DOOM: The American Economy Now Runs on Fake Money and Slowing the Fake Money Production Loop May Cause the Fake Economy To Crash

So warns Adam Mill of American Greatness.

He's not arguing in favor of continuing to print fake money. He's just arguing that the Expert Class -- the Smartest Guys in Any Room, the people you should always defer to because they are good at thinking and you are not -- have built an inescapable trap for us.

("Doom" headline a reference to Monty's old DOOM posts, of course.)

The Federal Reserve has created a doom loop between the housing market and inflation. For years it has printed tens of billions of dollars each month to buy sketchy securities meant to subsidize the housing market and favor bond traders. This continues even now, in spite of inflation and a red-hot housing market. But the housing market has become dependent on unearned, newly printed money, and stopping the flow might cause a catastrophic correction. If it doesn't stop, however, inflation will explode.
Let me walk you through some of the math.

I'll refer you to the article for the first round of math -- basically, we've flooded the country with more than double the amount of dollars as we had just a few years ago, and prices will have to more than double double before we achieve the same equilibrium in prices vs. dollars we had.

A less well-known problem is that the Fed's purchase of mortgage-backed securities, which was started after the 2008 housing market crash, actually just... continued, with the Fed continuing to buy up securities backed by mortgages, inflating and distorting the real estate market. And turning it into another bubble.

Although the Fed promised it would stop buying mortgage-backed securities by March of this year, the promise came with a giant asterisk. As old bonds mature and disappear from its balance sheet, "monthly purchase schedules will continue to be issued to reflect reinvestment of principal payments . . ." In other words, when the Fed receives a dollar from an MBS payout, it just uses it to buy another bond.
Thus, in the face of red-hot inflation, the Fed bought another $38 billion in mortgage-backed securities in March. In April, it bought another $40.1 billion. This month, the Fed is in the process of buying another $34.5 billion.
Until recently, the Fed has been on an unprecedented buying spree. It increased its total MBS holdings from $1.7 trillion in 2020 to $2.7 trillion today. Indeed, the Fed made roughly $400 billion of those purchases after its chairman's June 2021 testimony in which he famously labeled 5 percent inflation "temporary." It was obvious then that inflation was just getting started.
So all of this might seem like terrible news. But it's nothing compared to the doom loop that has begun to turn. The coming reckoning could be savage and apocalyptic. Let's walk through what might happen next.

So the usual way to fight inflation is jack up interest rates, and the usual prescription is that interest rates have to be 150% of the rate of inflation to bring inflation down. So we'd have to raise interest rates to... gulp... 12% or more.

But that will obviously crash the economy.

Worse, it will cause all kinds of defaults in mortgages.

Mortgages which the federal government holds billions and billions of dollars worth of as securities!!!

But in this environment, raising interest rates will cause a cascade of problems. The higher interest rates will slow the economy and cause unemployment. It will also swallow up tax revenue as the government has to pay interest on its massive debt. But more critically, it will increase the rate of default on home mortgages. Those defaults will make mortgage-backed securities less valuable and more unpredictable. That's how the 2008 housing market seized up.
Thus, the doom loop.

Ugh. Read the whole thing. If you dare.

Meanwhile:

Consumer confidence plummeted in May, in what Biden-aligned media figures will no doubt soon be calling the "Putin Plunge."

Economic confidence fell to 87.7 in this month's Rasmussen Reports Economic Index, more than 20 points lower than April.
May's decline reverses two consecutive months of gains. The index is now at its lowest point in eight years.

In case you missed it: Biden's attempting to cast the skyrocketing price of gas (a key component in the skyrocketing inflation rate) as a good thing, part of our "incredible transition" away from fossil fuels:

Joe Biden: "When it comes to the gas prices, we're going through an INCREDIBLE transition" pic.twitter.com/8TGnc7vFa8
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 23, 2022

Which is their actual plan -- increase the cost of conventional fuels so much that their pie-in-the-sky, super-costly alternatives become economically viable, only due to the soaring costs of formerly cheap regular fuels.

I guess when it gets this bad, honesty becomes your best defense.

Because it's the 70s again:

suggested by Bulgaroctonus.

Posted by: Ace at 03:16 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 sponge

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:17 PM (LvTSG)

2 I think we've been talking about this for a while in the comments, largely thanks to Joe Mannix and others.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:18 PM (LvTSG)

3 Top 5

Posted by: Minnfidel at May 24, 2022 03:18 PM (HhM4+)

4 +1 for the Monty callback!

Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 03:18 PM (9VeU0)

5 Consumer confidence plummeted in May, in what Biden-aligned media figures will no doubt soon be calling the "Putin Plunge."

=======

Fingers crossed that the NM state legislature ends up flipping red because the wave is so big. That should be fun.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:19 PM (LvTSG)

6 In the top 10?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:19 PM (bW8dp)

7 He's not wrong. This country is in a bad place between too much money floated and too much debt to raise interest rates to fix it.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:20 PM (5kI0z)

8 And so many people will be surprised. Sad, really. Here's hoping I'm stocked enough on . . . things.

Posted by: Catherine at May 24, 2022 03:20 PM (ZSsrh)

9 Worse, it will cause all kinds of defaults in mortgages.

It will take a while for the increase in the mortgage rates to impact current mortgages. 1 year ARMs will get hit first, then 5 year.

But a 12% mortgate rate will KILL the current housing boom.

Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 03:20 PM (9VeU0)

10 Watch "The Big Short." Best and most important feature film ever made. Nothing has changed since 2008. Nothing was fixed. Nobody was jailed. Americans have a two-year attention span, max.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:20 PM (qpX6U)

11 7! Yesssss...

Posted by: The Wzzerdd at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (3j8WA)

12 Doom was a movie starring The Rock, Dr. Rosamund Pike, rebooted Bones McCoy, and the guy that will play Tom Petty if they ever do a biopic on him....

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (PiwSw)

13 9 But a 12% mortgate rate will KILL the current housing boom.

Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 03:20 PM (9VeU0)

=======

I thought it was already cresting with supply being unable to meet with demand for so long that there are essentially no houses to buy anymore.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (LvTSG)

14 So everything’s gonna be okay?

Posted by: Squid at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (cGD1P)

15 I know that my property value may fall, but in a 8-10% inflationary environment, I know I made out like a bandit to get a 30-year, no point mortgage at 2.75%. At least that will stay stable as everything else rockets in price.

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (a/dOO)

16 Top Men

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (4lTHC)

17 Where does electricity come from?

Posted by: ... at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (2rMPp)

18 We've been running on fake money since 1934.

The one new nuance is that now the inflation rate isn't even limited by how fast printing presses can physically run.

Now you just have to punch a couple of buttons on a keyboard and suddenly there are twice as many dollars as there were before. Or 100 times as many. Or 10,000 times as many.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (bW8dp)

19 15 I know that my property value may fall, but in a 8-10% inflationary environment, I know I made out like a bandit to get a 30-year, no point mortgage at 2.75%. At least that will stay stable as everything else rockets in price.
Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (a/dOO)

=======

I'm in the same boat.

As long as either Dolley or I remain employed, we should be fine.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (LvTSG)

20 @2

>> I think we've been talking about this for a while in the comments...

Yeah, for about 15 years, give or take.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (cgW/6)

21 What's this we shit Kemosabe?

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (bA3Ln)

22 This is fine.

Everything is fine.

Posted by: The Fed at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (4lTHC)

23 Did you stop the crash, daddy?

Posted by: Malia Biden at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (2rMPp)

24 I love how that demented fool, who has never accomplished anything in his life, thinks he's going to transition the entire transportation and energy sector.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (Y5qcH)

25 Joe Isuzu >>> Joe Biden

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (EHSip)

26 At this point, I'd prefer a good economy and a secret government experiments that opens a portal to hell, unleashing demonspawn upon the earth. At least I'd have a clear enemy I could freely fight.

Plus, I could afford gas and food.

Posted by: DOOM Guy at May 24, 2022 03:23 PM (XexKE)

27 >>Worse, it will cause all kinds of defaults in mortgages.

He left out :

Impacting Women and BIPOC people the hardest.

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:23 PM (4lTHC)

28 I thought it was already cresting with supply being unable to meet with demand for so long that there are essentially no houses to buy anymore.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (LvTSG)

There are always houses to buy. That's why prices keep going up. To get people to sell.

But the 6% mortgage rate is already slowing things. Increased compound interest on top of increased prices, well, I was told there would be no math, but, umm, unsustainable.

Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (9VeU0)

29 TJM, there is little property to buy outside of blue shitholes. KC still is ridiculously inflated. I could sell my house for twice what I paid for it. Not happenin', cause I'm not shopping in this market, but the best word for the housing market in the entire country is . . . uneven.

Posted by: Catherine at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (ZSsrh)

30 And they just can't stop spending at the federal level. (I'm sure most state spending is out of control too.) Can't wait for them to throw another 30-40 billion at Ukraine. Because you know they will.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - move forward at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (5HBd1)

31 Impacting Women and BIPOC people the hardest.
Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:23 PM (4lTHC)

It's not that they receive a bigger punishment, it's that they bitch so loudly about it.

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (EHSip)

32 26 At this point, I'd prefer a good economy and a secret government experiments that opens a portal to hell, unleashing demonspawn upon the earth. At least I'd have a clear enemy I could freely fight.

Plus, I could afford gas and food.
Posted by: DOOM Guy at May 24, 2022 03:23 PM (XexKE)

=======

Modern Hollywood plot twist:

The hellspawn demons are actually misunderstood good guys, made into otherized victims by a white Christian who forced a stronk, independent woman scientist into evil experiments that go against science.

The only enemies are ourselves.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (LvTSG)

33 If it's going to crash it should crash now. Instead of on my kid when she's grown.

And I think if you undid all the stupid crap while raising the interest rates back to something reasonable it wouldn't be too bad for us. It might wipe out saving yes, but I always knew I'd be worked to my death. I'm a genXer, it's our lot. But what they're trying to do is keep the reseters happy. The reseters can all go suck balls.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (QzpS1)

34 Doom! Women and minorities hardest hit!

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (RkC6l)

35 The fat cat tycoons and billionaires are losing a lot of coin these last two weeks. Billions in garbage money that needs to be taking out of circulation in the era of Biden.

*whispers* They need to pay their fair share.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (dp3Bn)

36 FJB's incredible transition doesn't end until we're living in caves and eating the slime and bat guano found in them.

Posted by: Curly Shuffle at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (TNyrE)

37 Not my original content, but I feel Morgan Zegers is worth reposting for those who missed her:

https://tinyurl.com/2mrjzehc

On topic - she raises my interest rate.

Posted by: ... at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (2rMPp)

38 I would suggest locking in any floating interest debt, if a conversion is possible. While current rates may reflect a portion of the projected future interest rate increases, the denial by the expert class of the severity of the problem means that the full cost of the coming correction is still not priced in.

In simple terms, shit's going to get real. Make your costs as predictable as possible, and buckle up.

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (a/dOO)

39 G-d damned Nixon got us off the gold standard.

Hey, didn't a nation that's in the news recently say they were going to get off the Globalists Fake Monetary System Ponzi Death Scheme and go back to the Gold Standard?

Country escapes me though.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (cgW/6)

40 At this point, I'd prefer a good economy and a secret government experiments that opens a portal to hell, unleashing demonspawn upon the earth. At least I'd have a clear enemy I could freely fight.

Plus, I could afford gas and food.

Posted by: DOOM Guy at May 24, 2022 03:23 PM (XexKE)

Plus, there would be anime girls in short skirts everywhere to fight the demons in impossible poses.

Posted by: pookysgirl has seen this before at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (XKZwp)

41 If you recall during the Clinton Mortgage Ponzi Scheme collapse there were Schmatz People recommending the only way to fix it was to import a gazillion newbies. This is also how the Schmatz People think they can save Social Security System. Pyramid Schemes always need new money.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (bA3Ln)

42 MeanTweet Futures are UP!

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (4lTHC)

43 Not OT. 100 pounds each of rice and dried beans can feed a family of four for several months, when the stores are empty.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (5kI0z)

44 Four quarters forecast.

Spring: We're fucked
Summer: We're fucked
Fall: We're fucked
Winter: We're fucked

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, You Didn't Build That Back Better! at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (FVME7)

45 36 FJB's incredible transition doesn't end until we're living in caves and eating the slime and bat guano found in them.
--------------
I call dibs on the lower rack.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:26 PM (bA3Ln)

46 Hey, we have the same problem but we found the solution -- War!

Want to join?

Posted by: China at May 24, 2022 03:26 PM (cDJ1W)

47 Biden Group understands this is a long term problem. Hence, his comment.

If not, Biden should have ditched Powell and blamed Orange Man Bad.

Renominating Powell means they can't go back and blame Trump. Likewise, the prescription initiated by a new fed chair would be extremely painful. i.e., Biden's new guy caused the pain, thus Biden.

There's a reckoning coming.

Posted by: Steve_in_SoCal at May 24, 2022 03:26 PM (NW9xb)

48 > G-d damned Nixon got us off the gold standard.

FDR stuck the knife in.

Nixon twisted it and pulled it out.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:26 PM (bW8dp)

49 made into otherized victims by a white Christian who forced a stronk, independent woman scientist into evil experiments that go against science.

The only enemies are ourselves.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (LvTSG)

How about a trans man scientist? I'll work cheap!

Posted by: Elliot Page at May 24, 2022 03:26 PM (PiwSw)

50 43 Not OT. 100 pounds each of rice and dried beans can feed a family of four for several months, when the stores are empty.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (5kI0z)

Mouse-proof everything.

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at May 24, 2022 03:27 PM (EHSip)

51 12 Doom was a movie starring The Rock, Dr. Rosamund Pike, rebooted Bones McCoy, and the guy that will play Tom Petty if they ever do a biopic on him....
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (PiwSw)

Such a waste of talent, especially making the "demons" genetic mutations in the movie vs actual beings from Hell.

Posted by: Thrawn at May 24, 2022 03:27 PM (Rl7KJ)

52 Mao Zedong’s master plan is working beautifully.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at May 24, 2022 03:27 PM (rlqLh)

53 Presuming we get sanity back at some point, criminal trials and clawing back unlawful gains by the governing and politically connected classes will need to be part of the "reform" package that comes out of this.

Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 03:27 PM (ESjRY)

54 >>> I thought it was already cresting with supply being unable to meet with demand for so long that there are essentially no houses to buy anymore.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:21 PM (LvTSG)

There's still demand in many places. The money that once was flowing into housing starts is now flowing into increased home prices. My area is seeing 100K/year price inflation.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 24, 2022 03:27 PM (QzpS1)

55 >>Such a waste of talent, especially making the "demons" genetic mutations in the movie vs actual beings from Hell.

The Crimson Pact does a good job of establishing an alternate Demon Origin Story.

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:28 PM (4lTHC)

56 Oh, and if pixy's daily posts don't convince you, avoid cryptocurrency. It's a scam of a Ponzi scheme specializing in digital tulip bulbs. And don't get me started on NFTs.

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:28 PM (a/dOO)

57 "criminal trials and clawing back unlawful gains by the governing and politically connected classes"

Paulson walked away from the 2008 cataclysm with $160M.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:28 PM (qpX6U)

58 The Federal Reserve isn’t.

Posted by: A at May 24, 2022 03:28 PM (3LcAa)

59 If it gets bad enough nothing will save our elites from the lampposts.

A guy can dream…

Posted by: weew at May 24, 2022 03:28 PM (+m+uH)

60 >>Mouse-proof everything.

You can try.

But those Pedos are tenacious.

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:28 PM (4lTHC)

61 In simple terms, shit's going to get real. Make your costs as predictable as possible, and buckle up.
Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (a/dOO)

I think we got super lucky and refinanced as close to the bottom as we could - I think our rate is 2 1/4 or 2 3/8.

If it weren't for other externalities, I would love to sell my current house at the top of this bubble without an inspection and go build on our property in Florida with the profit. But there are other externalities.

Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 03:28 PM (9VeU0)

62 >>> Such a waste of talent, especially making the "demons" genetic mutations in the movie vs actual beings from Hell.
Posted by: Thrawn at May 24, 2022 03:27 PM (Rl7KJ)

It was closer to the plotline of Quake.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 24, 2022 03:28 PM (QzpS1)

63 Mouse-proof everything.

Posted by: tcn in AK

Yes, sealed in coolers or airtight containers.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:29 PM (5kI0z)

64 Joe Biden: "When it comes to the gas prices, we're going through an INCREDIBLE transition"

-
From first world to third world.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, You Didn't Build That Back Better! at May 24, 2022 03:29 PM (FVME7)

65 Senile Joe has never done an honest day of work in his-well, apart from his years behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler-he's never had to worry about the price of gas, or being held accountable for crimes or perversion.
How do you expect the poor, demented bugger to relate to people having financial challenges?

