Whenever we are discussing the intentionally managed decline of the western countries, it is important to remember the closely connected relationship between multinational corporations and the political leaders of those nations. Specifically, their public-private connections as they run through the World Economic Forum assembly.
An intentionally managed decline of western economic activity should have a direct impact on the private corporations within those economies. If the politicians are collectively going to stop energy development, raise energy prices (inflation), then use monetary policy to shrink the economy down to the level of energy available, we would normally think corporations were going to make less money.
That preceding paragraph is not controversial. It simply explains exactly what is happening; that is the situation. However, for some weird reason the system that evaluates corporate wealth is not responding negatively to the reality of the situation.
Traditionally, we would think destroying the economy would be against the interests of the multinational corporations who benefit from economic expansion. However, in the era of subsidized and controlled economic management, I’m not so sure the corporations are stakeholders in economic growth. Something is profoundly disconnected, or else the corporations would be raising hell with the politicians.
BERLIN, Aug 3 (Reuters) – BMW (BMWG.DE) lowered its output forecast and warned of a highly volatile second half on Wednesday, pinpointing supplies of energy in Europe and chips worldwide as the two crucial factors to the carmaker hitting full-year earnings targets.
New incoming orders were beginning to fall but order books remained filled for the next few months, chief executive Oliver Zipse said. (read more)
All of the basic indicators point in one direction.
Energy prices are squeezing consumers and paychecks. Energy driven inflation is high. Rising housing costs, food costs, gasoline costs and energy costs have hit the consumer hard. Credit card balances have jumped. Consumer sales on non-essential items have dropped. Factory activity around the world (Asia and Eurozone) is slowing or has stopped. Durable goods inventories have climbed everywhere, without customers to purchase them. All of these facets are happening exactly as we would expect.
However, the value of the companies negatively impacted by everything above, is not dropping at the same rate of the financial impact each company is incurring. It’s as if the entire financial system is pretending that things are not as bad as they are. This announcement from BMW is a good example of that.
Consider another example. According to the employment data, and even accepting the data is skewed, somewhere around 3.9 million jobs restarted or were created in the first six months of this year. Yet, despite that job growth the GDP declined -1.6% in the first quarter and -0.9% in the second.
How does an economy add almost 4 million jobs while simultaneously shrinking?
Either people are (1) less productive, or (2) working less hours, or (3) holding multiple jobs…. or a combination of the three.
Trying to filter through the economic noise to see beyond the horizon is becoming more difficult.
So, let’s bring this conversation down to Main Street. What do you see around you? What’s going on economically in your community?
Do you see lots of people in stores and shopping malls?
Do you see a lot of new purchases being made?
How are your family, friends and the people in your community being affected by this economy?
I see a very noticeable decline in the parking lot at Menards when I go and highway traffic is about 30% down from last summer. Tourists are down biggly.
No wonder gas prices are down.
The Mexicans in California won’t me gusta that!
Less people on the road and no line at checkout in the Food Lion grocery store. Central NC.
West-central Idaho mountains, ski resort town. Much, much fewer tourists. Even the part-time residents seem to be missing by and large. Gas down about $0.20 compared to last month, when it was $5.89 for regular and $6.09 for diesel.
Grocery stores with a significantly slowed-down traffic, produce on the shelves feels frozen, wilts very quickly at home. A lot of normal staples missing – pickling cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes. Avocados and apples take about a week to ripen at home, then turn to mush within days. The best organic milk and its derivative products not stocked anymore, but a ton of processed foods instead. The prices have gone insane on food, gardening and home improvement items. The poor cashiers forced to wear masks again, and a lot of older residents do the same (this idiocy will never stop). My main gripe is that at a greater majority of stores here, and especially in big towns, there is ALWAYS just one checkout lane open, and the rest are self-check, and all the lines are HUGE! Not to mention, all the stuff (and we know most of them well) seem incredibly stressed, slow, almost sluggish, still friendly but not jovial like they used to be, and a lot of them appear to be dealing with health problems (the vaxx push clearly reaping its own awards).
We buy most of our food from local farmers, and unfortunately those too have gone up significantly, some things like cherries and blueberries up 100% from last year, meat about 50% up.
Chemtrailing has gotten out of control, and it feels like Nature is turning away from us in response. My raspberries will have maybe 5% of normal harvest – there were no flowers, there is no fruit. Same for gooseberries and plum trees (it was also the same for our friend orchard owner with his cherry and apricot trees). Garden greens are barely there, and all the herbs are still the size I planted them at 3 months ago.
The pastures within about a 50 mile radius, that used to be packed full of grazing cows in summer, have very few and sparse herds. Even the open ranges in the mountains are empty. No cows in the meadows. Throughout previous summers we would normally see cattle-moving trucks all the time, rotating the herds. Almost nothing this year.
