The Economy

[rwh11385]

One thing most seem to forget is that China and India are soon going to demand an equal wage...and then labor/transportation will be cheaper here, or "trendier" or whatever, then the jobs will be back here.

Cyclical, indeed. Good times, bad times are all the same: this too shall pass.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! yup. but cost of our shit will go up, and maybe we'll find the next place to seek out lowest wage?

If I were in China, I'd sure as hell use some of my higher wages in factories to get a rushing toiret

[nando]

it wouldn't save me enough money to be worth it - even at over $4 a gallon for premium, I can go to work for a week on $15 or less. but I live pretty close and I don't drive alone ;)

[dinanm3atl]

Go ride a scooter man. They make them up to 150s and in GA those are freeway legal and have CVT trans.

If you can take backroads to work a 50cc with a jet kit and some minor tweaks will do 50 or 55mph on flat ground.

I loved when I had the ItalJet. It would haul ass!

[nando]

there's a place in town that sells nothing but scooters and segways - a few years ago, it was pretty small and it seemed like a silly place for a shop like that. but now I see those damn scooters everywhere - I can't ride one because they're too slow for the freeway (not to mention sharing the road with huge semis and SUVs would be scary), but it's kinda odd to see some kid going down the road on a segway. I mean, really - who would actually buy one of those?

oh yeah, if my commute were any longer I'd seriously be looking at a motorcycle.. and I know I'm not the only one!

[dinanm3atl]

The dollar is very weak so it does not go very far right now.

Futures and Edging are driving the cost up because "we may run out" so they jack up the price. If you eliminated that Oil would be in the teens per barrel more than like. Maybe low 20s.

Worldwide lust for oil, many LARGE countries are where the US was 50 years ago. Everyone is getting cars and wants to DRIVE!

More than likely this is the new America. Gas will be in the high 3 dollar range for some time now. It may even keep rising and to be perfectly honest I hope it does. If going from 3.50 to 4 dollars a gallon is causing you to have major problems I would suggest selling the car and getting a scooter or take public transportation.

This is just like someone on bf.c crying because he could not come to bimmerfest because of gas. He lived IN California and was looking at 100mi commute. The difference in cost from 4 a gallon to 4.20 a gallon means his round trip cost him a whopping 2 dollars more. That assumed he gets 20mpg. Come on man. Even a dollar increase is really nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Everyone is bitching and complaining about this and that... Well toughen up, quit living the "American Lifestyle". If your feeling it at the pump look over your monthly bills. Do you need High Speed Internet? Do you need 4 DVR Boxes and HBO? What is your cable bill? Do you smoke? Drink? How often do you eat out?

I hope it keeps going out. Means maybe finally people will dump their SUVs they don't use and I can get back on my bike and not feel so unsafe. Scooters are becoming a viable option and that is GREAT!

I am happy right now. My e28 gets ~25mpg and the market for a used 2004 Tahoe has DUMPED so we will be upgrad from our 2001 Explorer V8 to a nice Tahoe and I get an upgraded Tow Rig.

[nando]

It is true that the industrial countries from yesteryears have developped into more knowledge-based or high tech industries/business. Perhaps thinking that our citizens are too good to work in a factory. Problem is that there is a huge non-educated portion of the population (US or Canada) that sees less and less jobs for their skills. Not everyone is a computer network tech, or economy consultant. One other problem is the laziness of many big American industrials to not adapt. The American auto industry has been aiming to a concrete wall for 25 years and hasn't realized that foreign automakers are continuously improving their products. That means that many workers are loosing their job.

yeah, but the UAW has also tied the american automakers hands behind their backs. their pay rates and benefits are so overinflated that the automakers have no choice but to lay off employees - they don't have money to finance R&D to come out with new cars. the only reason GM stayed afloat so long was because of their finance arm, they haven't made a profit on automobiles in decades. hell, half of their cars were designed and built by suzuki, daewoo (I think I remember one from them), or toyota..

[andyman2487]

I find it odd how so many say that Americans are looking to the high-tech sector for jobs, while the average person I play pool with 5 nights a week seem more interested in finding either a trade job (Electrician, construction, automotive work, bookeeping) or manual labor.

