I apologize Readers, but last week’s blog was blocked by the editors (in that my girlfriend is “the editors”). It was the first comedic bit that I had written in some time. She was afraid that it would lead to our being killed.
With Easter coming so early this year, it was almost on top of Presidents’ Day. Seeing the obligatory documentaries on Lincoln’s burial bleeding into programs about the history of Jesus sent my mind down a path I have found before and, last week, I thought I would bring you along for the ride. A little bit of research leads to a wealth of information about Lincoln’s remains being moved numerous times and excruciatingly complete descriptions of the final viewing of his corpse just prior to its being encased in tons of concrete in a specially designed tomb unlike anything seen before. By relaying those facts with a slight editorial slant, I was able to make the case for the thwarting of a grand conspiracy to animate a zombie Lincoln, alter the election of 1896 and change the course of American society. Then I reached over to the most celebrated case of a dead man rising and made the case that our government needed to take sterner action to stop the zombie Jesus than simply hiding chocolate eggs under the laurel bush in the side yard.
For some reason, she was convinced that people would take offense at that piece and it was withdrawn to cease her yammering on the subject.
As for the blog from two weeks ago: there were inquiries by readers into how to go about building an income stream like the one I built. Anyone truly interested may contact me though the link to The Virtual Jim website. I will mentor anyone who I feel comfortable working with. An individual who is accountable for their actions, teachable and willing to honestly work toward helping others can feel assured that I would work with them or would tie them into someone from their own geographic area. Anyone looking to put a short cut into the system is going to crash and burn quickly and is not worth my time.
Speaking of The Virtual Jim website – I was able to rebuild all of the files lost when a motherboard fried in January and have them safely backed up in external drives. However, the procedure for uploading from the Adobe GoLive program into Go Daddy’s hosting server has been lost. I remember when I first set up the website, figuring out the upload protocol was aggravating, but eventually I figured it out. A smart person would have made notes rather than relying on a computer that might ultimately burn out to remember for him. So far, the helpful people at Go Daddy have been less than helpful which surprises me. This should not be a hard thing. If anyone reading this has experience uploading from GoLive into Go Daddy, I would love to hear from you. The site is overdue for a major update. As of today, visitors cannot even get to this blog from The Virtual Jim.
Readers have asked for my take on the fall of Eliot Spitzer. They remember my very negative feelings toward the man when he was the New York State Attorney General and my dreading what would happen when he became governor. Then, after his state of the state address, I wrote a positive piece about him. I was confused about how he could fund the things he proposed and be as fiscally conservative as he promised in that speech but if half of what he promised came to be…. Well, Spitzer never followed through on anything from that speech. He continued being the same man he was before: a very vane man who portrayed himself as the moral superior of all those around him and a man who was so much better and smarter than the rest of us that he needed to protect us from ourselves in every aspect of our lives. I am not surprised by the events that brought him down, only by the speed in which it happened. His whole short term was a disaster as he first comically replayed Watergate on the Hudson by trying to take down Senator Joe Bruno and then mis-stepping through every issue before him. I take no pleasure in what has happened to Mr. Spitzer, I am just glad New York has gotten through his short term so that we can get on with passing a budget. As for his wife, I wish her the best. She should have known what she was getting involved with. With her aging father-in-law Bernard worth better than 500 million dollars, I would expect her to stick around for a while.
In the interest of fairness I should revisit the blog from June fifth of last year when I bemoaned several bad customer service incidents which had piled one on top of another. One of the companies highlighted was Fairpoint Communication who somehow has maintained a monopolistic control over phone service in this particular geographic area. When my credit card expired and was reissued with the same number but a new expiration date, I attempted to contact Fairpoint’s billing office. At one point, I left the phone line open for two hours while hold music played. On another day, the office closed while I was on hold. I tried writing and emailing without results. I connected with a representative on the phone after three months and a very overdue bill. Last week, I called the same billing office to change my credit card number after a large supermarket chain was hacked and my old card number showed up in Texas for multiple gas station stops. This time, I was connected to a pleasant and courteous person immediately. I was filled with hope for a better tomorrow.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
080316 Money For Nothing
I was invited to an interesting luncheon a couple of weeks ago. When the invitation came in the mail it stated that its purpose was to teach people from East Nassau how to get rich off of the internet. East Nassau is the incorporated village formed by the combination of three local hamlets. The total population is listed at 571. As I enjoy a free lunch and can always use an excuse to get out of the house and meet people, I looked over the six different times the presentation was held, picked out one that was convenient to me and called to confirm.
