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Author Topic:   The Changing World Order
Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 262 of 302 (904923)
01-11-2023 3:03 PM
Reply to: Message 261 by Taq
01-11-2023 3:02 PM


Re: The 14 Characteristics of Fascism
I fully agree with you.

The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of a doubt, what is laid before him.” - Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894).
When both religious and non-religious people reach the same conclusions then you know religion isn't the reason.--Percy
Democrats should not be the only party. Respect the two-party system. -Phat, in December 2022
We see Monsters where Science shows us Windmills.~Phat, remixed

This message is a reply to:
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Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 269 of 302 (908469)
03-15-2023 11:16 PM
Reply to: Message 268 by AZPaul3
03-15-2023 10:08 PM


Frontline PBS Exposes The Problem.
In resonse to your questions, Frontline PBS had a timely documentary that explains to you ignorant elitists why I know more than you do about finance!
Age of Easy Money (full documentary) | FRONTLINE
Granted I could not articulate my beliefs as well as the documentary, but you be the judge about the scope of the problem. Yes, you all can blame the Republicans, but Powell and Yellin did not help the situation at all.
Back in 2008, Obama and the Fed should have let the banking system fail!
2008 Protester:
Banks Got Bailed Out! We Got Sold Out!

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
 Message 270 by Theodoric, posted 03-15-2023 11:57 PM Phat has replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 271 of 302 (908471)
03-16-2023 1:15 AM
Reply to: Message 265 by Theodoric
02-28-2023 10:46 AM


Re: An actual economist has thoughts on Dalio
Im in the same boat as the teachers and other pension funded professions! I started in the grocery industry way back in 1989. 34 years ago. I was 29 years old and finally had a stable union job in the grocery store industry. My employer at that time was Cub Foods, a subsidiary of Super Valu
From Article:
Wiki:
SuperValu, Inc. was an American wholesaler and retailer of grocery products. The company, formerly headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, had been in business since 1926.[1] It is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Natural Foods (UNFI).
On July 26, 2018, SuperValu announced that it had agreed to be purchased by Providence, RI-based United Natural Foods Inc., the largest distributor to Whole Foods Market and other natural foods stores. UNFI would pay $1.3 billion in cash and assume another $1.6 billion in SuperValu debt and liabilities. UNFI said it expects the deal to result in roughly $175 million in savings over three years and that it would divest itself of SuperValu's grocery stores.[2] (...)In 1980, the company acquired Minnesota-based Cub Foods, which operated five stores in the Twin Cities area.

Now it gets interesting! For the record, I worked for Cub Foods from 1989-2003, when they closed abruptly. (Now who is the villain? Who could it beee?)
Wiki:
On January 23, 2006, SuperValu announced that it, along with CVS Corporation and a collection of investors led by Cerberus Group, agreed to acquire Albertsons, Inc. for $9.7 billion. The acquisition was completed on June 2, 2006. (...)January 2013, the company announced it was selling the Acme Markets, Shaw's, and Jewel-Osco chains and their remaining Albertsons stores to Cerberus Capital Management for $100 million in cash with Cerberus assuming $3.2 billion in existing debt. [15] SuperValu would keep its Cub, Farm Fresh, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy and Shop ‘n Save brands as well as its wholesale supply operation while the Acme, Shaw's, Star Market, and Jewel-Osco stores were reunited with Albertsons.[16] The deal closed March 21, 2013. On March 14, 2018 Supervalu announced it would be closing 21 of its 38 Farm Fresh locations, selling 18 to Kroger and 3 to Food Lion.[17]

To summarize, Cerbus helped spin off the 11 Cubs stores here in Denver, I got laid off and they then bought Albertsons, laid a bunch of them off, bought Safeway in 2013 and laid a bunch of us off, merged with Albertsons and now want to merge with Kroger. In reality, they will sell Kroger 15 or so of our stores, lay the rest of us off (or wreck the union and trash our pension) and pay off their shareholders out of the sales. After squeezing the equity out of my employer, they will leave it to its doom. Again.
In 2007 UNFI acquired Millbrook Distribution Services.[8] In 2011, UNFI signed a distribution agreement with Safeway Inc. for the distribution of non-proprietary natural, organic and specialty products. This agreement was terminated by Safeway in July, 2015,leading to a drop in share price and two rounds of layoffs, their first in the history of the company.
UNFI owns Super Valu and supplies Whole Foods with its stuff. (Bezos The Clown owns Whole Foods! )
Republicans are no friends of mine. I see a bigger picture globally, however. If any of you are smart, you will realize that as long as the Chinese Government is communist, they are no friend of ours, either.
As for Cerberus, they are like a "union" of wealthy investors. They are a private equity firm.

