grawk
Itinerant Miscreant
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2005
- Posts
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- 38
You know, I bet greenspan knows the great depression was over 70 years ago...not in the last 50.
Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not only that those other countries how hold so much of our debt. What bothers me greatly about the trade surplus is that the folks in the EU and China are not using those dollars we send over to buy US-made goods in return......instead, they are buying US companies! Firms I've worked for in the US chemical industry over the past 30 years include Stauffer Chemical (now largely owned by Rhodia, spinoff of Rhone Poulenc, plus INEOS, a British conglomerate), Morton Chemical (its most profitable unit eventually spun off to Nippon Paint), Miles Labs (remnants of which are owned by Bayer AG and other Bayer spinoffs), and General Mills Chemicals (bought by Henkel, now Cognis). A local plant owned by Pfizer until the mid-1980's is now owned by a Hong Kong investment group. GE Plastics, who developed polycarbonate (the polymer used in CD's) was recently sold to SABIC, 70% of which is owned by the Saudi government. Some remaining jobs stay here, at least....but the profits won't. And with a weakening dollar, there will not be meaningful reinvestment here. The excuse will be that sure, capital in the US is relatively cheap compared to the EU, but the profits don't translate so well into euros any more. And in general, their "solution" has been further headcount reductions, or in the case of Bayer, engaging in price-fixing cartels that ruined several businesses. |
Originally Posted by Konig /img/forum/go_quote.gif That is not true. Im very sure China and Russia will want to buy your f22s and nuclear submarines but the govt won't let the military industry sell. So you are stuck with a trade deficit, want to protect your global supremacy and yet complain people do not buy enough of your goods? lolx |
Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif IMHO, it's idiot shareholders who've overpaid for the stock on speculation alone, who've pushed the price beyond anything reasonable that should be paid based on true earnings potential, that have forced the issue in many cases. The availability of broad stock index funds has caused share prices for many firms to rise when there are no fundamental reasons to believe that future performance warrants an increase share price. We have enough blame to spread around within the US for our problems, believe me! |
Originally Posted by ok computer /img/forum/go_quote.gif All of this is irrelavent. Everyone knows the world will end in 2012. Just enjoy life while you can. Apocalypse 2012 : An Investigation into Civilization's End |