Whenever I thnk insurance "scam". I think Buffett. Definite advantages. "These people can never lose." I think of players trying to beat the casino, which is what happened with AIG.
Yes, exactly right. The rich hoard. The middle class spend. Europe and North America gutted their middle class via Chindia outsourcing. At the time, our Social Controllers reassured us not to worry. That Chindia would most certainly buy all our high tech gadgetry, heavy equipment and drugs. Comparative advantage, right? Building foreign markets to consume US products, right?? Problem is, most Fortune 500 opened factories in Chindia to export shit back here (killing US domestic manufacturing). Then, figured they'd go for broke, and made everything in Chindia for Asia (killing US exports). That's why those 9 Million+ jobs lost aren't coming back. All these ivory tower academics justify globalization with Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage. Except comparative advantage doesn't work when manufacturing savings exceeds transportation costs under a loose tariff regime. Our politcos knew that, but were bought off by the same Fortune 500 that happily gutted America's middle class for "shareholder profits". Is that what Patriotism is? Is that how Congress defends American interests? Your first point is also entirely relevant. Excessive debt levels created via successive asset bubbles kills future demand. This is how that fucker Greenspan (aka "the Maestro"...remember that??) fooled America outsourcing was great, when it really wasn't. He got the Country high off cheap credit, blew a gigantic RE bubble, everyone thought they'd never work again! 5 years later it blew up, we looked around, and realized our solid blue collar jobs are being done by some patty-farmer working for 20 cents an hour in Hangzhou. Now, we're fucked. Excuse my language, but we are.
Sharp observation. For every dollar collected by Government, only ~70 cents are spent into the real economy. The other 30 cents is wasted on the bureaucracy of managing that 70 cents ! And whether that 70 cents produces much utility for the average American, is open for debate!! Think pork, bridges to nowhere, endless wars, and sky-high compensation for Government "officials".
whatever happened to "we make 70% of the worlds food," whats that number today,could that still be an ace in the hole
Probably in the way the dotcom or real estate bubble was an ace in the hole for America. The FED will likely QE their way out of the next Depression, sending undervalued ag. to the moon.
Gates spends quite a bit of money through his foundation, furthermore he own MSFT shares that also have quite a big of capex going on
Nitro, you are trying to think rationally. Try some irrational thinking - that is what the power elite and governments of this world are doing - thinking irrationally. Why not just kill all kinds of people? Kill the lenders of the debts. Kill the people who don't consume. Kill the people who don't produce. Kill the people who consume too much. Kill the people who oppose the killing and on and on... Think about it...a nice war...kill off some "unproductives" and create consumption. Heck, if you wipe out the opponent...you get to take their land...give it to your friends and "create wealth" on the "new land." An added benefit of this killing is that it is "top down." The governments/elite of the world get to chose who to whack. -gastropod
If you do the research, Gates is a consummate globalist. His foundation pushes eugenics and rapid depopulation. That's where most of his money goes: R&D to invent new ways to sterilize Africans against their will under the pretext of "giving back". And if you want the truth, those same covert vaccination technologies Gates is trialing in Africa now, will be used against us Western Democracies in the near future. That's what the swine flu debacle was about: beta-testing acceptance of mass vaccinations. The Elite want most of us sick, dumb or dead. Swine flu proved the public won't go along with mass vaccinations even if the authorities hype outbreaks to extreme levels. That's where Gates and his vaccination technology comes in. This all fits under the broader globalist agenda of "over population" and it's logical conclusion: depopulation. Elites basically see free humanity as the number#1 threat to their Corporate and Government fiefdoms. Kill the seed before it grows.