While the high tech stuff might appeal to the big city guys, small town America seems to want to keep it simple.

Well, the blue collar class is disappearing so if you can't handle/afford college, some trade jobs are a pretty good option.

[StereoInstaller1]

I find it odd how so many say that Americans are looking to the high-tech sector for jobs, while the average person I play pool with 5 nights a week seem more interested in finding either a trade job (Electrician, construction, automotive work, bookeeping) or manual labor.

While the high tech stuff might appeal to the big city guys, small town America seems to want to keep it simple.

[Vedubin01]

It is true that the industrial countries from yesteryears have developped into more knowledge-based or high tech industries/business. Perhaps thinking that our citizens are too good to work in a factory. Problem is that there is a huge non-educated portion of the population (US or Canada) that sees less and less jobs for their skills. Not everyone is a computer network tech, or economy consultant. One other problem is the laziness of many big American industrials to not adapt. The American auto industry has been aiming to a concrete wall for 25 years and hasn't realized that foreign automakers are continuously improving their products. That means that many workers are loosing their job.

+100000

[Massive Lee]

It is true that the industrial countries from yesteryears have developped into more knowledge-based or high tech industries/business. Perhaps thinking that our citizens are too good to work in a factory. Problem is that there is a huge non-educated portion of the population (US or Canada) that sees less and less jobs for their skills. Not everyone is a computer network tech, or economy consultant. One other problem is the laziness of many big American industrials to not adapt. The American auto industry has been aiming to a concrete wall for 25 years and hasn't realized that foreign automakers are continuously improving their products. That means that many workers are loosing their job.

[z31maniac]

I really doubt it would cost $200 to buy $100 worth of WM priced food. Unless that grocery store is extremely pricey. We have local grocery stores that are very comparable to WM prices, and they are locally owned, so the money is going back into the area, instead of being funneled to billionaires.

There is a regional chain, Wal-Mart and a literally DISGUSTING locally owned placed that never has quality produce or meat.

And the two other places are substantially more than Wal-Mart.

I could spend more money on groceries at "The Food Pyramid," but then I have less money for entertainment, gas, maintenance/upgrades for the BMW and the R6. So then those areas of the economy get hit because I'm not spending as much there.

[nando]

Free trade doesn't exist in the US either. Or only if it benefits the US. Look at the Canadian lumber wood dispute. That's no free trade. US is taxing imported wood at a very high rate. Even Mexico is tired of the one-way process. Which is why countries from Sout-America have created their own "zone" and will not adhere the Canada-US-Mexico agreement.

a lot of that is because of our bitch-whore-waffleswaffleswaffleswaffles WA state governor, who for some reason wants to stab our biggest trading partner in the back. of course with the canadian dollar being strong against ours they still come down here in droves to buy stuff from us, which helps our economy. And higher lumber prices don't help our ailing construction industry either.

also, not all imports are bad. Do any of you guys honestly want to work in a sock factory, high paying or not? I don't think so. There's a reason why US industry has been moving more towards services, and it's not just because we're "losing" jobs to overseas markets - it's because fat fucking slob americans like you and me don't want to do manual labor any more, at any price. So we buy them cheap from China and sell things like finance and engineering instead, which are a better use of our talents than standing in a factory line for 12 hours a day stamping boxes.

[StereoInstaller1]

One thing most seem to forget is that China and India are soon going to demand an equal wage...and then labor/transportation will be cheaper here, or "trendier" or whatever, then the jobs will be back here.

Cyclical, indeed. Good times, bad times are all the same: this too shall pass.

[trashcop 80s 80s]

$100 buys twice as much food at wally world, than at the grocery store.

I really doubt it would cost $200 to buy $100 worth of WM priced food. Unless that grocery store is extremely pricey. We have local grocery stores that are very comparable to WM prices, and they are locally owned, so the money is going back into the area, instead of being funneled to billionaires.

[Massive Lee]

... but because free trade does not exist with most of these countries...

Free trade doesn't exist in the US either. Or only if it benefits the US. Look at the Canadian lumber wood dispute. That's no free trade. US is taxing imported wood at a very high rate. Even Mexico is tired of the one-way process. Which is why countries from Sout-America have created their own "zone" and will not adhere the Canada-US-Mexico agreement.