+ stevenkesslar Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) On 2/15/2024 at 7:27 AM, TonyDown said: I agree with your nephew that COVID money was a factor. I assumed it was one factor why prices rose. But yeah it makes sense the economy would hum with COVID money being spent. I thought this article by Fisher Investments was interesting, since so many of us are Boomers. Putting the ‘Boom’ in Boomer Retirements Quote From this, we can glean two things. One, far from being a drain on consumer spending, Boomers are adding to it. Two, they are creating jobs, in a way, because they are inspiring new businesses—new businesses that hire people to create and sell products and services for them. Their spending is driving new investment, which means new opportunities for younger cohorts to take risks and build wealth. That deals more with a secular trend that will be with us for a while, as opposed to immediate recessionary pressures. That said, I think it is another reason the economy is holding up. These reports about how net worth went up by a third, on average, are talking about the Boomers. Net worth went up for Gen Z, too. But the actual number oi dollars that means is a fraction of what the Boomers got when their homes and stocks went up by a third. And, as this report says, they are spending it. Now. A lot of what I read suggests that if the economy depended on Gen Z and Millennials, we probably would be in a recession. They are the best educated generation ever. And their average incomes and potential show it. But they are getting the brunt of all the bad stuff right now. Rents are up. Food and gas prices are up. Daycare is up. Expanded child tax credits are gone. College loans are coming back. Typical of people just starting out, they have minimal net worth. Meanwhile, Boomers own homes with no mortgages or low fixed rate mortgages, and stocks portfolios, worth in the hundreds of thousands on average. Life is not unfair to Gen Z and Millennials. When I was their age, and starting to buy real estate, fixed rate mortgages cost more than today's vastly inflated rates. They will do fine, eventually. But we can thank Baby Boomers for keeping us out of a recession. Edited February 18 by stevenkesslar + FrankR, Marc in Calif and + BOZO T CLOWN 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ augustus Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 2 hours ago, stevenkesslar said: But we can thank Baby Boomers for keeping us out of a recession. It's government deficit spending (7% of GDP) that is keeping us out of recession, and at the same time setting things up for a massive economic crisis. + BOZO T CLOWN 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ augustus Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 You CANNOT borrow yourself to prosperity. Eco 101. It is clear that the current size of government can no longer be sustained and will inevitably lead to the financial ruin of the United States. Our “resilient” economy is a house of cards! + BOZO T CLOWN 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ FrankR Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 1 hour ago, augustus said: It's government deficit spending (7% of GDP) that is keeping us out of recession, and at the same time setting things up for a massive economic crisis. Are you sure? From what I can tell, spending levels are practically back to pre Covid periods. Chart below from the US Treasury showing total spending. Looking st spending as a percentage of GDP is fairly similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ FrankR Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 12 hours ago, augustus said: You CANNOT borrow yourself to prosperity. Eco 101. It is clear that the current size of government can no longer be sustained and will inevitably lead to the financial ruin of the United States. Our “resilient” economy is a house of cards! Here is a breakdown of federal spending from the US treasury. Which category would you like to cut back on? marylander1940 and + stevenkesslar 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ FrankR Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 We can afford the spending - according to IMF data the US spending per GDP is significantly lower than other developed countries. The problem is we are not paying for the spending…we are funding it through lending, which explains the 13% of federal funding that goes towards interest in the chart above. So, if we did something sensible like …that would remove the interest charge and get rid of the loans. Win…win. 🤓 + stevenkesslar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ augustus Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 12 hours ago, FrankR said: The problem is we are not paying for the spending…we are funding it through lending, Exactly! But we are not getting Sweden like income tax rates or European style VAT's here. + BOZO T CLOWN 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ augustus Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 15 minutes ago, FrankR said: 45,000 with more than $100mil in net worth. Approx 10% (4,500) with more than $500mil in net worth. Sounds like plenty to me. That 45,000 is worldwide. About 10k in the USA. Actually, they already pay hefty taxes. Are you talking about confiscating people's wealth??!! Do you have any idea of the economic consequences of that? The number of people with at least $100 million has doubled since 2003 WWW.CNBC.COM Low interest rates fueled the growth in asset prices, leading to a rapid expansion in the number of centi-millionaires. + BOZO T CLOWN 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ FrankR Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 16 minutes ago, augustus said: That 45,000 is worldwide. About 10k in the USA. Actually, they already pay hefty taxes. Are you talking about confiscating people's wealth??!! Do you have any idea of the economic consequences of that? The number of people with at least $100 million has doubled since 2003 WWW.CNBC.COM Low interest rates fueled the growth in asset prices, leading to a rapid expansion in the number of centi-millionaires. My numbers are based on. JP Morgan Wealth Management report dates January 2024 - will see if I still have it. Back to the topic if recession - I listen closely to earnings calls; most of the earnings calls so far this year indicated that business is strong and inflation under control. I will grant you that I can only speak to the companies I follow and they are best if breed. I can list 10 billionaires that disagree with you about them paying hefty taxes already. EZEtoGRU 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZEtoGRU Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 8 hours ago, FrankR said: I can list 10 billionaires that disagree with you about them paying hefty taxes already. Correct! And many of them insist they don’t pay enough in taxes. + augustus, marylander1940 and + BOZO T CLOWN 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Slater Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 This thread has veered way off the topic of personal finance. Giving it a break. MikeBiDude 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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