The Economy

I don’t think a good chunk of people who are hurt most by inflation have any money in a 401K. And if they do, those gains are hidden and for the future.

Some of it is just the pessimism of the modern age. Once I went through 2008, much like my grandparents and the Depression, I’m apt to just assume the next one is right around the corner. I suspect I’m not alone. Six months into my career, the Big One happened. That’s never going to leave my psyche.

 

Because people responding to polling organizations re: "the national economy" really aren't talking about "the national economy"?

 

Bingo. IMO "the national economy" is a pollster invention which many if not most voters interpret as "how I feel about everything." It's a safe way to express dissatisfaction with one's life and/or what the voter sees on TV. In a further opinion, if voters say "economic conditions" were better in 2019 than today, they are really saying "life was better before the pandemic," a massively disruptive disaster our political system seems incapable of even discussing in any rational way. If time is money, a year plus of covid disruption is one hell of a financial loss.

 

Biden should sign a copy of the record-breaking Dow chart and send it to Fox News Business like Don the Con did.

 

Right. It has virtually no correspondence with the actual state of "the" economy.

Thus-and-such economic signal is positive, so soon some hack's tweet about "Corporate greed eleventy!!!!" or "CEO pay!!!!" will be gleefully linked. Or this-and-that signal obtains, and "China's killing us!!!!" and "Organized Retail Theft!!!!" suddenly are up the ass of some other set of folks.

Count me out. If that consigns me to the BOTH-SIDES circle of the inferno ... so be it.

 

Oh, definitely. Great time if you're going smaller and cheaper, or moving from a high-cost state to a low-cost state. Saw some absolutely stunning houses on my recent MACtion trip to Michigan that were going for $100k or so, could easily sell here, buy there, sink another $150k into the house and still come out $250 k ahead. But I don't want to live in Ypsilanti.

 

Almost no one wants to live in Ypsi.

 

That would be a major league troll.

 

That water tower shaped like a penis is not a great selling point.

 

True, but it does add some character to the place.

The 'Welcome to Gary Indiana' thing is another favourite of mine.

 

15 Best Things to Do in Gary, IN

As expected before I opened the link, this might be the bleakest marketing pitch of its kind.

I give it the full five .

 

There’s a 1,700-sq. foot, three bed, two bath house in a historic neighborhood here for $185,000. Needs paint and a kitchen refresh but move-in ready.