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Are we heading for another depression?

edited December 2007 in Politics
Crisis may make 1929 look like a "walk in the park"

I'm not an economist, but is this article just being "alarmist"? Otherwise if you think that you will be encountering at the very least a recession. What should you do with your money?

Or should we all be buying up all the gold... and calling for the return of the gold standard ^_^ (j/k) (crazy Ron Paul supporters!)
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Comments

  • The Crash of 1929 was unique and is not going to be repeated. Do some reading on the subject and become informed.

    The crash of 1929 involved speculators buying and selling stocks in a market that is similar to what we call Mutual Funds today but, instead of funds buying stocks funds were buying shares of other funds that were buying shares of other funds ad infinitum. What we have today is a bunch of banks entering the Real Estate business because they lent money to people who could not pay it back. They are seeing huge losses because the real estate was over valued when it was purchased.
  • edited December 2007
    I'm depressed already.

    Seriously though, things could get bad. I fully expect to see a recession and some major turmoil as people are turned out of their homes in larger numbers. The very idea that wholly-owned corporate entities like GWB and Hillary are willing to consider interest rate freezes and "bail-out" type provisions is an indication that something may be deeply wrong.

    However, I cling to the hope that it won't get out of control. I've heard warnings about the coming depression since 1975, but it hasn't come yet.
    The Crash of 1929 was unique and is not going to be repeated. Do some reading on the subject and become informed.
    That might be, but the article did not say that the conditions and reasons for a crash are due to be repeated. If there's a depression, it will be for different reasons. However, the pain will be just as bad if not greater.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • If you have valuable skills, there is nothing to worry about. In fact, if there is a depression, that would be great for me. Even if we're talking great depression levels, I would still easily be able to find a way to use my skills to get money. Also, I have money saved, and the value of that money would go up, a lot. That's what depression is, the opposite of inflation. With inflation, money is worth less, so you need more of it. In depression, money is worth a lot more, and it's harder to get any. Of course, it sucks for my student loans and car loan, which is why I'm always trying to pay that off as quickly as possible.
  • If you have valuable skills, there is nothing to worry about. In fact, if there is a depression, that would be great for me. Even if we're talking great depression levels, I would still easily be able to find a way to use my skills to get money. Also, I have money saved, and the value of that money would go up, a lot.
    See, here's the thing about an ACTUAL depression. People won't be able to AFFORD your valuable skills. In a real, honest to goodness depression, people would re-evaluate their needs based on much, much tighter (or even nonexistent) budgets. If they decide to make do with old computing and then go back to paper when things break down, your skills may not be as valuable as you think.

    Where is your money saved? A bank? That caused a problem for many people during the 1930s and 1870s when they went to get their money from the bank only to find that the bank had failed. Also, depressions cause insecurity over the value of paper money. Don't think that paper is going to save you in a depression.
  • I'm counting on the FDIC.
  • Yes, in a real depression all bets are off. If you have money and you can make it safe until it's over, you'll be ok. If you have no money, but you're a genius in a service industry, you may well become a hobo. People wouldn't be able to pay for electricity, much less computers. The FDIC cannot cover catastrophic bank failure.

    That being said, if someone as paranoid as HungryJoe isn't worried, neither am I.

    I did flip this article link to Dave (the Economist) from Friday Night Party Line. He doesn't do forums, but if he responds to my email, I'll post it here. I've been trying to get him to do his own show because I think there would be a lot of demand for it. However, Dave lives a life of leisure so I'm not sure it's ever going to happen.
  • Don't.
    If we lose the FDIC, I'm not worried, as I'm prepared for Mad Max.
  • Don't.
    If we lose the FDIC, I'm not worried, as I'm prepared for Mad Max.
    Ok, you've got the Mad Max scenario covered. I'll cover the Akira situation. Now we just need someone to prepare for Hokuto no Ken, and someone else to prepare for Fallout. Then, I think we'll be safe.
  • If we lose the FDIC, I'm not worried, as I'm prepared for Mad Max.
    So you've been investing in dune buggies and lots and lots of guns. (don't forget bullets!)
  • edited December 2007
    If you have valuable skills, there is nothing to worry about. In fact, if there is a depression, that would be great for me.
    This just might be one of the most ignorant statements I've heard in a long time. I remember when the last recession hit the Boston area. There were countless unemployed technology professionals. Even if you have money saved, I hardly see how being forced to spend it is "great for you." For a guy who loves to change jobs, the best case scenario is that you'll be stuck in the one you have. Again, glad this is "great" for you.
    Post edited by Kilarney on
  • edited December 2007
    Rym and Scott watching a fire burn their house to the ground:

    Scott: This is great!

