The infrastructure where I live is second world at best compared to where I am at the moment - and I live in a place that is probably in better shape than much of the country.
But hey, my taxes are lower, so it must be good, right?
Yeah, I think some of those were around a buck apiece even 40+ years ago...the same as what they cost now, but slave labor tends to lower the input costs.
Some of the early Matchbox cars are just little jewels for their size, very delicate and precise. Most of the German diecast were only about 90% there from what I have seen...not that I'd turn any of them down.
"then pay $39 if you overdraft (per item), $3.00 if you use another bank's ATM, $10 to talk to a human in the bank, $5 to look in the window, $15 to replace your lost ATM card. Oh, and by the way, have some free coffee in the lobby...."
They raised the price...I thought it was only $3 to look in the window...now I have to change banks...after all, I look in the window at least 5X daily, and that extra $2 per look can add up over time...
"Unemployed Americans have collected $319 billion in jobless benefits over the past three years due to the federal government's unprecedented response to the Great Recession."
What does it cost to not buy American?
OMG, There's a chance that the GM IPO will not net 100% of the gov's money back. That could amount to a loss equalling one day of our national debt's increase.
What is 'settling' in the big picture?
We worry about 1 mpg, 1% more resale value, 3% more fleet sales, an extra 100 lbs weight in a car. Meanwhile, $319 Billion to the laid off US Auto workers and the trickle down laid off from it.
It's amazing...I'm about a week in now, I have almost as much to go...and I could stay another month. I hadn't been here before, it's huge and there's so much to see.
$319 Billion to the laid off US Auto workers and the trickle down laid off from it.
Your kidding right. If we spent $319 Billion only for laid off autoworkers then the public was really ripped off.
In 2001 there were a little over 700k uaw members. This year the number is down to just over 350k.
Just using those numbers, if we gave $319 billions to roughly 350k workers, they should be doing really well;)
Actually, far more people were laid off in the construction trades versus the auto industry, or manufacturing as a whole.
If you really want to help the economy, build a new house. California lost over 1.3 million construction jobs from '08 and '09. During the same period Michigan lost about 152k total manufacturing jobs and an equal amount of construction jobs.
No, praise Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, GM, Chrysler the UAW and everyone that can't add or subtract and agree to 3 mortgages on their house!
Supposedly the reason that Plymouth stopped using the "Suddenly, it's 1960" slogan in 1957 and switched to "Three Full Years Ahead!" is because the Federal Trade Commission found that buyers were confused as to the car's actual model year.
Once 1960 did roll around, that year's Plymouth looked more dated than the 1957 model!
Today's Hot Wheels and Matchbox vehicles are so amazing, it's almost a shame to give them to small children.
Matchbox and Corgi cars of the 1960s are quite good...I especially like the Matchbox Jaguar XKE, the 1965 Ford Galaxie sedans used as police cars and fire chief cars and the 1965 Ford Mustang fastback.
I recall some wag joked about the 1960 Plymouth "Suddenly, it's 1957!" It was even worse for the 1957 Oldsmobiles and Buicks with the three-piece backlight, "Suddenly, it's 1949!"
I always thought that the 57 was a nice design. Of course I grew up in one so that helped.
I remember them telling my dad that the design wouldn't really change for a few years. Yeah, right. Now if they said it wouldn't change for the better they'd have been right!
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
Heck, I am enjoying a place that IMO has at least an equal quality of life to where I live, if not better. Not seeking any bottom here
But Europe is a bastion of socialism per the Obama haters.... it's a nightmare of socialized medicine and lazy workers.... and 6 weeks vacation a year....... and Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes on every corner... oh and did I mention the topless women on the beach?. So glad that we have it so much better here in the US :P
I normally don't reply with negatives but ...you say > Unemployed Americans have collected $319 billion in jobless benefits$319 Billion to the laid off US Auto workers < ! So it sounds like your saying the only people that lost their jobs and drew unemploymant were UAW members ! WRONG ! I'll also add that I never have liked unions and never will like unions ! When the worker putting hub-caps on Caddies makes more money and has better benefits then local school teachers and more then our military makes......there is something really WRONG with the system !
If you add the cost of buying American financial instruments, you'd be closer to $2 Trillion.
My new Mantra:
"Live By Junk, Die By Junk."
Doesn't matter if it's Chinese, Korean or American. The market will define the Junk and Destroy it. Happy Second Life, GM....Let's See What You Learned........