Of course, this had nothing to do with East Nassau, or with me. They had a product to sell and giving away a free meal is a valid way of putting it in front of people. There was a ninety minute presentation before lunch was served which was what they told people up front. What was most interesting to me was how positive the audience was. Now I have sat through dozens of time share presentations and literally hundreds of Amway sales presentations and I have never seen a reaction like the one I saw that day. It was not the product. It was not the presentation. It was definitely the lunch. It was the audience. They were ready and looking for something in a way the citizens of this country have not done in a generation.
There was a ninety minute presentation which all seemed very familiar and formulated. I had heard almost every statement before. It was designed to open my mind to possibilities apart from the mindset that we grow accustomed to in our day to day lives. At the same time, it was meant to build a fellowship between the speaker and the audience. There were only two things that the invited guests actually learned during the ninety minute talk. The first was that if they acted today, they could sign up to attend an all day seminar/advertisement including a hot lunch for only twenty-five dollars. The second was that for less than four thousand dollars, I could have their company help me set up an online presence, pick a product line, promote my wares, arrange warehousing and payment.
They had a hotel conference room abuzz with excitement as the group ate cold, bland turkey sandwiches and thought about handing over thousands of dollars for the opportunity to perhaps find a way to generate an income. Something profound has happened to our collective mindset for people to see themselves stepping out of their comfort zone. While we do not want a world where we are fearful of the future, it is refreshing to see people looking at what they can do to build a life and a future beyond what can be gained from giving themselves over to a job and accepting the limitations a job driven life provides.
The Avery Marketing Group has been allowed to go fairly inactive over the last few years. My biggest role lately has been to bring checks back from the mailbox and taking them to the bank. I have a very comfortable lifestyle which I can continue for the rest of my life and then pass it on to my son without ever working again. The crux of the issue today is: if the public is so actively looking for a vehicle to take them to a better future, can I sit back enjoying my income without sharing the same opportunity with others?
I do not have to procure merchandise for my customers. I do not have to choose what items to sell, test them to assure their quality, source them, inventory them, drop ship them, receive them or distribute them. I did not build the e-commerce site where the merchandise is sold; I do not process orders or take payment. Most importantly, I never gave anyone thousands of dollars. I started my business for fewer than one hundred dollars. I have paid annual fees of less than fifty dollars to keep my business current. To learn what I was doing in a field where I had no experience or training, I associated with others who had or were doing the same thing I was doing. I have spent additional money on audio tapes and training material so that I could learn from these people when they were not available. All together, it was a fraction of what I spent on my college education but with a tremendously greater return.
Of course, this had nothing to do with East Nassau, or with me. They had a product to sell and giving away a free meal is a valid way of putting it in front of people. There was a ninety minute presentation before lunch was served which was what they told people up front. What was most interesting to me was how positive the audience was. Now I have sat through dozens of time share presentations and literally hundreds of Amway sales presentations and I have never seen a reaction like the one I saw that day. It was not the product. It was not the presentation. It was definitely the lunch. It was the audience. They were ready and looking for something in a way the citizens of this country have not done in a generation.
There was a ninety minute presentation which all seemed very familiar and formulated. I had heard almost every statement before. It was designed to open my mind to possibilities apart from the mindset that we grow accustomed to in our day to day lives. At the same time, it was meant to build a fellowship between the speaker and the audience. There were only two things that the invited guests actually learned during the ninety minute talk. The first was that if they acted today, they could sign up to attend an all day seminar/advertisement including a hot lunch for only twenty-five dollars. The second was that for less than four thousand dollars, I could have their company help me set up an online presence, pick a product line, promote my wares, arrange warehousing and payment.
They had a hotel conference room abuzz with excitement as the group ate cold, bland turkey sandwiches and thought about handing over thousands of dollars for the opportunity to perhaps find a way to generate an income. Something profound has happened to our collective mindset for people to see themselves stepping out of their comfort zone. While we do not want a world where we are fearful of the future, it is refreshing to see people looking at what they can do to build a life and a future beyond what can be gained from giving themselves over to a job and accepting the limitations a job driven life provides.