    Rym: Yeah, we were totally well-prepared for this.

    Scott: Yeah, It's a good thing I was able to use my mind-bullets against the fire. It's also good that the house is continuing to burn.

    Rym: Would you say that the mind-bullets failed?

    Scott: No! They were great! This is great! We'll make lots of money from this!

    Rym: Yeah, I'll just have to say for any new listeners that our house is burning and that's great, because it means that soon we'll have all the money in the world, as befits our superhuman intelligence and skills.

    Scott: Yeah, pretty much.

    Rym: If you want to die in a fire, come to our house!

    Scott: I pulled our chairs out of the inferno with my computer skills.

    Rym: I love you, man.

    Scott: I love you more.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • I think it goes more something like this.

    Before house burns down:

    I have measures in place to avoid the house burning down. I also have plans of what to do if the house burns down. I have done everything that is reasonable to avoid this problem, and deal with it if it were to actually happen, and also taken into consideration the risk of it becoming a reality.

    After house burns down:

    Well, the house burnt down despite my best-laid plans. I did everything I could to stop it, and saved what I could save. It happened anyway. Was there something I can learn from this? Perhaps something I overlooked? Either way, the house is burned, and I can't magically bring it back. I'm alive, which means I can keep doing things. What do I have left, and where do I go from here? Maybe this is an opportunity to take a new path in life. Maybe I will fly to Europe. I won't have to worry about interim housing that way. When I come back all this bureaucracy will have finished running its course, and I can get back to living.
  • Or should we all be buying up all the gold... and calling for the return of the gold standard ^_^ (j/k) (crazy Ron Paul supporters!)
    I might not agree with returning to the gold standard, but I think it does make sense to actually OWN a bit of gold.

    Remember that diamond ring that Steve was complaining about a while back? That would be highly portable wealth in case of depression or apocalypse.

    I'm not saying buy gold like a crazy person, but it might be prudent to have some assets that didn't exist solely on paper.

  • Remember that diamond ring that Steve was complaining about a while back? That would be highly portable wealth in case of depression or apocalypse.

    I'm not saying buy gold like a crazy person, but it might be prudent to have some assets that didn't exist solely on paper.
    Gold maybe, diamonds definitely not. Unlike gold, diamonds are actually not rare at all. There are shit tons of diamonds in the world. If all the diamonds in the world were actually available on the market, diamonds would be super cheap. We're talking so cheap that you would buy them by the bushel rather than the karat. Even in the current world situation, you can't get much money trying to sell a diamond unless you are yourself a jeweler. Go ask a pawn broker, they know. In a disaster, diamonds won't help you.

    Gold, on the other hand, is actually very rare. If you took all the gold on earth and melted it into a pure golden cube, that cube would be about one mile on each side. That's not a lot of gold. If you take all the gold produced in the world last year, from mining and such, it will fit in your living room with space to spare. Platinum is even rarer than gold, and it is equally useful.

    Remember, though, the most important thing. If we are in a situation where the economy still functions, it's just really shitty, then gold and platinum will help you. So if it were 1929 again, yes gold is very good. However, if we are in a situation where there is a complete breakdown of society, then gold and platinum aren't worth shit. At that point, the only things of value are food, water, weapons, living human bodies, medical supplies, shelter, working vehicles, fuel, etc. Decide now if you are preparing for economic hardship or complete anarchy.
  • It's jewelry. The diamond is cut, not raw. Also, the band is gold. Thus, valuableness ensues.
  • It's jewelry. The diamond is cut, not raw. Also, the band is gold. Thus, valuableness ensues.
    You have to take into account the original price paid. Buy a diamond, then immediately try to sell it. You will find you just lost thousands of dollars. Buy an emerald, and try to immediately sell it. You will find you have lost far less. If you're that worried, put a bar of platinum in a safe deposit box.
  • Decide now if you are preparing for economic hardship or complete anarchy.
    Becoming proficient in firearms is a personal goal of mine in the near future.
  • This is just over the dollar dropping, is it not? But it's already going up.. It's like, 97 cents CDN to a US dollar.. so either both countries are diving into the shark infested waters together, or it's stabilizing.

    ...I miss the higher CDN dollar....
  • Diamonds have always been quite valuable in times of conflict. While they are plentiful, they are incredibly hard to get out of the ground. Most of us don't happen to live 5,000 feet below the earth's surface in South Africa or arctic Canada.