Most of all, there is a weird feeling in the air, of resignation, almost tangible despair, and this foreboding that most are unable to escape. It’s just creepy.
Thank you for the excellent report. I’m on the north Olympic Peninsula in WA. I had similar experience with raspberries. I walked out of the farmers market on Sunday without making a single purchase and no longer go near the produce section in the local supermarkets. My herbs, potatoes and greenhouse veggies are doing well so far.
People are missing, everywhere. The office buildings are empty. Where is everyone?
Right! It’s like they have disappeared somewhere!
Sudden adult death syndrome?
less trucks delivering goods more moving vans u haul it pentz etc
Everyone ,s gone to the moon.
Dead from vaccine adverse effects. People are dropping like fruit flies. It is scary.
Working from home? My old employer started bidding government contracts with everyone WFH back in 2015 and my particular contract went that way in 2016. They went from 5.5 floors in a 10 story building to 2.25 by 1/1/20. Everyone left got sent home that March and have been told it’s permanent. Last I heard they still had some servers in the building but I think they moved them to another building that still had a few people in it.
They killed half a million with covid and disabled another 8ook. Being the last geat adventure occurred for way too many those numbers just for US. They ran off the rest of us that could retire did and now they can’t find people.
Mexico!!! They moved to Mexico 🇲🇽!! Our town is bustling with shoppers! No slow down insight. Saludos!!
Pest control guy here… i service A LOT of restaurants!! All of them tell me they are hurting… ON CAPE COD. It is the height of the season and nobody is doing great. Last year was good because everybody had time off and cash to burn. This year feathers.
I don’t shop that much, but I am seeing fewer people in all the stores except grocery stores and some thrift stores like Goodwill, and the church run thrift stores. I see no less traffic on the main travelled roads and interstates in my area, up state South Carolina. Of course SC is growing like crazy. Don’t know why. It is a terrible place to live. Don’t know why any yankee would ever want to move here.
I love SC low country. It beats the heck out of Maryland on taxes and cost of living. Bonus is that the last snowfall was in January 2018.
Please. Quit pumping up SC. We don’t need any more Ohioans and yankees. This is a terrible state and why anyone would move here is beyond me.
🤣 🤣 🤣 Mum’s the word, 4sure. Yeah, SC sucks. It’s so crowded, nobody goes there anymore. 😉😉
Lol. I live in upstate too. Howdy neighbor. Things are booming here, as you point out.
Oh, right, I forgot. It’s awful, people, just awful.
Sorry, 4sure. Yankees will definitely hate it and they should stay where they are. .
And Montana is awful, too.
Winter lasts for 10 months of the year and grizzly bears wander through even the biggest towns.
Yeah, don’t come to Montana.
I know a lot of people from Southern MD retiring and moving to SC, mostly to the Charleston area.
Upstate is a disaster, made worse by the 385 boondoggle. Houses in what used to be nowhere going up with 20ft between them, priced to start “in the low 750s.” Traffic a nightmare everywhere.
Food prices are up, gas is down, apparel down, lots of empty shelves. Food service hit hard with no workers and more expensive food.
Inflation is up, and the price of gold is down. Not sure how that happens, but I suspect it has something to do with ‘paper’ gold being manipulated.
To borrow from our beloved favorite President: “it’s all rigged.”
Can they manipulate the market indefinitely?
Ladder in, if you dare.
They do seem able to tweek it as wanted to end sessions just over or under the opens.
Been watching gold too…..I believe it’s “paper gold” that’s keeping gold down too. That won’t last much longer. Physical gold and silver is the only way to go. Plus I believe governments may be selling off gold because most of them are broke. Just a theory tho. I ain’t selling an ounce of what I have!!
People have been saying exactly that since 1999, 2008, etc…
The gold and silver markets are being heavily manipulated by the sale of paper in place of actual physical gold and silver. If you can buy as much physical precious metal as you safely can afford as your government issued paper is soon going to be worthless. Disclaimer: I’m just a regular guy trying to get by and am not employed in the precious metal market.
“the value of companies is not dropping at the rate as the financial impact on their companies’
Consider the thesis put forward by Tom Luongo…that the US split from the EU and the eurodollar market when we abandoned LIBOR and went to SOFR rate….and then Powell hiked the rate… and that is attracting European capital to US and wrecking the EU…might explain why U.S. Companies are more flush than you would think they should be.
But if this dichotomy applies to all companies…including EU based companies…then ‘I got nothin’😏
The only people doing OK out on the cape are contractors either renovating the homes of libtard white flight from CT and NY or building the never-ending “affordable” housing all around west yarmouth and hyannis.
Oliver will raise the prices though.
Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
– Benito Mussolini
Something dramatic sure is brewing…
Folks we know are “sitting tight”
It’s quite something to see 10 and 20% increases on food from one month to the next.
That said there is a great deal of money around..folks are just spending resistant.
Cheers!