Posted by: N.L. Urker, my trench is full of chickens at May 24, 2022 03:29 PM (VdGjU)

66 > Not OT. 100 pounds each of rice and dried beans can feed a family of four for several months, when the stores are empty.

Better get 'em now, if you can.

Lettuce is easy to grow just about anywhere, and there's no shortage of squirrels in most urban areas.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:29 PM (bW8dp)

67 Cruelity level needs to be higher

Posted by: RUReadingthis at May 24, 2022 03:29 PM (aQ25I)

68 56 Oh, and if pixy's daily posts don't convince you, avoid cryptocurrency. It's a scam of a Ponzi scheme specializing in digital tulip bulbs. And don't get me started on NFTs.
--------------
My read is its an existential risk to the world's banking system thus it is being targeted for failure by the bankers/Governments.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (bA3Ln)

69 Doom loop is a term slave traders used.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (t3/qz)

70 If you are stocking up, know that Brown Rice spoils.

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (4lTHC)

71 And so many people will be surprised. Sad, really. Here's hoping I'm stocked enough on . . . things.
Posted by: Catherine at May 24, 2022 03:20 PM (ZSsrh)

I buy extra cans of food every trip to the grocery store.

I've explained to my wife: My previous "prepper" purchases were for "IF" something happens. Today it's for "when".

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (N1tpc)

72 Why would Putin do this to us??!!

Posted by: runner at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (F1vmP)

73 G-d damned Nixon got us off the gold standard.

FDR stuck the knife in.

Nixon twisted it and pulled it out.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:26 PM (bW8dp)

Nixon also created the EPA, which has been a trillion dollar drag on the economy ever since

Posted by: cool breeze at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (UGKMd)

74 increase the cost of conventional fuels so much that their pie-in-the-sky, super-costly alternatives become economically viable

The problem is the alternatives don't exist or at least not in numbers that would be needed.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (8GBH4)

75 Lettuce is easy to grow just about anywhere, and there's no shortage of squirrels in most urban areas.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia

The lettuce is the bait, or the side dish? Why not both.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (5kI0z)

76 My read is its an existential risk to the world's banking system thus it is being targeted for failure by the bankers/Governments.
Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:30 PM (bA3Ln)

Yeah, it's really not though.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 24, 2022 03:31 PM (Y5qcH)

77 I killed the last thread.

This weekend, I was taking my minions to Target and my daughter (who will turn six in a few weeks) was frustrated with me for not moving quickly enough.

"Hurry up, Daddy!" she said, to which I responded: "YOU hurry up, Daddy!"

She said, "I can't be a Daddy, silly. I'm a GIRL!"

How in the everlovingfuck does my six year-old get that, but these grown-ass adults don't?

Posted by: Washington Nearsider at May 24, 2022 03:31 PM (cvNl1)

78 I miss Monty. Where did he go?

Posted by: Truck Monkey Report at May 24, 2022 03:31 PM (flINI)

79 @24

To be fair, he IS going to transition it.

To walking. (or more likely, running)

Posted by: Mister Skribobble at May 24, 2022 03:31 PM (HOQL0)

80 and there's no shortage of squirrels in most urban areas.

F*ck you!

Posted by: Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl at May 24, 2022 03:31 PM (ESjRY)

81 > there's no shortage of squirrels in most urban areas.

Two weeks in, squirrels wouldn't be found anywhere but the deep woods.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 03:31 PM (eyxn4)

82 A less well-known problem is that the Fed's purchase of mortgage-backed securities, which was started after the 2008 housing market crash, actually just... continued, with the Fed continuing to buy up securities backed by mortgages, inflating and distorting the real estate market. And turning it into another bubble.
++++
The various rounds of QE bought a *lot* of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and this helps drive down interest rates and keep lending happening. It's also all funny money. These bond purchases are going to stop soon (probably) and as inflation continues to go gangbusters, the Fed will probably need to actually undo some of what it did with QE. This process - some people call it "QT" for "quantitative tightening" - will involve selling off the securities the fed owns in order to repatriate the money back to the Fed, who will then destroy it. This will shrink the money supply. It can't shrink it enough on its own (they bought high, and will sell low - the balance sheet is underwater), but it can make a big dent.

And then bond prices collapse (e.g., effective interest rates rise). If you or your business depends on debt, well, hang on tight.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:32 PM (CU95+)

83 What President Shit-for-brains does not consider is that "renewables" will NEVER come down in price, because the build out to accommodate demand for electricity will be a forever problem, and the battery build out is going to be similarly a monster problem.

He is celebrating a permanent increase in the cost of energy to consumers and simultaneously celebrating less reliable energy availability.

It really is something only an insane or absolutely stupid person would celebrate.

Posted by: Huck Follywood, Break The Teachers Unions at May 24, 2022 03:32 PM (qqy9u)

84 In case you missed it: Biden's attempting to cast the skyrocketing price of gas (a key component in the skyrocketing inflation rate) as a good thing

This is a big problem - all these execrable f*cks in positions of power have no desire to address these problems, which they see as desirable.

You can't afford a house? Great, apartments are better!
You can't afford hamburger? Great, soybeans are better!
You can't afford to fly anywhere on vacation? Great, save the planet!

And then they jet off to another conference where they're served wagyu steaks and champagne by peons wearing surgical masks.

Posted by: spindrift at May 24, 2022 03:32 PM (h5TKJ)

85 Joe Biden: "When it comes to the gas prices, we're going through an INCREDIBLE transition"

-
You just can't get good mastadon anymore..

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, You Didn't Build That Back Better! at May 24, 2022 03:32 PM (FVME7)

86 70 If you are stocking up, know that Brown Rice spoils.
---------------
That is so raycis.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:32 PM (bA3Ln)

87 I already cheered for SMOD2016. Cheering for this would be a small step down.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at May 24, 2022 03:32 PM (44ww/)

88 And in bizarro news , Help Wanted signs continue to stay up and go up.

Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at May 24, 2022 03:32 PM (jNAzB)

89 Another important point - it's not just the amount of money, it's also the velocity of money, i.e. how often a dollar changes hands per unit time. And this # has plummeted since 2007-2008 which keeps inflation in check (even though the # of dollars have skyrocketed, they just don't get spent as fast so less inflation).
Well, that changed about 2 years ago - and for the past 2 years the velocity of money has flatlined. So expect inflation. And if people start chasing things, oh boy!

Posted by: Brad at May 24, 2022 03:33 PM (hRGgF)

90 .. but I saw multiple interview with "genius" Democrat lawmakers who told us that they could "spend their way out" of an economic downturn.

Posted by: SMOD at May 24, 2022 03:33 PM (RHGPo)

91 Pitchforks, tar, feathers and wooden split rails will be readily available and cheap, so that's good news.

Posted by: Sharkman at May 24, 2022 03:33 PM (r/JV0)

92 > The lettuce is the bait, or the side dish? Why not both.

Both.

Remember the original version of the Tale of Peter Rabbit?

"Now, Peter... do not go into Farmer MacGregor's garden. Your father had an accident there. He was put into a pie by Mrs. MacGregor."

I'm sure current versions have been made "less violent" or whatever.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:33 PM (bW8dp)

93 Nixon twisted it and pulled it out.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia a

And then W jabbed us 30 times on his way out the door.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:33 PM (t3/qz)

94 So will I get more hookers and blow now, before the hyperinflation, or should I wait until the market is flooded by post apocalyptic, desperate hookers driven to sell their bodies after the collapse?

Posted by: Bilwis Devourer of Innocent Souls, I'm starvin' over here at May 24, 2022 03:33 PM (cupoy)

95 I am sure the Dems are NOT looking forward to another covid panic so they can blame Trump for the lousy economy.

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 03:33 PM (Ynyl9)

96 Economic confidence fell to 87.7 in this month's Rasmussen Reports Economic Index, more than 20 points lower than April.
+++
How does Rasmussen work? Is it "above 50 is positive, below 50 is negative" or is it an absolute time-based series that just shows relative motion from a base year?

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:34 PM (CU95+)

97 "Nixon also created the EPA..."
It had to be done.
The river was burning.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at May 24, 2022 03:34 PM (jTmQV)

98 Joe Biden: "When it comes to the gas prices, we're going through an INCREDIBLE transition"

.. in a couple of years, his ass will get an incredible transition

Posted by: SMOD at May 24, 2022 03:34 PM (RHGPo)

99 Be a good time to revisit that study on the Price of Sandwiches and Hookers in post crash Greece.

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:34 PM (4lTHC)

100 Can we hold our own WEF, where the little guys get to talk about all the big plans we have for the elite?

Posted by: Coki at May 24, 2022 03:34 PM (bjJJU)

101 100 pounds each of rice and dried beans can feed a family of four for several months, when the stores are empty.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:25 PM (5kI0z)

If we run short on food, I'm sure Biden will just airlift some in. After all, each flight from Europe is enough formula to last demand for (checks notes) 4 HOURS?!?!

On second thought, how about the 2023 diet leading to a 2024 re-embalming slogan?

Joe Biden: Eliminating Obesity One Crisis at a Time!

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:34 PM (a/dOO)

102 The problem is Peter's mom didn't whoop his ass when he got home. Good for nothing thug running the streets, that's what Peter is, I tells ya.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:34 PM (t3/qz)

103 Watch "The Big Short." Best and most important feature film ever made. Nothing has changed since 2008. Nothing was fixed. Nobody was jailed. Americans have a two-year attention span, max.
Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:20 PM

Yep. Good movie and a good lesson that we've learned NOTHING from. nothing.

Posted by: Minnfidel at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (HhM4+)

104 > Two weeks in, squirrels wouldn't be found anywhere but the deep woods.

Pigeons, rats, stray dogs and cats...

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (bW8dp)

105 Listen Fat, we get the gas scarce enough to be $25 a gallon and we got everybody riding bicycles like our good friend China. Think about the healthcare savings as everybody gets fit. This is gonna be great!

Posted by: Joey Biden's Brain Cell at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (8GBH4)

106 Vox
@voxdotcom
1/ The end of natural gas has to start with its name.

For over a century, the gas industry has marketed natural gas as "clean," "renewable," and "responsible," reports @rebleber.

But all of those labels mean the same thing: Methane.

-
Yeah, boy, if there's one thing we need more of it's fuel shortages.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, You Didn't Build That Back Better! at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (FVME7)

107 DOOM is just MOOD spelt backwards.

Posted by: Weasel at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (0IeYL)

108 The 70s gave us the EPA and the Dept of Ed. And we stopped going to the moon.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:36 PM (t3/qz)

109 Reminds me, time to rewatch The Road Warrior.

"The juice, the precious juice..."

Posted by: goodluckduck at May 24, 2022 03:36 PM (pCXlW)

110 I just bought a 12L gravity fed lifestraw filter thingy.

I'm looking into a rainwater collection system, but in a pinch I've got a river three minutes away.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 03:36 PM (eyxn4)

111 Momma, I'm hungry. When is Grandpa gonna give us that thing he promised?

Posted by: Arkansas Biden Baby at May 24, 2022 03:36 PM (PiwSw)

112 Nixon also created the EPA, which has been a trillion dollar drag on the economy ever since

It’s amazing looking at history and realizing just how much the Republican Party changed with Reagan. Republicans had completely lost their way since Lincoln. We complain, justly, about how bad the GOPe is, but holy crap things are better than they could be.

Democrats, oddly, have also returned to their Lincoln-era principles.

“You may turn over everything in the Democratic policy from beginning to end, whether in the shape it [slavery] takes on the statute-book, in the shape it takes in the Dred Scott decision, in the shape it takes in conversation, or the shape it takes in short maxim-like arguments—it everywhere carefully excludes the idea that there is anything wrong in it.”—Abraham Lincoln, The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, p. 485

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 03:36 PM (U+Oxn)

113 The only reset I'm in for is a return of the Greatest Generation. I think we'll get it, but the hard way ... hard times make good/tough men.

Posted by: Coki at May 24, 2022 03:36 PM (bjJJU)

114 They keep fucking that chicken that wind turbines and solar panels are the answer to everything.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:37 PM (t3/qz)

115 >>The 70s gave us the EPA and the Dept of Ed.

You forgot the Avacado Green Appliances and the courderoy.

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:37 PM (4lTHC)

116 Headline: someting something Women, POC loudly affected.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at May 24, 2022 03:37 PM (44ww/)

117 But that will obviously crash the economy.

Worse, it will cause all kinds of defaults in mortgages.

Mortgages which the federal government holds billions and billions of dollars worth of as securities!!!
++++
Mortgages go up anyway. That's already started. Mortgage rates for good credit and financial conditions (down payment, income, etc.) are already running 5.25% or more, which is a lot higher than it was two years ago.

But most mortgages are fixed-rate, so defaults don't necessary track rates (though defaults *do* track job loss, and to a lesser degree the housing market through things like "strategic default" when the borrower is deeply underwater). But higher rates *do* mean lower sale prices (all other things being equal) so it will likely cause a housing recession.

I am more worried about corporate bonds than mortgages. As bond rates surge - and they will - companies addicted to rollovers will be caught with their pants down, and this will drive bankruptcy and that will drive job loss and that will drive defaults. The loss of the asset to the federal government is likely less important than the loss of the cashflow associated with it.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:37 PM (CU95+)

118 I meant to say "largely".

No I didn't.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at May 24, 2022 03:37 PM (44ww/)

119 107 DOOM is just MOOD spelt backwards.
Posted by: Weasel at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (0IeYL)

/starts to sing...

I'm in the mood for doommmm...
Simply inflations loominggggg...

Posted by: Romeo13 at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (oHd/0)

120 What's kind of amazing here is that maybe we had it all wrong, regarding Biden as the right guy for the job. I mean, can you imagine any sort of sentient being, even a dishonest politician being able to mouth these words without laughing?

Posted by: BurtTC at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (YV6PJ)

121 DAMN YOU, PUTIN!

Posted by: The Media! at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (I2/tG)

122 But all of those labels mean the same thing: Methane.

-
Yeah, boy, if there's one thing we need more of it's fuel shortages.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, You Didn't Build That Back Better! at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (FVME7)

Who run Bartertown?

Posted by: Master Blaster at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (PiwSw)

123 Get back to me after Putin nukes the WEF.

Posted by: Joe Mama at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (WmGrA)

124 Democrats, oddly, have also returned to their Lincoln-era principles.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 03:36 PM (U+Oxn)

====

Ah, those Democrats. They'll always be slavers at heart.

Posted by: Coki at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (bjJJU)

125 Someone needs to go to the Vox headquarters and go on a mass dick punching rampage.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (Y5qcH)

126 JOE BIDEN CAN'T LOWER GAS PRICES, BUT PUTIN CAN RAISE THEM!

Posted by: The Media! at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (I2/tG)

127 115 >>The 70s gave us the EPA and the Dept of Ed.

You forgot the Avacado Green Appliances and the courderoy.
--------------
Never forget shag carpeting. The horror. The horror.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (bA3Ln)

128 What President Shit-for-brains does not consider is that "renewables" will NEVER come down in price, because the build out to accommodate demand for electricity will be a forever problem, and the battery build out is going to be similarly a monster problem.

Posted by: Huck Follywood

It is even worse than that. The unreliable energy that they want cannot be ramped to meet demand, which is a fundamental requirement of electrical systems. It has to be augmented by a power generator that can be ramped, like nuclear or natural gas or coal, all of which they refuse to allow.

Then, to make matters worse, the elements that they need to make this transition don't exist on this planet in sufficient quantities, so it will never happen unless we find an asteroid or planet full of these elements and mine them, and we can't even get a vehicle out of our own atmosphere anymore.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (5kI0z)

129 115 >>The 70s gave us the EPA and the Dept of Ed.

You forgot the Avacado Green Appliances and the courderoy.
Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:37 PM (4lTHC)

Shag carpet!

Posted by: Romeo13 at May 24, 2022 03:39 PM (oHd/0)

130 I'm pretty sure the New Finance already solved this. Modern Monetary Theory. Or Kick The Can. One of those two.

Posted by: East Bay Jay at May 24, 2022 03:39 PM (DePyg)

131 The 'super costly alternatives' won't ever become viable.

Posted by: aelfheld at May 24, 2022 03:39 PM (Zy9Yy)

132 The 70s gave us the EPA and the Dept of Ed.

You forgot the Avacado Green Appliances and the courderoy.
Posted by: garrett

And disco!

Posted by: Joe Mama at May 24, 2022 03:39 PM (WmGrA)

133 > Someone needs to go to the Vox headquarters and go on a mass dick punching rampage.

You're assuming that there are any males there who haven't already had their dicks cut off.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:39 PM (bW8dp)

134 So - how long until we're using burning tires to stay warm and fighting over cans of cat food?

Posted by: Weasel at May 24, 2022 03:39 PM (0IeYL)

135 These are seriously some some of the dumbest mfers to ever run our gov't. As fuel prices go up so does shipping on everything. If this is intentional, I don't see what their endgame is other than making foreign currency more valuable.

