I decided to hold off on this post mostly due to laziness, but also because writing it while the stock market was going down in the last week or so might seem a bit justifying Obama or whatever. But now today that the Dow went up 619.07 mostly meaningless to me points, the post stands on it’s own. And that is why the fuck were people claiming a week’s worth of bad stock market news was some how reflective of Obama’s handling of the economy, of some sort of shade of capitalism more generally, or of stories about panic!!!!!!! throughout the land?
The truth is that Obama is handling the economy fine, and on the granular level doesn’t have much to do one way or the other with the stock market going down in a given day or week, or week and change. Capitalism will have its ups and downs but it’s here for a long time. And stories about panic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! are pretty boring absent actual panic.
Of course, people’s retirement accounts are often tied up with the market. I know mine are. But I’m not retiring for several decades. So unless you’re planning on retiring this month, these fluctuations will probably be something you’ll be able to ride out. While it was bad for some people, for the majority, it wasn’t anything unless you panic.
Maybe the issue is that the Dow — or the market more generally — is the only snapshot of the economy we have. However flawed it is, it’s something to say what the economy did today. Or this week. Or whatever short amount of time. But maybe we don’t need that. Maybe we don’t have a good measure of the economy in such short bursts because that’s not a good way to think of the economy.
A week in stocks might be a shit measure of the national economy, but a one-month spike in restaurant employment, following a decline measured over six months, in a metropolitan region five times the population of Seattle, is an outstanding measure of the effect of a minimum wage increase on Seattle’s economy, amirite?
Well, Trump and some of the rest of the Republican presidential candidates are blaming China for stealing American jobs. Only a bunch of uneducated sheep would take that a face and full value. On top of which the criticism of China is coming from individuals that supported current trade relations with China and people like the Car Elevator Mittster and the Gold Tower Trumpster have investments in Chinese companies.
What they really don’t want you to know is that American Corporations have been giving the Chinese all the American Jobs. China isn’t stealing anything.
Case in point – I have water delivered to my house. Recently I have had to call Belmont Springs two times, each time I was put on hold for over 40 minutes. The recording warned of delays and advised that I do my business on their website. But I’m sure they would have picked up pretty immediately if I had picked #1 to be a new customer.
Anyways, they had to inconvenience me because they probably don’t want to hire anyone to serve their current customers. China isn’t stealing those jobs.
So, while I was on hold I did a little math on a spreadsheet – I wanted to figure out how much more the company would have to charge per gallon of water to hire 250 people x 52 weeks / year x 40 hours / week x $15/hour (a living wage). And I assumed that if the Company had 1 million customers that each order 5 gallons of water per week (what I pretty much use as an individual) that it pretty much equates to $.03 per gallon.
No, I may have under estimated the cost (doesn’t include fringe benefits and taxes and any possible employee benefits) and I also may have over estimated how many gallons of water they sell, but even if I were off by say 300% it might add up to $.12 per gallon.
So, I took the opportunity to voice my complaint to the person who eventually picked up the phone, and I told him that what I was about to say wasn’t a complaint to him but to his company, because I was taking advantage of the fact that the conversation was being recorded. He wad very gracious.
And it was nice to know that he told me that the company was opening an additional call center in Florida. And I said great, hopefully they’ll pay those people a living wage and not $6.00 per hour.
China isn’t stealing the Jobs – American Companies are giving the jobs away and don’t want to hire or build American, they can do it, they just don’t want to out of greed of profit. No one is asking them to make no profit. Raise your water $.12 a gallon. I, and I’m sure many others, would be willing to pay $.12 more for another American to be working and not pay for them to be on welfare.
Fuck You – You dumb fucking, brainwashing Repukes. And fuck you to all those that are too stupid to fight back and just take their stupid shit because you can’t take the time to do math.
The only reason these asswipes are straining to jog a fake victory lap is because with the dollar rising and oil falling voters are going to have plenty to spend and plenty to buy going into this election.
At this point if The President left the cap off the White House toothpaste they’d call for hearings.
I agree a week’s stock market data is a bad economic measure. I’m just not sure how the author defines “the economy”. The economy which matters to me is the depletion and restoration of natural resources. In that economy, a rising stock market correlates to frightening depletion, and restoration does not meaningfully register at all. Consequently, stocks are a shit measure for me, period. A growing investment portfolio may benefit your personal security in old age–it’s also a devastation to the earth.
@1,
I know my hope is vain, but it would be nice to put an end to this bullshit.