The masses are starting to feel the necessary pain. It will only get worse and not better. I am as you, I think a number of things may be coming to a head prior to mid-term elections in November.
Election fraud has to be addressed prior to the election and I think it will be. Even some of the dumb and stupid people are waking up.
Agreed, a few of the awakened that I know are in real shock.
Now we CTH adherents saw this coming, and with solid preparations and good fortune.
Will get through this.
Cheers!
Good evening, Dekester. I hadn’t seen you in a while and have been thinking about you, hoping all was well with you, your family, and your mates.
A couple of weeks ago I bought a dozen eggs…$3.12US.
The other day, $3.29 and today $3.49. Onward and upward. I’m certain the next time it shall be higher as well. I feel we are only getting started.
Blessings to all, my friend. B
I used to buy a dozen eggs on sale under Trump for .50 cents, normal price was $1.
The Democrat Communist Scum are ruining this country and its people.
Thank you Betsy.
I had a nasty individual to deal with, an malignant narcissist that hadn’t been around in several years.
So I was preoccupied.
Pretty much dealt with the individual now.
All the best to you !
Cheers!
Internet is energy. Water is energy. Crops are energy. Life after 1800’s is energy. Choke the energy, the clock rolls back.
Of course, there were plenty of wars, raiders, invasions, colonizations, and otherwise disruptive, non-peaceful episodes back then as well. The quest for resources led to many a conflict. Those days will return.
Was just in Maine. Lobster rolls are anywhere from $27 to $40. Steaks at $50! No kidding.
Boothbay as busy as Hell during the day. After 5PM…not. No nightlife and no diehard people having DINNER! Prices are through the roof for a six month tourist vacationland place.
But problems also.
Hiring signs everywhere, and the local warf restaurant cannot man their three bars all day. And not all are busy at the usual times. Fish store does not have enough people to keep it open except for call-in orders.
In Mass, prices are half of Maine. Doing better but still a lot of hiring notices in windows.
Back in NY, not enough people to man outdoor dining, yet our local restaurants now have less hours and days. Less traffic from train visitors from NYC.
So when the heck are they going to acknowledge this recession, soon to be a depression??? If they continue to back the “BBB” BS, they are done. And the sooner the better, so we can turn this around.
One big bad spiral!
I believe it.
Have been working for Bath Iron Works in a good position with benefits for a few weeks.
I still cannot find any decent rentals for a reasonable price anywhere nearby. Seriously looking at a home loan to buy a house somewhere as the mortgage payments are liable to be significantly cheaper than renting.
With as much as I commute, many places in Maine I’ve noticed have staffing shortages enough to limit their hours and/or services. With price hikes to boot.
Just rode past Bath Iron Works a few days ago. Never seen such HUGE cranes! Remember getting caught going north to the bridge when a shift was cut loose years ago!!! What a traffic jam!
At any rate, there is a wonderful restaurant at the intersection of 27 and Route 1 in Edgecomb. Cannot find the business card, but the owner is a retired LEO and since he also cannot find help, he was behind the bar when we stopped for lunch! It is known as the old name Bintliff’s in our car’s GPS and has a rooftop deck. You will love it!
You might go and let him know his two NY customers from last week said “Hello.”
PS You may be better off buying.
And PS, you can always rent it during the season if you need to! Make a deal with a local hotel and rent to the skies!!!
……….. something is profoundly disconnected ….
” Pelosi , Taiwan & Climate , why military conflict might be good for the planet ” — South China Morning Post
( Gonna go out on a limb here and suggest this news outlet is the far east version of – MSNBC .. )
Not Babylon Bee , I did not make this up , saw it here — @ThinkingSlow1
@backtolife_2023
( Every good cop knows , you can’t ” reason ” with crazy …… you have to contain it )
This kind of news will continue on a regular basis including the big 3 which has already started with ford announcement of 8000 layoffs for electric car transformation
Coal-fired car problems…
I expect the truly massive layoffs to happen just after midterm elections. As noted in this article big corporations are playing along with the green new deal and that timing of job losses will give press reason to blame the incoming Republican majority. Whoever gets elected is going to inherit a economy in free fall with no industrial base to stop it from happening.
For the last few months, the financial press has been pushing a recession in 2023. Not sure why, but I suppose it’s part of some greater evil plan.
Lumber salesman Omaha. Remodeling is dying. New construction still good because of bent up demand. Labor issue are a big problem. No one wants to do manual labor.
From the businesses I have asked, they all, no matter kind of job the open are having a very hard time filing them .
Every year at this time, the Maine turnpike is jammed on Sunday, with people leaving, and the Friday traffic at the Mass tolls is brutal. This year, people are coming and going with little traffic backup. That’s to “vacationland.”
When I went a week ago, 84 and I95 were packed from Danbury through Boston to Maine. Both on a Sunday afternoon and a Monday late morning.
