"And the risk is that the feds and foreign countries go overboard trying to counter the effects of deflation by printing money. "
Jeez Bonnie, have you checked out how they're pumping money into the money supply over the last year? The only reason there hasn't been any visible deflation is because of the new money. Which of course always makes me wonder how they distribute newly printed money, and how one would get on the list to be a recipient.
"The tops of markets seem to be marked with max employment, and the bottom of markets seem to be marked in the past with double-digit unemployment. "
I have to tell you, I don't believe the employment stat put out by the gov't. I think Clinton is a liar, and he wants it to look like there is full employment. I have recently read 2 articles that show how the "savings rate" is miscalculated, and it is being used to show that Americans don't save as much as they used to do. But it is untrue, Americans are saving at rates similar to what they have been in the past. Another thing that is abused is credit card debt, when it is not broken out between balances paid at the end of each month and used as a bookkeeping convenience, and true 18 to 21% 30 year loans that sap the money out of your bank account forever. I used to use checks for everything, now I use credit cards. I have a number of rebate cards that I collect about $700 a year for using. This is on money I would have spent anyway. Further, I have an interest bearing checking account, and don't spend money unless I have it. So the money waiting to go to pay the cc's draws some minor interest as well, pushing to ~$800/year my take for using credit cards to pay for things I would have bought anyway. Then, there is added convenience. I don't need to make sure I have enough checks. I get a consolidated accounting of my months purchases in each statement. CC's are accepted universally, I could use my MasterCard in Europe, while I'm not sure that my personal checks would pass. But my credit card "debt" is added to the total debt and reported to the public as if I was some sort of spendthrift. The point of this rambling is that I just don't much trust the statistics emanating from the Clinton gov't.
Perhaps I will stick with bonds.
Barb |
