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#Post#: 9320--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: guest55
Date: October 10, 2021, 2:34 pm
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The Pandora Papers: How the world of offshore finance is still
flourishing | Four Corners
--- Quote ---
> In a major international investigation, Four Corners reveals
the secrets of the Pandora Papers.
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kPLpZN3I3A
#Post#: 9611--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: guest55
Date: October 29, 2021, 11:30 pm
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Meet skimpflation: A reason inflation is worse than the
government says it is
--- Quote ---
> Skimpflation is giving you less for your money.
--- End Quote ---
--- Quote ---
> All is not so happy at the happiest place on Earth. The guests
of the Magic Kingdom are restless. Despite reopening more than
six months ago, Disney World and Disneyland have yet to restart
their tram services to and from parking lots, forcing visitors
to walk nearly a mile to enter and exit the parks. Some Disney
fans are acting as though the company is a kind of greedy
Cruella de Vil, willing to slaughter cute puppies and turn them
into coats for a profit.
>
> "Customer service is gone at Disney," says commenter James E.
on Facebook. "It's all about maximizing profit now."
>
> "They haven't brought back the trams because it's
saving Disney money!" writes Daniel P. "Trams need to be driven
by multiple drivers."
>
> It's all about "GREED," says Harry Z. "It has nothing to
do with COVID at this point."
>
> A couple of weeks ago, amid mounting online fury over
Disney's transportation issues, the company announced it was
finally reopening its famous monorail system. But, the company
said, its trams to and from parking lots will remain idle for
the foreseeable future.
--- End Quote ---
--- Quote ---
> What's happening in the Magic Kingdom is happening across
the entire economy. Domino's is taking longer to deliver
pizzas. Airlines are putting customers who call them on hold for
hours. Restaurants, bars and hotels are understaffed and
stretched thin. The quality of service seems to be deteriorating
everywhere.
--- End Quote ---
--- Quote ---
> We've all heard about rising inflation. The price of stuff
is going up. And if you read this newsletter, you've heard
of shrinkflation. That's when the price of stuff stays the
same, but the amount you get goes down. The economywide decline
in service quality that we're now seeing is something
different, and it doesn't have a good name. It's a
situation where we're paying the same or more for services,
but they kinda suck compared with what they used to be. We
propose a new word to describe this stealth-ninja kind of
inflation: skimpflation. It's when, instead of simply
raising prices, companies skimp on the goods and services they
provide.
>
> [Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money's
newsletter. You can sign up here.]
>
> Skimping has a derogatory connotation, and, we should note,
not all companies are Cruella de Vil or Scrooge McDuck. Many
businesses, especially small businesses, are struggling to cope
with surging costs and pandemic-related expenses. They're
having a hard time finding workers at the wages they used to
pay. And some businesses may be unable to afford paying what it
takes to recruit workers in the current environment.
Nonetheless, whether it's because they can't afford to,
they don't want to or they're being greedy, instead of
enticing workers with higher wages, many businesses are cutting
back on the quality of their services in order to stay
profitable. And the Oxford dictionary definition of the word
"skimp" seems to fit what they're doing: "Expend or use less
time, money, or material on something than is necessary in an
attempt to economize."
>
> While it may lurk in the shadows, make no mistake:
Skimpflation is a form of inflation. As with normal inflation,
it means we're getting less for our money. And some argue
the government is failing to properly account for this kind of
inflation when crunching official statistics.
> The inflation awakening of Alan Cole
>
> Alan Cole first woke up to what we're calling skimpflation
this summer. He was on a road trip, driving from his home in
Washington, D.C., to Vermont to see his family. It was during
those glorious weeks when most of us were vaccinated and life
seemed to be rocketing back to normal. You know, before the
delta variant put that to a screeching halt.
>
> "And I was on the New Jersey Turnpike, and I went through rest
stops. And I noticed little things that were off," Cole says.
Stores had spotty hours. Napkin, utensil and condiment
dispensers were empty. Fast-food restaurants weren't fast.
He could see Help Wanted signs everywhere. "The rest stops were
struggling to keep up the same level of service that they had
before."
>
> On his way back from Vermont, he stayed at a hotel in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The morning after his stay, he woke up to a
"sad and pitiful" breakfast that consisted of a plastic-wrapped,
mass-produced pastry, prepackaged Raisin Bran and lukewarm milk.
The hotel was now skimping on its hot-breakfast buffet as well
as maid service for guests who stayed for more than one night.
This, Cole realized, was happening across the entire economy —
and he began to think the government wasn't fully capturing
the decline of quality in official statistics.
