.
The major effect will probably come in the next few years as the tourism industry slows down. Or is any of the international banks folds. Most of those are new comers so i doubt they will effect much if they do. Certainly no bailouts. Of course our yearly budget is smaller than the state of oregon by a fair bit i imagine.
I has been really strange to watch it all happen from so far away. Kind of like a dream.
It has effected our family in the states though, Karen's brother is employed by Wacovia (i have no idea how to spell that). i dont know if they exist any more after the buy out so his job is up in the air.
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Post by Josh on Feb 13, 2009 13:59:23 GMT -8
Just curious how people's perspectives have changed on this by now. Mine definitely has.
As a teacher, I'm looking at the possibility of the school year ending early (worst case scenario as early as May 1st) or having a signficant amount of Fridays cut, etc.. Of course those would be unpaid days which could be a significant financial blow to us (coupled with the state of the real estate market for Rose right now).
And it seems like I know many more people who have been or probably will be directly affected financially. So, I think if I was to re-vote, I'd probably change it.
I don't know if "worry" is really how I'd couch it. But definitely concerned. And I do feel like we are heading for a longer term and more serious depression than I thought back in October.
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tara
New Member
Posts: 29
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Post by tara on Feb 17, 2009 21:42:18 GMT -8
This is an interesting discussion. I too, being a teacher in a district that may need to adjust teachers' contracts, am concerned about what that means for me and my family. I am on must my income right now and that has already been a large adjustment. Making ends meet has been tought. However, I still have internet and cable tv that can be cut for a hefty amount. That is my current plan if days are cut from my contract. It won't be enough to make up the difference, but what choice do I have? There is no other place to cut. I have been using coupons big time and using websites that help me watch for bargains. I have been buying stuff when it is on sale and stocking up. I am not worried about eating, because I know our God will care for us, even if it looks different that what we are accustomed to. It is just hard to explain to kids.
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Post by michelle on Feb 19, 2009 21:46:06 GMT -8
Is it just me or does anyone else feel like we are in the midst of a self-fulfilling prophesy in regards to the economy? I really wish economists and the media would start striking hope into people's minds instead of fear. Maybe they are just being realistic, but I feel like the more they talk about how bad things are going to get, the less people will put money in the economy (which is what we really need). Maybe if they started talking about how it will recover people would start putting money in the economy.
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Post by robin on Feb 20, 2009 8:06:52 GMT -8
Is it just me or does anyone else feel like we are in the midst of a self-fulfilling prophesy in regards to the economy? I really wish economists and the media would start striking hope into people's minds instead of fear. Maybe they are just being realistic, but I feel like the more they talk about how bad things are going to get, the less people will put money in the economy (which is what we really need). Maybe if they started talking about how it will recover people would start putting money in the economy. Agreed. However the one who is really talking down the economy is Obama. But, when you are able to scare people, they are far more willing to try radical solutions, like socialism (nationalization of banks, and other vital industries). Robin
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Post by Margot on Feb 22, 2009 20:32:07 GMT -8
Just wanted to get some personal views of the "economic crisis" without it being attached to a political discussion. --Thanks, Michelle, I appreciate the spirit in which you've introduced this topic Looks like you can put us somewhere between Meghan and Josh. No money, no stocks, no big windfalls on the horizon actually puts is a good place in some ways. (I tend to look at the glass half-full.) With Paul and I working for different school districts, it has been interesting. My district is talking about the Big Cuts--maybe axing jobs in September; (although, I don't think mine,) larger class sizes and possibly abbreviating this school year in (very) early June. On the other hand, Paul got an e-mail the other day saying they doubted they'd see any job or program cuts next year, and they have officially extended their year to June 20th to make up for all the snow days!!! (Good thing I am the one with the part-time position and Paul is full time!) While I am very concerned for us as a country overall, personally I am feeling the econ. situation has created more freedom to share about spriritual things. I feel freer and people are more desperate so, in my experience, they are not rejecting spriritual conversations as much as I have seen in other days. (This is good, yes? Go, God!) I am curious if anyone else has seen this result.
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Post by Josh on Feb 22, 2009 20:56:30 GMT -8
margot wrote:
Interestingly, in agreement but perhaps on the darker side of this, I heard on NPR that business is really booming for fortune tellers right now.
A huge opportunity for us Christians right now is to offer people Relationship with God as opposed to Magical Manipulation in these times of uncertainty.