Maine vacationland was packed, yet I found less people eating and drinking at full-service restaurants because the prices are through the roof. Cafes and food trucks, deli’s with more traffic.
Returning via I90, much less traffic, however this is normal during any point in time. Yet the hiring and lack of customers was still an odd dynamic.
We seem to be in a transition. At some point, I expect that the decreased demand will require less hires.
Interesting. Thanks for the additional info.
BMW has a YUGE mfg. facility in UP state SC. BMW Manufacturing employs 11,000 people at the seven million square-foot campus. It exports 60% of production to 120 world markets. It produces more than 1500 vehicles daily. Over 5 million a year.
If production is cut back, it will be yuge blow to the local economy. “More than 30,000 jobs are supported by BMW operations statewide, and the automaker generates an economic output of $16.6 billion annually statewide. “
Funny you should ask!
I went to Lowe’s on Monday at 3PM. I wondered if they were open- there were just a few cars in the lot.
I went in through the garden center. I was the only person there (well, an employee watering the dead plants and a cashier were there).
In the store, I saw a couple looking at houseplants. And in every direction….no one. Deserted.
(Hubby replaced a trim board this weekend. 8’ long, 6” wide. $50 for one board!)
At BJ’s today. Just a few people there. And LOTS of empty shelves. I had 7 items on my list, they had 1.
Walmart…huge markdowns…clothing and shoes, housewares. Noticeably uncrowded.
Where is this?
Sorry. I forgot to say Seacoast of NH, right over the MA border.
A young lady the age of my son was almost in tears the other day because with the increase in gas and other expenses she was barely breaking even working.
She has since found a job with a 50% increase in pay plus insurance. I hope she gets it.
Know a girl who doubled her income in the last year and cannot celebrate it because she’s barely breaking even. Millennials who were finally starting to make progress under Trump are about to get destroyed.
My 25 year old daughter and five of her girlfriends got an Airbnb last weekend in Ocean City, Maryland. They’d been planning this trip since before Christmas. They brought in their own groceries and cooked all their own food. My daughter said four of the girls were very vocal about not wanting to spend any money. The young people are definitely feeling the pain.
Some of our dealers have pushed out their POs to avoid “overage” while reducing the orders by half. These are big retailers.
One dealer has a great B2B website that shared their stock levels and sales projections for the upcoming year. It was really slick to get their insights. All gone. I’m guessing they don’t want to share the grim outlook.
Our sales dropped to normal levels around July of last year after the insane sales during the pandemic. They have remained steady since.
And there are a lot of Amazon dealers fighting for that buy box! Never knew how important that is to the online dealers.
In the New World Multi-National Order a company’s profits as well as a countries prosperity will be determined by their social credit scores. It wont just apply to individuals.
We’re doing a repiping of a pretty big insurance building here in jacksonville,,,thing is,, nobody’s there. I do fire sprinkler systems
A LOT of people are advertising their services (housecleaning, yard work, odd jobs) on Nextdoor with very few public responses.
Aldi is still busy but carts don’t appear to be as full.
I went to lunch today with 7 other people. I was at this same restaurant for brunch on a Friday in July and it was packed at 10:30. Today at 12:30 it was half empty and we were seated as immediately as the hostess felt like it. Don’t get me started on her.
I haven’t been in a mall in years so no report on that.
All the food charities are reporting increased need and fewer resources to help them.
I lost my mind today and bought another half bushel of peaches for canning and freezing. I did one last week and was so happy when it was done. However, the season is ending around here and I want to support this local farm as well as make sure I have food this winter, just in case… I personally am not buying anything that’s not related to food, toiletries, gas and car maintenance, or improving the efficiency of my home cooling and heating (i.e., heavier curtains and new weatherstripping for the doors).
My retired sister’s rent went up $300 and is now higher than my almost paid off monthly mortgage payment. She’s looking at a part-time job, possibly as a tutor.
I just finished listening to Kunstler’s “Living in the Long Emergency” and the first 2 chapters lay out current energy resources and the practical problems with renewable such as solar panels. I kind of knew most of it but hearing the oil stats and everything else laid out so starkly is depressing. It’s really making me think about life in the future if he’s correct or even just half right.
Speaking for just myself and my experience . I travel a lot up and down the western coastline between Southern California and Olympia WA and work at a Casino near Vancouver WA. The wife and myself run 5 different concepts inside of it. With that said. I haven’t seen a decline in traffic as far as costumers go. In fact we are busier then ever. As far as my travels go it feels the same way. The hotels we book and the restaurants we eat at are all busy…
We are extremely short staffed however and that continues to be a major factor.
Here in Bentonville, AR 200 Walmart upper mid level managers were let go.
A good friend, with close connections to Taiwan was nothing their down to 7 days worth of fuel.
Reading quarterly reports, Black & Decker’s inventory is over 6.6b. same time in 2019 the amount was 2.4b. looks like they’re going to limit production to core items and produce closer to home.
