Comments on: Stein: We Should Be Buying Stuff Like Mad

Instead Of Saving Money This Holiday Season, Spend To Kick-Start The Economy

[lloydbest1]

Mr. Stein, There are millions of us who are out of jobs. There are millions more who have been given notice our jobs are going away. There are 35 million people who are working now who haven''t got enough green to be able to pay for both food and fuel; or rent and health care. And none of them are out buying stuff they don''t need.
With what are going to spend? Money we don''t have in the first place? It was this kind of overextending that got us in trouble in the first place.
Are you unaware of the history of past depressions? We''re three or four years from even approaching bottom and no one knows how bad that''s going to be. At worse, this downturn has the potential of making the Great Depression look like a minor speed bump in comparison. This crash could make the Fall of Rome seem like a cake walk. Try selling this madness when our unemployment rate touches 60%; there''s no guarantee yet it won''t
Sorry guy, but this is one old man that will do as much as he can to drop out of the economy as completely as possible. Other than mortgage, insurance, a little food and utilities, I ain''t going to spend a dime.

[redhawk1021]

''let''s tip the doorman double, get cashmere sweaters and flat screen TV''s for our kids, and trips to Palm Springs for our wives.''

We don''t have the cash, you moron! Stein, you really are the poster boy for the braindead, divorced from reality Republican idiots that have helped destroy our economy.

[redhawk1021]

Typical meaninless garbage from a rich, shameless, clueless, conservative shill.

I''m sorry your stock portfolio is losing value, but please do us all a favor Mr. Stein and shut your fool mouth up.

[slinginrich]

Stein is a shameless Neocon Shill who never misses an oportunity to dispense his Inane propoganda to the Drooling Losers.
Check out this link about the almost total shutdown of shipping of goods Worldwide. The really, really, REALLY bad days are coming down the road at a thousand MPH, and they won''t be stopping to buy you a Latte at Starbux:

**DEC. Alert** US to be CUT OFF from World - Baltic Dry Index Falls 93% South Africa: Shipping Lines Left High And Dry As Economic Tide Ebbs

http://allafrica.com/stories/200812190102.html


Get your Survival Gear ready, retardds.....

[sonogirlaz]

This is just stupid.

[voidmaster-2009]

This fellow''s advise represents the mindset that got America into its current financial situation in the first place.

Sure, if people went out and continued to spend like nothing was wrong, the economy might just turn around (might). Then, larger businesses would begin to recover and soon we would all hear from Washington the official proclamation that the recession is over. And those who (for yet one more Christmas time) spent well beyond their means would be in a far worse financial situation than they usually are, come January.

The only thing this guy said that makes any sense is for the few who do have a little extra to give to charity -- charity -- not Wall Street or big business.

[yeswedid]

"So, for those of us who can still pay our mortgages, let''s tip the doorman double, get cashmere sweaters and flat screen TV''s for our kids, and trips to Palm Springs for our wives"

It infuriates me the pompous attitude of this Republican character Ben Stein. If we had money to spend it WOULD be going to pay our mortages, that most of us do not have the privilege to pay anymore because we cannot afford to & lost our homes. I am poor & still prefer to give to people less fortunate. The problem in our country is we are so greedy for possessions we are failing to see what we should be concerned about & it''s certainly not cashmere sweaters & flat screens!

[troutfisher4]

Stein is pretty smart. The only thing he missed is the FORTY PERCENT DROP IN THE STOCK MARKET IN THE LAST YEAR!

Posted by BRdeckard


He denied there was a crisis till the whole thing exploded. Ben caused a lot of people to lose a lot of money with his bad advice. I see some things never change...

[closethippy1]

After hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans Bush''s mother Barbara went to where the refugees were staying at the football stadium in that city. The woman looked around and then said, "These folks are underpriviliged anyway, so this is working very well for them".
This is the kind of mentality many Americans used to find to be funny, even endearing, knowing full well that it''s the result of an arrogance that''s close to the mind of a sociopath.
This arrogance has now been turned on the entire country and people are looking at these Wall Street billionares and their friends in government with disgust and anger.
Too bad Americans didn''t do that before when these arrogant b.astards were laughing at the poor, and making sure they stay that way.