>
> Cole was formerly a senior economist at the Joint Economic
Committee of the U.S. Congress, where he used to advise Sen.
Mike Lee, R-Utah, and write official economic reports. These
days he's a writer at Full Stack Economics. For most of his
economics career, he says, he had believed that official
government statistics actually made inflation seem worse than it
really was. He had thought they didn't fully capture
improvements in the quality of products and services when
quantifying changes in prices.
>
> For example, a couple of decades ago, you had to fork over a
lot of money to buy physical albums if you were a music lover.
Now you can use Spotify and listen to basically every album ever
recorded in history for free or a low monthly fee. Some
products, like electric skateboards, didn't even exist in
the recent past. The government tries to capture such
innovations and product improvements with a process called
"hedonic quality adjustment."
>
> But Cole believed that the government, while accounting for
quality improvements, still failed to capture how much better
products and services were getting. He didn't believe it was
some sort of Illuminati conspiracy of Satan-worshipping
pedophiles juicing the statistics. It's just super-hard to
systematically account for changes in quality when measuring
changes in prices. How do you gauge the priceless improvements
to our lives brought about by things like Google's search
algorithm, the Onewheel electric skateboard or baguette
slippers?
>
> Mismeasuring inflation has important implications. For
example, it's common to hear people argue that the real, or
inflation-adjusted, wage of the typical American worker has
stagnated in recent decades. But if the government has been
overstating inflation in its statistics, this means American
workers' paychecks actually go further and living standards
have gotten better than official statistics say.
>
> "I thought that the world was getting better, faster than our
official statistics would suggest because product quality was
getting better," Cole says. "That's what I was saying for a
decade — and I would have been saying it longer, but I'm not
that old."
>
> But while he was eating that pitiful hotel breakfast, it hit
him that the inverse was now happening. Instead of failing to
capture improvements in the quality of products and services in
economic statistics, the government was now failing to fully
factor in deterioration in quality. In other words, the official
statistics aren't showing how bad inflation actually is.
Hotel prices, for example, may be the same or higher than
before, yet hotels are skimping on the services they used to
provide. "We're getting less for our money," Cole says. "And
that's fundamentally what inflation is all about."
>
> You could chalk this all up to the pandemic and a slow
adjustment to normal. And, Cole says, we should cut leaders and
businesses some slack as they try to fix a difficult situation.
That said, we're now approaching two years of this pandemic,
and, he says, it's time to try to account for quality
degradation — aka skimpflation — in the service sector.
>
> Cole points to official government statistics that now say the
economy — adjusted for standard inflation — is bigger and more
productive than it was in 2019. "That kind of suggests that the
goods and services we're consuming now are better than they
were before the pandemic," Cole says. "And I don't think
that's true."
>
> For their part, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury
Department say the weird, inflationary economy we're seeing
right now is transitory. And they're probably right.
We're just hoping that the visitors to Disneyland and
everyone else irked by skimpflation get their fairy tale ending
soon.
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/10/26/1048892388/meet-skimpflation-a-reason-inflation-is-worse-than-the-government-says-it-is?utm_source=pocket-newtab
#Post#: 9809--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: guest55
Date: November 17, 2021, 12:27 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Money, happiness and eternal life - Greed (1/2) | DW Documentary
--- Quote ---
> Can money and power ever make us happy? How much is enough?
Our constant desire for more is part of our human nature.
>
> But is greed getting the better of us? Find out in GREED - A
FATAL DESIRE.
>
> From Buddhists and bankers to Eskimos and psychologists, we
explore the phenomenon of greed with people from all walks of
life. How can it be defined? What makes us greedy? And what are
the repercussions?
>
> People like to have a lot of stuff because it gives them the
feeling of living forever," says American social psychologist
Sheldon Solomon. He thinks we have to come to terms with our own
mortality before we can break the cycle.
>
> Are there other ways to feel happy and content? Can we simply
stop being greedy by changing the way we think?
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PudZNM276CY
Hoarding resources is an effective survival strategy. Therefore,
natural selection rewards the greedy....
#Post#: 9876--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: guest55
Date: November 23, 2021, 1:19 pm
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Your Job Achieves Nothing... (probably) - How Money Works
--- Quote ---
> In the last century service jobs have gone from representing
less than a quarter of all jobs to now representing nearly 80%
of workers.
>
> Now when we think of service jobs we think of people serving
us coffee, finding a pair of pants from out the back, or
carrying bags to our hotel room.