B4 i was let go for not getting the jab (Daisy BB guns) i was warning about getting stuck with over inflated products with no sales.
Cash Liquidity is going to be a problem and the consolidations will begin.
I live in a tourist area in Santa Barbara County. Our home is 27 miles northeast from Santa Barbara. Yesterday I was in a sports bar in Solvang. The sole proprietor was working the bar, which is on the main drag. He has seen business decreasing all summer. He hears what people are talking about, and most are talking about the bad economy. He can also see the traffic on the street is less than normal for summer tourist season.
My local grocery store has seen prices inflate at a much a higher rate than the chain supermarket, although prices are up everywhere. My theory is that the smaller store can not compete with the corporate business when it comes to procurement of inventory. Since my local store buys and sells locally grown produce, it has better quality and often better prices in the produce department, but that is not the case with most items they sell.
Finally, the one business that seems unaffected by the recession is the local Indian Casino. Vice enterprises seem to actually thrive during economic downturns. People give up on rational responses to their problems are start engaging in wishful thinking.
My son told me the other day that BMW is starting a service that if you need any work done on your BMW it has to be done by BMW AND you are going to have to subscribe to a monthly service which I bet will cost a lot. No subscription and your BMW breaks down tough luck. I don’t know if this is true or not but this is what he told me.
I had a full size 2020 Dodge Ram truck that I sold to Carmax this past Tuesday. They paid off the $25,000 I owed and gave me a check for $6,850 profit. I don’t know how they are making any money. I asked the car man how business was and he told me it is slowing down and it’s very noticeable.
As I have reported before there are two different railroad lines running through my town. One set of tracks is 100 yards or so from my house. The railroads have not been running as they have in the past. The train traffic is noticeably slower.
I am no longer working. I also am not receiving any state aid of any kind. I am enjoying a beautiful summer and watching it all slowly collapse. If you pay attention it’s easy to see. Most people aren’t paying attention. Boy will they be surprised.
And yesterday I saw a gas station here in Ohio diesel was $6.09/gallon.
BMW cars are about the worst luxury car anyone can buy. Especially the higher end 7 series models.
They lose almost all their value in 5-6 years.
I’ve heard about the subscription requirements as well. I’ve never owned a BMW, but I was considering one. Now, forget it. I just hope this doesn’t become a trend.
” for some weird reason the system that evaluates corporate wealth is not responding negatively to the reality of the situation…………..Something is profoundly disconnected, or else the corporations would be raising hell with the politicians.”
This is the plan for the new world order. It is neo-fascism or what Bloomberg coined “creative capitalism”. China is the model for government and corporate power sharing to support world governance. Some companies will emerge as global monopolies, the rest will slowly die out.
Select multinationals have long been on a trajectory away from conventional market dynamics – they are the chosen global monopolies, divvying up shrinking markets. Their embrace of “sustainability”, climate change, and woke social engineering is the tell.
These monopolies are wholly aligned with the globalists’ Great Reset, their profits ensured by the globalists’ flow of capital, control of markets, and ownership of politicians. So, capital will flow where needed, profits will be buoyed, and stock prices kept afloat – long enough for depopulation and urbanization to create Schwab’s Utopia.
What many of these globalist supporters do not realize , is that we have what we have because of the size of the world population. Once they manage to re3duce that number to 1/2 billion, as is their goal, then they will loose the supportive system all the modern enmities depend on. Things will slowly fade to a zero point, and then they will panic, as increasing population takes time, and informing the increased population also takes time. These idiots are dreamers, who don’t understand what they wish for.
Exactly right. The entire global economic system, from the beginning of time, is based on “growth,” which at bottom means population growth. There has never, ever been an economic system devised to deal with a shrinking population. Population growth = expansion; population decline = contraction. These are insane people on a level with Mao, who believe they can just kill everyone off and have the planet for themselves and their rich friends. These people are mad and must be eliminated. And remember, these people cannot be voted out, because they were never voted in to begin with.
They are not insane.
They are doing the bidding of their master, Satan.
I think you nailed it. They’ve seen the Chinese model and they want it universal.
I have not noticed a visible shopping decline (I go out and make my rounds every weekend and have not noticed a decline, nor a difference in what I normally see in carts as I do pay attention). What I have noticed is an increase in store inventory that was not present a few months ago, especially electronics.
Northwest Ohio…
The thing that is going to show the world that we are in big trouble is that season called Winter. That is when the people of the Eu will not be able to afford heat and or food. Something is going to make the dam break during this winter season. Rent, mortgage, heating fuel, electricity, food, gas and healthcare, which one will set off the spark.
“However, in the era of subsidized and controlled economic management, I’m not so sure the corporations are stakeholders in economic growth. Something is profoundly disconnected, or else the corporations would be raising hell with the politicians.”