[markavelli2]

This is laughable, no one has extra spending cash and this whole economic mess really hasnt started yet.

So much for the repub''s trickle down economic theory that they hold so dear. And here''s my middle finger for you American morons who voted for Bush twice...then still voted for yet another repub.

[caldwellptr]

Never has trickled down to here, probably never will.

[troutfisher4]

Our economy was like a giant Ponzi scheme. It relied on people spending money. Soaring home prices and easy credit allowed people to spend money they did not have. Falling real estate prices, job loss, and tight credit brought the whole thing to a crashing halt.

It ended, as all Ponzi schemes eventually do.

[troutfisher4]

Ben,

Just send me a check and I will be happy to spend your money.

Thanks.

[samthetvcat]

PS If all that''s holding the free trade experts from even so much as thinking about reviving the economy via a revision of our trade policies is the possible loss of face, then you know what maybe it''s not so much that the idea was wrong so much as it was that Bush has focused too much on its'' benefits from the supply side - what can we get from China - rather than also focusing on demand and what is it we have to offer them?

[samthetvcat]

pt 1

I don''t know how many ways I can keep saying the same thing from a different angle, but I keep thinking up new ones, so I''m just going to keep trying :(

The idea at the root of the experts'' plan is (I think?)that the ''jump start'' ought to work to revive the economy because there''s ''irrational'' fear curtailing spending.

BUT is that fear truly ''irrational''? PE Obama''s already said even with a trillion dollars of spending we''ll be lucky to avoid an unemployment rate of 9% - is it really prudent for people to spend with confidence if there''s the chance that they might lose their job and an even greater chance that if they''re ''lucky'' enough to find a new one it''s liable to pay less than their last one?

Why SHOULDN''T credit be ''frozen'' right now if we''re on the cusp of a new wave of foreclosures, unemployment''s about to rise, and a lot of peoples'' homes are worth less than their mortgages?

[samthetvcat]

pt 2

If money is tight, is the solution to go into debt, or is the solution to go out and make more money? China''s got ASTOUNDING rates of savings - why are we not going out and trying to figure out what it is we can provide to them that fulfills a need so we can tap into that goldmine? Don''t they worry about taking care of their elderly because the social services aren''t well-developed? If Barack worked on buttering up the Chinese, would there possibly be a market there for life insurance, health insurance, can we increase their consumption with our marketing and advertising expertise?

Ever since we''ve normalized trade with China, we''ve never been able to make the economy grown without going into debt - the last couple of years it''s been consumers and businesses taking on that financial burden; now it''s the Government. With the amount of doubt people are already expressing about the ''jump start'' theory of economy recovery, is there really a chance it''s going to be sufficient in and of itself to bring back confidence?

So what''s holding the ''experts'' back from embracing a more substantive solution? GDP has 5 elements - you expand exports, you lower the trade deficit, you lessen the need for deficit spending, and you achieve sustainable growth. Is it going to take a failed trillion dollar ''jump start'' for the experts become willing to retool their ideas on trade? I hope not!

[bjcone8559]

Republicans are SOOOO out-of-touch.

Two types of republicans:

1. Those ultra rich who cannot relate to the middle classs

2. Those ''trailer-dwellers'' who are so stupid they think they ARE middle class.

[yeswedid]

"Look, we''re faced with John Maynard Keynes called "the paradox of thrift." If everyone is cheap and thrifty and doesn''t spend, the economy slumps and everyone is poorer, not richer"--Stein

Yes, a "paradox of thrift". People are not spending because we DO NOT HAVE MONEY to spend. Plain & simple. There is no such thing as middle-class in this country anymore. Only the fat cats (i.e. greedies on Wall Street, in our government, in Hollywood) & us serfs.

[troutfisher4]

"If we as a group (those of us who are still employed and have some money put aside) buy a lot this season, we could just kick-start this economy into a higher gear."


FYI, most of us are not in your millionaires club.

[troutfisher4]

This from the same guy who made the creationism movie.

Just more nonsense.