Posted by: ryukyu at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (4n6fw)

136 Jack up interest rates considerably, and most Federal revenues will have to be devoted to debt repayment.

Posted by: The ARC Of History! at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (I2/tG)

137 > Avacado Green Appliances

Sure. Just ignore Coppertone, Harvest Gold, and Burnt Orange.

Racist.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (bW8dp)

138 Which is their actual plan -- increase the cost of conventional fuels so much that their pie-in-the-sky, super-costly alternatives become economically viable, only due to the soaring costs of formerly cheap regular fuels.

Correct. And, were this a valid economic choice like driving all illegal immigrants out of the country and locking down the border, the interim difficulties and economic troubles that might result are worth it.

The problem is that their goal is impossible and ridiculous, its not feasible to simply shut down gas powered vehicles for electric, and its stupid to try. So all its doing is causing suffering for a pipe dream.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (KZzsI)

139 All my emergency plans depended on non-suicidal leadership. Darn.

Posted by: Coki at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (bjJJU)

140 Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (5kI0z)

They can't pull out the same power from the wind and solar. You could cover every possible square inch of the US in solar panels and it still wouldn't cut it.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (Y5qcH)

141 136 Jack up interest rates considerably, and most Federal revenues will have to be devoted to debt repayment.
Posted by: The ARC Of History! at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (I2/tG)

=========

"But my SS check won't be affected, right?"

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (LvTSG)

142
To "save the system" back in '08, the Fed pushed monetary policy to the coffin corner of the envelope. We're reaping what we sowed then.

By saving the system, they made the inevitable crash that much worse, apocalyptically worse. We crossed the event horizon sometime over the last couple of years.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (Mzdiz)

143 > Jack up interest rates considerably, and most Federal revenues will have to be devoted to debt repayment.

Not if we default.

Posted by: Dem with a Cunning Plan at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (bW8dp)

144 When I ran in 2000 and before the election was stolen from me and what's his name, I told you all that the earth's core was 10 billion degrees and that earth was in the lurch and I wanted to see gas prices go up to $3-3.50 a gallon to help cool the planet and you all laughed at me.

Whose laughing now?

Release My Chakra! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Posted by: Al Gore, democrat rapist at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (VghRo)

145 @voxdotcom
1/ The end of natural gas has to start with its name.

For over a century, the gas industry has marketed natural gas as "clean," "renewable," and "responsible," reports @rebleber.

But all of those labels mean the same thing: Methane. ...
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, You Didn't Build That Back Better! at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (FVME7)
++++
The "end of natural gas" is the end of the world as you know it, dumbass. The fracking boom resulted in huge amounts of gas, and that gas had to go somewhere so it was sold below the cost of production for a decade. With gas so plentiful and so cheap, a lot of stuff moved over to it. Not just your furnace, but power plants and industrial plants switched to nat gas. That cycle is *long* and it doesn't turnover and use other fuels quickly.

The war on fracking - and the war on gas, which is another theater in the same conflict - has come at the worst possible time because of the amount of switchover to gas that has happened over the past decade or so.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (CU95+)

146 So - how long until we're using burning tires to stay warm and fighting over cans of cat food?
Posted by: Weasel

So long as those tires are necklaces bestowed upon the elites, I'm okay with that.

Posted by: Joe Mama at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (WmGrA)

147 123 Get back to me after Putin nukes the WEF.
Posted by: Joe Mama at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (WmGrA)

Why Putin? Why not China, Tehran, or a host of other countries that would be similarly harmed by WEF policies and would love to decapitate the new world order?

Hell, why not some nut like the guy who bombed Nashville a year or two ago?

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (a/dOO)

148 >> You could cover every possible square inch of the US in solar panels and it still wouldn't cut it.

We'd have a lot of cooked starling, though.

Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (4lTHC)

149 nd in bizarro news , Help Wanted signs continue to stay up and go up.
==
Been reading Robert Kroese Mammon series.

Hyperinflation - Meteor - John Philip Law - Politicians being politicians - complexity - Chyna

Posted by: its good but not enjoyable if you know what i mean at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (ETxU1)

150 Hey, does everyone have their wood burning stove yet?

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (bA3Ln)

151 "I don't see what their endgame is other than making foreign currency more valuable."

Surprisingly, the USD has been gaining since FJB took office. Check the DXY chart.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (qpX6U)

152
biden is out there pretending he's "delivering" seventy-thousand pounds (or 70K "tons" as he claims) himself.

Where did he get it?

Posted by: Soothsayer, the #1 name in news at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (FLmAP)

153 129 115 >>The 70s gave us the EPA and the Dept of Ed.

You forgot the Avacado Green Appliances and the courderoy.
Posted by: garrett at May 24, 2022 03:37 PM (4lTHC)

Shag carpet!
Posted by: Romeo13 at May 24, 2022 03:39 PM (oHd/0)

ORANGE shag carpet!

Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at May 24, 2022 03:42 PM (906pl)

154 Yeah when you transition away from something you usually move to something superior and ready to be implemented...

Posted by: steevy at May 24, 2022 03:42 PM (CYnTg)

155 What no one is talking about is the other side of inflation. Too few goods is just as critical as too much $. It would be so much easier with basically no downside to increase the supply of goods thru deregulation than to restrict money supply. California alone drives inflation nationally by choking the supply chain. Just reversing their treatment of subcontractors as employees and ending age restriction on semi tractors would have a huge impact of supply of goods in a matter of days.

Posted by: pashmr at May 24, 2022 03:42 PM (Br0mc)

156 Which is their actual plan -- increase the cost of conventional fuels so much that their pie-in-the-sky, super-costly alternatives become economically viable, only due to the soaring costs of formerly cheap regular fuels.
---------
The cost of everything else will soar, but the cost of alternative energy will miraculously stay the same. I think their real plan is to kill off the non-super rich.

Posted by: zmdavid at May 24, 2022 03:42 PM (xqRaG)

157 The price of land and houses right now in TX is crazy, and getting worse.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at May 24, 2022 03:42 PM (ZT05q)

158 >>The 70s gave us the EPA and the Dept of Ed.

And AMF Harley Davidsons which almost finished off Harley.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at May 24, 2022 03:42 PM (Iz2Z7)

159 Those avacado green and harvest gold appliances are still working.

Dad, where did the rusty leaning skyscrapers come from?
Built by giants, son.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at May 24, 2022 03:42 PM (44ww/)

160 Who run Bartertown?

Posted by: Master Blaster at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (PiwSw)

----------------
Vox will get the exclusive rights to broadcast play-by-play coverage from all Thunderdome events, I'm sure.

Posted by: Curly Shuffle at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (TNyrE)

161 > We'd have a lot of cooked starling, though.

See, there's the answer to the food shortage right there!

Posted by: Dem with a Cunning Plan at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (bW8dp)

162 These are seriously some some of the dumbest mfers to ever run our gov't. As fuel prices go up so does shipping on everything. If this is intentional, I don't see what their endgame is other than making foreign currency more valuable.
Posted by: ryukyu at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (4n6fw)
++++
I think it was sort of - but only sort of - intentional. They wanted "less fossil fuel" but they lost control because they're stupid and arrogant and have no idea how big these things are and how much it matters. They also don't understand basic concepts like "prices are set on the margins."

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (CU95+)

163 what's the fuss about renewables? you can't eat petroleum, can you? Just be grateful that you helped save the planet by freezing.

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (Ynyl9)

164 Ah, those Democrats. They'll always be slavers at heart.

Seriously, if you read their “white culture” flyers and teaching guides, such as the infamous Smithsonian flyer from a couple of years ago (see blog post in nic) and what they say about blacks and other non-whites is nearly indistinguishable from what antebellum slavers said. No work ethic. Planning for the future is alien to their culture. Independent thought is alien to their culture. That these are all elements solely of white culture.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (U+Oxn)

165 ORANGE shag carpet!

Orange deep pile shag carpet. In your car.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (KZzsI)

166 Sundowner's Incredible Transition is his fking self
Please jump off the Potomac Bridge please

Posted by: Skip at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (2JoB8)

167 >>> So will I get more hookers and blow now, before the hyperinflation, or should I wait until the market is flooded by post apocalyptic, desperate hookers driven to sell their bodies after the collapse?
Posted by: Bilwis Devourer of Innocent Souls, I'm starvin' over here at May 24, 2022 03:33 PM (cupoy)

You'd like Stacy X.

You'd settle for the Total Recall Tritittie

You'll get C.H.U.D

Posted by: banana Dream at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (QzpS1)

168 " built an inescapable trap for us."

For us, not for them. Those with their dickbeaters on the levers of power aren't going to suffer much in what is coming due to bank account balances. Power of that sort means they can always just get more money.

Posted by: somedood - skull mountain sherpa at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (geKVs)

169 I guess I just don't understand why people think Putin would want to attach the WEF and not other parties. A lot of WEF types probably don't really care about the invasion of Ukraine.

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (a/dOO)

170 We're dooooooooooomed......

Posted by: Mortianna of Nottingham at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (W7Wi6)

171 >> companies addicted to rollovers will be caught with their pants down,

Many firms out there have adopted business models depending on secularly declining interest rates. Their business model depends on increasing globs of cheap debt.

In an increasing rate environment, their fucked. Their model can't support the coupon payments.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (Mzdiz)

172 @153

>>ORANGE shag carpet!.

Wood and white paneling and stucco too.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 24, 2022 03:44 PM (cgW/6)

173 Shag carpet!
Posted by: Romeo13 at May 24, 2022 03:39 PM (oHd/0)

ORANGE shag carpet!
Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at May 24, 2022 03:42 PM (906pl)

And that big dial beside the TV that rotated your antenna!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at May 24, 2022 03:44 PM (PiwSw)

174 > And AMF Harley Davidsons which almost finished off Harley.

I remember that.

Wasn't AMF a bowling ball maker or something like that?

Posted by: Dem with a Cunning Plan at May 24, 2022 03:44 PM (bW8dp)

175 So eventually they will start to roll out the electricity brown outs everywhere (we have seen this in history before), but you say you have a generator to save the stuff in your fridge and freezer you prepped for, but oops the fuel to run the generator costs more than the food, also there isn't any fuel.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at May 24, 2022 03:44 PM (8GBH4)

176 Damn autocucumber.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 24, 2022 03:44 PM (cgW/6)

177 165 ORANGE shag carpet!

Orange deep pile shag carpet. In your car.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (KZzsI)

Van! With a Wizard and Uni corny painted on the side!

Posted by: Romeo13 at May 24, 2022 03:44 PM (oHd/0)

178 Maybe we could just reprint those Mother Earth News magazines from the seventies and just change the dates? Profit, no?

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:44 PM (bA3Ln)

179 Leisure suits!

Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (lKAqb)

180 No problem as long as half the world doesn't start paying for goods and energy using a gold-backed currency.

Posted by: V. Putin at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (Wmbtn)

181 You know that you can only buy EPA approved wood stoves, right? And they keep trying to outlaw them.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - move forward at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (5HBd1)

182 Don't forget those wonderful breathable polyester shirts with the huge collar

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (KZzsI)

183 Hey, does everyone have their wood burning stove yet?
Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:41 PM (bA3Ln)

Yup! And I got a wood burning truck too!

Posted by: Eustace Conway, Mountain Man Weirdo at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (VghRo)

184 old, busted: Brother can you spare a dime?
new hotness: Brother can you spare a billion-dollar bill?

Posted by: That guy from the Great Depression Era at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (786Ro)

185 It may not be much, but my house is paid for. Thankful for that.

Posted by: Doyle Hargrave at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (2cfUo)

186 Shag carpet so luxurious you were given a wooden rake upon installation

Posted by: NCKate at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (2oJif)

187 Every wardrobe sin of the 70's is on display in The Six Million Dollar Man....

Posted by: steevy at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (CYnTg)

188 I can't wait till Peloton builds a bicycle that also lets you make your own electricity.

Ride Away That Blackout Day!

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (Ynyl9)

189 > Van! With a Wizard and Uni corny painted on the side!

Mindblower speakers, $15/ounce Mexican weed, hot girls, and no AIDS.

Even herpes was generally limited to cold sores back then.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (bW8dp)

190 Jack up interest rates considerably, and most Federal revenues will have to be devoted to debt repayment.
Posted by: The ARC Of History! at May 24, 2022 03:40 PM (I2/tG)
++++
True, but it isn't as simple as that. If the treasury bond is owned by the Federal Reserve, the interest gets rebated back to the Treasury (the Fed earns nothing on US government securities). So if interest rates are 6% and consuming 100% of the budget, but 80% of the bonds are owned by the Fed, the interest payments get laundered back to the Treasury and it ends up being not as bad as it looks on paper.

But it will be catastrophic in reality because there's a duration mismatch and that is a killer all on its own. If the Fed owns a bunch of 10-year paper but the 1-year paper is going for five times the rate, you're fucked regardless.

The Fed can't raise rates enough to avoid bankrupting the government, which is why I suspect they're going to start very quietly unloading their balance sheet.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (CU95+)

191 185 It may not be much, but my house is paid for. Thankful for that.
Posted by: Doyle Hargrave at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (2cfUo)

So is mine... but its in the wrong State.

Posted by: Romeo13 at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (oHd/0)

192 Neil Cavuto is an asswipe! That is all.

Posted by: Mean Tweets at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (BOJAx)

193 "Which is their actual plan -- increase the cost of conventional fuels so much that their pie-in-the-sky, super-costly alternatives become economically viable, only due to the soaring costs of formerly cheap regular fuels."

No.

The plan isn't to make alternatives viable, it's to end up in a state where 24/7 electrical service isn't a given, and private vehicle ownership is rarer and more expensive - the idea being to curtail social and physical mobility while making us peasants more vulnerable. It's not hyperbole to label the goal here "neofuedalism".

These people don't give a flying fuck about the environment and if you actually believe they do, you're being incredibly gullible.

Posted by: somedood - skull mountain sherpa at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (geKVs)

194 188 Like in Soylent Green

Posted by: steevy at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (CYnTg)

195 I love those old Mother Earth News magazines. But you are better off with Carla Emery's book and Dolly Freed's Possum Living.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - move forward at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (5HBd1)

196
But the 6% mortgage rate is already slowing things. Increased compound interest on top of increased prices, well, I was told there would be no math, but, umm, unsustainable.
Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 03:24 PM (9VeU0)

I built my house on an 8% interest mortgage. I made the payments and own the house now. It really was no big deal.

6 - 8% interest is where it should be anyway.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (Qhnrt)

197 I remember during one of the debates when Trump tried to point out Biden's shtick of looking into the camera and talking to the "people at home sitting at their kitchen tables and wondering how they are going to pay for food and other necessities" - as if only Biden was capable and caring enough to come to the rescue of the downtrodden Americans that Trump didn't give a fig about.

Now we see how that panned out.

Posted by: washrivergal at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (TY4FX)

198 "It may not be much, but my house is paid for. Thankful for that."

Mine too, but repair costs are killing me. Try to find an honest, competent tradesperson. They're all booked up to infinity.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (qpX6U)

199 In 5 years everyone will have a fusion reactor in the basement.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (t3/qz)

200 So a Bubblegum Crisis for real.

Will we get 33-S bumas also?

Posted by: Anna Puma at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (UZXUS)

201 190 The Fed can't raise rates enough to avoid bankrupting the government, which is why I suspect they're going to start very quietly unloading their balance sheet.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (CU95+)

=======

That combined with limited discretionary spending and some overhauls of the security net could, in time, lead to some level of sanity in our federal government's finances.

Why are you laughing?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (LvTSG)

202 191 185 It may not be much, but my house is paid for. Thankful for that.
Posted by: Doyle Hargrave at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM (2cfUo)

So is mine... but its in the wrong State.
Posted by: Romeo13 at May 24, 2022 03:46 PM (oHd/0)

I'm good there. Red as it gets

Posted by: Doyle Hargrave at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (2cfUo)

203 As along as cucksheds remain reasonably priced, it's all good.

Posted by: David F. at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (a3Q+t)

204 Don't forget those wonderful breathable polyester shirts with the huge collar
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

Platform shoes!

Posted by: Joe Mama at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (WmGrA)

205 > Shag carpet so luxurious you were given a wooden rake upon installation

Heh... raking the living room rug was a hated chore for a friend of mine.

My folks were way too practical to get that shag carpet shit in a house with as many kids as we had (some still babies/toddlers). They went with 100% hardwood floors in the new house we built about then.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (bW8dp)

206 Many firms out there have adopted business models depending on secularly declining interest rates. Their business model depends on increasing globs of cheap debt.