Nearly all current car commercials feature electric vehicles.
The automotive industry is all in on the Green New Deal/Great Reset. I suspect car manufacturers are either receiving or expect to receive massive government subsidies, enough to keep them intact during the “transition.”
$15 a month for heated seats, $10 more for a heated steering wheel, $25 a month for better gas mileage, $381.67 a month for a ‘functional’ engine, $84.57 for overdrive transmission, …………………….
BMW can get forked.
Never had one of their cars, but had a very nice R1100RSL 1995 motorcycle.
Their cars are shit, the more you spend the worse they are.
Just like the joke What are the two happiest days of a BMW owner’s life? The day they take delivery of their BMW. Then the day that they sell their BMW.
Have a friend that purchased a used 20o2 BMW Sedan (Forgot model ). About five, six years ago, always wanted one, Guess a Retirement toy.🤔🤔
Yearly maintenance was about 2k per year, had 15 issues that had to be fixed. Found out that BMW replacement parts are very expensive.
– A local, very popular and cheap Taco Tuesday ($1.50 tacos) seems to have dropped more than half.
– Geico closed over 300 offices in our state (California)
– I’ve met a number off people who are “gigging” to be able to pay bills. So they hold a primary job, and a part time job.
– three (3) restaurants/ river hangouts in Northern California’s river “delta” have mysteriously burned down. (Lost Isle, and Moore’s River Boat are two.)
– Meanwhile, homeowners with lots of equity still make purchases.
– Real estate adjusting down? One example from Danville, CA, a wealthy community. A SFH had a new ‘chef’s kitchen’ and master bath.
2019 sold – $1.2 M
2022 May* – was near $2M
2022 July* – $1.82 M
* Zillow estimates
– Starbucks, retail having staffing problems. My hunch is Covid gave some middle class kids cover to stay home and not work, and parents go along.
– Many Asian citizens Masked up, along with a surprising number of young people.
Nobody in shopping malls in the Twin Cities. The lakes I live around are empty vs the last two years of record activity due to WuFlu. 2022/23 record sales of boats atv’s, etc. were sold in 2020/21. Gas. People are preparing and not spending much. Oh, and we have a shortage of teachers and nurses…
If I had to guess, the 9 trillion went to somebody and it aint the middle class. Look where that money went.
It ended up in the pockets of Democrat celebs and donors. Look at most of them living like kings and queens, always on vacation and jetsetting around every other day. They have never been richer. LMAO.
Groceries in my corner of Australia:
Someone commented to me – it’s one thing to have to pay more for products, but it’s worse that the products are not even available.
We have limited amounts of certain items. Tissues are available, but the shelf is always almost empty. I’ve heard it’s hard to get paracetamol. The other day I saw a limit of 2 cartons of eggs per person due to high demand. And then there’s often a particular item that is not available anywhere, such as a specific flavour, where the rest of that brand is fully stocked. I wonder if a specific ingredient has been hard to source (?).
And of course, prices keep going up. I wonder how a family with teenage boys are coping with food costs.
I was just there. It’s as you say along with the labor shortage. Typical Aussie government idiot solution..” oh that means we need to import more workers”. Albanese is going to be Aussies Joe Biden with policy but with the evil of NZs PM. Don’t let him send Aussie down that hole.
I’m more concerned about the attack on carbon and energy. After seeing all the disasters in Europe, we’re saying – yep, that’s for us!
But we had no real options at the last election. Both major parties have almost the same policies. Sadly it’s quite similar around the world – there’s no opposing voices. They govern without scrutiny.
Coping with food costs by telling the teenage boys to get a job, and warning them that there have been times in history when you did not go out to make your own money, you went out to make money to contribute to the family.
Also yelling at teenage boys to stop wrestling in the garden that could end up feeding them….
Yes! There are definitely benefits to having working teenage boys. 1) When they’re not home, they’re not eating the house food and 2) they might stop in at Wendy’s or Chipotle and eat on their own dime. My mother in law used to charge all ten of her kids once they hit high school. My husband had to give her $50/month – this was in the 70’s so it wasn’t nothing.
We started paying for our own clothes and school supplies when we started working, and pay room and board, and still do chores around the house.
Amazingly, none of us turned out to be junkies or mass murderers.
We all got our high school diplomas, a couple of us got bachelor degrees and all of us are self supporting.
So, I know about 2 years ago when we were thinking about getting a new boat, we were told by many different boat manufacturers reps/salesmen that they had orders (deposits)for boats that wouldn’t arrive until 2023! Same thing with cars. Who in the world would put down a deposit on a car/boat that wasn’t going to be delivered until 2 years later? That is insane. At least to me it is.
I see notable differences everywhere. Our marina, once was a waiting list to get into and now has many open slips. Marina is not as busy as years before. Gas at marina is typically a few dollars more than at a gas station. Many of the workers there are doing double shifts because they can not find people to work. Definitely… feel there is a decline in the over all service.
