Rolling US Economy Into The Shitbin Thread

Here's an idea, lend me the $25bn, let me by the volt from chevvy, the Aptera from Google.org and I'll build an american car company that is actually worth something.

Seriously though. Rather than propping up these ageing Behemoths put $25bn into providing cheap capital for people trying to set up engineering businesses to make use of the vast banks of skills in Ohio and Michigan and all the other affected states. Let's have these skilled people build the renewable power infrastructure and sustainable transport infrastructure that the World needs rather than SUVs that no one wants.

Dude didn't you hear Bush's 2001 State of the Union, it's hydrogen cars for everyone

Ed, good luck with that. See: Tesla Motors. Their best shot is to license their technology to a major player. Without massive economies of scale, purchasing leverage, and platform sharing, your company that's actually worth something couldn't bring a Honda Civic to market for under $50K sticker. At which price the American consumer would promptly throw up all over it even if you could steal 40 years of brand equity and call it a Honda Civic. Sorry.

Tracer, I hope to god Bush is right. Especially in growing auto markets where the petroleum infrastructure isn't already massively built out (India, China) it could really be a godsend.

The infrastructure's the biggest challenge at this point. I assume you know that hydrogen cars are already on the road in SoCal: http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/

Tracer, I hope to god Bush is right.

uh-oh!

blind squirrels and nuts and all that

I don't really have anything to add here other than the sinking suspicion that our country's collapse is inevitable and we should be planning on how we are going to bounce out of the wreckage rather than hopelessly trying to stop it. Fucked if I know how to make that bounce, though.

Start by rolling back interest rates, which will inflate prices in the housing sector. Americans will be able to borrow against their rising home equity at advantageous rates, and the perception of growing wealth will encourage them to spend, spend, spend. That should give the ol' economy a nice kick in the pants!

http://tbn0.google.com/hosted/images/c?q=522edbf93c4b8c93_landing

Start by rolling back interest rates, which will inflate prices in the housing sector. Americans will be able to borrow against their rising home equity at advantageous rates, and the perception of growing wealth will encourage them to spend, spend, spend. That should give the ol' economy a nice kick in the pants!

I really hope you're joking

you could start by not raping this generation of american workers, who are already under record amounts of individual debt, for the sake of their parents' retirement.

Fuck a poorly run company, fuck a union that works pretty much exclusively for a poorly run company, and fuck states that thrive off poorly run companies.

http://www.hbo.com/thewire/img/episodeguide/season01/ep05_omar_walk_street.jpg

xpost to dan re "how to make bouncie?"

One nation
Under God
Indivisible
With liberty and justice for all

> Start by rolling back interest rates, which will inflate prices in the housing sector. Americans will be able to borrow against their rising home equity at advantageous rates, and the perception of growing wealth will encourage them to spend, spend, spend. That should give the ol' economy a nice kick in the pants!

I really hope you're joking

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:32 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I lolled.

you know what is amazing? the new york subway system is FUCKED. they may close the W line. they're going to halve the G line. they're going to reduce the number of trains between 2am and 5am. they're closing hundreds of booths and laying off hundreds of attendants. this is after more than a decade of unprecedented growth in the financial capital of the world. and THE STATIONS STILL LOOK AND SMELL LIKE SEWERS.

oh no we'll definitely send millions of our boys to get murdered to keep that indivisible bit, even if the chunk that's trying to leave is the poorly-run-enterprise chunk

it just seems like the old "fix the roof when the sun is shining" thing never really caught on in the old usa

I'm sympathetic to the idea Tombot expresses - though I'd put it more in terms of not screwing future generations of taxpayers who are going to have to pay off the deficits that we are running up today. I think the idea that you don't worry about deficits when you're in a recession is nice and all, but I think we've used up our credibility in that area by continuing to run up deficits in good times and bad over the past 8 years. I wish I could be more confident that we'll get serious about the deficit (including the looming entitlement deficit) once the economy turns around.

tracer come on man sewers don't have little laser-printed signs taped up everywhere telling you that THIS LETTER OF THE ALPHABET WILL ACT LIKE THIS OTHER LETTER OF THE ALPHABET FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS EXCEPT AT NIGHT

that is a good point.

THX 4 YR CONCERN LONDON AND DC DUDES

btw tombot u know why the trains are always getting rerouted - it is because they run 24/7 and need to be worked on some time - also you dont have to swipe on the way out

I really hope you're joking

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/eb/If_you_don

you guys, they spend lots of money getting that just-pissed-on look and feel down pat, show some appreciation

u are allowed to at while u ride and none of them are the green line

i've seen moss in the nyc subway. MOSS.

eat while u ride

oh no we'll definitely send millions of our boys to get murdered to keep that indivisible bit, even if the chunk that's trying to leave is the poorly-run-enterprise chunk

now wait a minute, what?

all this shit could have been avoided with a congestion charge.

there are some billboards promoting the c-charge still up in east new york, it's pretty sad

Of course it's not enough money non-shockah
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/bailout-funds-for-gm-may-fall-short-analyst-says/

Haha I am not making any type of argument for the supremacy of Boston public transit! I would gladly trade up to "just-pissed-on" from "just-pissed-puked-shat-and-menstruated-on".

yo joe you can't DRINK on the subway, though - a disgraceful situation

wait now I don't know if I'm describing Boston or Philly

agreed drinking should be allowed everywhere

I don't hear the beverage industry crying to warshington for handouts!

youre sort of allowed to drink on the subway

jsut like youre sort of allowed to smell like shit and have no pants on and sleep at 2 in the afternoon sprawled out on four cars headed out to far rockaway

uh four seats

lol reed richards is a homeless person

Surely he could construct a home out of his own body?

are you hungover Tombot?

we gonna die. dow below 8000. everyone panic!

eurgh

nasdaq is down 47% this year

I would gladly trade up to "just-pissed-on" from "just-pissed-puked-shat-and-menstruated-on".

NASA has a solution.

I don't know what this means but it looks crazy.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/adj-and-req-reserves.png

haha thats my feeling about 90% of graphs i see on this thread

o no where are those lines going!

come back we need u!

i bought more berkshire

http://i37.tinypic.com/124wz79.jpg

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 350 points or over 3% with less than 30 minutes left in the session.

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index lost 4.3% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost almost 3%.

While there's no sense of panic at the moment, there's also no eagerness to step in and buy, said Tom Schrader, managing director at Stifel Nicolaus.

"The wealth destruction is phenomenal," Schrader said.