The Avery Marketing Group has been allowed to go fairly inactive over the last few years. My biggest role lately has been to bring checks back from the mailbox and taking them to the bank. I have a very comfortable lifestyle which I can continue for the rest of my life and then pass it on to my son without ever working again. The crux of the issue today is: if the public is so actively looking for a vehicle to take them to a better future, can I sit back enjoying my income without sharing the same opportunity with others?
I do not have to procure merchandise for my customers. I do not have to choose what items to sell, test them to assure their quality, source them, inventory them, drop ship them, receive them or distribute them. I did not build the e-commerce site where the merchandise is sold; I do not process orders or take payment. Most importantly, I never gave anyone thousands of dollars. I started my business for fewer than one hundred dollars. I have paid annual fees of less than fifty dollars to keep my business current. To learn what I was doing in a field where I had no experience or training, I associated with others who had or were doing the same thing I was doing. I have spent additional money on audio tapes and training material so that I could learn from these people when they were not available. All together, it was a fraction of what I spent on my college education but with a tremendously greater return.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
080309 Guest Speaker Ron Paul
WITH SO MANY TOPICS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED, FROM THE IRANIAN ELECTION TO OUR GOVERNORS' PUSH TO BURN COAL, I AM TAKING A BACKSEAT TO CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL. THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN BY CONGRESSMAN PAUL IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION BY FORBES MAGAZINE:
America became the greatest, most prosperous nation in history through low taxes, constitutionally limited government, personal freedom and a belief in sound money. I decided to run for president because I am deeply concerned that the conservative movement has drifted away from these principles that we once so fiercely defended. Deficits have exploded, entitlements are out of control and our personal liberties are threatened like never before.
The current state of our economy drives home the hard truth that living beyond our means has caught up to us. Oil is over $100 a barrel, the housing market is in sharp decline and the dollar is in a free fall.
The national debt now stands in excess of $9 trillion, more than $30,000 per person. The total future debt obligations of the United States, including entitlements, are estimated at around $59 trillion, which equates to over $500,000 per household. Social Security and Medicare will likely consume the entire federal budget by 2040, threatening the average American with an impossible tax burden.
As I said this past November to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, "We're indeed between a rock and a hard place, and we don't talk about how we got here; we talk about how we are going to patch it up." The "solutions" proposed so far--stimulus packages, bailouts and interest rate cuts--just amount to printing more money, which will lead to greater currency devaluation, contribute to the rising costs of living, and further squeeze the middle class and our senior citizens.
This is the first time in over 100 years that monetary policy is being discussed in earnest during a presidential campaign. Money is the lifeblood of any economy, and control over a nation's currency means control over its economic well-being. Fed bankers quite literally determine the value of our money by controlling the supply of dollars and establishing interest rates. Their actions can make you richer or poorer overnight, in terms of the value of your savings and the buying power of your paycheck. For over 30 years, I have been urging all Americans to educate themselves about monetary policy in order to better understand how a small group of unelected individuals at the Fed and the Treasury Department wield tremendous power over our lives.
In order to immediately strengthen the economy and lay the groundwork for continued prosperity, I have proposed a four-part plan that involves lower taxes, less spending, a sound monetary policy and regulatory reform.
We can take several immediate steps to reform our archaic tax system and give Americans back the fruits of their labor. I will work to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, including a repeal of the estate tax, and I will fight to end taxes on Social Security benefits and income derived from tips. I also believe that if we are to truly address the housing crisis, we will end taxes on forgiven mortgage debt, which is considered "income."
The most permanent tax reform we can undertake, though, is to end the income tax and abolish the IRS. We could remove the entire personal income tax-funded portion of the budget and the federal government would still receive roughly the same revenues that it did during the Clinton years. And we could do this without even touching Social Security and Medicare.
The key to tax reform lies in spending reform. It's time to cut back on our trillion-dollar overseas budget and use that money to secure the programs Washington has forced so many citizens to depend on. By doing this, we can let younger generations opt out of these programs and save for their own retirements and health care needs. As president, I will also veto any unbalanced budget and demand that Congress address wasteful spending.