Car repair is taking forever to get parts. Notice shortened hours at some small local/family owned restaurants. Grocery store shopping is bizarre now. People walk around like zombies. (sticker shock, I am sure-I get it) Never see people with a full shopping cart anymore. Just a few items for a few days.
I do know a few people that are living way beyond their means and definitely are living on/off their credit cards.
Same at our marina. Every weekend is usually busy, and packed during holidays. This year, Memorial Day and the 4th were busy, but nothing like in past years.
The rest of the summer our dock has been virtually empty. Even the hard core partiers are MIA.
The delaware river in lower Pennsylvania, usually swarming with boaters, has very few boaters. Also, going back and forth to work, the streets are only work traffic on some days, not every week day. Very unusual.
The company I work for held an event a week ago giving away a meal to all who showed up, chili dogs, fries and water. We figure easily 1200 people came and most stood in line an hour or more for their freebie.
A fun time it was, with no complaints and much gratitude. People were genuinely grateful.
My current and last pair of hearing aids came from Costco. Great aids made by one of the major aid makers and fantastic price.
I had one in the shop under warranty and when I went to pick it up a few minutes before store opening, the parking lot seemed down by about 50% and the normal line of 50+ people waiting for the doors to open was down to maybe a dozen.
In times past, my local Costco was a zoo at any hour of the day and always a decent crowd at opening time. 11:00 am to close, you had to cruise for a parking spot or head for the boonies and even out there you didn’t have a big selection of parking spaces.
I had dropped that aid off mid-day and the crowd seemed a bit thin, but that opening crowd on the trip to pick up the hearing aid was noticeably down to the point of “What’s up with this!?!?”
Not the same at all stores but inventory is so sparse in some storms and perfectly normal in others. I think everything right now is not only boiling down to labor but good labor. Some of the fast food places are just a joke right now. I even had bad service last week at a chik fil a.
I have concluded it is all a Ponzi scheme kind of. When was the last time you imagined our real tax dollars could fund the CIA overthrow of the world and still keep things afloat here at home?
Our fiat currency is monopoly money, nothing more, you believe it has value, and so it goes.
Gold was disconnected from the dollar for a specific reason, so politicians could be conditioned to spend without regard for repayment. When is the last time we had a budget? Why did our Pres Trump not insist on a budget?
Just think about this, for years we have all said to one another China owns the USA by virtue of China owning our debt. Do you really believe China can afford to own 30 TRILLION in USA debt? No way on this good earth. China is broke and looking for its own way out of their own debt crisis. Why do they not make a call on the notes uncle Sam supposedly gave them?
Who is the USA paying all this debt with interest to? It is not China, that I can tell you. If it were, China would be swimming is US dollars.
Now add all the huge GDP’s in negative territory from the entire world. Most if not all in the same upside down condition we are in and then ask yourself, how is our government passing spending bills one after another in the BILLIONS of dollars like there is no tomorrow? Our government is throwing cash around like it is an unlimited supply of toilet paper, because that is all it is worth!
Money has lost all value to our government. They know it is of no value so they keep spending like it is worthless. It has turned out to be our country collapses because our representatives could not control their own greed and avarice.
So what are they planning? Digital ID’s and prescribed allotments based on your economic class? I do not know but there is for sure no way we outlive this economic collapse.
It is the same idea with digital bitcoin. It is based on nothing of value. And why? It will be used to track and monetize the human race. We will be told who, what, where, and when, why be damned to the eternal dust bin of human endeavor.
It is all about power and control.
And when AI kicks in as it will, sooner than later, we will be wiped out and the remaining will live in utopia until that robot sex toy you screwed last night decides it is done with you.
I’m always suspicious of the motives of people who blame/insert Trump into one of their diatribes. As he had the whole uniparty against him where he could not get anyone of his choice in, do you think they would let him do a budget? Apart from the fact that Congress and Senate have this power.
I’m with dougofthenorth on that. I understand PDJT had the WHOLE ENTIRE SWAMP to contend with, and the Uniparty stabbing him in the back at every step. But he folded on many issues of huge importance, while being led by the nose on others. Ivanka and Jared were sure the swamp-creatures’ plants in his admin, along with Pence. Over the whole 4 years he got PLAYED, repeatedly. Yuugely! And the budget issues should have been the one to go to war on. He is a businessman, more than any politician he understands the principals of proper financing of your ventures. Instead of standing firm, he rolled with what McConnell wanted, every time. All the scum in congress have gotten used to continuous resolution-funding, with no responsibility for the repercussions. It should have been ‘Government shutdown? Lets’ go for it, and show the country how little useful stuff it actually does, and what a hinderance it is in reality’.
