American Economics Thread

Minm

Junior Member
Registered Member
I agree, nominal calculations are inaccurate because the USD is way overvalued

But most americans are stupid. Only when China overtakes the US in nominal GDP will they finally realise China can't be stopped and perhaps give up on their mutually destructive containment policies.
It depends on the exchange rate as well. If the situation in Europe calms down, European capital that has fled to the US will return and they'll sell the dollar. If inflation in the US stays very high, the RMB may rise against the dollar. If China and Japan dump their treasuries, the dollar will certainly sink
 

Strangelove

Colonel
Registered Member
View attachment 94445

Im senior security admin for the IT dept of a company in north Texas... making over $100k year but living paycheck to paycheck, like literally.

Friday morning I get my direct deposit via ADP and decided for breakfast to drive thru Mcdonalds... i get the breakfast meal combo with biscuit, hash brown, and an iced coffed... comes out to almost $10....

Flashback when I was in elementary school my dad wrote me one check every week for $6.25, lunch was $1.25 a day... back then Cici pizza buffet was just $2.99 with kids 6 and under being free and $10 got our family of four dinner at McDonalds....

Now they made the straw so thin and flimsy and they also didnt cut the opening on the plastic lid deep enough, the straw wouldnt go onto the hole no matter what... back years ago a straw didnt bend and crumble at the slight blow of the wind so you could just use some speed and force to stab the straw through the opening of the lid but not anymore... so I had to park my car, take off the lid, manually poke my finger into the hole to widen it and then hand weave the flimsy straw through the now widened lid so that it would actually go through and that I can drink my coffee.... spilled it on my seat in the process and stained by shirt

America used to sell goods, then it all became a physical commodity and they sold services, now its not even about the service anymore they are just selling "experiences"... the sizzle more than the steak... but hey according to "we are not in a recession" CPI metrics ground beef is the same as A5 waygu

This is what I paid almost two weeks of school lunch money for, an experience of spilling coffee all over my car because the flimsy straw wouldnt fit through the undercut lid opening....

Im loving it....

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Thanks for sharing. US$10 McD's breakfast is basically double what we pay in Hong Kong.

Taxes are supposedly quite low on Texas right compared to say Cali?
 

9dashline

Senior Member
Registered Member
Thanks for sharing. US$10 McD's breakfast is basically double what we pay in Hong Kong.

Taxes are supposedly quite low on Texas right compared to say Cali?
Texas doesnt have state income tax... Sales taxes are 9%. Property taxes are going through the roof.... as example my parents bought our first house in 1995 for $120k... that same house today is going for $480k even though its aged nearly 3 decades.... so property taxes go up on the exact same house being valuation went up.

A guy making 45k in 2010 would need to be making 100k in 2022 to have same purchasing power. Problem is even if his wage could keep up, that puts him in much higher federal income tax bracket now... So inflation is a double whammy tax.

Our town Arlington last year half the home house sales went to investors whom bought up the homes added more rooms and rented it out .. now these houses are not single family units but like 4 to 6 different individual renters... they all park their cars outside and crime has skyrocketed... some of these renters cant make payment, after getting kicked out they pitch a tent and just camp outside...

Home ownership is dead, the roads have all become tolls and the houses are all getting sold to investors that turn them into crapped rentals....
 
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martinwagner

Junior Member
Registered Member
View attachment 94445

Im senior security admin for the IT dept of a company in north Texas... making over $100k year but living paycheck to paycheck, like literally.

Friday morning I get my direct deposit via ADP and decided for breakfast to drive thru Mcdonalds... i get the breakfast meal combo with biscuit, hash brown, and an iced coffed... comes out to almost $10....

Flashback when I was in elementary school my dad wrote me one check every week for $6.25, lunch was $1.25 a day... back then Cici pizza buffet was just $2.99 with kids 6 and under being free and $10 got our family of four dinner at McDonalds....

