Pitt Pontificates: The bail-out

[dutch508]

WilliamPitt  (1000+ posts)       Wed Oct-01-08 06:14 AM
Original message
I have some thoughts about the bailout, but I'm also an idiot. Can someone check me on this?   
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4140868

Edited on Wed Oct-01-08 06:15 AM by WilliamPitt
Big fat hairy caveat: If I were an SAT question, I would look like this: "Will Pitt is to _________________ as a small vial of cat urine is to _______________."

(Answer: "Will Pitt is to economics as a small vial of cat urine is to perfume.")

Not my forte, the numbers and stuff. I've spent the last several days giving myself a crash course in What-The-****-Is-Happening 101...I'm making headway, but not much, so bear in mind that I'm putting this issue/question forward from a state of near-total ignorance.

===

I read this FAQ article on McClatchy's site (probably the 321st "FAQ" thing I've read in the last two weeks): http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/53291.html

Quote: "Although the investors who buy these short-term debt instruments may be on Wall Street, the companies issuing this debt are corporations that employ millions of people in the U.S. and around the world. When their costs of borrowing go up substantially, they have to cut costs elsewhere, and that often translates into layoffs."

There's a whole lot more on that link, but the word LAYOFFS jumped out at me...and this thought came barrelling into my mind: The economic center of the U.S., for well over 10 years now, is and has been the service industry. Ours is a "service economy" now, for the most part, and this category of employment involves a wide spectrum of jobs, companies and workers.

It is waiting tables at a restaurant, rocking a register at a retail store, walking a sales-floor beat as a retail associate, answering phones as a 1-800 help-line operator for a tech firm, cable TV company or other massive utility, or answering the help-line for a day-trader website, an online gambling site like PokerNet, or a ticket/travel shop like Orbitz.

Employees of a law firm are part of the service industry, as are accounting firm employees, workers in a real estate brokerage shop, etc. etc. etc. These and many others are all part of the "service economy," and are collectively the core of our financial well-being (wakka wakka). We don't make stuff anymore, not really, since our manufacturing infrastructure got mailed overseas to places where payrolls are measured in pennies and unions are a dangerous myth.

I did a little Wikipedia research, which I know is pretty weak, kinda like getting a kiss from your sister...if your sister is really un-smart and easily manipulated by outside influences.  I did my best to validate the Wiki data with other sources, and it appeared to be reliable enough.

Below are five definite sub-sectors of the service industry with total number of people employed:

Sectors of the U.S. Economy in 2002

Wholesale trade: 5,878,405 employees
Retail trade: 14,647,675 employees
Finance & insurance: 6,578,817 employees
Real estate & rental & leasing: 1,948,657
Accommodation & food services: 10,120,951

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_Stat...

That comes out to somewhere on the order of 40 million Americans who hold down service-industry jobs and depend on service-industry paychecks. Personally, I can think of ten friends who are part of that total, including my girlfriend, According to these Wiki numbers, that amounts to more than a third of the total number of employed Americans (just shy of 109 million)....and I left a few other sectors off the list because I didn't want to unintentionally fudge the "service industry" parameters I'm talking about. A separate page said 79% of the workforce was in the service sector, so my numbers may very well be low.

McClatchy quote again: "Although the investors who buy these short-term debt instruments may be on Wall Street, the companies issuing this debt are corporations that employ millions of people in the U.S. and around the world. When their costs of borrowing go up substantially, they have to cut costs elsewhere, and that often translates into layoffs."

1. The ****wads who have been robbing the till lo these many years can all burn in hell. I have nothing but contempt for them.

2. But...

3. To paraphrase the Buddha, "It is what it is, yo." They did it, and now banks are failing, the dollar is crashing, and while Bush & Co. certainly went overboard with their panic-panic-panic presentation of all this (what a shock, right?), that doesn't mean everything is OK and it's all a bunch of bullshit. This is a very weird, scary, uncertain and perilous situation, and that's true despite the automatic distrust/disgust/deny instincts we're all wrestling with because Bush is involved. I have a busted watch in a desk drawer, and it's right twice a day, so maybe that little bastard has managed to be half as smart as my shitty old busted-ass watch, for once.