Lower taxes and less government spending will put more money in your pocket. A sound monetary policy will increase the value of that money and drive down the costs of living.
Immediate monetary reform can be achieved by requiring transparency at the Fed. All Federal Reserve meetings should be televised just like the proceedings of Congress, and they should once again make all information on the money supply available. I also favor legalizing competing currencies. History is replete with examples of the inevitable failure of paper money systems, from our own founding days, to inter-war Germany, to the monetary crisis of 1970s Latin America.
However, I believe that for our economy to be secure in the long term, Congress must reassert its authority and end the unconstitutional Federal Reserve.
Finally, we must be willing to undertake regulatory reform. It would serve us well to revisit the myriad federal regulations that have stymied the innovative spirit of the American people.
One of the most damaging regulations imposed on the American people is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. A survey by Financial Executives International put the average cost of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley at $4.4 million, while the American Economics Association estimates the Act could cost American companies as much as $35 billion. A study by the prestigious Wharton Business School found that the number of American companies delisting from public stock exchanges nearly tripled the year after Sarbanes-Oxley became law. One of the best things Congress could do for the American economy is to repeal this damaging legislation.
According to David Walker, former head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, "We are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren at record rates, and that is not only an issue of fiscal irresponsibility, it's an issue of immorality."
Unless we embrace fundamental reforms, we will be caught in a financial storm that will humble this great country as no foreign enemy ever could. However, we can find safe harbor in our ideals. Reclaiming our historic legacy of principled commitment to liberty will, once again, unleash the innovative spirit that propelled our nation to heights of prosperity never before achieved in human history.
America became the greatest, most prosperous nation in history through low taxes, constitutionally limited government, personal freedom and a belief in sound money. I decided to run for president because I am deeply concerned that the conservative movement has drifted away from these principles that we once so fiercely defended. Deficits have exploded, entitlements are out of control and our personal liberties are threatened like never before.
The current state of our economy drives home the hard truth that living beyond our means has caught up to us. Oil is over $100 a barrel, the housing market is in sharp decline and the dollar is in a free fall.
The national debt now stands in excess of $9 trillion, more than $30,000 per person. The total future debt obligations of the United States, including entitlements, are estimated at around $59 trillion, which equates to over $500,000 per household. Social Security and Medicare will likely consume the entire federal budget by 2040, threatening the average American with an impossible tax burden.
As I said this past November to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, "We're indeed between a rock and a hard place, and we don't talk about how we got here; we talk about how we are going to patch it up." The "solutions" proposed so far--stimulus packages, bailouts and interest rate cuts--just amount to printing more money, which will lead to greater currency devaluation, contribute to the rising costs of living, and further squeeze the middle class and our senior citizens.
This is the first time in over 100 years that monetary policy is being discussed in earnest during a presidential campaign. Money is the lifeblood of any economy, and control over a nation's currency means control over its economic well-being. Fed bankers quite literally determine the value of our money by controlling the supply of dollars and establishing interest rates. Their actions can make you richer or poorer overnight, in terms of the value of your savings and the buying power of your paycheck. For over 30 years, I have been urging all Americans to educate themselves about monetary policy in order to better understand how a small group of unelected individuals at the Fed and the Treasury Department wield tremendous power over our lives.
In order to immediately strengthen the economy and lay the groundwork for continued prosperity, I have proposed a four-part plan that involves lower taxes, less spending, a sound monetary policy and regulatory reform.
We can take several immediate steps to reform our archaic tax system and give Americans back the fruits of their labor. I will work to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, including a repeal of the estate tax, and I will fight to end taxes on Social Security benefits and income derived from tips. I also believe that if we are to truly address the housing crisis, we will end taxes on forgiven mortgage debt, which is considered "income."
The most permanent tax reform we can undertake, though, is to end the income tax and abolish the IRS. We could remove the entire personal income tax-funded portion of the budget and the federal government would still receive roughly the same revenues that it did during the Clinton years. And we could do this without even touching Social Security and Medicare.
The key to tax reform lies in spending reform. It's time to cut back on our trillion-dollar overseas budget and use that money to secure the programs Washington has forced so many citizens to depend on. By doing this, we can let younger generations opt out of these programs and save for their own retirements and health care needs. As president, I will also veto any unbalanced budget and demand that Congress address wasteful spending.
