Six reasons to be optimistic

going2die_rich

mitchaa wrote: »

I have a fuel receipt Oct 2007 showing fuel @ 96.9ppl

Petrol today is @ 94.9ppl.

Opec has warned of cutting the production to get the price "stable", so don't expect it to last.

Conrad

going2die_rich wrote: »

6) - No, they'll just have a president who is wanting to talk to states like Iran. All these rogue states will be laughing away with Obama in the white house because they know he hasnt got the backbone to do anything to them. They can do what they like.

The opposite of your take is true.
Old fashioned red neck John Wayne 'shoot em boys' is a quaint immature approach.
Obama is just the Man to get words to do the work of guns.

If you think about it we all think in words and act on words. As per the Irish experience, we find it is words and the Human conversation that alter outcomes, not gun totin red knecks with narrow unstretched minds.

michaels

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

Tradionally, protectionism was a Conservative trait and free-trade a Liberal one.

Agree re conservative and liberal (small c and small l) but this does not neccessarily map to US politics - the democrats are definitely more inclined to try to protect US Industry - see Obama's comments re renegotiating the NAFTA

Jonbvn

Conrad wrote: »

Obama is just the Man to get words to do the work of guns.

Or more succinctly, the pen is mightier than the sword!:cool:

baby_boomer

And the $ is mightier than the sword.

Or at least it was before the credit crunch - but that'll rein back the sword as well.

Max_Headroom_3

going2die_rich wrote: »

4 - They will only stay afforable for so long then it'll be back to ever rising prices. Simple reason being their aren't enough properties available. Even now in this downturn the government should be looking to build more housing. Obviously block them off not to be sold until 5 years down the line in small batches so as not to flood the market. Once buyers start buying their wont be enough available properties, especially with many people not wanting to sell for less than what they paid for it to begin with. Then it's back to first time buyers moaning again.

.

Firstly you cannot divorce house prices from affordibility. Or you can, but only briefly as has been very well proven over the last five years or so. Bottom line, forget supply and demand, house prices can only be maintained by the amount of money out there to spend on houses.

Secondly, where exactly are all these people living for whom there are not enough houses? Haven't seen any shanty towns in the UK, have you?

michaels

mitchaa wrote: »

I have a fuel receipt Oct 2007 showing fuel @ 96.9ppl

Petrol today is @ 94.9ppl.

But wasn't oil already nearly 90 usd (30% more than now in SD terms) in October last year?

Sir_Humphrey

Conrad wrote: »

If you think about it we all think in words and act on words. As per the Irish experience, we find it is words and the Human conversation that alter outcomes, not gun totin red knecks with narrow unstretched minds.

As Churchill said:

Jaw-Jaw is better than War-War.

GracieP

I'm cautiously optimistic. I believe this recession is going to be really terrible, I fully expect our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will learn about this period in their history books. But I don't believe that it will cause the break-down of society that some of the headcases on HPC seem to be expecting.

So we will one day come out of it. The depression of the late 20's/early 30's ended in part due to WW2. Very simplistically, the US was able to profit greatly from that war, initially by manufacturing for both sides, and after the war by helping rebuild Europe into a great base of customers. That won't happen again.

So hopefully our way out of this recession will be through genuine innovation. We're going to need great innovation in the coming decades anyway as our resources run out. So I see a future of new, necessary technology being created, manufactured and sold. A scientific renaissance to usher us out of the dark ages future generations will look back on this period as being.:cool:

Either that or we're all doomed.:o

phil_b_2

I find that this crisis period is really bringing all the depressing folk out of the woodwork, they are thriving. They are bitter and miserable and revel in the fact that others are brought down to the same level thus champion the bad times such as these

It's pretty annoying, but thankfully they are a tiny minority in society as a whole.