I loved Matchbox cars from the '60's. My favorites were the '64 Pontiac Grand Prix in maroon, turquoise '65 Lincoln Continental sedan, and '64 Studebaker Wagonaire. I still have a Matchbox Wagonaire, turquoise, roof panel actually slides open, and originally the car came with a hunter and two dogs (plastic figurines), but alas, I don't have those now.
I also have what I think is a Corgi, '64 Wagonaire in white with a TV cameraman and camera shooting from the rear of it with the roof open. I'm not home right now so can't tell for sure that it's a Corgi.
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
Another BS article trying to scare people. What about the equipment Southern Copper will purchase, some of it will no doubt be sourced from the US.
I see foreign investment in other economies as a positive. Hell, a Chinese company will be one of several foreign sourced funds investing into the GM IPO today. Foreign investment has been around for centuries, this is nothing new. Without it the industrial revolution in the US would not have been possible.
Sure, the Fed can't tell borrowers how to use the money. The money is going to flow to where the best opportunities are. Ford, GM, Caterpillar, Microsoft, and Intel, etc all generate a lot of sales overseas, why in the world wouldn't they continue to invest overseas. India and China will probably be essential in keeping your beloved GM around for years to come. Maybe if GM can get into India's and China's pocket, they can get out of mine;)
No, I'm not saying the whole $319 B went to auto and the trickle down from auto. There's a total of $319 B. I'd guess that had GM gone under, the tab would be way more than $319 B. Since the Americans are complaining about what the gov will not recoup from GM, I'm just posing a reminder that unemployment adds up fast and my wager would be that the $319 B would be higher if GM was allowed to go under. Higher by a margin greater than the $5-9 B that complainers say won't be recouped by the gov from GM post IPO? Yes and by a factor more than ten times is my guess. $5-9 B these days is enough to fill 5% of the news for a year. $5-9 B is a weekend worth of national debt growth over the last 3 years. And we don't even have to pay it back. Pay it back? We're too busy filling out the application to borrow more. A country that owes $14 T worrying about $5-9 B.
I don't know if I can buy that "industrial revolution" argument that was originally put forth here in some hack pro-globalization article not long ago. I don't think anyone can detail for me how the type of investment made 150 years ago is comparable with the shortshighted mistakes being made today.
How much of those overseas "sales" are made to China where bizarre joint venture agreements must be signed, in the name of short term profit above all else, that let the locals basically steal the technology as they steal so much else.
But maybe the theft/"ownership" of locally developed physical and intellectual capital via this other "investment" will have a positive result!
The "socialism" decriers would have you believe this place is a million times worse than Mogadishu. The real blessed land will be where everyone works 60 hours a week without benefits or any kind of workers rights, that's the key to perfection. Things can only get better with a wider socio-economic gap, dontcha know?
I don't know if I can buy that "industrial revolution" argument that was originally put forth here in some hack pro-globalization article not long ago. I don't think anyone can detail for me how the type of investment made 150 years ago is comparable with the shortshighted mistakes being made today.
What is comparable, is capital flows to the opportunities, that hasn't changed.
The pros, cons, and effects of foreign investment can be debated all day, but it's well documented that foreign investments were used to fund projects like the Erie canal, railroad contruction, and many other projects going back to the settling of Jamestown in the 1600's. Not to mention foreign ownership of our banking system going back to the Bank of the United States which was our first chartered central bank.
The industrial revolution would have happened regardless, but it would have been different if money flows from other countries were not available.
How much of those overseas "sales" are made to China where bizarre joint venture agreements must be signed, in the name of short term profit above all else, that let the locals basically steal the technology as they steal so much else.
That seems counter productive to me too. But as they say "everything is for sale for the right price".
I have both of those, too. I would like to get the 1958 Cadillac and 1959 Ford Country Sedan and Thunderbird, but mint examples are well over $100 each now.
Well, it was supposed to be "three full years ahead," so it should have been in style for three years. I've heard that, in the snowbelt, serious rust started showing up on those cars within one year!
Lesney - the parent company of Matchbox - really liked American Ford products. Probably because the Ford nameplate was well known in Great Britain and continental Europe at that time.
The Studebaker wagon was an interesting choice - probably because of the sliding roof.
I can't remember when our started rusting but it did a pretty good job of that - up in NW New Jersey which is snoier than NYC but no competition for, say, Buffalo or Chicago.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
speaking of serious competition. GM has captured 13% market share of the world's largest and fastest growing automobile market in the world. China. They did it in just a few years. When you add the 13% of China's market to the GM 20% share of the US market, you have one of the fastest growing auto companies out there.