Lower taxes and less government spending will put more money in your pocket. A sound monetary policy will increase the value of that money and drive down the costs of living.
Immediate monetary reform can be achieved by requiring transparency at the Fed. All Federal Reserve meetings should be televised just like the proceedings of Congress, and they should once again make all information on the money supply available. I also favor legalizing competing currencies. History is replete with examples of the inevitable failure of paper money systems, from our own founding days, to inter-war Germany, to the monetary crisis of 1970s Latin America.
However, I believe that for our economy to be secure in the long term, Congress must reassert its authority and end the unconstitutional Federal Reserve.
Finally, we must be willing to undertake regulatory reform. It would serve us well to revisit the myriad federal regulations that have stymied the innovative spirit of the American people.
One of the most damaging regulations imposed on the American people is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. A survey by Financial Executives International put the average cost of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley at $4.4 million, while the American Economics Association estimates the Act could cost American companies as much as $35 billion. A study by the prestigious Wharton Business School found that the number of American companies delisting from public stock exchanges nearly tripled the year after Sarbanes-Oxley became law. One of the best things Congress could do for the American economy is to repeal this damaging legislation.
According to David Walker, former head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, "We are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren at record rates, and that is not only an issue of fiscal irresponsibility, it's an issue of immorality."
Unless we embrace fundamental reforms, we will be caught in a financial storm that will humble this great country as no foreign enemy ever could. However, we can find safe harbor in our ideals. Reclaiming our historic legacy of principled commitment to liberty will, once again, unleash the innovative spirit that propelled our nation to heights of prosperity never before achieved in human history.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
080302 The Four Dollar Gallon Of Gas
READERS: THIS BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MYSPACE ON NOVEMBER 26TH BUT, AS IT APPEARS MYSPACE IS TRIMMIMG SPACE FOR ARCHIVED BLOGS, NEWS THAT THE EVENTS OUTLINED IN THIS BLOG WILL BE CONTINUING AND THE RON PAUL VIDEO ECHOING MY SENTIMENTS PULLED FROM YOU TUBE, IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE TO RERUN IT HERE.
Not many of us like to think too much about the Federal Reserve Board and its chairman, Ben Bernanke but, at this moment in time, they have an extraordinary impact on the daily lives of each of us. For months, as the housing market and then the credit market struggled, short sighted investors howled for the FED to cut interest rates and the FED resisted. It seemed that everyone who had anything to say about finances demanded that the FED cut rates. In September, the FED gave in and made a half of a point cut. Investors rejoiced and the stock market surged briefly. It was, however, the end of the good times on Wall Street.
The stock market had continued growing throughout the year with vigor even though there was nervousness due to the housing and credit markets. Cutting the interest rate did not address the issues in the two weak sectors. They merely gave investors better access to cheaper money.
What the cut did do by dropping interest rates was make money less valuable. Because of this, less foreign governments were interested in holding on to dollars and, since they owned a lot of them, they sold them. That is why the dollar suddenly dropped when measured against almost every other currency in the world. On the plus side, that makes it easier for America to export goods, but on the down side, everything we import becomes more expensive. We are, by the way, an importing nation.
For years, every time the price of gas went up, we were told that we had it better than other places like England where gas was nine dollars a gallon. Of course, England developed earlier in history so its infrastructure is not dependant on the automobile. Also England does not measure with the dollar or the gallon. The reason why the price of gas is not nine dollars a gallon in the United States is that oil is priced internationally by the dollar and the dollar has been a strong currency. A weak dollar equals expensive gasoline, so the price at the pump has gone up.
While the stock market reacted favorably to the Fed's actions, since the underlying needs of the economy were ignored, the gains were quickly lost. The FED responded by goosing the market again with another rate cut in October. This time the market did not buy it and began a fresh series of losses.
What we have from this is a stock market taking on huge losses which amounts to eliminating wealth. In my case, it's a paper loss in what I consider long term money. For people who depend on a pension fund it means their retirement check is less secure. For employers who need to fund their own pension funds, it means profits will not be there which will mean that stock will fall farther faster. We also have record prices for a barrel of oil and a gallon of gasoline. Now we have nervousness in the retail sector. If that drops off, we will be in a recession.
