So it begins...
Nov. 1st, 2008 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoClick-clickety-ticka-tick-click...
Off and running, but behind the field.More tomorrow about that.
Gas prices here hit $2.44 today. First time ever that I can remember us being at or near the national average. But then, the national average of $2.43 was what I heard yesterday afternoon. At the rate it's been dropping, the average is probably even lower. According to my records, the last time I paid this low a price for gasoline was in February of 2007.
I've heard a lot of hushed mention of the word "deflation" when they interview economists and market "experts" lately. Certainly this could possibly be in the offing the way things are going. If the prices of other goods and services start dropping the way fuel and stock prices have done in the last month, it would be a sign of serious recession or even depression. However, at the supermarket this morning I did not notice any deflation in food prices. They continue to rise at an alarming rate. I haven't been out shopping for clothing, medicines, or home furnishings in quite a while, so I can't say what is happening with that sort of thing. They say that a serious deflation trend would cause more stagnation and unemployment. That may well be true. I think it might also be a sign that the US economy has been pushing in the wrong direction and needs to rethink and retrench. Interest rate cuts are supposed to prevent deflation, but... Japan had serious deflation in the mid-90s even after the central bank's interest rate was dropped to zero. That's right, zero percent interest. I'm inclined to agree with the pundit at marketwatch.com who said this week: "Banks are like roach motels. The rate cuts go in, but nothing comes out." Actually, in the case of the so-called "financial banks" I expect we will be able to say "The bailout cash goes in, but nothing comes out." Yet another stupid move by a government that just doesn't seem to be able to learn that Reaganomics didn't work in the 1980s, it doesn't work now, and it never has worked. It seems to help in the short term, but when followed assiduously for years it disconnects the wealth from the means of production so completely that a collapse follows. That's what happened in the 1930s in the US, and dragged much of the world down with it. We may be about to see it happen once again.
Off and running, but behind the field.More tomorrow about that.
Gas prices here hit $2.44 today. First time ever that I can remember us being at or near the national average. But then, the national average of $2.43 was what I heard yesterday afternoon. At the rate it's been dropping, the average is probably even lower. According to my records, the last time I paid this low a price for gasoline was in February of 2007.
I've heard a lot of hushed mention of the word "deflation" when they interview economists and market "experts" lately. Certainly this could possibly be in the offing the way things are going. If the prices of other goods and services start dropping the way fuel and stock prices have done in the last month, it would be a sign of serious recession or even depression. However, at the supermarket this morning I did not notice any deflation in food prices. They continue to rise at an alarming rate. I haven't been out shopping for clothing, medicines, or home furnishings in quite a while, so I can't say what is happening with that sort of thing. They say that a serious deflation trend would cause more stagnation and unemployment. That may well be true. I think it might also be a sign that the US economy has been pushing in the wrong direction and needs to rethink and retrench. Interest rate cuts are supposed to prevent deflation, but... Japan had serious deflation in the mid-90s even after the central bank's interest rate was dropped to zero. That's right, zero percent interest. I'm inclined to agree with the pundit at marketwatch.com who said this week: "Banks are like roach motels. The rate cuts go in, but nothing comes out." Actually, in the case of the so-called "financial banks" I expect we will be able to say "The bailout cash goes in, but nothing comes out." Yet another stupid move by a government that just doesn't seem to be able to learn that Reaganomics didn't work in the 1980s, it doesn't work now, and it never has worked. It seems to help in the short term, but when followed assiduously for years it disconnects the wealth from the means of production so completely that a collapse follows. That's what happened in the 1930s in the US, and dragged much of the world down with it. We may be about to see it happen once again.
