Quote:
Originally Posted by After Shock Media
Nobody would be taking everything people have from them. Well unless they do not own it or can not pay for it. Sure some retirement accounts would be lost, people would loose stuff from job loss. Shit would hurt and hit the fan. On flip side - constant bail outs would also hurt everyone.
PS I have no doubt I may have the more crazy thought.
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I agree that bailout after bailout can and very well may dig us deeper and deeper in a hole. As for a depression not taking everything from people, well, I have a lot of friends that have pretty good jobs and make a pretty good living. None of them own their homes outright. They all have purchased homes, but none of them own them. If they lose their jobs they will lose their homes and cars (although a few of them have cars that are paid for). Debt for homes and cars is just the reality of the modern world. 95% of the population can't come up with the 200K+ that the average house costs these days.
Once that type of ball gets rolling it will be very hard to stop. Just look at what is happening. A bunch of people bought houses they can't afford and now it has sent the world into a tailspin. When the people who are actually paying for their homes start losing their jobs and homes the tailspin will turn into a full on death roll.
A depression would mean unemployment of around 20% that means we are out of business because those that remain with jobs will be hording their money and spending it on things that are needed or saving it under their mattress in case they too lose their job. I would think that today there would be even higher unemployment than the first depression because so few people actually work in jobs that produce a needed commodity. Farming is all machine done and huge farms can operate with just a few workers. Transportation is the same way as is most manufacturing jobs (what manufacturing jobs there are still left in the US) many stores would go under and there could be a very long and ugly time. I don't think that just some people would lose their retirement, I think a huge number of people would as most people's retirements are in some kind of investment related fund and those would bottom out.
Sure some good could come of it. Maybe we would turn ourselves around and go back to being a country that manufactures something that we actually sell to other countries and maybe we would usher in an era of responsible spending and wise credit choices. But I doubt it. Without a strong protectionist stance we can't compete with third world countries when it comes to manufacturing products. I think we could create a lot of new jobs if we focus on energy independence and those would be lasting jobs that can't be outsourced, but I think ultimately what would happen is we would eventually come out of it and within a handful of years we would be right back to living beyond our means and creating debt and if we are going to end up there anyway I don't see the need for going through the pain of a depression to get there.
I guess, in the end, I don't have a whole lot of faith in my fellow countrymen to spend wisely and create a sound future so a lesson would not be learned.