[mousepad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', ' ')This is basically your lifestyle, your future. Don't you care?

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mousepad', '
')God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]A massive anti-immigration protest unfolded in the city streets of the Dublin City Centre on Saturday as public concerns surrounding mass migration backfired. The Irish Alliance is one of the groups behind the demonstration and shared footage of UFC legend Conor McGregor at the Parnell Square site ahead of the protest.

[mousepad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', ' ')I've read your posts, you're an A-typical lower middleclass aussie doing all the same shit they do.

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mousepad', '
')If you read my posts you should know that I live in a rural town of 2500 people.

[mousepad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', 'I')'ve read your posts

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mousepad', 'h')ahaha. *facepalm*, big time.
I can only repeat what I said before. Try a little bit more thinking and a little less blabbering.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mousepad', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', 'I')'ve read your posts

[theluckycountry]

Sorry adam, not reading your posts, too much Leftist hatred. You democrats have gone totally off the rails since Trump came to power.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', 'S')orry adam, not reading your posts...

[theluckycountry]

Greed is good, right?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')irst, we must understand the nature of western economic decline. As American and European capitalist countries turned towards financialization after the oil-shock of the 1970’s and 80's— i.e.: as financial markets, institutions, and transactions gained an overwhelming prominence — the real economy of goods and services began to decline, and with it the living standards of the "bottom” 90% of the population. This, in combination with the loss of the economically viable half of those nations’ natural resources, led to deindustrialization, the loss of scientific and technological innovation, together with the concentration of power in the hands of the wealthy few (the top .1%). The average citizen, as a result, got poorer (much poorer) in the past quarter of a century — eventually giving up on their hopes of a better future — while the S&P 500 just kept rising and rising.

Let’s review some key statistics to see why businesses in the real economy and citizens alike struggle to remain on the surface despite ever growing stock market valuations and claims of miraculous productivity growth.

Energy. Compared to the 2000’s energy prices today are four times higher.

Materials. Businesses now need to pay almost three times as much for the same amount of metals, wood, plastic granules etc. as they used to at the turn of the century.

Food. Global food commodity prices have doubled over the past 25 years. And these are just the raw ingredients: wheat, corn, meat, soy beans etc. In order to turn these products into foods you buy in the supermarket, a tremendous amount of energy is needed (which now costs four times as much).

Housing. An average US home (according to the Case-Shiller index) now costs more than three times as much as in the year 2000.

Depending on which basket of commodities you take as a baseline, the average citizen / business now have to spend three to four times more on necessities and inputs compared to what they used to spend around the turn of the century. Meanwhile, average hourly wages in the US have not even doubled during the same time period… This negative trend was at least somewhat offset by the flood of cheap goods from China, making inflation look less bad than it actually is (1)… At least until the onset of the pandemic induced lock-downs. Now, with a tariff war between the US and China in full swing, all the hidden cost increases will come back to haunt US consumers, with some pretty nasty ripple effects as an added bonus...

At the same time, US corporate profits have soared to six and a half times their value in 2000. Mind you these exorbitant figures, siphoning out trillions of the economy, are not coming from small businesses, but from giant corporations, financial services, management consultation and law firms, insurance companies and the like (2). And what did they spend these profits on? Not on wages or developing quality products, that’s for sure. Instead of at least trying to maintain a steady living standard for their workers, CEO’s have consistently prioritized mergers, acquisitions and stock buybacks — thereby upping their company’s valuation — and consequently boosting their own bonuses. This, dear reader, is how western capitalism self-terminates in real time. It not only ate up the affordable part of the nation’s one-time mineral and natural inheritance, but at the same time managed to immiserate its workers to a level where they can no longer buy the products they make... ‘But hey, greed is good, right?’

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', '
')Well thank you Brookings Institute, I'm glad someone is doing something to debunk all the reality people are seeing in their daily lives.

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('calgapa1', '1')6 November 2008: What worries me the most of declining oil capacity is that the cost of building the components of renewable power systems (Solar PV or Wind Turbine generators) would go up so much as to them unafordable.