He's not the only one saying it. Most of the harshest critics of Paulson's bailout travesty have conceded the need for some kind of action to shore up the economy, provided it makes sound fiscal sense and does not involve tyranny and fascism and stuff. Therefore, by my reckoning, there are millions and millions of Americans who are in danger of losing their jobs because of this situation. And because I am for the worker, like any good liberal should be, I think this is a shitburger we're going to have to choke down.

P.S. Clinton put together a $2.4 trillion surplus before he was done, and did it facing a Republican congress that eventually impeached his ass. If Obama wins, he'll have a Democratically-controlled congress for at least two years. I have every confidence in his ability to create that kind of revenue stream again and put paid to this thing but good.

Thoughts? Am I just totally, totally off-base here?
 

 
Large-ish fire, but mostly people trying to figure out what teh **** pitt is talking about, and does he have a point.

[JohnnyReb]

WilliamPitt  (1000+ posts)       Wed Oct-01-08 06:14 AM

 
Large-ish fire, but mostly people trying to figure out what teh **** pitt is talking about, and does he have a point.

Who knows what he's talking about but the point is, "Will this shit buy me another drink".

[franksolich]

Truer words never spoken by the Bostonian Drunkard:

WilliamPitt  (1000+ posts)       Wed Oct-01-08 06:14 AM
Original message

I have some thoughts about the bailout, but I'm also an idiot.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Jesus F. Christ, he is an idiot...an idiot with delusions of being a genius, to boot.  His logic is about as sound as saying "A downturn in the Dow could mean layoffs, there are 200 million American workers, OMFG 200 MILLION PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LOSE THEIR JOBS!!!111!!!"

Rarely have naivety, vocabulary and ego combined to create such a perfect generator of senseless blather.

[miskie]

Big fat hairy caveat: If I were an SAT question, I would look like this: "Will Pitt is to _________________ as a small vial of cat urine is to _______________."

while I agree with Perfume to cat urine, I think the first blank should be filled with the words "truth"

[USA4ME]

WilliamPitt

If Obama wins, he'll have a Democratically-controlled congress for at least two years. I have every confidence in his ability to create that kind of revenue stream again and put paid to this thing but good.

That's funny.  Sad, but funny.

What's even more sad is the Willy probably has a better understanding of economics than the Obamassiah does, and Willy can't even balance his checkbook.

.

[GOBUCKS]

Personally, I can think of ten friends who are part of that total, including my girlfriend

The purpose of this entire posturing, bloviating post can be found in this short quote. Of course, we know that Pitt does not have ten friends who work, so that part is untrue. The key is "my girlfriend".

DUmmy Pitt wants everyone know that his girlfriend, while she may or may not have reached the age of consent, is at least old enough to have a job flipping burgers. He's hoping that may help repair his rep after that nasty problem involving pre-teen girls at the school where he was a $30/day sub before being fired.

By specifying girlfriend, DUmmy Pitt is trying to repair another self-inflicted scar. His fantasy about luring an intoxicated Kevin Spacey back to his grubby crib was devastating, as was the photo of him in his midnight cowboy queerbait costume as he prepared to sit on fireants in Texas. He has to counter this fruity image carefully, because coming out as a straight is still very risky at the DUmp. Hence the offhand reference to "girlfriend".

[franksolich]

What's even more sad is the Willy probably has a better understanding of economics than the Obamassiah does, and Willy can't even balance his checkbook.

Don't forget that even though the Bostonian Drunkard, born in 1971, is now middle-aged, he still lacks control over the trust funds left by his wealthy Republican maternal grandfather. 

Which is undoubtedly a good thing, because the Bostonian Drunkard would've blown the whole wad a long time ago.

[DumbAss Tanker]

What's even more sad is the Willy probably has a better understanding of economics than the Obamassiah does, and Willy can't even balance his checkbook.

Don't forget that even though the Bostonian Drunkard, born in 1971, is now middle-aged, he still lacks control over the trust funds left by his wealthy Republican maternal grandfather. 

Which is undoubtedly a good thing, because the Bostonian Drunkard would've blown the whole wad a long time ago.

Wise move on the old guy's part.

[jukin]

No mention of Freddie or Fannie so this gets a ZERO for reality.