In an increasing rate environment, their fucked. Their model can't support the coupon payments.
Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at May 24, 2022 03:43 PM (Mzdiz)
++++
Yup. These are the "zombie companies" that finance wonks sometimes write about. They are companies that should be dead by bankruptcy long ago but have ridden the interest rates down. The fundamentals get worse and worse with each passing day, but they keep surviving because they can keep borrowing more cheaply each time.

If that reverses - and it is reversing because now it finally *must* reverse - then these zombies get a double-tap. And the zombies employ millions of people.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (CU95+)

207 They have a solution in mind....a world war

Posted by: steevy at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (CYnTg)

208 Monetary theory and economic history are difficult to discuss in gray box limits.

However, one of the issues with every country using precious metals is the problem that the supply of precious metal does not correspond with economic growth or lack thereof. The history of the US on the gold standard was replete with bank failures, 'panics' aka depressions, etc. Imagine if you will the silver to gold ratio in monetary backing being a prime presidential issue in 1896. That is because debtors wanted looser money by decreasing the ratio of gold to silver and creditors wanted hard money. The impetus was the Depression of 1894-96. During WWII and its aftermath, the Bretton Woods effectively made the dollar the reserve currency backed by US gold. That lasted until the European countries and Japan ate away at US competitiveness but the external exchange rate was fixed. Nixon more or less had to remove the US from the gold std or eventually surrender all the US gold to satisfy trade deficit imbalances. That in turn created the Eurodollar market as a replacement.

Posted by: whig at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (Iq9dF)

209 I think it was sort of - but only sort of - intentional. They wanted "less fossil fuel" but they lost control because they're stupid and arrogant and have no idea how big these things are and how much it matters. They also don't understand basic concepts like "prices are set on the margins."
==
remember when Hillary was on the campaign trail and the scooby van stopped at Chipotle? She was completely at Sea. Had never even conceptualized how real people exist. The people who would rule the world, do not live in the world they would rule. Thus, their choices are idiotic and dysfunctional. You can't tell them that, however, because they lack the context necessary to process that judgment. Reality is outside of their experience.

Posted by: Reality is outside their experience at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (Gh3/R)

210 Are there any Sri Lankans here that can teach us about the upcoming fiscal apocalypse? I'd like to avoid as many pitfalls as possible.

Posted by: Citizen Cake at May 24, 2022 03:49 PM (HmZuC)

211 "So is mine... but its in the wrong State."

Mines in the wrongest city in the wrongest state, and I can't afford to move.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:49 PM (qpX6U)

212 We're all going to start wearing suspenders. Girls too.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:49 PM (bA3Ln)

213 198 "It may not be much, but my house is paid for. Thankful for that."

Mine too, but repair costs are killing me. Try to find an honest, competent tradesperson. They're all booked up to infinity.

Yep, even if it's stuff you can do yourself. Materials are insane

Posted by: Doyle Hargrave at May 24, 2022 03:49 PM (2cfUo)

214 Dennis Leary used to do a bit about 70's fashion where he pointed out the shoes were the worst

Posted by: steevy at May 24, 2022 03:49 PM (CYnTg)

215 The CB radio craze.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at May 24, 2022 03:49 PM (HXmAu)

216 >>> In 5 years everyone will have a fusion reactor in the basement.
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (t3/qz)

If the regime has its way will soon all be having fission in our backyard.

Posted by: banana Dream at May 24, 2022 03:50 PM (QzpS1)

217 Then, to make matters worse, the elements that they need to make this transition don't exist on this planet in sufficient quantities, so it will never happen unless we find an asteroid or planet full of these elements and mine them, and we can't even get a vehicle out of our own atmosphere anymore.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 03:38 PM (5kI0z)
------------
Asteroid 16 Psyche maybe? But that's way out by Jupiter...

Posted by: zmdavid at May 24, 2022 03:50 PM (xqRaG)

218 Oh, i think it is about the environment for alot of these whacks. You are doing things that they think are wasteful and unimportant and must be stopped. The need their Suburban and 1/2 acre lot. You need to move to the city and give up all of your possessions and freedom. For the Earf.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:50 PM (t3/qz)

219 >> which is why I suspect they're going to start very quietly unloading their balance sheet.

If they start dumping their balance sheet, they can and will cause a cascade that can get out of control. Suppose they start selling of Ts, pulling that money out of the system.

Market notices, "Fed is dumping" and that's starts a sell-off beyond what the Fed itself did. Prices go down, yields go up.

Fed balance sheet goes underwater. There are more dollars in the system than the valuation of assets they hold.

They actually snuck a little accounting trick, the "negative liability" trick to paper this over, but that is their worst nightmare.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at May 24, 2022 03:51 PM (Mzdiz)

220 What's the off ramp on this Putin is screwing up our economy bit? Housing bubble burst? dammit Putin!, Weimar levels of inflation? why you rascal Putin! So all Putin had to do to crush the US economy was take a bit of Ukraine's territory? Maybe we better send $100b to Ukraine next month to avoid this catastrophe.

Posted by: Chuck Martel at May 24, 2022 03:51 PM (fs1hN)

221 Reality is outside of their experience.
Posted by: Reality is outside their experience at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (Gh3/R)

But but but..she carried her own tray! Her OWN tray!

Posted by: Hillary supporter who still has an "I'm With Her" bumper sticker on her car at May 24, 2022 03:51 PM (PiwSw)

222 It may not be much, but my house is paid for. Thankful for that.

Posted by: Doyle Hargrave at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM

Just about there ourselves and we have a 3% locked mortgage for the remainder.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at May 24, 2022 03:51 PM (bVYXr)

223 216 >>> In 5 years everyone will have a fusion reactor in the basement.
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:47 PM (t3/qz)

so, everyone without basements will be dead

Posted by: REDACTED at May 24, 2022 03:51 PM (us2H3)

224 If we measured inflation properly, the interest rate would have to be even higher.

Posted by: Aetius451AD Work Laptop at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (3NKiY)

225 Say you're a young person with a few hundred grand in the stock market. Do you leave it there and wait this out because, after all, you are young, or do you buy some real estate. If you buy real estate, do you do it now while interest rates are still relatively low but prices are ridiculously high.

Posted by: IrishEi at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (VhE0u)

226 Multiple deaths being reported in the school shooting.

Posted by: redridinghood at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (NpAcC)

227 "175 So eventually they will start to roll out the electricity brown outs everywhere (we have seen this in history before), but you say you have a generator to save the stuff in your fridge and freezer you prepped for, but oops the fuel to run the generator costs more than the food, also there isn't any fuel.
Posted by: Guy Mohawk at May 24, 2022 03:44 PM (8GBH4)"

That's not how you do this. Stockpile enough fuel for normal emergencies and also to last you long enough to preserve (read: canning, usually) what can be preserved in the first 1-3 weeks of a big emergency - in that period before running a generator draws too much attention. It's not feasible for most people to run a refrigerator indefinitely on an ICE generator.

You can also run a chest freezer indefinitely on a solar setup in many places. And of course, you need to be set up with something like wood heat.

Posted by: somedood - skull mountain sherpa at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (geKVs)

228 Don't worry America. We have plenty of used wheelbarrows you can purchase to carry bales of your useless currency.

Posted by: Zimbabwe at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (HmZuC)

229 " So we'd have to raise interest rates to... gulp... 12% or more."
___

Won't be the first time. I once had an 11 1/2 percent mortage.

Posted by: Javems at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (AmoqO)

230

A Fent-Skel is passed out in the park across the street, under a park bench.

A group of squirrels are doing something nasty to him. Probably in revenge for all of Legolamb's abuses.

Posted by: Miso Sleepy at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (+9aBQ)

231 The 70s gave us the EPA and the Dept of Ed.
*
You forgot the Avacado Green Appliances and the courderoy.
--------------
Never forget shag carpeting. The horror. The horror.
Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022

***
No TSA; no weaponized social media; you could lose a job and be hired at a new one in a week instead of the month it takes HR drones now; rent in reasonable proportion to income; a big bag of Doritos cost .69, a bottle of bourbon could be had for about $5; cars were much easier to work on with fewer electronics; no red light cameras or street cameras watching your every move. . . .

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (txdEq)

232 It wouldn't surprise me that they don't understand farms run on diesel. Fertilizer depends on oil.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (t3/qz)

233 Imma thinking about taking out as much student loans as is legally possible and investing in shorts.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (bA3Ln)

234 "Say you're a young person with a few hundred grand in the stock market."

Diversify your portfolio.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (qpX6U)

235 Seriously, if you read their “white culture” flyers and teaching guides, such as the infamous Smithsonian flyer from a couple of years ago (see blog post in nic) and what they say about blacks and other non-whites is nearly indistinguishable from what antebellum slavers said. No work ethic. Planning for the future is alien to their culture. Independent thought is alien to their culture. That these are all elements solely of white culture.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair

I think that the reason George Floyd was such a big thing was to show us that the worst black man is better than the best white man.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, You Didn't Build That Back Better! at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (FVME7)

236 If you're blowing up home how do you get people to go somewhere and fight ww3?

Posted by: NCKate at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (2oJif)

237 "225 Say you're a young person with a few hundred grand in the stock market. Do you leave it there and wait this out because, after all, you are young, or do you buy some real estate. If you buy real estate, do you do it now while interest rates are still relatively low but prices are ridiculously high.
Posted by: IrishEi at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (VhE0u)"

In the long run the dollar is toast and I'd have already been out of equities. If I'm that young I'd honestly not even be looking to stay in the US.

Posted by: somedood - skull mountain sherpa at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (geKVs)

238 "Won't be the first time. I once had an 11 1/2 percent mortage."

Mine was 18%. I paid it off quickly.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (qpX6U)

239 remember when Hillary was on the campaign trail and the scooby van stopped at Chipotle? She was completely at Sea. Had never even conceptualized how real people exist.
Posted by: Reality is outside their experience at May 24, 2022 03:48 PM (Gh3/R)

Was it after eating at Chipotle that she passed out and had to be dumped back into the scooby van? Because suddenly that whole episode could make sense...

Posted by: Virginia SoCon at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (a/dOO)

240 The left is busy drumming up hatred 24/7. Expect nutbars to be triggered into committing murder. It is the plan.

Posted by: steevy at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (CYnTg)

241 I can't tell if this is a joke or brilliant satire.

Seth Green had a "bored ape" NFT. He was developing a show which would use that character. One phishing event later, Seth Green no longer owns the bored ape NFT and the future of the show in production is bleak.

https://bit.ly/3MG5b4i

Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (eyxn4)

242 Inflation is due to a devaluation of the medium of exchange (currency, USD in this case). Prices can also rise because of supply/demand issues and government imposes limits and regulation.

Inflation itself is a reflection of the declining value of the currency, and is a large but not exclusive part of the current and future problems.

Calling any and all price increases "inflation" misses the influence of malign and capricious actions of government.

Posted by: Miklos, casually mentioning that Ph.D. in Economics at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (WS6Pg)

243 222 It may not be much, but my house is paid for. Thankful for that.

Posted by: Doyle Hargrave at May 24, 2022 03:45 PM

homes are never paid for

Posted by: REDACTED at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (us2H3)

244 Won't be the first time. I once had an 11 1/2 percent mortage.

Back in the days you had a measurable interest rate in your bank account.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (KZzsI)

245
The memes I'm now seeing say, "Hey, gas prices could be worse. Don't blame Joe!"

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (/U27+)

246 It wouldn't surprise me that they don't understand farms run on diesel. Fertilizer depends on oil.

It is very obvious they have no idea how many uses oil has other than creating energy, and how many of the things we need in our daily life aren’t just delivered by oil products, but made from oil products.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (U+Oxn)

247 so, everyone without basements will be dead
Posted by: REDACTED

I am willing to make those sacrifices.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (t3/qz)

248 No TSA; no weaponized social media; you could lose a job and be hired at a new one in a week instead of the month it takes HR drones now; rent in reasonable proportion to income; a big bag of Doritos cost .69, a bottle of bourbon could be had for about $5; cars were much easier to work on with fewer electronics; no red light cameras or street cameras watching your every move. . . .
---------------
Yep. The downside was girls were very stingy with the pussy back then. Not like now.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (bA3Ln)

249 247 so, everyone without basements will be dead
Posted by: REDACTED

I am willing to make those sacrifices.
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM (t3/qz)

=======

Welp...there goes Florida.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 03:55 PM (LvTSG)

250 "Won't be the first time. I once had an 11 1/2 percent mortage.
Posted by: Javems at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM (AmoqO)"

But it would be the last time. The government can't survive that. Like, we're talking about an order of magnitude beyond what the debt servicing can survive.

Posted by: somedood - skull mountain sherpa at May 24, 2022 03:55 PM (geKVs)

251 I thought Hillary's 2016 campaign was the worst I'd ever seen until Joe Biden's "sit at home and fall asleep on camera" festival.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 03:55 PM (KZzsI)

252 "Won't be the first time. I once had an 11 1/2 percent mortage."

Mine was 18%. I paid it off quickly.
Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp

Re-fi off a car title loan.

Posted by: Dave Ramsey Jr. at May 24, 2022 03:55 PM (WS6Pg)

253 stagflation will be bad. Hyper inflation would be worse.

Posted by: Nearsighted Cyclopes at May 24, 2022 03:55 PM (4TZI4)

254 oh, I want to mention this: email from Tim Ryan, who sends a 12 or more emails a week asking for money:

from the email:
Tucker Carlson (JD Vance's favorite far-right talking head) just mocked Tim for being a "working man's Democrat" and someone who "cares about bread-and-butter issues."

what Tucker said (at realclearpolitics dot com, he was talking about the $40 Bil aid for Ukraine):
So it's a little weird to see Tim Ryan of Ohio vote for this. Tim Ryan was supposed to be a working man's Democrat, a guy who cares about bread-and-butter issues. Tim Ryan represents Youngstown and Akron. Take a look at Akron some time. It's like a war zone itself. These are the cities that built America, crumbling and desperate now from total neglect. But don't you worry. Tim Ryan is totally committed to rebuilding Kyiv.

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 03:55 PM (Ynyl9)

255 To be fair to Biden, the 2008/9 crash was among the best gifts the dems ever got. So, this could be all gravy for the commies (again).

Posted by: Nick in Tallahassee at May 24, 2022 03:56 PM (rBAkF)

256 The value of my home, according to Zillow, is going up more than $1000 per day. Given the home sales in my area it seems to be realistic. And it is not a mansion. I will be am millionaire before too long, maybe even a billionaire when hyperinflation kicks in.

Posted by: Ripley at May 24, 2022 03:56 PM (MxEKc)

257 251 Hillary only had the fraud machine ready to go in Pennsylvania....

Posted by: steevy at May 24, 2022 03:56 PM (CYnTg)

258 OT: but why doesn't Nazi Pelosi give up the fake Catholicism and come out of the closet as a Moloch worshipper?

Posted by: N.L. Urker, my trench is full of chickens at May 24, 2022 03:56 PM (VdGjU)

259 In the long run the dollar is toast and I'd have already been out of equities. If I'm that young I'd honestly not even be looking to stay in the US.
Posted by: somedood - skull mountain sherpa at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (geKVs)

I'm only down about 10-15% so far. Silly me, I only invested in companies that make actual energy or products and very little in tech where all the bloat was. Coal has been on a tear.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 24, 2022 03:56 PM (Y5qcH)

260 "Seth Green had a "bored ape" NFT."

'I bought NFTs because Mayweather told me to.'

The monkey pics on those NFTs are meant to represent the suckers that buy them. Stupidest thing ever.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:56 PM (qpX6U)

261 The memes I'm now seeing say, "Hey, gas prices could be worse. Don't blame Joe!"

That’s actually a pretty ripe meme for the taking. “Don’t Blame Joe” could end up meaning “of course it’s Joe’s fault.”

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 03:56 PM (U+Oxn)

262 Also the '70s: Flying was not the pleasure it was in the '60s, but it was a bit more affordable; stewardesses were not the arrogant "flight attendants" they are today; a movie ticket was about $2.50; feminism was just getting its hooks in, so many or most young women had not grown up with it and still appreciated (and did not hate) men. Riding the bus, while damned annoying and never to be preferred to having your own car, was not the gauntlet of danger it soon became and is today.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 24, 2022 03:56 PM (txdEq)

263 Make love not War!

Posted by: runner at May 24, 2022 03:57 PM (F1vmP)

264 re 250: I recall Don Surber saying his first mortgage c 1981 was for like 18 percent.

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 03:57 PM (Ynyl9)

265 Say you're a young person with a few hundred grand in the stock market. Do you leave it there and wait this out because, after all, you are young, or do you buy some real estate. If you buy real estate, do you do it now while interest rates are still relatively low but prices are ridiculously high.
==
So a leprechaun riding a unicorn?

17 dollar avocado toast is incompatible with having a few hundred grand in the stock market at a young age.

Large consumer products firms,(Procter and Gamble) power generation, defense stocks.