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
 Message 274 by nwr, posted 03-16-2023 10:31 AM Phat has replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 272 of 302 (908513)
03-16-2023 8:16 AM
Reply to: Message 270 by Theodoric
03-15-2023 11:57 PM


Re: Frontline PBS Exposes The Problem.
Several reasons. One notable quote:
Frontline:
When the Fed changes to the primary engine of economic growth, it's supposed to be our democratic institutions that do that, not the central bank.
The central bank bails out banks, buys the failed bonds, sits on the bonds until they mature, and essentially insures the wealthy investors, Banks do have a 250,000 FDIC guarantee for their regular customers, but the banks don't have the money to pay everybody and so the FED essentially creates more money(leading to more inflation) in order to shore up the bank. Take mortgages. Lured by cheap interest rates, consumers refinanced their mortgages for many years as interest rates hovered near 0%. Biden looks us in the face and claims that stockholders wont get a bailout since they "took a risk" by investing in stocks. (which had a 50 year cycle of growth, by the way)And yet the banks again get bailed out rather than letting them naturally fail. Im telling you again...The Fed is either clueless or diabolical. I cant decide which at this point in time. And what about Pension Funds? What about the 100 trillion elephant in the room that is unfunded liabilities?
What about social security, for crying out loud!!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 270 by Theodoric, posted 03-15-2023 11:57 PM Theodoric has not replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 273 of 302 (908517)
03-16-2023 9:08 AM
Reply to: Message 266 by Tangle
02-28-2023 11:03 AM


Re: An actual economist has thoughts on Dalio
https://imageio.forbes.com/...sch/files/2017/11/Untitled.jpg
Dont twist numbers in order to make a socialist war cry.
Forbes:
In its report, the think tank also found that, collectively, the individuals on The Forbes 400 hold more wealth than the bottom 64% of the country, "more people than the populations of Mexico and Canada combined." Altogether, the list members were worth $2.7 trillion this year, a 59% increase over the last five years alone.
The net worth of the median American family, meanwhile, has declined by about 3% on an inflation-adjusted basis since Forbes began publishing the 400 in the early 1980s, the institute says. It reports that the typical U.S. family is presently worth some $80,000.

The entire net worth of the Forbes 400 is 2.68 Trillion. If we took ALL of the money from the Forbes 400, we would barely make a dent in the national debt, let alone Bidns proposed budget for 2023 alone. Quit sounding the Leftist war cry of needing a new Robin Hood. I dont know why you elitists are so concerned about Republican money. Maybe you think they should be forced to give it to Greenpeace or something, I dunno. I DO think that they should guarantee my pension at work that I worked 33 years to get. I DON'T THINK that the capitalists should be forced to support the whole world, however.

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Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 275 of 302 (908545)
03-16-2023 2:07 PM
Reply to: Message 274 by nwr
03-16-2023 10:31 AM


Re: An actual economist has thoughts on Dalio
If there are only two choices and the choices are BAD and WORSE, what do you expect would happen? The rest of the world laughs at us. (Or perhaps they turn away in disgust!)
China,Russia, India,Brazil, Iran, and S.Africa have decided they no longer wish to trade only in dollars.
You all can keep crowing about how great America and Mr.Biden are, until you find yourselves wiped out. Biden needs to be tougher against the fascist union of Chinese Industry and Western Government.

