Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2014, Same As It Ever Was....

Here's to you 2014!
I like to look at the predictions people are making for 2014. 2013 was nothing spectacular, as a matter of fact, it pretty much sucked. So I decided to take a look back at the 2013 economic predictions, because I wanted a good laugh, anyway I wasn't disappointed. One article I read in BloombergBusiness Week said we should skip the predictions and look for "signs" like new restaurant openings and "upmarket hotel occupancy" hold on - this is where it gets really funny, "Renewed demand for second homes and other leisure investments." read all about it here, The Economy in 2013: Skip the Predictions, Look for These Signs - Businessweek
 This would be in complete conflict with the fact that;
"Of nearly 1 million U.S. jobs created this year, 80% — four of every five — were part time and most had meager or no benefits." Is part-time work the new normal?
 If this is what has been happening, basically since the recession-depression started, I am wondering what could possibly change for 2014? According to what I have read, it's going to be more of the same,"manufacturing and services sectors will continue to erode the demand for labor. Firms’ aggressive cost-cutting efforts will continue largely unabated in 2014, heightening pressures on many governments to implement corrective pro-employment policies.” Predictions for 2014 economy? Here are five. - CSMonitor.com  This is where I really start cracking up, "corrective pro-employment policies"? 
Where exactly would this pressure come from? Nobody gives a damn about any working class soul who wants a full time job when there aren't any. Thanks for that Christian Science Monitor!
 Here's a realistic economic prediction for 2014;
'The unsustainable nature of the federal government’s current tax and spending policies presents lawmakers and the public with difficult choices." This is just pure comedy gold, read it for yourself;
I just want to warn you, that I have a Fine Arts degree, I am not an economist, so my answer to the CBO's dire prediction of "difficult choices" wouldn't be difficult at all, make it illegal to offshore all the tax money that this country is lacking and that should kick deficit ass.
"Abbott Laboratories, whose store of untaxed overseas earnings rose by $8.1 billion, to $40 billion."
That's just one company. But no one is going to change the tax code for these shysters. So I guess that's one prediction for 2014, profits will continue to be offshored, untaxed. Meanwhile the peons in the U.S. will scramble to figure out what they owe by trying to figure out the incomprehensible tax rules that holds them hostage, since they have no way of offshoring their income, if they have one. There's a lot to look forward to in 2014, that's for sure!
Another thing to look forward to is more spying by the NSA, I did read a prediction that Edward Snowdon would come back to the U.S. and not be prosecuted! How's that for hilarity?
 The Daily Beast had the top tech predictions that smartphones would get cheaper, they really need to because people don't have much money after paying their taxes.
According to the Wall Street Journal; " U.S. growth will move into the higher end of the 2%-3% range and could well surprise on the upside." Yay Wall Street! Read this "news release" for the U.S. GDP,
"Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.5 percent in the third
 quarter, compared with an increase of 0.8 percent in the second."
 Further reading suggests that GDI or Gross Domestic Incomes  had been 
estimated and revised, probably quite frequently and only grew 1.8% in the third quarter.   
Corporate Undistributed profits increased $218.6 billion 
 When reading this information I can predict a number of things for 2014. One, 
is that without counting food and energy costs we don't know diddly about economic reality. 
Secondly, Corporate profits and real income, for real working people seem to have a great 
deal of disparity. I predict that this will continue in 2014. In other words, more of the status quo 
and no sign of any improvement.
                                                               How did we get here? 
 
 
 

1 comment:

  1. I still say that members of Congress, in fact politicians of any level, should be compelled to wear NASCAR style logos of their corporate "sponsors" (read: MASTERS). Talk about "coat(s) of many colors"! But there would be so many that the public would have a hard time discerning which was which.

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