Posted by: its either going to survive or its not if not it didn't matter anyway at May 24, 2022 03:57 PM (ETxU1)

266 A copy of Hunter Biden’s hard drive obtained by the Washington Examiner is indisputably authentic, and there is no evidence of any hacking or file manipulation, according to an examination conducted by a former Secret Service agent who has testified as a cyberforensics expert in over 100 classified, criminal, and civil matters at the state, federal, and international levels.

The Washington Examiner commissioned Konstantinos “Gus” Dimitrelos to conduct a full forensic examination to determine the drive’s authenticity and whether there were any signs of tampering. Using a technique he developed called “digital sandwiching,” Dimitrelos cross-referenced thousands of emails, documents, business records, text messages, Apple Notes, photos, geolocation data, travel records, and other information on the drive to conclude that Biden is the only person capable of producing the data.

Posted by: SMOD at May 24, 2022 03:57 PM (RHGPo)

267 ... Market notices, "Fed is dumping" and that's starts a sell-off beyond what the Fed itself did. Prices go down, yields go up.

Fed balance sheet goes underwater. There are more dollars in the system than the valuation of assets they hold. ...
Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at May 24, 2022 03:51 PM (Mzdiz)
++++
I doubt they sell Ts, at least not many. But they own a whole lot of stuff that is not from the Treasury. They owns tons of mortgage debt (MBS) and corporate debt. All of it is probably already underwater. The Fed's balance sheet is too small to take out what they injected. The Fed isn't a real bank so technically this doesn't matter and unloading their balance sheet will make the problem worse with every sale - but they may not have a choice yet. The cascade effect is a real problem. If the Fed sells, they're a market mover regardless and this will drive prices down. If they get caught doing it and trigger a panic in Fed-owned asset classes, it snowballs immediately. That will also work to destroy money in the system, but it's a brutal way to do it. If the Fed starts moving assets, they're not going to advertise it and will probably launder it.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:58 PM (CU95+)

268 Back in the days you had a measurable interest rate in your bank account.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 03:54 PM

I can remember getting a 12% yield for 12 month CD's back in the 80s. The wife and I would roll them over every time they matured. Made some serious cash but inflation ate that away.

Posted by: Mister Scott (formerly GWS) at May 24, 2022 03:58 PM (bVYXr)

269 Early demands from the National School Boards Association to the White House included calling for the deployment of the Army National Guard and the military police to monitor school board meetings, according to an early draft letter the organization's independent review released Friday.

In contrast to the final version, the draft of the NSBA letter said, "We ask that the Army National Guard and its Military Police be deployed to certain school districts and related events where students and school personnel have been subjected to acts and threats of violence."

Posted by: SMOD at May 24, 2022 03:59 PM (RHGPo)

270 You can't control the drilling, shipping, storing, refining, buying, selling, trading & taxing of oil AND THEN say you don't control oil prices.

Posted by: rickb223 TEXIT at May 24, 2022 03:59 PM (9DOwv)

271 I recall Don Surber saying his first mortgage c 1981 was for like 18 percent.
==
I think my first mortgage was like 7.5 percent like 20+ years ago. Re fi'd several times. I recall the 80's, although i was still a kiddo. I had some money in CD's.

Posted by: its either going to survive or its not if not it didn't matter anyway at May 24, 2022 04:00 PM (Gh3/R)