No trade deal: The closure to US automotive products in S. Korean markets will remain in place.
No trade deal: The closure to US automotive products in S. Korean markets will remain in place.
That is BS, but honestly, I don't see the domestics being able to sell many cars in either S. Korea or Japan.
As for China, GM has fierce competition there too. Last quarter GM lost money in Europe and didn't earn much in Asia. NA was by far the most profitable market and Ford is eating their lunch. I just read Ford now has 50% market share of the US h/d pickup market and the F150 is going to outsell the Silverado and Sierra combined. That probably explains why Ford is now the most profitable automaker in the world even with all of their debt.
"When the worker putting hub-caps on Caddies makes more money and has better benefits then local school teachers and more then our military makes......there is something really WRONG with the system ! "
Thanks for joining the side that has known that the UAW has been overpaid for unskilled labor for half a century...I welcome your membership...
With all new D3 hires making a lot less than the old-timers, this is pretty irrelevant now. But, it's worth mentioning that we are talking about our fellow Americans whose middle class pay and bennys were paid easily for decades - until they couldn't be. Do you really think that had they been paid, say, 1/2 as much, the D3 would have produced better products able to defeat the imports? Sure, there would have been more money for R&D, but there's little in the D3's management record that indicates they would have successfully used it for that. We consumers voted with our $$ against them, and they lost. They caught a break courtesy of us taxpayers, and are on their way to solvency. If you want to pay teachers and soldiers a lot more; and I believe we certainly should, well, that's what Election Day is for.
I can understand the raw term of "investment" existing then and now, but I can't see it as apples to apples. The olden day investment was paper only. That's not what we have today, and we will not be the better for it tomorrow.
Banking is a ball of wax all by itself...a good place for conspiracy theorists too...let's just say there's no such thing as an independent national bank. Just like it matters nothing who you vote for every other November.
Everything is for sale at the right price, no matter the future cost...what a future the executive MBA sycophant crowd and their sinister puppeteers are making.
Might depend on how you look at things...I see the situation as becoming more desperate for the growing underclass, and more dangerous for the top few...cheap chinese goods and TV can only keep people distracted for so long
If you don't mind having them without boxes, you can score them for less...check ebay often, things slip through the cracks...in the past couple of months I've picked up a couple mint Moko boxed cars for $25 each - they were listed weird and few people saw them. But it is interesting the 50s American cars are some of the most valuable period Matchbox - the 59 Chevy is also sought after.
"Do you really think that had they been paid, say, 1/2 as much, the D3 would have produced better products able to defeat the imports?"
On that point, you make a great point...paying them less would not have changed quality one iota, and I really don't know if the money would have been put into R&D, considering the arrogance of management, but between gold plated health care, ridiculous pensions, and paying floorsweepers more than 5X what the skill level requires, there could have been many, many billions of $$$ to do SOMETHING other than paying employees highly skilled wages for jobs that could be learned in less than a day...
".....there could have been many, many billions of $$$ to do SOMETHING other than paying employees highly skilled wages for jobs that could be learned in less than a day... "
Sure. It would just go to upper management to sock away, never to be seen again. Remember, a fool and his money will soon part. That means the floorsweeper will piss that salary away on stuff, keeping the economy rolling.
A thought...what would have happened if, over the last 30 years or so, folks only bought inexpensive flip phones (instead of $600 iPhones), nobody bought iPods (even tho somebody invented them), nobody was suckered into the big Xmas toy (think tickle me elmo or Nintendo or xBox), nobody bought flat screen TVs because the price stayed at $15K, and on and on...I mean, so what if the economy only grew at 1% yearly instead of 3-4% because we didn't buy all the crap they try and sell to us like lemmings (no, I don't own a flat screen tv, my Panasonic tube tv works fine)...
What would the harm be just because the economy simply grew slowly???...why is it bad if we DON'T grow at 3-4% yearly???...simply a nice humming machine that grows just a little every year???...why is that so bad (we are assuming that all the years that we do grow that govt statistics are even correct...how do we KNOW that we grew at 1% or 3% or 5%...)
Sure. It would just go to upper management to sock away, never to be seen again. Remember, a fool and his money will soon part. That means the floorsweeper will piss that salary away on stuff, keeping the economy rolling.
Well, given your upper management stereotype, I'm sure the floor sweepers were feathering the caps of the beer and tobacco companies, and major league sports.