Now they made the straw so thin and flimsy and they also didnt cut the opening on the plastic lid deep enough, the straw wouldnt go onto the hole no matter what... back years ago a straw didnt bend and crumble at the slight blow of the wind so you could just use some speed and force to stab the straw through the opening of the lid but not anymore... so I had to park my car, take off the lid, manually poke my finger into the hole to widen it and then hand weave the flimsy straw through the now widened lid so that it would actually go through and that I can drink my coffee.... spilled it on my seat in the process and stained by shirt

America used to sell goods, then it all became a physical commodity and they sold services, now its not even about the service anymore they are just selling "experiences"... the sizzle more than the steak... but hey according to "we are not in a recession" CPI metrics ground beef is the same as A5 waygu

This is what I paid almost two weeks of school lunch money for, an experience of spilling coffee all over my car because the flimsy straw wouldnt fit through the undercut lid opening....

Im loving it....

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
I haven't lived in the USA for 7 years now. What your describing sounds fucking nuts! :oops:
 

9dashline

Senior Member
Registered Member
I haven't lived in the USA for 7 years now. What your describing sounds fucking nuts! :oops:
I went to CiCi's pizza tonight (its a pizza buffet) and noticed instead of the usual asking if you wanted drinks (coke machine) vs just water, they got rid of just water option and are forcing everyone to buy drinks instead.... they make the most margins on drinks because its just sugar water and its about an extra 2 bucks, so my total came out to be almost $11..... still good value, but when I was a kid it was free for children 6 and under, half price for children 12 and under, and for adults it was just $2.99...

Cici forcing the drinks on everyone (no water) means people are going to drink more since they paid for it, leaving less room in their stomach to pig out on the actual pizzas etc... plus again drinks are basically free profit margin for them compared to actual foods...

Then I noticed the plastic forks and spoons all got much smaller, especially the spoons were almost dwarf sized, making it hard to hold/use and when eating soup it becomes frustrating because obviously the intent of using tiny spoons was to not only cheap out on the disposable plastic usage of spoons but also to discourage people from eating as much when the utensils are undersized...

The selection of pizza was horrible, way too little on offer for the amount of folks in there and it reminded me of one of those situations where people are drawing straws or winning lottos... basically every time you got up to get more food you were hoping by the time you made it to your turn that there were still some left and basically all grabbed up by everyone else ahead of you and if you got unlucky you had to go back and sit down and wait the next round when they restocked the pizza lines...
 

FairAndUnbiased

Brigadier
Registered Member
View attachment 94445

Im senior security admin for the IT dept of a company in north Texas... making over $100k year but living paycheck to paycheck, like literally.

Friday morning I get my direct deposit via ADP and decided for breakfast to drive thru Mcdonalds... i get the breakfast meal combo with biscuit, hash brown, and an iced coffed... comes out to almost $10....

Flashback when I was in elementary school my dad wrote me one check every week for $6.25, lunch was $1.25 a day... back then Cici pizza buffet was just $2.99 with kids 6 and under being free and $10 got our family of four dinner at McDonalds....

Now they made the straw so thin and flimsy and they also didnt cut the opening on the plastic lid deep enough, the straw wouldnt go onto the hole no matter what... back years ago a straw didnt bend and crumble at the slight blow of the wind so you could just use some speed and force to stab the straw through the opening of the lid but not anymore... so I had to park my car, take off the lid, manually poke my finger into the hole to widen it and then hand weave the flimsy straw through the now widened lid so that it would actually go through and that I can drink my coffee.... spilled it on my seat in the process and stained by shirt

America used to sell goods, then it all became a physical commodity and they sold services, now its not even about the service anymore they are just selling "experiences"... the sizzle more than the steak... but hey according to "we are not in a recession" CPI metrics ground beef is the same as A5 waygu

This is what I paid almost two weeks of school lunch money for, an experience of spilling coffee all over my car because the flimsy straw wouldnt fit through the undercut lid opening....

Im loving it....

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
... did... did you just compare economic collapse due to EROEI falling through the floor, to... spilling coffee on yourself? holy fuck dude. I don't criticize ppl much but god damn, you are MVP.
 
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