272 In the long run the dollar is toast and I'd have already been out of equities. If I'm that young I'd honestly not even be looking to stay in the US.
Posted by: somedood - skull mountain sherpa at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (geKVs)
~~~~~

A neighborhood kid who inherited a nice sum of money from his grandparents asked me what I thought. I told him I had no idea, particularly since I'm neither young nor rich. I feel bad for him because I don't think there are any easy answers and if he goes to a broker or FA, he'll probably be taken advantage of.

Posted by: IrishEi at May 24, 2022 04:00 PM (VhE0u)

273 Imma thinking the big money is in weave shoppes.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 04:00 PM (bA3Ln)

274 Riding the bus, while damned annoying and never to be preferred to having your own car, was not the gauntlet of danger it soon became and is today.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

I sometimes rode the MLK bus from the Quarter to Uptown after work about 1 AM in the 80s.

Saw small pistols exchanged among younger and older women for protection when getting off at some intermediate stops.

Posted by: Miklos, Survivor at May 24, 2022 04:00 PM (WS6Pg)

275 With the criminal punishment going from weak to non existence soon it will be a free for all out there anyway.

Posted by: Skip at May 24, 2022 04:00 PM (2JoB8)

276 How many people still have variable rate mortgages?

The government has been pumping the lenders money but the lenders haven't continued making bad loans.

Interest rates have been low for so long, most people already refinanced. I don't think the default risk is as high as the guy worries but maybe I'm wrong.

Posted by: wodun at May 24, 2022 04:00 PM (lFga6)

277 Worse, it will cause all kinds of defaults in mortgages.

Mortgages which the federal government holds billions and billions of dollars worth of as securities!!!

----------

Rube Goldberg Doomsday Machine.

Top. Retards.

Posted by: ShainS -- Welcome to the boneyard, we got fun & games & Starveflation aims at May 24, 2022 04:00 PM (19Oib)

278 Won't be the first time. I once had an 11 1/2 percent mortage.
Posted by: Javems at May 24, 2022 03:52
-------------

I locked in at 13.5% with 30 yr fixed FHA loan early 80's.

Posted by: olddog in mo at May 24, 2022 04:01 PM (ju2Fy)

279 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:01 PM (Zz0t1)

280 I feel bad for him because I don't think there are any easy answers and if he goes to a broker or FA, he'll probably be taken advantage of.
----------------
At this point buy energy companies. Oil and coal would be wise. But I'd have a close stop loss order on all of them.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 04:01 PM (bA3Ln)

281 251 I thought Hillary's 2016 campaign was the worst I'd ever seen until Joe Biden's "sit at home and fall asleep on camera" festival.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 03:55 PM (KZzsI)

++++

My ex and I were talking about this the other day. The fix was in and apparent. They made no effort at all to have Biden campaign, just let him sit in his basement for months, knowing he would be a disaster speaking in front of crowds (if they could even scare them up). All so obvious that there was nothing to worry about, just keep him under wraps til they counted the "ballots."

Posted by: washrivergal at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (TY4FX)

282 It wouldn't surprise me that they don't understand farms run on diesel. Fertilizer depends on oil.
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM

Don't be silly.

Posted by: M. Bloomberg at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (a3Q+t)

283 You know, it was quite nice NOT voting for George P. Bush today, even if the alternative was Ken Paxon.

No more Clinton.
No more Bush.
I'm tired of taking it
In the tush.

- - Burma Shave

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (Zz0t1)

284 I don't have the time to go through it in detail but there are a lot of holes in that article. The overall rate environment will certainly hurt mortgage issuance. No question. Adjustable rate mortgages are only about 5% of the total market. That's who will be hurt with outstanding mortgages. Fixed rate holders will only be hurt indirectly because inflation is making them poorer.

Regarding bigger picture items SOMA has been shrinking their agency purchases, albeit with they're still buying. But there are other operations the deal carry's out like sales, repo, etc that impact the overall market...

Posted by: Marcus T, Deus Vult at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (DFbpm)

285 Make love not War!
Posted by: runner

In a Low Rider

Posted by: Miklos cries WAR! at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (WS6Pg)

286 "It may not be much, but my house is paid for. Thankful for that."
----
Nice house you have there.
Ooooh, look how much it's worth now!
Here's your new tax bill.
F' you, pay me.
/s/ local property tax assessor, making sure the schools don't have to cut a penny from the groomers.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (u3uXg)

287 To some extent, planning for a total discontinuity absent something like nuclear war or a hot civil war (your mortgage or lack thereof will be the least of your worries), it is more likely to be a financial crisis that drags on for a decade or longer like Argentina.

On the end of the world stuff, you can plan, store, etc. as best you can but at the end of the day, what you can carry, your adaptability to new circumstances, and what you know about procuring food, shelter, medicine, etc. are vital.

Want some taste of the first--Amazon has a book by a guy that survived the horrible economy of Argentina in an urban area from their last economic crisis. The second, you need to look up on Amazon a survival guide from a guy that survived the Yugo breakup. Both have sobering lessons--The Modern Survival Manual:Surviving the Economic Collapse is the first book, and Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival is the really grim one about the Yugo civil war.

Posted by: whig at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (Iq9dF)

288 So we're basically looking at Lord Humungus + Idiocracy + Idi Amin and Weimar Germany if I read that article correctly.

Posted by: Wonkish Rogue at May 24, 2022 04:03 PM (W7Wi6)

289 275 This. How do you prepare for nonstop assault by throngs of starving murderers? Even if you can stand armed guard 24/7/365, one of em will eventually get close enough to simply burn your place down for the fun of it.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 04:03 PM (qpX6U)

290 288 So we're basically looking at Lord Humungus + Idiocracy + Idi Amin and Weimar Germany if I read that article correctly.
---------------
You left out the Killing Fields.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022 04:03 PM (bA3Ln)

291 My first (and only) mortgage was 3.5% (30 year fixed) back in 2013. I was seriously conflicted about paying that off at all, but my hatred of monthly payments won out.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 04:03 PM (U+Oxn)

292 FIRST!!!!!
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden

Participation Trophy AWARDED

Posted by: The Miklos Foundation for Timely Commentings at May 24, 2022 04:04 PM (WS6Pg)

293 Apparently fed started buying mortgages when Biden get t elected and that is what caused housing market to go ludicrous.

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/18/fed-mortgage-portfolio

Posted by: Shiggz (cool ranch MAGA) at May 24, 2022 04:04 PM (0SrVS)

294 We’re up to our 45th bus now; when you add a zero to that I think that Washington D.C. is going to soon find out they’re going to be dealing with the same consequences we’re dealing with,” he warned.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 04:04 PM (t3/qz)

295 Build Bubbles Better !

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - ultra-maga ftw ! at May 24, 2022 04:04 PM (DO9wr)

296 Joe makes bubbles in his bath. And brown sharks....

Posted by: steevy at May 24, 2022 04:05 PM (CYnTg)

297 I saw Bulgaroctonus open for T-Rex at The Basement S in '72

Posted by: ShainS -- Welcome to the boneyard, we got fun & games & Starveflation aims at May 24, 2022 04:05 PM (19Oib)

298 The memes I'm now seeing say, "Hey, gas prices could be worse. Don't blame Joe!"

"it could be worse" is not a very compelling argument for people suffering inflation and baby food shortages.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:05 PM (KZzsI)

299 Build Bubbles Better !
Posted by: sock_rat_eez - ultra-maga ftw ! at May 24, 2022 04:04 PM (DO9wr)

In the bathtub.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:05 PM (Zz0t1)

300 Come on, our betters in Davos have the situation under control:

European elites declared that the global energy crisis is a “transition” that will be “painful” for most, but should not be resisted by nations tempted to preserve their own sovereignty over the “global agenda.”

Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 04:05 PM (5kI0z)

301 I locked in at 13.5% with 30 yr fixed FHA loan early 80's.
Posted by: olddog in mo at May 24, 2022 04:01 PM (ju2Fy)

-----------

My parents recently remarked that they bought their first house in 1979 with a rate just a hair below 15%......and they claimed they got a good deal, because the market rate was closer to 16%.

Posted by: radar at May 24, 2022 04:05 PM (9/IeZ)

302 I love how that demented fool, who has never accomplished anything in his life, thinks he's going to transition the entire transportation and energy sector.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (Y5qcH)
===

Super easy, barely an inconvenience. Joey the pedophile is going to put the same smart people that planned the Afghanistan withdrawal, the baby formula plant safety closing, the border security plan, and the new and improved criminal justice system in charge.

Posted by: Jukin the Deplorable and Totally Unserious at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (iDcra)

303 You can also run a chest freezer indefinitely on a solar setup in many places. And of course, you need to be set up with something like wood heat.

Yeah, I know that wasn't how you do it, I was pointing out that the Govt can kill your plans. And the above comment shows exactly what they plan to do, get us back to bare subsistence levels. I used to not believe they could, but I do now.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (8GBH4)

304 Hey, gas prices could be worse. Don't blame Joe!"
==
they will be worse.

its not summer yet.

Posted by: its either going to survive or its not if not it didn't matter anyway at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (S5zB7)

305 >> That will also work to destroy money in the system, but it's a brutal way to do it.

That's how that negative liability trick they put in works. They did this a couple years after they started the massive QE rounds. They made a slight change to the accounting, which they described as a move to "increase transparency". Whenever the Fed says they are increasing transparency, they are actually moving to obfuscate something.

The put a liability item for "remittances to the US Treasury" that were due. All "profit" the Fed makes, less some dividend payment goes to the US Treasury.

Now, if the Fed suffers a "loss", that should come out of the US Treasury. Federal Reserve Act doesn't allow for that, but for balance it would have to be.

So, if they suffered a loss, that liability would go negative, and that would balance out the loss. On paper. So, effectively, they would remove the excess money from the system by halting "profit" payments to the Treasury until balance was restored.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (Mzdiz)

306 It wouldn't surprise me that they don't understand farms run on diesel. Fertilizer depends on oil.
Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at May 24, 2022 03:52 PM

Don't be silly.

They really don't know where food comes from, and what it takes to get it to market. I have a funny feeling that we're about to find out. Just purchased some survival rations.

Posted by: Mean Tweets at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (BOJAx)

307
Participation Trophy AWARDED
Posted by: The Miklos Foundation for Timely Commentings at May 24, 2022 04:04 PM (WS6Pg)

Boom.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (Zz0t1)

308 Regarding bigger picture items SOMA has been shrinking their agency purchases, albeit with they're still buying. But there are other operations the deal carry's out like sales, repo, etc that impact the overall market...
Posted by: Marcus T, Deus Vult

It is about the lenders.

All outstanding loans below the inflation rate are money losers for those lenders. Bigly.

Who will need another bailout.

Posted by: Miklos predicts another All-American Haircut at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (WS6Pg)

309 I am hoping that the inevitable economic crash will result in more people staying home and reading. A kindle isn't that much and the books are cheap!

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (KZzsI)

310 I don't have the time to go through it in detail but there are a lot of holes in that article. The overall rate environment will certainly hurt mortgage issuance. No question. Adjustable rate mortgages are only about 5% of the total market. That's who will be hurt with outstanding mortgages. Fixed rate holders will only be hurt indirectly because inflation is making them poorer. ...
Posted by: Marcus T, Deus Vult at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (DFbpm)
++++
Yes, I made this same point. Rising rates don't matter as such to holders of fixed-rate paper. But job loss still drives mortgage defaults and that will come when zombie companies fold and fail when they can't rollover the debt at affordable prices anymore.

Job loss and to a much greater degree strategic default are the bigger problems than rising interest when it comes to existing loans. Issuance is going to get harder (it already is) and this will have consequences on house prices.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (CU95+)

311 My ex and I were talking about this the other day. The fix was in and apparent. They made no effort at all to have Biden campaign, just let him sit in his basement for months, knowing he would be a disaster speaking in front of crowds (if they could even scare them up). All so obvious that there was nothing to worry about, just keep him under wraps til they counted the "ballots."
Posted by: washrivergal at May 24, 2022 04:02 PM (TY4FX)

I don't think it was that. I think that they really believed that there was a blue wave that would sweep Dems into power. The Steal occurred because on election night they watched the House returns and realized that Trump was not only cruising towards a victory, but could quite possibly drag the GOP into the majority in the House and Senate. It would have been a disaster for the Dem leadership. So calls were made to steal the WH and the Senate (too difficult to do the House at the last moment).

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (wmDcS)

312 This. How do you prepare for nonstop assault by throngs of starving murderers? Even if you can stand armed guard 24/7/365, one of em will eventually get close enough to simply burn your place down for the fun of it.
Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp

Roof - steel, exterior walls - steel (barndominium)

When I do shoot him, I will gut and empty his carcass out, pin the flaps back, and hang him from a tree facing the road.

Posted by: rickb223 TEXIT at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (9DOwv)

313 You want SMOD

You'll settle for Cyberdemons and Prince of Hell (TM)

You'll get mandatory tranny make out sessions

Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:07 PM (ESjRY)

314 Don't buy survival food, plant food in your garden. Get a chicken, maybe a goat. Whatever your fascist zoning laws allow. Rations are great for a few months, but this threatens to be decades.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:07 PM (KZzsI)

315 Incidentally, I really wish people would stop comparing 2022 to the 1970s. I remember the '70s, and it was the Age of Gold compared to the rapidly metastasizing nightmare we're in right now.

Posted by: Undine at May 24, 2022 04:08 PM (qq+1a)

316 It wouldn't surprise me that they don't understand farms run on diesel. Fertilizer depends on oil.

Look you wing nut I get my food delivered from Whole Foods. I don't need ANY oil or gas because I love the earth unlike you.

Posted by: Some Smug Liberal at May 24, 2022 04:08 PM (ESjRY)

317 "I am hoping that the inevitable economic crash will result in more people staying home and reading. A kindle isn't that much and the books are cheap!"

Pretty much everything actually worth reading is available free on the internet in PDFs. I got enough for five lifetimes.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 04:08 PM (qpX6U)

318 Where oh where has our Monty gone? I so miss his insightful DOOOM!!!! posts.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at May 24, 2022 04:09 PM (Wy1BU)

319 >>>Rations are great for a few months, but this threatens to be decades.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:07 PM (KZzsI)

That's what part of the ammo is for

Posted by: In Reel Life (yes, dummy, on purpose) at May 24, 2022 04:09 PM (QYPq3)

320 When I do shoot him, I will gut and empty his carcass out, pin the flaps back, and hang him from a tree facing the road.
Posted by: rickb223 TEXIT at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (9DOwv)

That’s a terrible thing to say!

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at May 24, 2022 04:09 PM (btv6t)

321 Oh, people are always writing new books, you can't ever get them all. That stuff won't be around in pdf form because its too new and unknown, and that's where the real gems are.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:09 PM (KZzsI)

322 That's who will be hurt with outstanding mortgages. Fixed rate holders will only be hurt indirectly because inflation is making them poorer.

-------

With the interest rate inverted mortgage holders will go bankrupt (I.e the banks). As the government holds a crap ton of mortgages in MBS when they roll over they will be up the creek. The only option they will have is to print more money. It's a doom cycle.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at May 24, 2022 04:09 PM (eMEkg)

323 They Can't Lick Our Dick !

Posted by: runner at May 24, 2022 04:10 PM (F1vmP)

324 " I remember the '70s, and it was the Age of Gold compared to the rapidly metastasizing nightmare we're in right now."

1980 was worse than now. 10% inflation, 20% interest, no jobs to be had. At least in 2022 I'm seeing help-wanted signs.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 04:10 PM (qpX6U)

325 1970s: High inflation, concerns about WWIII, androgynous ugly fashion

2020: Hyper inflation, a government trying to start WWIII, trannies...trannies everywhere.

Give me the 70s!

Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:10 PM (ESjRY)

326 Where oh where has our Monty gone? I so miss his insightful DOOOM!!!! posts.

I remember his last post: there's nothing more to say, we're doomed and everyone needs to hold fast.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:10 PM (KZzsI)

327 re 314: until one of your vagrants kills and eats your goat. And as the guy said to Bugs, Chickens Practically Taste Like Chicken.

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 04:10 PM (Ynyl9)

328 325 1970s: High inflation, concerns about WWIII, androgynous ugly fashion

2020: Hyper inflation, a government trying to start WWIII, trannies...trannies everywhere.

Give me the 70s!
Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:10 PM (ESjRY)

========

The 70s had disco. Advantage: 70s.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (LvTSG)

329 I am not unwilling to actually WORK at physical labor to eat. I pull weeds and do the other grunt work of this type now to keep the yard halfway decent. I don't try to grow food cuz the return vs labor investment and $ outlays for water etc has not been worth it here. Dry climate, sandy soil etc.

Still I find it very sucky to have this doom spiral happening now when my 29th birthday has been old enough to drink for a few years and not living where things grow easily and I fear the roaming bands of pampered young adults. My sister works in oil business. In the last boom before oil got cheap enough for ND oil to not be profitable they had 25 fracking rigs. Now they have 15 and cant keep them all running because they can't get enough workers.

I hope the monster the commiecrats have created at least kills them early.

Posted by: PaleRider is simply irredeemable at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (3cGpq)

330 >>>1980 was worse than now. 10% inflation, 20% interest, no jobs to be had. At least in 2022 I'm seeing help-wanted signs.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 04:10 PM (qpX6U)

Inflation is 18%+ and labor demand is crashing. Change my mind.

Posted by: In Reel Life (yes, dummy, on purpose) at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (QYPq3)

331 1970s: High inflation, concerns about WWIII, androgynous ugly fashion
==
Disco

what is going to be the musical analogue to that?

Posted by: its either going to survive or its not if not it didn't matter anyway at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (oE5EE)

332 1980 was worse than now. 10% inflation, 20% interest, no jobs to be had. At least in 2022 I'm seeing help-wanted signs.

The Great Depression didn't hit all with a bang either. It took about a year for the stock market crash to really ruin things for people, then the dust bowl made it even worse.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (KZzsI)

333 With the interest rate inverted mortgage holders will go bankrupt (I.e the banks). As the government holds a crap ton of mortgages in MBS when they roll over they will be up the creek. The only option they will have is to print more money. It's a doom cycle.
Posted by: MAGA_Ken at May 24, 2022 04:09 PM (eMEkg)
++++
Or, and I know this is insane, allow bankruptcy to happen. This is the biggest problem over the past 20 or so years - the Fed and the government pulled out all the stops to avoid bankruptcy.

Avoiding a sovereign default is worth doing if you can pull it off, but avoiding the bankruptcy of companies and individuals is murderous and is one of the problems we're facing now. The zombies need to be allowed to die.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (CU95+)

334 Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (wmDcS)

++++

I disagree. I think they prepared to steal the election. What floored them was how many votes they had to overcome and take from Trump and give to Biden.

Posted by: washrivergal at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (TY4FX)

335 277 Worse, it will cause all kinds of defaults in mortgages.

Mortgages which the federal government holds billions and billions of dollars worth of as securities!!!

-------

I wonder how many of the mortgages the government owns will be or have been sold to the Chicoms. That would be an interesting statistic.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (Qhnrt)

336 "It is about the lenders.

All outstanding loans below the inflation rate are money losers for those lenders. Bigly.

Who will need another bailout.
Posted by: Miklos predicts another All-American Haircut at May 24, 2022 04:06 PM (WS6Pg)"

Lenders will mostly have lower activity. They only hold a small percentage of the debt via MBS. It is the holders of MBS that will be potentially hurt depending on which tranche they hold and how they've hedged against rate increases.

Posted by: Marcus T, Deus Vult at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (DFbpm)

337 Shaping up to be an absolute blood bath in November.

Massive increase in cost of living, shortage of essential goods, big drops in retirement savings, cost of fuel affecting ability to travel/commute and heat homes, housing prices collapsing, and mortgage defaults.

The perfect storm.

There is no surviving that in an election, they'd have to cancel the election.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (QkcB/)

338 what is going to be the musical analogue to that?

Well here's the thing. Before Disco there was incredibly great funk, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc. There was great music out there in a tsunami of creativity and greatness. Disco ruined it all

We're in a crap period for music, there's nowhere down to go

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (KZzsI)

339 YouTube videos and books by Diego Footer and Chris Stone, urban high-density gardening.
The latter grossing $80k a year on 1/3 acre.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (u3uXg)

340 332
The Great Depression didn't hit all with a bang either. It took about a year for the stock market crash to really ruin things for people, then the dust bowl made it even worse.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (KZzsI)

==========

Tom Joad was a dirty commie.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (LvTSG)

341 Both have sobering lessons--The Modern Survival Manual:Surviving the Economic Collapse is the first book, and Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival is the really grim one about the Yugo civil war.

Posted by: whig

Yep.

I was in Hungary when inflation was 36%

In Yugoslavia when the inflation was maybe 10% per day.

I remember the girls in the local grocery store whose only job was to continually reprice everything twice a day.

Interesting how people adapt, or try to.

Posted by: Miklos is still a billionaire in Yugo dinars and Turkish Old Lira at May 24, 2022 04:13 PM (WS6Pg)

342 What floored them was how many votes they had to overcome and take from Trump and give to Biden.

My memory is the early results showed Trump running WAY ahead with every demographic group except over white people where I think he was down 1% compared to 2016 (thanks Karen).

Its no wonder the Deep State freaked out. If you presume there were roughly the same number of votes cast in 2020 as in the last 5 presidential elections the real result was something like Trump 75M Biden 60M.

Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:13 PM (ESjRY)

343 Avoiding a sovereign default is worth doing if you can pull it off, but avoiding the bankruptcy of companies and individuals is murderous and is one of the problems we're facing now. The zombies need to be allowed to die.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (CU95+)

