[phaster]

Did ya miss watching the I.O.U.S.A. news segment on CNN? It was commentary on the documtary which described an economic fiscal problem that might make the current one caused by subprime mortgages look pretty tame by comparison.

If ya missed the broadcast just thought I'd let ya know that ya can watch the whole thing from the comfort of your laptop using the internet. It took me a little while to figure out how to figure out how to convert a VOB file to a FLV then I had to figure out how to upload the result, but that part was taken care of by "Carlhole" who put up a link to his drop box. Anyway break out the popcorn and enjoy the show...

intro/summary of I.O.U.S.A. television premiere on CNN

part 1 of 2 of the IOUSA television premiere on CNN

part 2 of 2 of the IOUSA television premiere on CNN

BTW for those not up to speed on the problem, the quick and dirty summary of the problem is the government is spending more money than it is taking in (much like we are consuming more oil than is being produced). So it is an inevitable fact that there is going to come a day when there will be hell to pay for past mismanagement and ignoring the probem when it was much smaller and could have been fixed (with lots less pain).

FYI the big parts of the US budget social programs, interest on the debt and defense, in general waste and fraud are tiny amount of money in the grand scheme of things...



The BIG problem in the very near future will be the baby boomer generation, during the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's up till the present time 2009, is this generation was a BIG net positive for the US economy (in the past).



As the US population ages, the ever increasing numbers of seniors will be a BIG DRAG on the economy because as time marches forward fewer workers will be supporting an ever increasing number of individuals no longer able to bring home the bacon.



Its not a matter of if but when, social service will have to be cut, people will have to work longer and taxes will have to be increased to fix the problem!

Put another way an economy powered by consumption is going to soon be a fond memory; basically the days of 7/10 of the economy being dominated by consumer spending are now over.

Any questions?

[bratticus]

Any questions?

Why did you start a second thread about this?

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic49876.html

[GoghGoner]

Any questions?

Nope, good summary. Before the financial distress, the government spending was looking extremely moronic -- today, it is a foregone conclusion that massive cutbacks will have to be made and the loss of jobs will be the last straw causing a complete economic collapse.

[vision-master]

Its not a matter of if but when, social service will have to be cut, people will have to work longer and taxes will have to be increased to fix the problem!

Put another way an economy powered by consumption is going to soon be a fond memory; basically the days of 7/10 of the economy being dominated by consumer spending are now over.

Any questions?

The 'X' generation and younger are getting conditioned into believing there will be no entitlement programs for them. TPTB 'Big Daddy' are working on the masses, so they accept their fate without rebellion. The sheeple seegullibles will accept this lying down.

[Quinny]

I thought working on after retirement was the norm in the States. Whenever I visited, I always found it unusual for my waiter / waitress in a restaurant to be in their 60's or older. This was particularly prevalent in Florida!

Did ya miss watching the I.O.U.S.A. news segment on CNN? It was commentary on the documtary which described an economic fiscal problem that might make the current one caused by subprime mortgages look pretty tame by comparison.

If ya missed the broadcast just thought I'd let ya know that ya can watch the whole thing from the comfort of your laptop using the internet. It took me a little while to figure out how to figure out how to convert a VOB file to a FLV then I had to figure out how to upload the result, but that part was taken care of by "Carlhole" who put up a link to his drop box. Anyway break out the popcorn and enjoy the show...

part 1 of 2 of the IOUSA television premiere on CNN

part 2 of 2 of the IOUSA television premiere on CNN

BTW for those not up to speed on the problem, the quick and dirty summary of the problem is the government is spending more money than it is taking in (much like we are consuming more oil than is being produced). So it is an inevitable fact that there is going to come a day when there will be hell to pay for past mismanagement and ignoring the probem when it was much smaller and could have been fixed (with lots less pain).

FYI the big parts of the US budget social programs, interest on the debt and defense, in general waste and fraud are tiny amount of money in the grand scheme of things...



The BIG problem in the very near future will be the baby boomer generation, during the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's up till the present time 2009, is this generation was a BIG net positive for the US economy (in the past).



As the US population ages, the ever increasing numbers of seniors will be a BIG DRAG on the economy because as time marches forward fewer workers will be supporting an ever increasing number of individuals no longer able to bring home the bacon.



Its not a matter of if but when, social service will have to be cut, people will have to work longer and taxes will have to be increased to fix the problem!

Put another way an economy powered by consumption is going to soon be a fond memory; basically the days of 7/10 of the economy being dominated by consumer spending are now over.

Any questions?

[vision-master]

I thought working on after retirement was the norm in the States. Whenever I visited, I always found it unusual for my waiter / waitress in a restaurant to be in their 60's or older. This was particularly prevalent in Florida!

After 60 years in life, you wait on tables and take orders from a manager in their 20's? What's wrong with this picture?

[misterno]

All this doom and gloom is just nonsense

As long as China buys all our treasury bonds which they will, interest rates will stay low, gov will always have borrowing power and life will go on as usual

The only time we have to worry is when China no longer needs to buy us treasuries. But that will only happen when China does not need USA imports anymore. And that will only happen when the share of exports to USA among all exports fall to very low AND when the migration from villages to cities in China becomes negligable.

In other words, CHINA WILL NEVER STOP buying our treasury bonds. Thus no need to worry.

[TWilliam]

As the US population ages, the ever increasing numbers of seniors will be a BIG DRAG on the economy because as time marches forward fewer workers will be supporting an ever increasing number of individuals no longer able to bring home the bacon.

Time for the Inuit Protocol?

All this doom and gloom is just nonsense

As long as China buys all our treasury bonds which they will, interest rates will stay low, gov will always have borrowing power and life will go on as usual

The only time we have to worry is when China no longer needs to buy us treasuries. But that will only happen when China does not need USA imports anymore. And that will only happen when the share of exports to USA among all exports fall to very low AND when the migration from villages to cities in China becomes negligable.

