Well, I for one can't wait for the return of stagflation. Nothing like a good "stagflation party," you know.

Greenspan has two choices:
1. Shove interest rates higher to defend the dollar and curb inflation. This will tank the economy.

OR

2. Let inflation run for a while to keep the economy afloat longer. This will run a significant risk of a currency crisis.

Tough choices.

Can't we just raise the taxes of everyone who thinks the economy is doing really well?

Matt,
I think this "stag" party will actually be a "drag" (on anyone in the middle or lower classes). But the rich bushies should be fine - after all god is watching over them.

well, economy does not look bad because most companies use overseas production to offset losses here.

Coke jsut announced sales in asia, latin are up but not here. GM just lost 1Bil but so what? Gas is out of control but car makers are building bigger cars w/ bigger engines.

The stock market won't crash because we have pumped trillions into it to keep it alive the last 5 years.

Ahhh, so the great crash of the house of cards has begun. Get ready for a wild fucking ride kids. It ain't gonna be much fun.

Oh April, you evil economic genius!

It will be interesting to see the marching orders Greenspan gets from Bush/Rove. The chickens are finally coming home to roost, unfortunately they'll be roosting on us.

Well, one month does not a trend make. What's interesting is the "lowered retail sales" combined with "inflation." After all, not like retailers will be jacking up prices if inventory is sitting on shelves.

But, as Princess Leia said, "The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this."

It'll be interesting to hear and read some comments regarding the numbers...

Every time I hear analysts debating on CNBC whether there will be inflation, or Greenspan testifying, I realize none of these people actually walk into a store and buy anything. Just about everything is significantly higher than just a few months ago, and prices were steadily rising before that. Housing prices, liquor, gas, utilities, bottled water, you name it. Even commodities like produce, which are supposedly cyclical, are on a continuous trend of higher prices.

BMW plans to bring the Smart Car to the US. This is the very small car sold in European markets that is about half the size of a Nissan Sentra. Smart Cars are very fuel efficient and can be parked in 1/2 of a compact parking space. Most people in Europe just pull straight into a curb rather than parallel parking. I was really encouraged by this announcement from BMW until I saw the fine print. The Smart Car in the US will be re-tooled for the larger appetites of US consumers. The car will be longer and heavier and will be less fuel efficient than its European brethren. I thought this might be in response to our power and fuel lust here in the States, but then I saw a news clip this morning on expanding American waistlines. I think the larger Not So Smart Car is being re-tooled to accommodate the larger arses of the average American. Obviously BMW did not do their market research since the target market for a small, fuel efficient car is not the red-state wide bodies who prefer the Ford Eco-destroyers and Chevy Suburbanators, but rather us tofu eating, Birkenstock wearing liberals. My arse will fit very comfortably in a European Smart Car and I would greatly appreciate the awesome fuel economy the cars get in Europe. Guess I'll have to get my name on a waiting list for a Prius (which Toyota also made bigger this year, but I think the fuel economy stayed the same).

Triealtalot,
did you see the stories yesterday about how some government agency said that "a little extra weight is OK"? That gives obese American the permission to gorge their gluttonous faces even more! lets chow down - lets consume till we explode - its our american right damn it!
(I enjoy laughing at the huge slops in their SUV's - I have to laugh to keep from crying about what they are doing to our country, our environment).

Well, trieatalot, you missed the results of the voting demographics for 2004. Those who make under $30K tended to vote for Democrats. All voting blocks above $50K tended to vote Republican.

Poor folks have a higher obesity rate than middle class and rich folks.

So, seems like more Democrats are eating Hamburger Helper and 4 apple pies for $1, not the tofu that you mention.

Muck, want to make a bet on how all those obese slops in their SUV's vote? If you want to kill yourself- that's fine - just don't kill my planet with your fuckin SUV monster trucks.

I only have one question. How many of those obese poor people are obese because they choose to be obese?

roamer:

Greenspan has two choices:
1. Shove interest rates higher to defend the dollar and curb inflation. This will tank the economy.

OR

2. Let inflation run for a while to keep the economy afloat longer. This will run a significant risk of a currency crisis.

Tough choices.

You are right! Catch 22, quick sand, quagmire, dilemma, quandary, and no-win situations are emerging attributions of incompetence.

Bush and Company are in four more of these situations (Iraq, Dollar devaluation, Deficits, Energy Policy)

Fools rush in where wise people never go!!!

