Genuinely improving but still not good numbers,.

Keeps sneaking down, and has stayed pretty well below any danger level for a while. Need consistent numbers under 375k to start really cheering though.

 

Housing has shown two interesting things lately. One, housing starts went down to like a 25 year low - which I like to see. And the rental market is projecting to get really strong, with rents going very high - this is usually a precedent to a jump into home ownership as rents become so high that it makes more sense to buy.

 

This is kinda a scary graph.

 

This is kinda a scary graph.

 

Keep in mind too that some of that drop has been predicted for decades, because of the baby boomers retiring.

 

Keep in mind too that some of that drop has been predicted for decades, because of the baby boomers retiring.

Starting around 2000 though?

Starting around 2000 though?

Give or take, yes. And look carefully at what I said - PART of it.

 

Give or take, yes. And look carefully at what I said - PART of it.

That means a whole lot of baby boomers started retiring around age 45-55 though.

That means a whole lot of baby boomers started retiring around age 45-55 though.

 

During the 10 year period 2000-2010 is when the first big wave started retiring. And recessions in 2001-2003 and 2008-> forced more to retire early. So yeah.

 

During the 10 year period 2000-2010 is when the first big wave started retiring. And recessions in 2001-2003 and 2008-> forced more to retire early. So yeah.

Which is why that's a scary graph.

Sounds like we're only days from the Portugal bailout. That would leave Spain as the only one of the PIGS countries standing.

Sounds like we're only days from the Portugal bailout. That would leave Spain as the only one of the PIGS countries standing.

 

 

Where the hell did you get that?

 

Spain going under would start a lot worse of a circus.

Where the hell did you get that?

You haven't heard that one? That's been around since the Greece bailout, when everyone realized the next potential countries on the list were Ireland, Portugal, and then the big guy being spain. And potentially Italy subbing in as a different I.

 

"Going under" is a little different than "requiring a bailout" though...the issue is that the funds the EU has been using to fund these bailouts probably isnt' enough to cover Spain.

You haven't heard that one? That's been around since the Greece bailout, when everyone realized the next potential countries on the list were Ireland, Portugal, and then the big guy being spain. And potentially Italy subbing in as a different I.

 

"Going under" is a little different than "requiring a bailout" though...the issue is that the funds the EU has been using to fund these bailouts probably isnt' enough to cover Spain.

 

True. I think there would be some humongeous fissures develop in the structure of the whole EU if/when the domino of Spain falls.

 

They can't really print money like we can.

True. I think there would be some humongeous fissures develop in the structure of the whole EU if/when the domino of Spain falls.

 

They can't really print money like we can.

Hopefully my tourism money will help a tad

This is kinda a scary graph.

 

 

 

 

Along these lines:

 

Unpaid Jobs: The New Normal?

 

With nearly 14 million unemployed workers in America, many have gotten sodesperate that they're willing to work for free. While some businesses are wary of the legal risks and supervision such an arrangement might require, companies that have used free workers say it can pay off when done right.

 

"People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they're going to outperform, they're going to try to please, they're going to be creative," says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist, a Toronto and New York-based startup that provides Web-based interior design services. "From a cost savings perspective, to get something off the ground, it's huge. Especially if you're a small business."

 

In the last three years, Fallis has used about 50 unpaid interns for duties in marketing, editorial, advertising, sales, account management and public relations. She's convinced it's the wave of the future in human resources. "Ten years from now, this is going to be the norm," she says.

 

Of course, the problem remains that we tax the rich too much! If only we didn't tax them, they would be ever so happy to pay these people!

 

The "best" part of the article:

Unfortunately for many employers hoping to use unpaid labor to advance their business goals, there are strict federal and state rules that workers must be paid the minimum wage and paid for overtime, and must abide by other provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act, which applies to about 135 million people working for 7.3 million employers. The FLSA doesn't apply to companies with less than $500,000 in annual revenue unless they engage in interstate commerce -- which can be as little as accepting credit cards or placing phone calls to another state.

 

"We don't have a system in this country where you can work for free," says Jay A. Zweig, a partner who works in employment law at Bryan Cave in Phoenix. "The exceptions are very, very rare, and generally there are state laws that would fill in to say that, unless you meet specific criteria, you're going to get in trouble with the government.

 

Yes, it's rather unfortunate that it's generally illegal to pay people nothing for their labor.

Edited March 30, 201115 yr by StrangeSox

I'm refinancing my mortgage because we are currently at 7%. The guy we are working with emailed me a bunch of documents that I'm assuming we have to fill out. A couple of them are questioning things that happened 10+ years ago. Like my wife and my previous address and her maiden name. Is this really relevant? I don't remember any of this coming up the last time we refinanced.

As of yesterday, its official; TARP banking initiative has now turned a profit. Treasury estimates it will eventually turn a profit of about $20B.

 

This article's a little old, but I thought it highlighted an interesting idea--workplace democracy and employee ownership, a form of socialism working entirely within a capitalist society.

 

Is John Lewis the best company in Britain to work for?

The verdict is in: The Thatcher-Reagan-Blair-Clinton model of capitalism is a failure.

The Overs win an unemployment report!

U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in March. Unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.8%.

The Overs win an unemployment report!

You said that last month too.

 

You said that last month too.

When the unders win like 75% of the time, it's ok to be surprised by that.

The Overs win an unemployment report!

 

Sidenote from the report...

 

- For those with a College degree, the unemployment rate is 4.4%.

- If you have just a High School degree, the unemployment rate is 9.5%.

- If you are a High School dropout, the unemployment rate is 13.7%

 

Also depressing:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...3867182108.html

 

If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government.

Also depressing:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...3867182108.html

That number can only be true if its HEAVY manufacturing. And that's to be expected.