Savings

[The Stranger:Me]

Are you saying this because of depressed domestic spend? If so, there are a lot of reasons why domestic spending might be depressed - earthquake, unemployment up, global recession ...

So people may simply not have as much to spend, or may be worried about spending it - as opposed to choosing to save it.

We are using saving to retire debt, which from a personal perspective is an appropriate response given the "current economic climate" (I love that phrase, get's blamed for everything, I just had to throw it in).

I know that I for one have done just this and for just this reason. Will I have a job tomorrow? Who knows? Now (thanks to debt reduction) it's pretty much who cares?

Still, I find it an irony that debt fueled the recession we now find ourselves in (think America's sub prime mortgage problems). Now the economists are saying the road out of recession is to increase debt and spend up.

[Milts]

*chortle*

Yup. The geologists did well there.

If you compare it to a place without strong engineering (Haiti anyone? How many hundred thousdand dead?) then less than 300 dead after that kind of quake is pretty damn good IMHO.

[Winston001]

It was only a few years ago that a few rather prominent economists/financial advisers were advocating the joys of divesting property, investing in shares and renting.

The property bubble was going to burst they claimed and shares could only keep increasing...

The advice is still sound. The problem is markets don't always act logically in the short term. Over decades, property rises = shares decline, then the reverse happens. Google the investment clock.

Again, over decades shares (business) provides a better return than property. Why? Because business uses land and to be profitable must make more money than simply owning the land. Otherwise no factories would be built, we'd all just own land and empty buildings hoping some other guy will eventually buy it from us at a profit.

[Winston001]

Still, I find it an irony that debt fueled the recession we now find ourselves in (think America's sub prime mortgage problems). Now the economists are saying the road out of recession is to increase debt and spend up.

Actually the GFC was fuelled primarily by an excess of capital around the world. Mainly stemming from Chinese, Japanese, and Middle Eastern investors who had new-found wealth which they needed to invest.

The money poured in faster than financiers could lend it so they lowered their security limits, dropped interest rates, and made 100% loans. The result was it became really easy to borrow money in the wealthy nations so we bid up more for houses because the banks just kept saying yes.

Our fault as much as the banks.

As for moving to spending - no economy can survive if its members do not buy anything. The difficulty is to encourage productive spending, not empty consumption. YMMV

[Swoop]

If you compare it to a place without strong engineering...

You are comparing engineers with geologists.
Not really comparing apples with apples, eh?

[The Stranger:Me]

If you compare it to a place without strong engineering (Haiti anyone? How many hundred thousdand dead?) then less than 300 dead after that kind of quake is pretty damn good IMHO.

So I guess our geologists are better than Japanese geologists too.

[Smifffy]

So I guess our geologists are better than Japanese geologists too.

Fuckin A! We kiwi number 1! we have RWC! We have Mr Key San! Smile and Wave! We no have wave like Japan. We have wave like Key San smile. Japan wave fuck you loooong time. Key wave fuck you better.

[oneofsix]

So I guess our geologists are better than Japanese geologists too.

this guys stranger than fiction.
Geologists tell you what type of ground you have at best, its up to the engineers to work out how and what to build on it so it will stay up.

[The Stranger:Me]

this guys stranger than fiction.
Geologists tell you what type of ground you have at best, its up to the engineers to work out how and what to build on it so it will stay up.

Nah, that's the economist's job.
Haiti, bad economists, no money, lots dead.
NZ, good economists, more money, lots live.
Simple really.

[Clockwork]

I've heard that if you lay all the world's Economists end to end....
the still wouldn't reach a conclusion.

Anyway, God gave gave the world Economists to make the Meterologists look good.




just sayin.