>
> Sure they might be an unnecessary luxury for the people using
these services but it’s still pretty easy to see that they do
produce value, be it in the form of a nice cup of coffee, a
flash new outfit, or promptly delivered luggage (without the
need for a physio appointment the next day)
>
> But you see the thing is the service sector is far more broad
than the name implies it encompasses everybody from call center
salespeople to CEO’s.
>
> In fact it is quiet difficult these days to find a job outside
of the service sector specifically because those roles require
special certifications, remember that for later because it is
important.
>
> But the growth of the self-serving service sector, and the
subsequent rise in bull jobs that came with it seems a bit odd.
>
>
> Surely the efficient free market would weed out these
individuals that are contributing nothing, punishing the
companies that bear their salary expenses while rewarding the
more efficient organizations that do without them… right?
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK3OBAxCi6k
You Will Never Retire, Here's Why... - How Money Works
--- Quote ---
> Recent reports have found that less than 30% of American
workers are on track to retire at all, and even fewer think they
will have a comfortable retirement and they might be right.
>
> I know you didn’t want to hear this, but there are a few BIG
factors at play in the world today that are going to act to keep
most younger generations in the workforce indefinitely.
>
> This is all before considering the major hiccup that the covid
19 pandemic has been.
>
> A global event that has actually worked to widen the gap
between younger generations with fewer assets and more
precarious employment, versus older generations which tend to be
more secure.
>
> Now you might think you are different, you contribute to your
401k, save diligently, subscribe to How Money Works and even
invest regularly into the stock market.
>
> Well that’s all great, but I might still have some bad news
for you.
>
> There are lot’s of issues at play here… Housing, the stock
market and a series of broader economic conditions which might
threaten the general assumptions we make about indefinite
growth.
>
> So it’s time to learn how money work’s to find out why we will
all be on that grind until we are 120 years old.
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5sF0MbfVn8
#Post#: 9894--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: guest55
Date: November 24, 2021, 7:44 pm
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The Ranks of Global Billionaires: Not All Billionaires Are Made
Equal
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MeRN7LE1LQ
But how many people realize that there are trillionaire banking
families on the planet? You never hear about them all that much
do you? All these billionaires could put all of their power and
money together and it means shyte in the face of a Sassoon or
Rothschild.
How long have the Rothschilds been around? Once you know this
then keep in mind this next sentences that are in bold are
merely speaking of post WWII Rothschild wealth acquisition:
--- Quote ---
> 20th century
>
> The First World War marked a change of fortune and emphasis
for Rothschild. After the War, the Rothschild banks began a
steady transition towards advisory work and finance raising for
commercial concerns, including the London Underground. In 1938,
the Austrian Rothschilds’ interests were given {WERE LITERALLY
SEIZED BY) to the Nazis, bringing to an end more than a century
at the heart of Central European banking. In France and Austria,
the family was scattered for the duration of the Second World
War. After the war, the British and French banks committed
themselves to further developing their new operation in the
United States, which was eventually to become Rothschild
Inc,[17] and increased focus on mergers and acquisitions, asset
management, and merchant-banking.[18]
>
> In the 20th century, Rothschild developed into a pre-eminent
global organisation, which enhanced its ability to secure key
advisory roles in some of the most important, complex and
recognizable mergers and acquisitions. In the 1980s, Rothschild
took a leading role in the international phenomenon of
privatization. The company was involved from the beginning and
developed a pioneering role which spread out to more than thirty
countries worldwide. In recent years, Rothschild advised on
nearly a thousand completed mergers and acquisitions with a
cumulative value in excess of [color=red]US$1 trillion.[/color]
Rothschild also advised on some of the largest and most
high-profile corporate restructurings around the world.[19]
>
> The price of gold was fixed for years, twice daily at 10:30 am
and 3:00 pm, in a small room at Rothschild's New Court
headquarters on St Swithin's Lane.[20] The world's main bullion
houses: Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Scotia-Mocatta and Société Générale
used the agreed rate as a price benchmark for gold products and
derivatives in the world's markets. The chairperson,
traditionally appointed by the Rothschild bank, sat in the
center, although the bank itself has largely withdrawn from
trading. The five members of the London Bullion Association:
Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, Scotiabank, HSBC and Société
Générale, now conduct their twice-daily meetings over the
telephone. The meetings were a tradition as great as the ringing
of the bell at the New York Stock Exchange until 2004.[21]
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_%26_Co
Focusing on billionaires of recent history such as Musk and
Bezos merely for their wealth is a distraction and part of the
clown show we are all currently being forced to attend!