The FED meets again in December. There are still some who are hoping for another rate cut to make the dollar worth even less and credit easier to obtain. The price of gas is 3.29 a gallon in my corner of the world and one more rate cut will drive it over four dollars in time to encourage consumers to cut back on Christmas and cause retails to miss estimates. The late seventies will be relived again. Stagflation, when inflation keeps climbing even though the economy is falling will happen for the second time in history.
As for myself, I will be leaving my long term money in the indexed funds. It will fall for a while, but history says that in the long run, I will make back my money if I let it ride. This fall, I moved a large percentage of my short term money to Brazil, Russia, India and China via what is known as a BRIC fund. It is performing spectacularly. (Perhaps because oil is relatively cheaper as the dollar falls compared to these countries' currencies.) By spring, I imagine I will be cashing in CDs and bonds and buying up cheap stock that was sold off in a panic.
I would rather see the real problem addressed and the interest rate raised. I will make less, but maybe old ladies in Portland will be able to afford to heat their homes this winter. Of course, if no one pays attention to what the FED does, it is free to screw up royally.
Not many of us like to think too much about the Federal Reserve Board and its chairman, Ben Bernanke but, at this moment in time, they have an extraordinary impact on the daily lives of each of us. For months, as the housing market and then the credit market struggled, short sighted investors howled for the FED to cut interest rates and the FED resisted. It seemed that everyone who had anything to say about finances demanded that the FED cut rates. In September, the FED gave in and made a half of a point cut. Investors rejoiced and the stock market surged briefly. It was, however, the end of the good times on Wall Street.
The stock market had continued growing throughout the year with vigor even though there was nervousness due to the housing and credit markets. Cutting the interest rate did not address the issues in the two weak sectors. They merely gave investors better access to cheaper money.
What the cut did do by dropping interest rates was make money less valuable. Because of this, less foreign governments were interested in holding on to dollars and, since they owned a lot of them, they sold them. That is why the dollar suddenly dropped when measured against almost every other currency in the world. On the plus side, that makes it easier for America to export goods, but on the down side, everything we import becomes more expensive. We are, by the way, an importing nation.
For years, every time the price of gas went up, we were told that we had it better than other places like England where gas was nine dollars a gallon. Of course, England developed earlier in history so its infrastructure is not dependant on the automobile. Also England does not measure with the dollar or the gallon. The reason why the price of gas is not nine dollars a gallon in the United States is that oil is priced internationally by the dollar and the dollar has been a strong currency. A weak dollar equals expensive gasoline, so the price at the pump has gone up.
While the stock market reacted favorably to the Fed's actions, since the underlying needs of the economy were ignored, the gains were quickly lost. The FED responded by goosing the market again with another rate cut in October. This time the market did not buy it and began a fresh series of losses.
What we have from this is a stock market taking on huge losses which amounts to eliminating wealth. In my case, it's a paper loss in what I consider long term money. For people who depend on a pension fund it means their retirement check is less secure. For employers who need to fund their own pension funds, it means profits will not be there which will mean that stock will fall farther faster. We also have record prices for a barrel of oil and a gallon of gasoline. Now we have nervousness in the retail sector. If that drops off, we will be in a recession.
The FED meets again in December. There are still some who are hoping for another rate cut to make the dollar worth even less and credit easier to obtain. The price of gas is 3.29 a gallon in my corner of the world and one more rate cut will drive it over four dollars in time to encourage consumers to cut back on Christmas and cause retails to miss estimates. The late seventies will be relived again. Stagflation, when inflation keeps climbing even though the economy is falling will happen for the second time in history.
As for myself, I will be leaving my long term money in the indexed funds. It will fall for a while, but history says that in the long run, I will make back my money if I let it ride. This fall, I moved a large percentage of my short term money to Brazil, Russia, India and China via what is known as a BRIC fund. It is performing spectacularly. (Perhaps because oil is relatively cheaper as the dollar falls compared to these countries' currencies.) By spring, I imagine I will be cashing in CDs and bonds and buying up cheap stock that was sold off in a panic.
I would rather see the real problem addressed and the interest rate raised. I will make less, but maybe old ladies in Portland will be able to afford to heat their homes this winter. Of course, if no one pays attention to what the FED does, it is free to screw up royally.
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