The problem, IMHO, is the Boomers. The gov can't let the market clear itself out without the boomers who are near retirement, and who built their retirement plans around their portfolios and home values, taking a huge hit. And they vote.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (wmDcS)

344 337 The perfect storm.

There is no surviving that in an election, they'd have to cancel the election.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (QkcB/)

==========

State level elections. AL going super red. SC going super red. GA going super red. MI going red. MN going red. AZ going redder. NM suddenly going red.

That is the start of the clawback.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (LvTSG)

345 Carter was a petty, pious, politically vindictive fool (a democrat) but I don't think he hated the country he presided over and wished to see it "fundamentally transformed."

Posted by: Ordinary American at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (H8QX8)

346 We're in a crap period for music, there's nowhere down to go
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (KZzsI)
++++
The former is true. The latter is *never* true.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (CU95+)

347 At my polling place today, they had Dems and Repubs separated by tables. I saw one hippy old fuck go down the Dem line as I stood in the actual line for R voting. The sign standing to the left advising that this was the Republican voting area had another sign on the back of it as you were leaving that read "Please be kind to our neighbors."

LOL.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (Zz0t1)

348 No TSA; no weaponized social media; you could lose a job and be hired at a new one in a week instead of the month it takes HR drones now; rent in reasonable proportion to income; a big bag of Doritos cost .69, a bottle of bourbon could be had for about $5; cars were much easier to work on with fewer electronics; no red light cameras or street cameras watching your every move. . . .
---------------
Yep. The downside was girls were very stingy with the pussy back then. Not like now.
Posted by: Puddin Head at May 24, 2022

***
Oh, there was a certain subset of girls who were up for a lot of things. I went to college in the first half of the '70s, and a lot of cute girls at my campus were very interested in having the kind of fun their parents had warned them about. And this was pre-AIDS and pre-"safe sex," too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (txdEq)

349 Give me the 70s!
Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:10 PM

This man. He gets it!

Posted by: The Carpetophiles at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (a3Q+t)

350 and once we get rid of cows, hay should be cheap and plentiful.

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (Ynyl9)

351 I wonder how many of the mortgages the government owns will be or have been sold to the Chicoms. That would be an interesting statistic.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (Qhnrt)

We have shit ton MBS. We forecrose on round-eye. Get out of house now! You go!

Chicoms.

Posted by: Archer at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (gmo/4)

352 337 Shaping up to be an absolute blood bath in November.

====

Yes , but who is counting them votes?

Posted by: runner at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (F1vmP)

353 Worse, it will cause all kinds of defaults in mortgages.

Mortgage defaults would be the least of our worries at 12%+ interest.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) has questions at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (yQpMk)

354 346 We're in a crap period for music, there's nowhere down to go
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (KZzsI)
++++
The former is true. The latter is *never* true.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (CU95+)

==========

Fart: The Album.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (LvTSG)

355 "All outstanding loans below the inflation rate are money losers for those lenders. Bigly."

In that case, would they prefer that people with severely below-market rates pay them off early? Maybe I could negotiate something.... I'm at 3.25% on a 30 year at about $165k balance.

Posted by: SFGoth at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (KAi1n)

356 Another mass shooting, in a school in Texas this time. You gun lovers never rest.

Posted by: Sid at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (OHm2f)

357 ++++
The former is true. The latter is *never* true.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (CU95+)

This is actually true.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (Zz0t1)

358 The perfect storm.

There is no surviving that in an election, they'd have to cancel the election.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM (QkcB/)

----

Oh yea of infinite faith...

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (eMEkg)

359 The problem, IMHO, is the Boomers. The gov can't let the market clear itself out without the boomers who are near retirement, and who built their retirement plans around their portfolios and home values, taking a huge hit. And they vote.
Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:14 PM (wmDcS)
++++
Yup, they do. Nothing they can do about it at this point. If they try to prop up all the markets to keep the boomers liquid, the entire system will collapse and then the boomer vote doesn't matter at all.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (CU95+)

360 I disagree. I think they prepared to steal the election. What floored them was how many votes they had to overcome and take from Trump and give to Biden.
Posted by: washrivergal at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (TY4FX)

If they were prepared to steal the election then they would have found a better candidate than Biden.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (wmDcS)

361 Posted by: Sid at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (OHm2f)

Oh go fuck yourself with a meat tenderizer, asshole.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (Zz0t1)

362 So what I just read is that the Federal Government owns most of the mortgages, and when it all crashes, and people default… the Federal government will then own most of the houses.

And as owner, they get to do what they want with them, right? Like put illegals into them, or tear them down in favor of “green housing” or whatnot?

How many people own their place free and clear and the Fed’s won’t own it after this massive crisis?

Posted by: Rafal GanGanowicz at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (tgIla)

363 PSA for early eve Morons: Midway USA has CCI Small Pistol Magnum Primers #550

Posted by: Comrade flounder, wrecker, hoarder, saboteur at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (SH2Zi)

364 A fucking mass shooting happened in an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in TX.

The world has gone nuts.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (eyxn4)

365 There is no surviving that in an election, they'd have to cancel the election.

Oh, so here's the wheel. Its got MonkeyPox, war with Russia, war with China - stop giving me the stink I Milley it will be a pretend one! , Aliens, and Cthulhu.

Wait! Site down Joe.

Ok, Mr Soros would you like to spin?

Posted by: The Deep State deciding why they'l cancel the election at May 24, 2022 04:16 PM (ESjRY)

366
The system was trying to reset in '08. We'd had bubble after bubble, with a lot of bad debt in the system. People had borrowed way to much that they couldn't pay back via any real production/business models.

The market was realizing that. All of those assets on balance sheets were in fact worthless dog shit.

Had all that been allowed to go ahead and crash, we would've gone through a Depression. But, the bad debt would've been cleared, the true value of assets rediscovered, and we'd be out of it now, and doing pretty good.

But the US govt and Fed decided to save the system. The effect was to transfer that bad debt to the govt. and Fed balance sheets, making it still look good.

For a while. They just made the final crash that much more horrible. And make it likely to take the govt. down too.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Rapscallion (Mzdiz) at May 24, 2022 04:16 PM (Mzdiz)

367 ==========

Fart: The Album.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (LvTSG)

It sold 10's of copies.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:16 PM (Zz0t1)

368 I suppose we could see a huge increase in Yoko Ono albums, but nobody is listening to the radio to hear it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:16 PM (KZzsI)

369 The Great Depression didn't hit all with a bang either. It took about a year for the stock market crash to really ruin things for people, then the dust bowl made it even worse.

I think more specifically, it took about a year for the Hoover’s kinder, gentler government to “help” us go from a temporary depression to a permanent Great Depression.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 04:16 PM (U+Oxn)

370 360 If they were prepared to steal the election then they would have found a better candidate than Biden.
Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (wmDcS)

========

Nah.

Steal the election and put the politboro back in charge. Having a weak person at top is amenable to that plan. They have two weak people, which allows the politboro to run wild and free. They have their power centers, that's all they really wanted.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:17 PM (LvTSG)

371 A fucking mass shooting happened in an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in TX.

The world has gone nuts.
Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (eyxn4)

CAN'T be. That's a GUN FREE ZONE. Didn't they read the signs?

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:17 PM (Zz0t1)

372 SC going super red.

That is the start of the clawback.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system

Aren't we a Little Miss Something?

Posted by: Miss Lindsey at May 24, 2022 04:17 PM (WS6Pg)

373 Heritage America didn't have spree shootings.

Leftist America does.

Want to end spree shootings? Roll shit back.

Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:17 PM (ESjRY)

374 There is no surviving that in an election, they'd have to cancel the election.
Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 24, 2022 04:12 PM

Workin' on it, boss!

Posted by: DNC at May 24, 2022 04:17 PM (a3Q+t)

375 he problem, IMHO, is the Boomers. The gov can't let the market clear itself out without the boomers who are near retirement, and who built their retirement plans around their portfolios and home values, taking a huge hit. And they vote.
==
The rona was supposed to thin them out.

Posted by: Change my mind at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (XLwlA)

376 I honestly can't understand why anyone - at this point - has a variable rate mortgage. The rates were below 3% for a couple months, and I feel cheated that we didn't get our cash-out refi in during that time (Thanks wife!) so I'm stuck at the robber baron rate of 3.125% I know. The travesty.

If you had a ARM and you didn't refi into a fixed rate mortgage while rates were the lowest in history then, well - enjoy the ride.

Posted by: Defenestratus at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (eJH7C)

377 I was thinking more like "A Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank the second.

And that high yield on a third acre requires a lot of input. Lots of plants on raised beds use a lot of water and fertilizer. There is a reason people used to grow plants spaced widely apart.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (YynYJ)

378 A less well-known problem is that the Fed's purchase of mortgage-backed securities, which was started after the 2008 housing market crash, actually just... continued

Banks are still being pressured to offer loans to people who clearly cannot pay them back (as long as they are dusky in hue), with government guarantees that they will protect the banks in the face of inevitable default. Just like 2008

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (KZzsI)

379 And '70s pop music was loads of fun. I liked disco, and so did everyone else who wanted to dance as part of meeting the opposite sex. Yeah, we were starting in on that "album-oriented rock" stuff; but in compensation we had Dr. Demento.

TV? Yeah, I have to say it was pretty grim pickings. I really can't think of anything from that time, except maybe The Rockford Files and WKRP, that I'd recommend to people now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (txdEq)

380 Another look at coal? Nuclear power? Because electric cars for everyone means sufficient energy to recharge their batteries, and solar isn't going to cut it when you need to pick up the kid at school because Amber has a toothache.

Posted by: mrp at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (6eRlp)

381 23 Did you stop the crash, daddy?
Posted by: Malia Biden at May 24, 2022 03:22 PM (2rMPp)

-----
Comments like this are why I come here.

Posted by: 496 at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (VJsqe)

382 If they were prepared to steal the election then they would have found a better candidate than Biden.

There is no better candidate. Only Biden.

Posted by: Zuul at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (U+Oxn)

383 Interesting how people adapt, or try to.
Posted by: Miklos is still a billionaire in Yugo dinars and Turkish Old Lira at May 24, 2022 04:13 PM (WS6Pg)

Sounds like me. I can't decide if the screamed for the last week "10 days of world wheat supply" is fear-mongering or actually shit-hitting-the-fan.

So, rather than get short-term flour (b/c I have the long term stuff), I decided to stock up on my allergy cake, muffin, and brownie mixes. If all else fails, and there's no bread (and I don't want to break into "the stash"), well, the kids can carb up with a treat instead every day and eat their PB on a spoon or their meat as a roll up.

PS - In one good thing they have done, the vegans have taught everyone how to make these mixes without egg, so if you have oil, water, and practically any other wet product, you're golden...

Posted by: Nova local at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (exHjb)

384 There is no surviving that in an election, they'd have to cancel the election.

And therein lies their answer.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (8GBH4)

385 Biden just recently said we are going through a transition (concerning fuel).

They want to transition away from fossil fuel and high gas prices somehow makes this happen in their minds.

There aren't enough electric cars for everyone IF they wanted them and they are not currently affordable and we don't have the infrastructure to use them.

So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (DcKNO)

386 Might be fun to become hunter gatherers again.

Posted by: wth at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (v0R5T)

387 372 Aren't we a Little Miss Something?
Posted by: Miss Lindsey at May 24, 2022 04:17 PM (WS6Pg)

=========

We don't have constitutional carry, and I put a large heap of blame on Graham. He is the power in this state.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:19 PM (LvTSG)

388 On the bright side, the grass is much, much stronger than it was back when my father put my bar mitzvah $ in a CD at 13% (and bragged about it the rest of his life).

Posted by: SFGoth at May 24, 2022 04:19 PM (KAi1n)

389 There isn't enough electricity generation, electricity transmission, or lithium to replace ICE cars with electric ones.

But don't worry, your betters are planning on YOU not getting one so that they can.

Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:19 PM (ESjRY)

390 American Thinker this morning in Pennsylvania we are more than likely, due to the Democrats court cases still going to have state wide mail voting with all the fraud baked right in.

Posted by: Skip at May 24, 2022 04:19 PM (2JoB8)

391 I think more specifically, it took about a year for the Hoover’s kinder, gentler government to “help” us go from a temporary depression to a permanent Great Depression.

And then, FDR was elected

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:19 PM (KZzsI)

392 "The Great Depression didn't hit all with a bang either."

I have no doubt it can/will get worse from here. But the labor market is not as bad right now as it was in 1980; I was there. People are switching jobs rapidly now; can't do that if jobs are tight. When COVID hit, all the help-wanted signs disappeared; now they're back. As far as the actual inflation number goes, yes it's cooked. But today's nominal cooked rate is lower than 1980's nominal cooked rate. I can speculate about what the actual rates are/were, but you guys have no reason to indulge my speculation.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 04:19 PM (qpX6U)

393 384 There is no surviving that in an election, they'd have to cancel the election.

And therein lies their answer.
Posted by: Guy Mohawk at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (8GBH4)

==========

I have met so many predictions of canceled elections.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:19 PM (LvTSG)

394 >>> So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (DcKNO)

die

Posted by: The Regime at May 24, 2022 04:20 PM (QzpS1)

395 But don't worry, your betters are planning on YOU not getting one so that they can.

These are people who saw Russia with only party officials owning cars, and liked what they saw.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:20 PM (KZzsI)

396 > Another look at coal? Nuclear power? Because electric cars for everyone means sufficient energy to recharge their batteries, and solar isn't going to cut it when you need to pick up the kid at school because Amber has a toothache.

The US is the "Saudi Arabia of coal." There's trillions of tons of high quality coal in Utah.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 04:20 PM (eyxn4)

397 In that case, would they prefer that people with severely below-market rates pay them off early? Maybe I could negotiate something.... I'm at 3.25% on a 30 year at about $165k balance.
Posted by: SFGoth

Yes, may lenders are already tentatively offering that.

Posted by: Miss LindseyMiklos, casually mentioning that Mortgage Bonds were Line of Business at May 24, 2022 04:20 PM (WS6Pg)

398 UVALDE, Texas — At least two students were killed and several more were injured during an active shooter incident Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, officials said.

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District said on social media there was “an active shooter at Robb Elementary,” saying, “Law enforcement is on site. Your cooperation is needed at this time by not visiting the campus. As soon as more information is gathered it will be shared.”

Fucking Democrats.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:20 PM (Zz0t1)

399 396 > Another look at coal? Nuclear power? Because electric cars for everyone means sufficient energy to recharge their batteries, and solar isn't going to cut it when you need to pick up the kid at school because Amber has a toothache.

The US is the "Saudi Arabia of coal." There's trillions of tons of high quality coal in Utah.
Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 04:20 PM (eyxn4)

==========

"Need a broker on a uranium deal?"
-Hillary Clinton

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, fighting the system with Kobayashi at May 24, 2022 04:20 PM (LvTSG)

400 So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM

Pay $10-15 a gallon and suck on it, peasants.

Posted by: Ordinary American at May 24, 2022 04:21 PM (H8QX8)

401 >>> 385 Biden just recently said we are going through a transition (concerning fuel).

They want to transition away from fossil fuel and high gas prices somehow makes this happen in their minds.

There aren't enough electric cars for everyone IF they wanted them and they are not currently affordable and we don't have the infrastructure to use them.

So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (DcKNO)

How many times do we have to explain this?
1) There are too many of you
2) Those we keep don't need to go anywhere unless it's to do something we told you to do

Posted by: Great Resetters at May 24, 2022 04:21 PM (llON8)

402 Might be fun to become hunter gatherers again.
Posted by: wth at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (v0R5T)

That's the most boring part of playing Age of Empires.

Posted by: spindrift at May 24, 2022 04:21 PM (h5TKJ)

403 So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

And that is assuming the absolute best case scenario where they start NOW to build the infrastructure.

What are we supposed to do? Ride mass transit, bicycle, and walk. Need groceries? Tough, uber it I guess.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:21 PM (KZzsI)

404 There is no better candidate. Only Biden.

Presume you want a figure head that will do what he is told and not try to run things him/herself and get has the ability to sit in the Oval Office.

How many Dems like this are there? Kamala is too dumb, someone like say Hitlery will take the reins herself...though it would be amusing to see Mr Soros in the camps with us.

Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:21 PM (ESjRY)

405 So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure
----
Simple fact is all electric vehicles can only support 10% of the current number of private cars. So 90% will stop using cars.

This is their plan, whether conscious or unconscious.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 24, 2022 04:21 PM (QkcB/)

406 These are people who saw Russia with only party officials owning cars, and liked what they saw.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

A Lada people think like that

Posted by: Miklos, surviving Trabi Pilot at May 24, 2022 04:21 PM (WS6Pg)

407 > eat their PB on a spoon

I had several large Costco sized jars of JIF I had to throw out because of the salmonella thing.

Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (eyxn4)

408 We need to go all Sri Lankan on these idiots.

Posted by: wth at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (v0R5T)

409 Another look at coal?

Coal is absolutely amazing when it comes to resiliency. You can store months of coal onsite.

Nuclear is awesome, but coal should be the backbone of any power grid meant to be reliably available.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (U+Oxn)

410 The US is the "Saudi Arabia of coal."

Hell, we're the Saudi Arabia of oil for that matter. Its just nobody is allowed to go get it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (KZzsI)

411 Inflation... is when money is not worth as much as the money used to be worth. For all of us. All of us.

cackling shriek

Posted by: Kamala Harris at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (P4LRL)

412 "Another look at coal? Nuclear power?"

Try to get a nuclear power plant commissioned. We'll wait. Meanwhile, many are shutting down. We almost lost two in Illinois, but Pritzker (yes, asshole Pritzker) managed to save them for five more years.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (qpX6U)

413 So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (DcKNO)

There has been too much violence. Too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just walk away. Give me your pump, the oil, the gasoline, and the whole compound, and I'll spare your lives. Just walk away and we'll give you a safe passageway in the wastelands. Just walk away and there will be an end to the horror.

Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (9VeU0)

414 Started with a shoot out with the border patrol and the guy ran into the school.

Drug Cartels?

Posted by: Archer at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (gmo/4)

415 So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (DcKNO)

Live in government-owned apartment buildings with coldwater taps, out-of-service elevators, and a secret police informant on every floor.

Posted by: mrp at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (6eRlp)

416 ARM's are largely a mirage. It's a way to buy a home you otherwise would not be able to afford at market rates. It's a gamble that by the time you lock the rate for the remainder of the term it is affordable. Looks at the default and impairments for ARM's.

Posted by: Marcus T, Deus Vult at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (DFbpm)

417
If they were prepared to steal the election then they would have found a better candidate than Biden.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (wmDcS)

++++
They were prepared to steal the election alright and it did not matter who they ran. Biden's one and only asset is the name recognition. They convinced themselves that just a few adjustments would do the trick and were shocked to find out that Trump was way more popular than they ever imagined.

Posted by: washrivergal at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (TY4FX)

418 "I'm gonna sing the Doom song."
-Gir

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, RIP Oregon Muse at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (XvPQV)

419 > So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Let me answer by pointing out: Biden's admin didn't give a shit about babies not having enough food. BABIES! You think he cares about adults?

Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (eyxn4)

420 re 345: Dem email has Carter, Obama and Biden all saying they "fear for our Democracy" (I'm slightly paraphrasing, but this has become a Dem theme; from a Pelosi email about 2 weeks ago "MSNBC just warned that if we lose our democracy in this election, we are unlikely to get it back during our lifetimes.")

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (Ynyl9)

421 I got into an argument with first year morgan stanley kid or whatever big $ firm you know about QE.

That's not what's going to happen, QE is great.

Posted by: sockamster-rookie poster at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (OuH7W)

422 PS - In one good thing they have done, the vegans have taught everyone how to make these mixes without egg, so if you have oil, water, and practically any other wet product, you're golden...
Posted by: Nova local at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (exHjb)
++++
