question

Filed in National by on January 7, 2008

When did the measurement of how well the ecomony is doing solely become based on the profitability of Wall Street?

If the price of gas goes up 50% in a year, BUT companies can still remain profitable I’m just fine…AWESOME!

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Comments (10)

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  1. jason330 says:
    January 7, 2008 at 5:01 pm

    When? The moment Republicans started fucking everything up. Consider this 2006 comment from Bush Labor Secretary Elaine Chao who was on CNN defending the Bush administration’s economic policies: Well, the stock market is, after all, the final arbiter (of economic health).

    Why?

    Because when rich people make money in the stock market the money trickles back down in the form of increased investments in factories and vacation homes and nannies for the kids. When the DJIA goes up everybody wins.

    People like Dave Burris honestly think the above is true.

  2. Shirley Vandever says:
    January 7, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    The stock market is so far from my world; it means nothing to me.

    But I find the following interesting…from the remarks of former US President Bill Clinton, Harvard College Class Day, 2007:

    ‘In the United States in the last decade, we have had six years of economic growth, an all-time high in the stock market, a 40-year high in corporate profits.’

    http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/06.07/99-clinton.html

    I guess Bill and Hill are doing well. Perhaps all politicians are. Don’t know much about anyone else.

  3. Jason O'Neill says:
    January 7, 2008 at 8:04 pm

    Using Wall Street (the stock exchanges) as the sole barometer of the status of the economy is foolish. The stock markets, which have thousands of stocks can be an indicator of the health or sense of the economy.

    But there is more to look at. We have the unemployment numbers. Currently, the unemployment is 5%. Unemployment between 4 and 6 percent is a healthy job report, with 4 percent being perfect employment.

    Then there are other montly and quarterly reports on housing upstarts and existing homes sales; manufacturing indexes. Then we have the inflation report, and the currency reports.

    Anyone who has a 401(k) , Keogh or 403(b) has money on Wall Street. Pay attention…or not.

  4. cassandra m says:
    January 7, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    Nonstop focus on the health of markets only lets the government get away with not paying attention to stagnating income growth. This just shows the overall growth in income vs. corporate profits just during the latest recovery (from the 2000 recession).

    Just more bamboozlement.

  5. feralkid says:
    January 7, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    You were paying artificially low prices for gasoline, donwop.

    Welcome to grown-up land.

  6. Nancy Willing says:
    January 7, 2008 at 11:16 pm

    It the ownership society, bitches!

  7. jason330 says:
    January 7, 2008 at 11:22 pm

    You were paying artificially low prices for gasoline,

    …and yet Exxon’s Lee Raymond is enjoying his articially high $400 million retirement package in the Cayman Islands right now.

    A real patriot that guy.

  8. R Smitty says:
    January 7, 2008 at 11:24 pm

    FK – when in the last 20 years were we paying artificially low gasoline prices? Oil went to the commodity markets in what…early 80’s or something?

  9. donviti says:
    January 8, 2008 at 8:00 am

    I think Chris high fived FK and they just take turns making ridiculous statements around the inter tubes…

    Good one FK…

  10. Von Cracker says:
    January 8, 2008 at 8:48 am

    Ha! Feral’s an elitist! Or even worse, an apologist for elitists…ugh.

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