I loved PDJT, and it pains me to say it, but it sure pained me more to realize it – he does seem to have one FATAL flaw, and that is his inability to accept that he was played. That should be his slogan for the next campaign, I believe it would turn back to him a lot of people who got majorly disillusioned -‘Yes, I got played, but at least now I know how they play!’ Instead, he is running away from not only any admission, but even realization that’s what happened. Yeah, I will still support him, there is nobody else, and he DOES love this country, but I’ve lost faith in his ability to accomplish what he’s setting up as his goals, because he can not admit having been bested or taken advantage of.
I think you are right.
Mr. Trump seems to truly love this nation, but he was in over his head.
To be fair, I think any genuine reformer would have been shocked at the level of evil that exists in the Deep State.
It is not a human enemy that we face.
It is demonic evil.
We cannot approach it as we would a human enemy.
It calls for a whole ‘nother attitude and set of weapons to defeat.
I’ve always thought it beyond comprehension…mine at least…that corporations who have signed up for everything from “wokeism” (detestable word) to the Baal cult of worshipping Mother Earth, to inflicting genocide on their employees could not conceive where all of this was leading as relates to their own bottom lines (their lifeblood) and existence.
In Britain, the now almost deposed Johnson has issued an edict that there will be no more petrol fueled cars by 2030. That’s a short 7 years to hurry up the “transition” to electric vehicles. It can’t possibly be done. It’s madness in the extreme.
And yet not a peep from any of the auto manufacturers there. That’s just one example in one country.
A collective derangement has captured the CEOs of every corporation it seems. They are as much a target as we plebs are, and they can’t, won’t see it. One way or another at some point, they will not be able to deny this is so. Fascism is a destination they have happily and enthusiastically boarded the train for. But I’m pretty sure none are students of history.
Dr Thomas Sowell…
“One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and time again.”
Or John Donne if they prefer..
“…never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
I think the possibility exists, in at least some companies, that they know this is all pie-in-the-sky, and they don’t bother protesting because they know this is all just make-believe that will never come to pass. But they also realize that these people have power and are dangerous, so no reason to poke the bear.
Boris is done and his idiotic edict are not to be taken seriously. The same approach applies to the Xiden kookery. I know there are companies run by woketards who are all down with the stupidity, but I think others may just be playing possum.
“EIther people are (1) less productive, or (2) working less hours, or (3) holding multiple jobs…” or the statistics are FAKE. Here on the Oregon coast huge mobs of people vacationing, stores the same, restaurants full. Steady flow of traffic. Prices are up. Most of the shops along 101 boarded up like they have been for years. Lots of boats out for albacore. No change here, yet.
Nailed it: FAKE STATS.
x
1) Decreased activity both in numbers of people and purchases made
2) People are pulling back and holding off on major financial commitments and purchases
3) People are working less hours but multiple jobs
4) There are more inquiries being made on line for job opportunities and positions especially ones that offer more long term stability
As a house painter I’m not getting alot of calls for residential work.
Usually around this time people are looking for a bedroom or living room painted. They want to book me for the fall.
Not getting any calls.
Alot of homes I see are being built but some it looks like have stopped or slowed.
I know guys in construction that are backed up because of material shortages.
I think people are spending as much as they can now because they know bad things are coming this winter.
Retired Magistrate here: Here in Delaware County, Ohio things are fairly normal. Gas price at a local Kroger store is $3.25 and diesel is $4.99. Zoombezi Bay which is part of the Columbus Zoo, is still crowded and people seem to be going about their business as usual. The housing market has definitely slowed down around here although builders are still throwing up high density housing. Fast food stores are still begging for help along with other businesses.
In the 2007-2008 recession Delaware County was fairly recession proof; we will see what happens this time.
Before we retired 8 years ago we made sure everything was paid for. Our house was built in 1957, added onto and updated in 1972 and has been well maintained since we bought it in 2007. Everything works, so we just left it as is. My car is 10 years old and my husband’s is 5 years old; they run fine and we intend to keep them. Appliances are old but work fine. If we need anything we go to estate sales, tag sales, and yard sales and I use coupons for grocery shopping. My husband is good at repairing things and has a small machine shop in the basement.
So, we are prepared as we can be.
Make do and mend has always been our philosophy. I think it’s a pretty good one to live by no matter what resources one has…or has not.
I thought about something along these lines a few weeks ago—my job takes me to many lower income neighborhoods in and around Chicago and it always struck me as odd that many in these communities drive premium nameplate vehicles. Lexus, Range Rover, Mercedes Benz, BMW, etc. I’m sure that makers of luxury brands fully support subsidized housing and other social spending programs.
When I see these higher end vehicles parked in these neighborhoods, I’m reminded of an old friend of mine, a black man old enough to be my father—Leon lived in a run down part of Toledo and always drove a new Cadillac, the car cost more than his house! While having a few beers after work, I asked him one time why he drove such and expensive car. He replied, “Because you can’t see my house from the bar.”