It’s the law. And one that enjoys a very healthy level of Seattle voter support. So… democracy. Deal.
And that means that if you don’t like the law the burden of changing opinion rests on you and your iiillllk. So if angry, greedy, spiteful shit heels are going to rely on fucked up data to push their agenda of greed and exploitation, Goldy gets to point it out whenever that fucked up data says precisely the opposite. It’s called IRONY.
Of course the data is bullshit. Guess what? WE DON’T CARE. We already won. Get it?
I decided to hold off on this post mostly due to laziness, but also because writing it while the stock market was going down in the last week or so might seem a bit justifying Obama or whatever. But now today that the Dow went up 619.07 mostly meaningless to me points, the post stands on it’s own. And that is why the fuck were people claiming a week’s worth of bad stock market news was some how reflective of Obama’s handling of the economy, of some sort of shade of capitalism more generally, or of stories about panic!!!!!!! throughout the land?
Carl, you don’t remember the continual libtard commentary from October 2008 onward on how it was George Bush’s handling of the economy hence his fault the October 2008 drop? No? Your favorite cheer leader, the early onset senile schismatic IDIOT Wabbit, led the insipid comment charge!
You chose not to search the HA archives to find these choice comments? Can’t find the chimp lost all those jobs? The monkey caused banks to fail? The chimp cause the economy to fail? Etc. etc. etc.! Well you could grow a set of marbuls nicely ask the monomaniacal moronic moonbattic memoryless ABSOLUTELY clueless crazed cretin for a crazed databaze replay! Or Google it? You know choice key words?
Now you upset the foo shits on the other foot? Really? Reality sinking in on previous 2008 thoughts? No? Not yet?
Well Puddy doesn’t expect an answer! That’s okay. FACTS – Always a massive headache and delivering traumatic brain injuries to DUMMOCRETINS each day!
@5
Understood. Seattle is in an economically enviable position and may continue to do well in spite of the minimum wage increase.
You are absolutely correct in your comments about the legality and representative democracy behind the ordinance. No argument.
I have two concerns and points:
1. Will libbies still own it if it turns out that long-term effects are not positive? You seem to be willing to, because after all, you “won”.
2. Just because there might be economic success in Seattle, is it a good idea elsewhere? See my repeated comments, and Goldy’s silence, about Los Angeles hotel industry jobs data. See the LA labor unions’ attempt to create a carve-out for themselves so that the remain free to negotiate a lower rate in industries that can’t pay $15.
Seattle might be OK with $15. Yakima and Longview would probably tank if it were $12 there.
You “won” in Seattle. Goldy’s weekly cheerleading is not unexpected. When a billionaire says ‘jump’, makes sense to jump, even if the data is bullshit.
The battle shifts. Keep your eye on what happens elsewhere. Like the LA hotel industry. Wonder what Goldy would have to say about what might be occurring there?
Or will we merely be treated to a regurgitation of some more Seattle restaurant data?
[Deleted–off topic]
If the housing market hasn’t crashed, it’s a stock price adjustment. Considering the rise in the stock market over the last seven years, it was inevitable there would be fluctuations. Especially when the Chinese devalue their own currency.
The Dow and other market indices are NOT the only snapshots of the economy that we have. They don’t even directly measure any aspect of economic performance, just investor attitudes — what people are willing to take to sell or pay to buy. Of course that is relevant if you want to sell or buy.
Other metrics are employment, unemployment, individual income, corporate income, GDP, productivity, individual savings, individual debt, standard of living, cost of living / inflation, interest rates, budget deficit, trade deficit, national debt… and more. Depending on what you care about, any of those may be more important than the Dow. But the Dow reports changes by the minute, so the media like to report it.
@10, “But the Dow reports changes by the minute, so the media like to report it” is kind of what I meant by snapshot.
@Sloppy in general
Just thought I’d point out that the NFLX that I bought around 90 amid Monday’s great sell-off you were gloating about closed the week comfortably over 117.
We’re all DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED
@6 “Your favorite cheer leader, the early onset senile schismatic IDIOT Wabbit, led the insipid comment charge!”
It’s a division of labor thing. This blog sometimes gets over 100 comments per thread, so the comments have to be departmentalized. I’m in charge of the insipid comments and you’re in charge of the asinine comments.
Two weeks ago, one share of Procter & Gamble cost $81. Today, it costs $71. And people are upset about that? I’m jumping for joy!