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Post by moritz on Feb 25, 2009 2:01:05 GMT -8
Is it just me or does anyone else feel like we are in the midst of a self-fulfilling prophesy in regards to the economy? Hey Michelle, I feel the same way. But unfortunately the reservation of the people is only one of many aspects of this economic crisis. Even if everybody consumed as usual (what still many people are doing), it wouldn’t solve the financial problems. You have to picture that the banks literally destroyed an awful lot of money. This money is gone. Since all banks are interwoven in a financial network, it is hitting even those banks, who didn’t invest in the subprime market (for example those banks who “merely” put money into Lehmann brothers). Since the banks are very concerned with surviving right now, they are more reluctant to hand out credits to big companies. But without those credits even big companies go south. Picture it like an expanding swirl. If one big company gets hit then many other companies which existence is coupled to the big company (for instance component suppliers) are facing the end too. And especially when you look at companies like General Motors you realize that it’s not just the problem of banks not handing out credits but also a very structural problem. Apparently GM doesn’t have the right range of products appealing to the consumer. Their cars for example often suck too much fuel which comes too costly in times of exorbitant gas prices. Now in the car industry you can’t just switch your product range. The machines which create those cars in the range cost billions and were bought with the expectation to keep on producing the same series of cars for a couple of years and till the paid out… Or let’s look at another recent issue: The British Pound lost a lot of its worth in the last couple of weeks and is now close to parity with the Euro. For the British economy this means that the import of wares has become very expensive so that companies depending on the import are getting into deep trouble. For the foreign companies that export to the UK there is the immediate danger that British clients become insolvent. For average British families the impairment of the currency means that they can’t afford their summer holidays in Ibiza anymore. What sounds like a joke has implications for the tourist industry in countries that depend on tourism like Spain, Portugal, Italy etc. etc. (the entire mediterranean Euro-zone). Even if economists encouraged the people that the crisis would soon be over, many people simply couldn’t afford it. So there’s much more to this crisis than market psychology though it certainly plays its part as well. But here’s another scary thing: Economists know better than any other that the trust of the consumer is a cornerstone of successful business. Especially in the bank system. No banker would EVER admit his bank has financial problems unless they have really huge problems they can’t get around anymore. One has to read between the lines when listening to them. The fact that banks and other businesses all over Europe (and possibly also in the USA) are now asking the state to take a holding are ringing all my alarm bells. The fact that what in November was the most pessimistic estimation of the percentual dimension of the recession is now the most optimistic guess tells me that nobody sees the bottom of this crisis and nobody knows how long this will take or how deep we will fall. The fact that banks and business have a strong interest in not scaring the consumer away combined with the fact that they currently ARE scaring the consumer, tells me that the situation must be even worse than they admit. I’ve recently talked to an acquainted financial consultant who told me he wasn’t even sure there won’t be a total, absolute collapse. Truth be told, nobody, literally nobody, not the economists and not the politicians, and least of all the average people know the full dimension of this crisis. All they can do is give educated guesses and try to find solutions. But those solutions will only work out (if at all) as long as their educated GUESSES are correct. If the guesses aren’t, the solutions won’t work. And if you perk up your ears you’ll see that the guesses and estimations vary significantly and everybody is pulling in a different direction. A huge obstacle for overcoming the crisis is also the game theoretical problem. There are people who can profit from the current situation and it is likely that they will do what they can to achieve this. Human greed and selfishness knows no limit. This goes for economists as well as for politicians. In politics there are naturally those, who want to see the political leaders fail so they get updraft for the next election. This goes for the parliamentary opposition as well as for inner-party rivals of the particular leaders. The reappearance of the Red Scare in the USA for example (ridiculous as this may be, since state intervention is happening throughout the entire capitalist stronghold nations [G8] – and certainly not for fun [read: ideology]) is a clear indication of this process. The fact that so many people are pulling in different directions won’t be helpful to say the least. The sad thing is, that nobody really KNOWS which direction is the best one Bottom line: I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg so far. Many of us still don’t know what time it is. Sorry for this being so long. I hope somebody actually read this. There are still aspects of the financial crisis I haven’t even touched so far…
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Post by Josh on Mar 5, 2009 18:02:41 GMT -8
Mo, I'm following along I think it's time for another poll.
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Post by moritz on Mar 9, 2009 1:50:26 GMT -8
Mo, I'm following along Then it wasn't in vain
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