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
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Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 278 of 302 (910921)
05-26-2023 4:10 AM


Dalio short comment on national debt
https://youtube.com/shorts/Ynh561K9D0E?feature=share
Ten second clip of Ray Dalios opinion.
I cant understand people who say that continually raising the debt limit (beyond what we pay back, mind you) wont lead to eventual problems that the US cant handle.
At the very least we should balance our yearly budgets.
Part 2 clip: What should be done according to Dalio(15 seconds)
https://youtube.com/shorts/Ynh561K9D0E?feature=share

Replies to this message:
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Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 282 of 302 (910929)
05-26-2023 1:01 PM
Reply to: Message 281 by Tanypteryx
05-26-2023 10:36 AM


Re: Dalio short comment on national debt
Don't play dumb. It means owing more year after year. Money that never gets paid back.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 281 by Tanypteryx, posted 05-26-2023 10:36 AM Tanypteryx has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 283 by Tanypteryx, posted 05-26-2023 1:36 PM Phat has replied
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Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 284 of 302 (910931)
05-26-2023 1:53 PM
Reply to: Message 283 by Tanypteryx
05-26-2023 1:36 PM


Re: Dalio short comment on national debt
OK, fair enough. So WHO does the government authorize to pay it back?
{or...WHO does the Federal Reserve authorize to pay it back?)
And why does it never seem to get paid back? After all, the amount grows each year.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 283 by Tanypteryx, posted 05-26-2023 1:36 PM Tanypteryx has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 285 by nwr, posted 05-26-2023 1:58 PM Phat has not replied
 Message 287 by Percy, posted 05-26-2023 2:19 PM Phat has replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 290 of 302 (910942)
05-27-2023 3:18 PM
Reply to: Message 287 by Percy
05-26-2023 2:19 PM


Re: Dalio short comment on national debt
Percy writes:
Again, bits of it are being borrowed and paid back all the time. It grows when more is borrowed than paid back, and it shrinks when more is paid back than borrowed.
My point is that the debt itself is increasing and not shrinking. I have never seen it shrink in the last 10 years. It is irrelevant if some bit of it gets paid back by new borrowed money.
We call this kicking the can down the road. How would you like to have $100,000.00 in debt that you could never pay back? If you paid part of it using another credit card, you would be simply transferring it from old debt to new debt.
The National Debt is the shortfall from each years budget deficit. It only goes up...never down. All that Clinton did was eliminate the deficit for a short time. He never addresssed the long term debt. Nor can anyone else. Eventually, the reality will become evident to the entire world. Likely the only reason that they even play along is because a US default would hurt them too.
Bottom Line: Is an ever increasing debt good for America? How about for the world?

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
 Message 291 by nwr, posted 05-27-2023 7:06 PM Phat has replied
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Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 293 of 302 (910951)
05-28-2023 12:44 PM
Reply to: Message 292 by Theodoric
05-27-2023 7:20 PM


Re: Dalio short comment on national debt
The debt then gets paid down. Keep in mind, however, that
1) It is a drop in the ocean
2) Clinton was the last and only recent president to not add to the overall debt. Neither side can get it together nowadays. Which is why talk exists about setting a ceiling on long term debt. Not that I agree with the Republicans. Their grandstanding may get us all in trouble.
Basically, it appears as if we are stuck. We are so far in debt that all we can now do at best is balance the budget enough to pay the interest.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 292 by Theodoric, posted 05-27-2023 7:20 PM Theodoric has not replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 294 of 302 (910952)
05-28-2023 12:48 PM
Reply to: Message 291 by nwr
05-27-2023 7:06 PM


Re: Dalio short comment on national debt
nwr writes:
If you want to see the debt paid down, why do you vote Republican?
I am an unaffiliated voter. I do not vote along party lines(either way)
And don't you yet understand that the debt will NEVER be paid off nor will it EVER go down substantially.
I worry about social security, health care, and cost of living. Tax hikes will never make a dent in the debt. Its too late for that.

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Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 296 of 302 (910971)
05-29-2023 3:39 PM
Reply to: Message 291 by nwr
05-27-2023 7:06 PM


Re: Dalio short comment on national debt
nwr writes:
No, it (the Debt)needs to be reduced.
Are you nuts? The entire net worth of the Forbes 400 is slightly under 3 trillion dollars...a mere drop in the bucket. The numbers being discussed are far higher than what would be solved through a tax increase.

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Phat
Member
Posts: 18262
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 301 of 302 (913508)
11-07-2023 2:51 PM
Reply to: Message 300 by Theodoric
11-07-2023 9:24 AM


Re: Dalio exposé
Well, that's certainly not good.
What made you look him up, anyway? I never knew that stuff...

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
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