    I think diamonds are a scam, but no doubt they will be of some value.
  • This is just over the dollar dropping, is it not?
    It's that, plus
    . . . housing is still a wreck, the consumer is still under pressure from high food and gas prices, the Federal Reserve is hemmed in because of commodity inflation and corporate profits are decreasing.
    Source.
  • I actually broke down and bought her a pair of diamond earrings for Christmas. The video lied!!!

    Yes Scrym, Joe is right, you would be the first ones out of work. The people who provide essential services are the ones who stay employed. I suggest using some of your money to buy some forest land and a few axes. You can make money selling fire wood.

    I do not suggest yanking all of your money out of the bank. Transactions over $10,000 get a complimentary FBI agent at your door looking for the resident drug dealer. when the FBI confiscates your money it is up to you to prove you acquired legally not up to them to provide otherwise.

    I suppose the big question is whether you are better having a lot of unsecured debt going into a depression or cash on hand? With cash on hand you can buy things at rock-bottom prices. With debt being one of millions defaulting is not the same as being one-in-a-million defaulting.
  • The people who provide essential services are the ones who stay employed.
    Teachers, especially the math and science variety, should be pretty safe for awhile. Lawyers do well for both sides of criminal law, bankruptcy, creditor's rights, and divorce. There will always be a need for health care, so those people are covered.

    My father used to say, "There will always be rich people and rich people love horses." So he made me learn how to shoe horses. Also, I was a groom at a barn in Lexington, KY when I was in school.

    So my plan is to teach the defendants I've convicted how to shoe the police horses.
  • Alarmist.
  • Alarmist.
    . . . said the Grasshopper to the Ant, "Winter is far away, why should I worry?"

    Ees goink to be looooong winter, comrade.
  • I've heard a fair number of people that have been laid off recently... You can have all the skill in the world, but it won't be worth anything unless someone is willing to *buy*. I'm sure with your high salaries, an executive would chose to cut you before entertaining a pay cut for themselves.

    On a separate vein, does anyone possible consider that gold is a great investment for disaster? If something drastic were to happen that made you have to leave your home suddenly, never to return (e.g. missile attack, flash flood, barbarian invasion, etc.); do you think hauling around a heavy block of metal will improve your short-term survival?
  • On a separate vein, does anyone possible consider that gold is a great investment for disaster? If something drastic were to happen that made you have to leave your home suddenly, never to return (e.g. missile attack, flash flood, barbarian invasion, etc.); do you think hauling around a heavy block of metal will improve your short-term survival?
    Like I said, there is a difference between the economy going bad and a complete breakdown of society. If a situation were to happen such as in the great depression, a brick of gold would have been a huge help. If a situation were to happen like zombies, even gold wouldn't help you.
  • edited December 2007
    If something drastic were to happen that made you have to leave your home suddenly, never to return (e.g. missile attack, flash flood, barbarian invasion, etc.); do you think hauling around a heavy block of metal will improve your short-term survival?
    If you can afford enough to own a block that big, you're rich enough so that you wouldn't have to worry anyway. Have you seen how much it costs per ounce? I might be able to scrape up a few ounces. That's not gonna slow me down too much.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • If something drastic were to happen that made you have to leave your home suddenly, never to return (e.g. missile attack, flash flood, barbarian invasion, etc.); do you think hauling around a heavy block of metal will improve your short-term survival?
    If you can afford enough to own a block that big, you wouldn't have to worry anyway. Have you seen how much it costsper ounce?I might be able to scrape up about an ounce. That's not gonna slow me down too much.
    Damn, last time I looked at the price of gold was years ago and it was less than $400 per ounce. Wish I would have bought some gold then. Still, I wonder if you actually need to buy real gold. Couldn't you just invest in gold on the commodities market instead?
  • edited December 2007
    Damn, last time I looked at the price of gold was years ago and it was less than $400 per ounce. Wish I would have bought some gold then. Still, I wonder if you actually need to buy real gold. Couldn't you just invest in gold on the commodities market instead?
    If you don't trust the FDIC, why should you trust the market? You'd be trusting them to keep honest records and deal with you honestly when you tried to cash out. I have trust issues concerning people's behavior during the depression/apocalypse.

    I'm just saying it might be a good idea to have some gold (or silver) coins (or maybe jewelry) just in case. Obviously you're not gonna have big Bond villain/Kelly's Heroes sized blocks. You'd have to sell your house to afford a couple of those.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
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