#Post#: 9983--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: Zea_mays
Date: December 4, 2021, 5:55 am
---------------------------------------------------------
The Western financial system in a nutshell:
--- Quote ---
> Crypto-trading hamster that outperformed Warren Buffett has
died
> [...]
> Mr. Goxx, whose real name was Max, gained prominence in
September as a social experiment demonstrating the randomness of
the crypto markets. Adjoined to his regular cage, the hamster
had a fully equipped office from which he ran his trading firm,
Goxx Capital.
>
> His “office” included a hamster wheel that Mr. Goxx used to
select a cryptocurrency to interact with. It also included two
tunnels, one for buying and one for selling the selected crypto.
Thousands of people tuned in to watch the hamster buy and sell
crypto on Twitch and many kept track of his performance on
Twitter. At one point, he even got a shoutout from Elon Musk and
was mentioned on The Daily Show.
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crypto-trading-hamster-outperformed-warren-162757921.html
#Post#: 10004--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: guest55
Date: December 5, 2021, 2:42 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Banking is Broken (And We May Not Be Able to Fix It) - How Money
Works
--- Quote ---
> Banking has become too complicated and too concentrated for
it's own good and this could have serious impacts on us all.
>
> #Banking #Finance #HowMoneyWorks
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LZSLQ9H79A
I'd say bankers do their job of fleecing the public extremely
well. Lest we forget, banks and bankers PRODUCE ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING!!! Furthermore, banks and bankers do nothing a state
cannot do by itself!!!
Infact, in recent history I recall bankers being a little too
good at their jobs and getting taken to task for it:
'Sweet Justice': A Florida Couple 'Forecloses' On Bank Of
America
--- Quote ---
> Over the past few years, we've heard plenty of horror stories
about bungled foreclosures. The one of Warren and Maureen
Nyerges, from the Naples, Fla. area, is just as bad. In 2009,
they bought a home with cash, yet in 2010 Bank of America tried
to foreclose on them. It took two months of phone calls and
eventually court intervention to clear up the misunderstanding.
>
> In December, a judge ordered the bank to pay the couple $2,500
in attorney fees. But months went by and the bank never cut a
check. So, the Naples Daily News reports, Nyerges hired a
lawyer, who pursued a levy, and this past Friday the showdown
was on: The Nyergeses showed up to a local branch of Bank of
America with the sheriff, the media and some movers with a
truck:
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/06/06/137002727/sweet-justice-a-florida-couple-forecloses-on-bank-of-america
#Post#: 10136--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: Zea_mays
Date: December 16, 2021, 7:39 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
A guy has spent nearly a decade digging through a landfill to
find a harddrive that has a bunch of bitcoin on it.
Wouldn't it be funny if bitcoin crashes back down in value
before he finds it?
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MBRgLEXLEE
(...Wouldn't it be nice if currency and wealth were tied to the
productive labor an individual renders for society, rather
than...whatever the hell crypto has done to people's brains?)
#Post#: 10220--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: guest55
Date: December 21, 2021, 9:48 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Some American Stocks Are Trading More Than Entire European
Markets (That's Bad) - #Shorts
--- Quote ---
> Stocks in companies like Apple, Tesla and Amazon now have
larger daily trading volumes than all of the stocks traded on
the main European exchanges, Euronext and the London Stock
Exchange.
>
> But wait!
>
> This is actually a bad thing. Trading volume means that there
are a lot of people buying and a lot of people selling. There
are two big things that determine trading volume.
>
> How big the market is, and how speculative the market is.
>
> American markets are much larger than European markets, but
not by such an extreme amount. This trading volume is really
being caused by people buying and selling stocks in an attempt
to turn a profit on short term fluctuations in price.
>
> European equities by contrast are held for much longer. This
means that while they haven’t seen massive appreciating like
American markets, they probably won’t experience a crash as
severe as ours, if (and when) the party ends.
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEHuGcsGk9A
#Post#: 10247--------------------------------------------------
Re: Monetary Wealth
DIR By: guest55
Date: December 24, 2021, 4:05 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
'Japanification’: As U.S. Inflation Surges, Here’s Why Japan’s
Prices Have Held Steady | WSJ
--- Quote ---
> As the cost of groceries, clothing and electronics have gone
up in the U.S., prices in Japan have stayed low. WSJ’s Peter
Landers goes shopping in Tokyo to explain why flat prices,
though good for your wallet, can be a sign of a slow-growing
economy. Photo: Richard B. Levine/Zuma Press; Kim Kyung
Hoon/Reuters
--- End Quote ---
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSJis2K6B8Q
Western economic worldview summed up in one sentence: If you're
not growing like a cancerous tumor then your country just sucks!
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