Is that about people buying junk, or the corporate-political machine finding an outlet for the slave labor they can use via their sinister opening of China to produce more needless junk? With the corporate world only focusing on the short term, and marketing controlling virtually everything, can anything different be expected?
Good points though...growth for the sake of growth sounds like a partial definition of cancer to me. And the highly compensated public sector can't be trusted for unemployment numbers, I can't see why I would trust them for others.
"Is that about people buying junk, or the corporate-political machine finding an outlet for the slave labor they can use via their sinister opening of China to produce more needless junk?"
The corp machine means nothing if we don't buy the product... they can make all they want, if we don't buy the junk than it doesn't get sold and does not contribute to GDP...the only exception to this is the UAW-made junk from GM, but that has been expounded on earlier...
The people are fooled into consumption to distract themselves from their ever declining well being. Marketers don't sell what people want, they tell people what to want. Cheap trinkets and TV do a lot to keep people from looking around. This is a key reason it exists to begin with. Get rid of the material distractions, and you'll have a lot more strife on the streets.
Comments
But hey, my taxes are lower, so it must be good, right?
Some of the early Matchbox cars are just little jewels for their size, very delicate and precise. Most of the German diecast were only about 90% there from what I have seen...not that I'd turn any of them down.
They raised the price...I thought it was only $3 to look in the window...now I have to change banks...after all, I look in the window at least 5X daily, and that extra $2 per look can add up over time...
What does it cost to not buy American?
OMG, There's a chance that the GM IPO will not net 100% of the gov's money back. That could amount to a loss equalling one day of our national debt's increase.
What is 'settling' in the big picture?
We worry about 1 mpg, 1% more resale value, 3% more fleet sales, an extra 100 lbs weight in a car. Meanwhile, $319 Billion to the laid off US Auto workers and the trickle down laid off from it.
Praise Hundai
Your kidding right. If we spent $319 Billion only for laid off autoworkers then the public was really ripped off.
In 2001 there were a little over 700k uaw members. This year the number is down to just over 350k.
Just using those numbers, if we gave $319 billions to roughly 350k workers, they should be doing really well;)
Actually, far more people were laid off in the construction trades versus the auto industry, or manufacturing as a whole.
If you really want to help the economy, build a new house. California lost over 1.3 million construction jobs from '08 and '09. During the same period Michigan lost about 152k total manufacturing jobs and an equal amount of construction jobs.
http://blog.builddirect.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/construction-job-loss1.jp- - - g
http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2010/04/story.php?id=7729
No, praise Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, GM, Chrysler the UAW and everyone that can't add or subtract and agree to 3 mortgages on their house!
Regards,
OW
The 2012 Elantra looks interesting and depending on what else is being introduced will make 2012 a very competitive year for small cars.
Once 1960 did roll around, that year's Plymouth looked more dated than the 1957 model!
Matchbox and Corgi cars of the 1960s are quite good...I especially like the Matchbox Jaguar XKE, the 1965 Ford Galaxie sedans used as police cars and fire chief cars and the 1965 Ford Mustang fastback.
I remember them telling my dad that the design wouldn't really change for a few years. Yeah, right. Now if they said it wouldn't change for the better they'd have been right!
But Europe is a bastion of socialism per the Obama haters.... it's a nightmare of socialized medicine and lazy workers.... and 6 weeks vacation a year....... and Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes on every corner... oh and did I mention the topless women on the beach?. So glad that we have it so much better here in the US :P
What does it cost our economy when US companies make junk for so many years and consumer are practically forced to buy foreign?
$60Billion, GM only.
WRONG !
I'll also add that I never have liked unions and never will like unions ! When the worker putting hub-caps on Caddies makes more money and has better benefits then local school teachers and more then our military makes......there is something really WRONG with the system !
My new Mantra:
"Live By Junk, Die By Junk."
Doesn't matter if it's Chinese, Korean or American. The market will define the Junk and Destroy it. Happy Second Life, GM....Let's See What You Learned........
Regards,
OW
I also have what I think is a Corgi, '64 Wagonaire in white with a TV cameraman and camera shooting from the rear of it with the roof open. I'm not home right now so can't tell for sure that it's a Corgi.
Bernake's Cheap Money Stimulus Spurs Corporate Investment Outside of U.S.
I see foreign investment in other economies as a positive. Hell, a Chinese company will be one of several foreign sourced funds investing into the GM IPO today. Foreign investment has been around for centuries, this is nothing new. Without it the industrial revolution in the US would not have been possible.