You won't have oil. Edible oils are also facing a serious supply crunch. Ukraine and Russia produce a shit ton of sunflower oil and the dislocation caused by the war and sanctions stemming from the war are having serious consequences. European supermarkets are already rationing oil and major exporters are capping exports to ensure domestic supply. We haven't really noticed this yet because our oils tend to be more expensive on global markets because of what we produce because of what grows really well here (corn and rapeseed), but we will as global demand continues to bid up the price of what's left. And unlike places like Indonesia (which has regulated exports of palm oil due to shortages), we won't use export controls to help Americans.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (CU95+)

423 I really can't think of anything from that time, except maybe The Rockford Files and WKRP, that I'd recommend to people now.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (txdEq)

--------

I just recently started streamingThe Rockford Files, about halfway through season two. I remember that I watched it a bit as a very young kid with my parents, but not enough to actually remember much of anything about it. I've been enjoying it. James Garner and Stuart Margolin were both perfect for their roles.

Posted by: radar at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (9/IeZ)

424 "WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure"

More like 5-7 decades for that to happen.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (qpX6U)

425 And now a third state has overruled their idiot governor's veto of a bill to protect girls in sports. Indiana this time. What is wrong with these governors??

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (KZzsI)

426 Mine was 18%. I paid it off quickly.

Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 03:53 PM (qpX6U)

Had to sell after about two years. Big oilfield crash. Lost all my equity plus had to come up with cash to pay off our loan.

Posted by: Javems at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (AmoqO)

427 >>>How many people own their place free and clear and the Fed’s won’t own it after this massive crisis?

Posted by: Rafal GanGanowicz at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (tgIla)

Very, very, very, very few own their place free and clear, even if they have paid off their mortgage. If you have a county assessor you will never be free and clear.

Posted by: In Reel Life (yes, dummy, on purpose) at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (QYPq3)

428 Try to get a nuclear power plant commissioned. We'll wait. Meanwhile, many are shutting down. We almost lost two in Illinois, but Pritzker (yes, asshole Pritzker) managed to save them for five more years.

It seems to me that keeping nuclear and especially coal plants online in defiance of federal law is an area ripe for hard-nosed politicians to tell the feds to screw themselves.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (U+Oxn)

429 So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (DcKNO)

There has been too much violence. Too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just walk away. Give me your pump, the oil, the gasoline, and the whole compound, and I'll spare your lives. Just walk away and we'll give you a safe passageway in the wastelands. Just walk away and there will be an end to the horror.
Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (9VeU0)

This sound reasonable. We can deal with this Blaster.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, RIP Oregon Muse at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (XvPQV)

430 416 ARM's are largely a mirage. It's a way to buy a home you otherwise would not be able to afford at market rates. It's a gamble that by the time you lock the rate for the remainder of the term it is affordable. Looks at the default and impairments for ARM's.
Posted by: Marcus T, Deus Vult at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (DFbpm)

It's really kind of based on the idea you are either selling or refinancing by the time the term of the ARM is over. If you sell it, no biggie. But if you refinance from a 2.5% to 6% well you rolled snake eyes

Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (9VeU0)

431 ARM's are largely a mirage. It's a way to buy a home you otherwise would not be able to afford at market rates. It's a gamble that by the time you lock the rate for the remainder of the term it is affordable. Looks at the default and impairments for ARM's.
Posted by: Marcus T, Deus Vult at May 24, 2022 04:23 PM (DFbpm)

I thought I was going to move for work some time ago. I refinanced my house to an ARM with an introductory rate of 2.8% for the first year.

I didn't move and the 2nd year boomed up to 18%.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (Zz0t1)

432 407 > eat their PB on a spoon

I had several large Costco sized jars of JIF I had to throw out because of the salmonella thing.
Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (eyxn4)

I had bought one jar of Jif from Amazon this year b/c it was stupid cheap...my kids had already destroyed it, so nothing for me to throw out.

They (thankfully) enjoy the Aldi's natural brand...so, my pocketbook doesn't get too light keeping up with their habit...yet. And to be fair, when I want PB, I just grab a spoon and skip the carbs...

Posted by: Nova local at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (exHjb)

433 > Started with a shoot out with the border patrol and the guy ran into the school.

Then he started killing elementary school kids?!? What the everloving fuck?

Posted by: bonhomme at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (eyxn4)

434 don't worry, there's 80-120 million electric vehicles sitting around ready for everyone to buy

Posted by: sockamster-rookie poster at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (OuH7W)

435 I had a terrific time during the '70s, but I was too ignorant to know what was happening.
All I knew was I didn't have to go 'Nam.
Everything else was gravy.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (jTmQV)

436 nood

ham&eggers

Posted by: banana Dream at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (QzpS1)

437 107 DOOM is just MOOD spelt backwards.
Posted by: Weasel at May 24, 2022 03:35 PM (0IeYL)

-----
And you can't spell Sodom without it.

Posted by: 496 at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (VJsqe)

438 Nood

Posted by: Duke Lowell at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (Qy7kP)

439 The world population pre-agriculture was maybe a million or two.

Prior to the industrial revolution it was about one billion.

Current world population is about 8B.

So if you want to go back prior to icky fossil fuels you need to kill seven of eight people...but if you want to go back to hunter gathers you need to kill more then 999 out of every thousand.

Posted by: 18-1 at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (ESjRY)

440 In case you missed it: Biden's attempting to cast the skyrocketing price of gas (a key component in the skyrocketing inflation rate) as a good thing...

--

Old and busted: Putin's price hikes!

New and improved: Putin's good thing!

Posted by: Lady in Black at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (sVtYq)

441 >>And that is assuming the absolute best case scenario where they start NOW to build the infrastructure.

When my state tried to get a high capacity power transmission line approved through the wilderness to provide more power to the Northeast grid, the NIMBY's and environmentalists - the same environmentalists that want us to drive fancy golf carts - killed it.

Posted by: Defenestratus at May 24, 2022 04:25 PM (eJH7C)

442 James Garner and Stuart Margolin were both perfect for their roles.
Posted by: radar at May 24, 2022

***
Garner did comic exasperation better than anybody. Even better than Robert Redford, who was a champ at it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 24, 2022 04:26 PM (txdEq)

443 If they were prepared to steal the election then they would have found a better candidate than Biden.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (wmDcS)

They ran Biden because he is evil, stupid and can be easily manipulated.

Posted by: Archer at May 24, 2022 04:26 PM (gmo/4)

444 I gotta work.

from each according to his ability, to each according to his need

People like John Kerry need those private jets so they can tell us what we must give up to save the planet.

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at May 24, 2022 04:26 PM (Ynyl9)

445 TX school shooting: Fox reporter says multiple children killed and multiple injured. Shooter is dead. Border Patrol was chasing the guy when he entered the school and shot the place up.

Posted by: Meade Lux Lewis, Domestic Terrorist at May 24, 2022 04:26 PM (sWM8x)

446 Doon is just nood spelled backwards.

Posted by: In Reel Life (yes, dummy, on purpose) at May 24, 2022 04:26 PM (QYPq3)

447 422 PS - In one good thing they have done, the vegans have taught everyone how to make these mixes without egg, so if you have oil, water, and practically any other wet product, you're golden...
Posted by: Nova local at May 24, 2022 04:18 PM (exHjb)
++++
You won't have oil. Edible oils are also facing a serious supply crunch. Ukraine and Russia produce a shit ton of sunflower oil and the dislocation caused by the war and sanctions stemming from the war are having serious consequences. European supermarkets are already rationing oil and major exporters are capping exports to ensure domestic supply.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (CU95+)

Well, ummm, I do buy plenty of oil b/c I can't do butter

...so oil, we always have...and the mixes can be made with any type.

Posted by: Nova local at May 24, 2022 04:26 PM (exHjb)

448 88 And in bizarro news , Help Wanted signs continue to stay up and go up.
Posted by: Anti doesn't matter at May 24, 2022 03:32 PM (jNAzB)
=================
The labor participation rate dropped precipitously at the beginning of covid and has never bounced back.

When the Feds stop paying rents, phone bills, food bills, cable bills and drug costs, more people will want to work.

Posted by: Huck Follywood, Break The Teachers Unions at May 24, 2022 04:27 PM (qqy9u)

449 Crashed economies are a favorite book plot. But this one ain't gonna be fiction. Oh, all the violence, drama, and bravery is coming soon. And yes, the cowardice and definitely the revenge. And it will be a near thing with much sacrifice if civilization is to be salvaged from the mess we've made of it.

Posted by: Eromero at May 24, 2022 04:27 PM (0OP+5)

450 445 TX school shooting: Fox reporter says multiple children killed and multiple injured. Shooter is dead. Border Patrol was chasing the guy when he entered the school and shot the place up.
Posted by: Meade Lux Lewis, Domestic Terrorist at May 24, 2022 04:26 PM (sWM8x)

So, an illegal? Yeah, this will be buried faster than any story known to man...

Posted by: Nova local at May 24, 2022 04:27 PM (exHjb)

451 At this point all Leftardia has is tired distractions that can't change the reality on the ground. They're a failed ideology at this point and the stink of failure has a perfect avatar in Vegetable Von Shartpants.

Crying about Trannies, "assault" weapons and white supremacy can't change actual physical reality that most Americans want or will want relief from.

I've said this before in mocking contempt of Leftists. The Democrat Party and it's Uniparty Gimps cheated to install a corrupt, child sniffing mental incompetent and their reward was his wrecking the country and his party.

The cherry on top will be an ideological realignment that will probably cripple the Democrat Party for a generation and might actually force it to change.

Posted by: Wonkish Rogue at May 24, 2022 04:27 PM (W7Wi6)

452 I had a terrific time during the '70s, but I was too ignorant to know what was happening.
All I knew was I didn't have to go 'Nam.
Everything else was gravy.
Posted by: gourmand du jour at May 24, 2022

***
Yeah, I missed that little party; my draft number put me at very low risk, and then the war ended. I would have done something stupid and gotten myself killed over there. Or gotten into hard drugs, maybe -- which also qualifies as stupid.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at May 24, 2022 04:27 PM (txdEq)

453 I have met so many predictions of canceled elections.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison
----
To me it is binary.

They go through the election and the Dems are slaughtered.

They cancel the election and disolve representative government. Guarantee that the states will refuse to comply and we see if the military is loyal to the regime (and has enough loyal troops) or if they refuse to enforce the regime orders.

There is no good outcome for the Democrats.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at May 24, 2022 04:28 PM (QkcB/)

454 nood ... sorta

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at May 24, 2022 04:28 PM (yikp0)

455
If they were prepared to steal the election then they would have found a better candidate than Biden.
Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at May 24, 2022 04:15 PM (wmDcS)

Biden is just a puppet. No one cares about who the puppet is but is concerned who's hand(s) is up the puppet's ass. We're up against a junta that wants to destroy this country. They don't want economic solutions.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at May 24, 2022 04:28 PM (Qhnrt)

456 I really can't think of anything from that time, except maybe The Rockford Files and WKRP, that I'd recommend to people now.

There was some other stuff, like Mannix and Columbo, and I could recommend Little House on the Prairie. But for every one of those shows there were ten shows like Quincy and Rhoda.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:28 PM (KZzsI)

457 More like 5-7 decades for that to happen.
Posted by: Double-Charm Tetra-gp at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM

Nah. If we commission a new nuclear plant every two weeks for the next twenty years, we're good.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at May 24, 2022 04:28 PM (a3Q+t)

458 This house was free and clear. Even though property taxes were fairly high, we were able to pay those. It's sort of like owning a car versus having a car payment. It's nice not to have that cost. And it meant they could mortgage the place to buy me out

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at May 24, 2022 04:29 PM (LQibT)

459 Started with a shoot out with the border patrol and the guy ran into the school.

Then he started killing elementary school kids?!? What the everloving fuck?
==
Mohammed.

Posted by: Change my mind at May 24, 2022 04:29 PM (sblln)

460 425 And now a third state has overruled their idiot governor's veto of a bill to protect girls in sports. Indiana this time. What is wrong with these governors??
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at May 24, 2022 04:24 PM (KZzsI)

-----------

And guess where Indiana Gov Eric Holcomb is this week? In Davos, warmly embracing the WEF.

Well done, Indiana GOP!

Posted by: radar at May 24, 2022 04:29 PM (9/IeZ)

461 446 Doon is just nood spelled backwards.

Kul Wahad!

Posted by: Wonkish Rogue at May 24, 2022 04:29 PM (W7Wi6)

462 There aren't enough electric cars for everyone IF they wanted them and they are not currently affordable and we don't have the infrastructure to use them.

So my question is this, WTF are we supposed to do during the next 5-7 years until we have the infrastructure, the cars and the power plants to use electric cars?

Posted by: Seems Legit

5 to 7 years? How about never, because we can't built that many electric cars and trucks - we don't have enough materials on earth to do it, and we can't charge them, because the necessary grid upgrade would be multiples of our national GDP, and even if both of those were magically fixed, the energy sources that they will allow cannot supply the necessary energy to do it, even if all air conditioners and lights in the country were turned off all the time.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 04:29 PM (5kI0z)

463 @337

>>There is no surviving that in an election...

I don't know, the Donks know something the GOP has never bothered to figure out, no matter how badly the f**k up, even if they are voted out of power, they will always get back in power at some point.

The Donks get blown out in 22 and 24, what is the GOP going to do? Advance a strong America First Agenda?

No they are going to do what they always do, pass some temporary taxes, f**k around at the margins, get into stupid internal fights, start wars, talk about amnesty to piss off their base, etc.

This crap has been playing out since the GOP came to power in '95.

And as noted, the GOP has controlled the House, ie the power of the purse for 20 of the last 28 years.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 24, 2022 04:29 PM (hNb7p)

464 459 Started with a shoot out with the border patrol and the guy ran into the school.

Then he started killing elementary school kids?!? What the everloving fuck?

Oh little troll where hast though gone?

Posted by: Wonkish Rogue at May 24, 2022 04:30 PM (W7Wi6)

465 Avoiding a sovereign default is worth doing if you can pull it off, but avoiding the bankruptcy of companies and individuals is murderous and is one of the problems we're facing now. The zombies need to be allowed to die.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 04:11 PM (CU95+)

Agree. But the elite would rather force 100 million Americans into poverty rather than let their good time buddies suffer.

I'm of the opinion that the middle class standard of living will be cut by 1/3 to 1/2 .

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at May 24, 2022 04:31 PM (eMEkg)

466 This crap has been playing out since the GOP came to power in '95.

//

Gingrich did some good stuff at first but then the GOP morphed into a surrender caucus.

Posted by: sockamster-rookie poster at May 24, 2022 04:31 PM (OuH7W)

467 I am more worried about corporate bonds than mortgages. As bond rates surge - and they will - companies addicted to rollovers will be caught with their pants down, and this will drive bankruptcy and that will drive job loss and that will drive defaults. The loss of the asset to the federal government is likely less important than the loss of the cashflow associated with it.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at May 24, 2022 03:37 PM (CU95+)
==================
Most companies have stretched their maturities way out into the future. What you should really be concerned about is rollovers in the below investment grade market, where one large default can cause a cascade effect of panic selling by bond holders (even though it might be small in the grand scheme of things)

Posted by: Huck Follywood, Break The Teachers Unions at May 24, 2022 04:31 PM (qqy9u)

468 The only way they are doing all this crazy shit is knowing they will win in November. They know we're pissed about gas, food prices, billions to Ukraine, and a serious formula shortage.

They have to know they are going to win by cheating in November. Otherwise, why bother doing all this?

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:32 PM (DcKNO)

469 When the Feds stop paying rents, phone bills, food bills, cable bills and drug costs, more people will want to work.
Posted by: Huck Follywood, Break The Teachers Unions at May 24, 2022 04:27 PM (qqy9u)

Bingo.
Eliminate EBT cards.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at May 24, 2022 04:32 PM (ufFY8)

470 Gingrich did some good stuff at first but then the GOP morphed into a surrender caucus.
Posted by: sockamster-rookie poster at May 24, 2022 04:31 PM (OuH7W)

-------

As I recall, they turtled after Dole got smoked

Posted by: radar at May 24, 2022 04:33 PM (9/IeZ)

471 5 to 7 years? How about never, because we can't built that many electric cars and trucks - we don't have enough materials on earth to do it, and we can't charge them, because the necessary grid upgrade would be multiples of our national GDP, and even if both of those were magically fixed, the energy sources that they will allow cannot supply the necessary energy to do it, even if all air conditioners and lights in the country were turned off all the time.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 04:29 PM (5kI0z)

----------

The lamps will be going out all over America, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time.

Posted by: ShainS -- Welcome to the boneyard, we got fun & games & Starveflation aims at May 24, 2022 04:33 PM (19Oib)

472 5 to 7 years? How about never, because we can't built that many electric cars and trucks - we don't have enough materials on earth to do it, and we can't charge them, because the necessary grid upgrade would be multiples of our national GDP, and even if both of those were magically fixed, the energy sources that they will allow cannot supply the necessary energy to do it, even if all air conditioners and lights in the country were turned off all the time.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 24, 2022 04:29 PM (5kI0z)

-----

Oh, I know all that. I don't want electric cars anyway. I think our system of no-lead gasoline on most street corners, convenient and cheap is a gift from God.

Posted by: Seems Legit at May 24, 2022 04:33 PM (DcKNO)

473 The only way they are doing all this crazy shit is knowing they will win in November. They know we're pissed about gas, food prices, billions to Ukraine, and a serious formula shortage.

They have to know they are going to win by cheating in November. Otherwise, why bother doing all this?
==
Oh they definitely have a plan and a time table and it is clear they are not worried about 'election' results. Now how they plan on making that a non thing is unknown, but it isn't a problem for them.

Posted by: Change my mind at May 24, 2022 04:34 PM (Gh3/R)

474 472 Oh, I know all that. I don't want electric cars anyway. I think our system of no-lead gasoline on most street corners, convenient and cheap is a gift from God.

gasoline on most corners. waffle house on the others. 'merica!

Posted by: kulak anachronda at May 24, 2022 04:35 PM (sGtp+)

475 Gingrich did some good stuff at first but then the GOP morphed into a surrender caucus.

Posted by: sockamster-rookie poster at May 24, 2022 04:31 PM (OuH7W)

----------

I never forgave him for caving first & surrendering to Bubba after just a couple of days into a fake "government shutdown."

Posted by: ShainS -- Welcome to the boneyard, we got fun & games & Starveflation aims at May 24, 2022 04:37 PM (19Oib)

476 Oh, I know all that. I don't want electric cars anyway. I think our system of no-lead gasoline on most street corners, convenient and cheap is a gift from God.

gasoline on most corners. waffle house on the others. 'merica!
==
It is truly ridiculous that they want to just chuck all that. Make everybody plug into something that isn't fit for purpose. There aren't words for it. Oh but we don't want to be controlled by the middle east!! we'd rather be controlled by Chyna's monopoly on rare earth battery materials.

Posted by: Change my mind at May 24, 2022 04:38 PM (Gh3/R)

477 gasoline on most corners. waffle house on the others. 'merica!

Posted by: kulak anachronda at May 24, 2022 04:35 PM (sGtp+)

--------

Waffle House should have gotten into the gas business.

Oh, wait ...

Posted by: ShainS -- Welcome to the boneyard, we got fun & games & Starveflation aims at May 24, 2022 04:39 PM (19Oib)

478 Re 70s music: “The Streak,” “Mohammed Ali,” and “Muskrat Love.”

You’re welcome.

On the other hand, you did have the beginning of those great John Williams orchestral movie scores with the first “Star Wars” score (the non-disco one), so there’s that.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at May 24, 2022 04:40 PM (14ukD)

479 Barky killed coal as much as he could, the Gaia Religion won't allow it back if they can h see lp it.

Posted by: Skip at May 24, 2022 04:44 PM (2JoB8)

480 "He's just arguing that the Expert Class -- the Smartest Guys in Any Room, the people you should always defer to because they are good at thinking and you are not -- have built an inescapable trap for us."

It's not inescapable...

Posted by: Bitcoin Fixes Everything at May 24, 2022 04:45 PM (V6W16)

481 Re 70s music: “The Streak,” “Mohammed Ali,” and “Muskrat Love.”

---------

"Everybody Loves Kung Fu Fighting!"

Posted by: ShainS -- Welcome to the boneyard, we got fun & games & Starveflation aims at May 24, 2022 04:47 PM (19Oib)

482 480 "He's just arguing that the Expert Class -- the Smartest Guys in Any Room, the people you should always defer to because they are good at thinking and you are not -- have built an inescapable trap for us."

It's not inescapable...

Posted by: Bitcoin Fixes Everything at May 24, 2022 04:45 PM (V6W16)
---------
Governments will ban it, if they don't deliberately shut down the electrical & internet grids first.

Posted by: ShainS -- Welcome to the boneyard, we got fun & games & Starveflation aims at May 24, 2022 04:51 PM (19Oib)

483 There has been too much violence. Too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just walk away. Give me your pump, the oil, the gasoline, and the whole compound, and I'll spare your lives. Just walk away and we'll give you a safe passageway in the wastelands. Just walk away and there will be an end to the horror.

Posted by: blaster at May 24, 2022 04:22 PM (9VeU0)

This Blaster seems a reasonable man, open to compromise.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) has questions at May 24, 2022 04:51 PM (yQpMk)

484 Enron was child's play.

Posted by: SOMEASSHOLESTOLEMYPEN at May 24, 2022 04:53 PM (ytSiK)

485 Silver linings: QVC goes off air?

Posted by: Coki at May 24, 2022 04:55 PM (bjJJU)

486 Dude, jacking the Prime or Fed Funds Rate isn't going to destroy the housing market...

...it will gut the service on the debt *way* before that.

We can't afford to pay off our debt, since we borrow new debt to pay the old. With a prime of even 6%, let alone 12%, we're done. Finis. Tot.

No worries about mortgage defaults. The wheels come off WAY before then.

Posted by: Mr. Proton at May 24, 2022 05:52 PM (O1RtZ)

487 #intentional

Posted by: insurgens ad opus at May 24, 2022 06:20 PM (TS0Hg)

488 Here comes another Great Depression this time under a Democrat

Posted by: Tamaa the Drongo Bird at May 24, 2022 06:28 PM (wGqjj)

489 "Incredible Transition"
TM

Going to be hearing that phrase a lot. Word has gone out on Journolist, poll-tested, etc.

Posted by: Taylorman at May 25, 2022 12:26 AM (AaK5o)

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