There is only one way out of this mess, and it won't solve all the problems. The era of cheap consumer goods is over because the era of cheap energy is over. We must reduce consumer demand for energy especially in the personal transportation sector so it the food and other vital sectors the economy have enough energy. This means ditching SUVs and investing in small and hybridized vehicles and more importantly public transportation. Meanwhile the government has to get serious about developing a working large scale alternative to oil for our energy needs. If energy is allowed to spiral beyond control (which I believe it won't due to eventual necessary regulation i.e. rationing of fuel) it will kill our economy. People of all industrialized nations will realize what having little to no disposable income looks like as they spend it all on food, water, and heating their homes. So that being said we've gotta get people out of SUVs and cars in general and on bikes, buses, and trains. Many think the outlook is grim that alternative energies will never be able to fill in the gap of oil which is true, but whats wrong with putting Americans on bicycles and in buses, and sweating it out in the summer time like we used to. There will be as sacrifice made in personal transportation and some comforts, but if carefully planned we should be able to grow food and make other necesseities and bring them to market with the energy available to us.

And so, water does indeed seek its own level.

They cut taxes to increase investment but no one wanted the money so they reduced interest rates to zero and still no one wanted the damned money then some wise guy/gal figured out that they could use the money to refinance houses so that the working class consumer would have some money to spend to support the economy. Yes, someone did try to tell them get the money to the working people to begin with.

Charles,

I would add:
1. Turn off your televisions (the propaganda is more effective than you think)
2. Spend your money only with corporations and businesses that are not a part of this effort to destroy the middle class and the republic
3. Don't let your social and religious hang-ups rule your judgement.
4. Grow-up and accept an abundance mentality

Was Marla Ruzicka killed? It seems more than coincidental that one week after discovering that the military DOES record civilian casualties, she's dead.

Robin,

It'll eat you alive to consider every death of someone who was working for the greater good in Iraq as some kind of conspiracy. The reason this business has come out now is because I'm sure it was her latest work and her supporters are releasing it to bolster its publicity alongside the media coverage of her death. Now we know though and we've gotta get big media asking the "well how many is it?" question now.

The real 70's were more fun than this decade is going to be. I know I was there.

no, not the 70's -- I got tagged by my family to wait in the line at the gas station. I learned from that experience to conserve. My family didn't. Maybe I should have rebelled more then and they would conserve more now.

Conservation, to have any impact must happen on a very large scale. A few folks tunring their lights off isn't going to cut it. Let's start with regulating industry waste and then mandate conservation. That's what it takes. They recycle in CA because they have to - the government requires participation. In Chicago, it's optional, so people don't do it. Offer carrots for participating but make sure there are penalties for not doing your part.

The gibbon is that man must replace fossil fuels as an energy source. It's no longer a question of if. It's only a question of wheter it's done before it's too late. At this point, that replacing is what we should be doing vs. these military adventures. Our efforts should be going toward replacing fossil fuels as an energy source. Since our economy, our lifestyles have developed around cheap fossil fuel, this entails changes in almost everything we do: where we live, where we work, transportation systems, housing, schools, clothing, agriculture, ....

michelle,

It's not really your families' fault. We do live in an instant gratification (it's good for business) society. And there's the conundrum, people prefer simple answers, certianty and more consumption. The future is going to have less of all these. Nobody wants to hear that.

I too learned the value of conservation as a teen in the 70's. Fuel mileage has always been a concern of mine in autos. My co-op already offers 'green power' from a wind farm in Tenn. and they are working on biomass.

The sad part is that most of us know that the current solution proposed is to produce and burn more carbon based fuels. Again this is an approach based on simple answers, rising consumption and a certianty in a world that is going out of existance due to declining recoverable petroleum resources.

Those of us who understand this are limited for now to the immeadiate impact that we can have. Perhaps if we can show others how to save money and live better through a more 'green' lifestyle, we can appeal to their self interest while improving the prospect for a sustainable future.

OK. I have a theory about the economy and the political system and I'd love to hear comment on it. I believe both run on basically a thirty-year loop or cycle. The eighties were like the fifties, the nineties were like the sixties and the "naughties" are like the seventies. It also seems the political system does the same. Democrats ran the 30s and 40s, Republicans rans the 50s, Dems ran the 60s and 70s, Republicans the 80s, and so on... Obviously it isn't a perfect model, but it is basically right. I see a decade like the seventies ahead of us with stagflation, big American cars, gas lines, and high interest rates and yet another incompetent set of insignificant Presidents. Only this time, instead of a Reagan-like character, it will be a Democrat that pulls it all together. Any thoughts?