In other words, CHINA WILL NEVER STOP our treasury bonds. Thus no need to worry.

Yea... sure...

[phaster]

Any questions?

Why did you start a second thread about this?

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic49876.html

the reason I started a second thread is because I felt it was necessary to point out the broad trends using actual data showing in general where the US government spends money, and also show the data of increasing population during the baby boom right after WW II from 1946 to 1964 will lead to increasing numbers of people drawing upon government retirement, social and medical programs in the very near future.

I'm a numbers and data geek at heart and don't have strong political leaning toward the left or right, but in general I'm socially liberal and a fiscal conservative. Basically there is going to be lots of difficult choices to be made, and in that light it is necessary for society as a whole to understand the magnitude of the problem.

Just like the peak oil issue, there are optimistic believers to do not understand the basic mathamatic concepts of "limits," nor do they appreciate the dangers of "exponential" or "compounding" effects within a system. For example doing a quick search related to the topic "IOUSA on CNN" one would find a link to:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/11/13465/6953

which is a discussion of true liberal believers who don't seem to think that there is anything wrong with the system as it presently exists.

This protracted point of view is not unique, consider for example the "conservative" believers who basically think there is no real problem with energy and the concept of "peak oil" can be solved simply by drilling in more places and putting up more oil rigs in existing oil fields.

As I mentioned before I'm basically a numbers geek, who does not feel threatened by data because it might threaten a pre-concieved world view. Basically I take the approach that a basic "strategic" understanding of the problem(s) and how they relate to one another

http://phaster.com/burningman_2007/

is the first step necessary to find solutions. The nature of my personality is also one where I don't get too worked up over any one thing, and that personality trait means in a downward trending economic environment such as this, I'm not feeling much pressure because when in the not too distant past when most people were overly excited about the economy and leveraged themselves to the max, I opted to take the conservative approach and save for the eventual rainy day (which is now happening).

As far as the I.O.U.S.A. CNN news segment, I'm just lucky that I had it one my PVR and thought that it was important to share this information. Hopefully some zealots will take this video and information and will post it on other social network sites such as twitter, youtube or whatever place ya frequent on the web, to raise awareness about another looming problem issue, which IMHO is vary dangerous and gets very little respect.

[misterno]

As the US population ages, the ever increasing numbers of seniors will be a BIG DRAG on the economy because as time marches forward fewer workers will be supporting an ever increasing number of individuals no longer able to bring home the bacon.

Time for the Inuit Protocol?

All this doom and gloom is just nonsense

As long as China buys all our treasury bonds which they will, interest rates will stay low, gov will always have borrowing power and life will go on as usual

The only time we have to worry is when China no longer needs to buy us treasuries. But that will only happen when China does not need USA imports anymore. And that will only happen when the share of exports to USA among all exports fall to very low AND when the migration from villages to cities in China becomes negligable.

In other words, CHINA WILL NEVER STOP our treasury bonds. Thus no need to worry.

Yea... sure...

Okey yeah sure, if you don't believe me then how do you explain the extremely low interest rates in US T bonds for the last 15-20 years?

[gnm]

The 'X' generation and younger are getting conditioned into believing there will be no entitlement programs for them. TPTB 'Big Daddy' are working on the masses, so they accept their fate without rebellion. The sheeple seegullibles will accept this lying down.

NO. We Won't. Think you're gonna keep getting that pension? Think again boomer boy...

-G-en X

[Rubin_Flagg]

The 'X' generation and younger are getting conditioned into believing there will be no entitlement programs for them. TPTB 'Big Daddy' are working on the masses, so they accept their fate without rebellion. The sheeple seegullibles will accept this lying down.

NO. We Won't. Think you're gonna keep getting that pension? Think again boomer boy...

-G-en X

If there is one generation that I'm glad not to be it is a boomer. I realize how difficult the next 30 years are going to be. Most boomers don't have the guts or brains to realize that a government handout is not going to be possible.

Later days weenies.

[phaster]

in a way the Inuit Protocol never really went away, think about it for a moment in terms of education, money management and social networks.

those individuals who saved when times were good, didn't get too greedy and bet the farm on a roll of the dice, will come thru this economic crisis somewhat damaged, but not dead.

likewise those individuals who invested in education that involves analytical or professions that can bring home the bacon, come hell or high water, will also live to fight another day.

Same for social networks, such as churches that provide social support and have a sense of community and sacrifice, will have an edge in surviving this crisis.

As the US population ages, the ever increasing numbers of seniors will be a BIG DRAG on the economy because as time marches forward fewer workers will be supporting an ever increasing number of individuals no longer able to bring home the bacon.

Time for the Inuit Protocol?

[patience]

Rubin_Flagg said:

"If there is one generation that I'm glad not to be it is a boomer."

No kidding. I'm an early boomer, and do realize how screwed we are. I got my first SS check in Dec., '08, and my wife's first check comes Feb. 11, '09. Wonder how long that will last? We are saving every dime we can, living WAY below our means, owe nobody, and have a tiny business. We know we are still in trouble. So, we are investing in our kids, as we have for a long time. It's the only way I can see to deal with getting to be past working and keep from starving. No illusions here, for the last 40+ years.

My great grandfather was still pulling his weight doing the farm chores, living with his kids, the day before he died at 94. Sounds okay to me.

[gnm]

My great grandfather was still pulling his weight doing the farm chores, living with his kids, the day before he died at 94. Sounds okay to me.

Now thats a life well lived! My Great Grandmother died on her farm at 98. Independent to the last.

Your plans sound good Patience - best of luck to you and yours!

-G