Sure, the Fed can't tell borrowers how to use the money. The money is going to flow to where the best opportunities are. Ford, GM, Caterpillar, Microsoft, and Intel, etc all generate a lot of sales overseas, why in the world wouldn't they continue to invest overseas. India and China will probably be essential in keeping your beloved GM around for years to come. Maybe if GM can get into India's and China's pocket, they can get out of mine;)
How much of those overseas "sales" are made to China where bizarre joint venture agreements must be signed, in the name of short term profit above all else, that let the locals basically steal the technology as they steal so much else.
But maybe the theft/"ownership" of locally developed physical and intellectual capital via this other "investment" will have a positive result!
What is comparable, is capital flows to the opportunities, that hasn't changed.
The pros, cons, and effects of foreign investment can be debated all day, but it's well documented that foreign investments were used to fund projects like the Erie canal, railroad contruction, and many other projects going back to the settling of Jamestown in the 1600's. Not to mention foreign ownership of our banking system going back to the Bank of the United States which was our first chartered central bank.
The industrial revolution would have happened regardless, but it would have been different if money flows from other countries were not available.
How much of those overseas "sales" are made to China where bizarre joint venture agreements must be signed, in the name of short term profit above all else, that let the locals basically steal the technology as they steal so much else.
That seems counter productive to me too. But as they say "everything is for sale for the right price".
Well I guess that depends upon which side of the gap you are on.
The Studebaker wagon was an interesting choice - probably because of the sliding roof.
No trade deal: The closure to US automotive products in S. Korean markets will remain in place.
That is BS, but honestly, I don't see the domestics being able to sell many cars in either S. Korea or Japan.
As for China, GM has fierce competition there too. Last quarter GM lost money in Europe and didn't earn much in Asia. NA was by far the most profitable market and Ford is eating their lunch. I just read Ford now has 50% market share of the US h/d pickup market and the F150 is going to outsell the Silverado and Sierra combined. That probably explains why Ford is now the most profitable automaker in the world even with all of their debt.
Gotta agree with other posters -- with all due respect, this is just a UAW whining point. Korea is a small market. China is the target.
Thanks for joining the side that has known that the UAW has been overpaid for unskilled labor for half a century...I welcome your membership...
Banking is a ball of wax all by itself...a good place for conspiracy theorists too...let's just say there's no such thing as an independent national bank. Just like it matters nothing who you vote for every other November.
Everything is for sale at the right price, no matter the future cost...what a future the executive MBA sycophant crowd and their sinister puppeteers are making.
On that point, you make a great point...paying them less would not have changed quality one iota, and I really don't know if the money would have been put into R&D, considering the arrogance of management, but between gold plated health care, ridiculous pensions, and paying floorsweepers more than 5X what the skill level requires, there could have been many, many billions of $$$ to do SOMETHING other than paying employees highly skilled wages for jobs that could be learned in less than a day...
Sure. It would just go to upper management to sock away, never to be seen again. Remember, a fool and his money will soon part. That means the floorsweeper will piss that salary away on stuff, keeping the economy rolling.
A thought...what would have happened if, over the last 30 years or so, folks only bought inexpensive flip phones (instead of $600 iPhones), nobody bought iPods (even tho somebody invented them), nobody was suckered into the big Xmas toy (think tickle me elmo or Nintendo or xBox), nobody bought flat screen TVs because the price stayed at $15K, and on and on...I mean, so what if the economy only grew at 1% yearly instead of 3-4% because we didn't buy all the crap they try and sell to us like lemmings (no, I don't own a flat screen tv, my Panasonic tube tv works fine)...
What would the harm be just because the economy simply grew slowly???...why is it bad if we DON'T grow at 3-4% yearly???...simply a nice humming machine that grows just a little every year???...why is that so bad (we are assuming that all the years that we do grow that govt statistics are even correct...how do we KNOW that we grew at 1% or 3% or 5%...)
Well, given your upper management stereotype, I'm sure the floor sweepers were feathering the caps of the beer and tobacco companies, and major league sports.
Good points though...growth for the sake of growth sounds like a partial definition of cancer to me. And the highly compensated public sector can't be trusted for unemployment numbers, I can't see why I would trust them for others.
The corp machine means nothing if we don't buy the product... they can make all they want, if we don't buy the junk than it doesn't get sold and does not contribute to GDP...the only exception to this is the UAW-made junk from GM, but that has been expounded on earlier...