Economy Getting Better?

[Baby Grand]

Remember when there was a bit of rough weather in the gulf and our oil production was cut down a bit and prices jumped $2? Guess what? Obama has reduced out gulf oil output BELOW that level. Our consumption is down so the prices are only moderately high. WHEN Egypt collapses and the Arab Brotherhood closes the Suez Canal prices will SOAR. Then when IRAN closes the Straight of Hormuz, price of gas will be north of $10 a gallon. A head of lettuce will be 10 bucks, a gallon of milk will be $20. Think O-chicken will do squat to help the American people? I don't.

Has the economy recovered? It's bad and getting ready to replay the great depression on steroids.

If lettuce is $10 a head and you have land and a tractor, then you can help yourself. Think it through. How much does that cheap supermarket produce depend on cheap oil to get to market and how hard does that cheap produce make turning a profit from truck farming? If oil goes up, so does the value of produce and farm land near population centers.

Folks may not need a V8 SUV to get to the empty supermarket, but they still will need food. Forced to choose between gas & food I think local farming will become a viable option for those who can't really make a go of it now.

It's probably not a bad idea to get used to the idea of expensive fuel now rather than to wait for the black swan.

 

[gary d]

I am so impressed with the quality of posts on this board. How many of you are increasing your food storage? I'm beginning to think as quickly as world problems are affecting our economy it won't be long before a panic of some kind causes a run on supermarkets similar to what happens before a big snowstorm where everyone decides to grab all the milk and bread off the shelves.

Does anyone have any recomendations on what one should stock up on? Something that if not needed would still be good to have around anyway.
Any advice on buying case lots of canned goods at a good price. I have thought about going to Sam's club and stoking up, but the huge can sizes make it impractacle for home use.

 

[Baby Grand]

I am so impressed with the quality of posts on this board. How many of you are increasing your food storage? I'm beginning to think as quickly as world problems are affecting our economy it won't be long before a panic of some kind causes a run on supermarkets similar to what happens before a big snowstorm where everyone decides to grab all the milk and bread off the shelves.

Does anyone have any recomendations on what one should stock up on? Something that if not needed would still be good to have around anyway.
Any advice on buying case lots of canned goods at a good price. I have thought about going to Sam's club and stoking up, but the huge can sizes make it impractacle for home use.

You can live for a long time on just water, carbs and protein. Rice and beans are a good mix and can be stored for a long time. Store them in rodent proof containers of some sort. Sweet potatoes, spuds and squash will keep and give you a bit of variety, too. I hear squirrel meat isn't too bad ...

 

[bstrom]

As far as the economy right now goes, I posted a while ago that one indicator of construction is activity at the dump. As of about 2 weeks ago, it was up a bit.

Lately I have been going to a local quarry with my dump trailer to get crushed rock. I know it would be better to get a whole truckload delivered, but my space is very, very limited and a few tons at a time is all I can really handle.

Anyway, a month ago there was never a line and it seemed dead. Yesterday and today, there were lots of trucks in line to be loaded. I accidentally jumped the line and caught he11 for it...

So, from observation, things in the SF Bay area are picking up a little.

I'm going with this indicator, it's probably at least as accurate as the ones the big economists in D.C. use. :thumbsup:

 

[300UGUY]

If lettuce is $10 a head and you have land and a tractor, then you can help yourself. Think it through. How much does that cheap supermarket produce depend on cheap oil to get to market and how hard does that cheap produce make turning a profit from truck farming? If oil goes up, so does the value of produce and farm land near population centers.

Folks may not need a V8 SUV to get to the empty supermarket, but they still will need food. Forced to choose between gas & food I think local farming will become a viable option for those who can't really make a go of it now.

It's probably not a bad idea to get used to the idea of expensive fuel now rather than to wait for the black swan.

I agree that cheap oil = cheap food. One thing that really amused me for years were some neighbor's and coworkers that drove F350's, F250's, etc, as commuter vehicles. Most of these folks never, ever, put anything in the bed or towed anything. Kinda a macho thing, they wanted to drive a big truck. I got razzed for years, driving a GEO metro that got 40 mpg. Some of these guys didn't get 10 mpg. Even when fuel was cheap, it never made sense to me to waste that much money on commuting to work. Another thing, my GEO was 6K, brand new. Some of these folks have 60K wrapped up in these rigs. Maybe I'm cheap, but commuting in a huge truck seems wasteful to me.

 

[bstrom]

I agree that cheap oil = cheap food. One thing that really amused me for years were some neighbor's and coworkers that drove F350's, F250's, etc, as commuter vehicles. Most of these folks never, ever, put anything in the bed or towed anything. Kinda a macho thing, they wanted to drive a big truck. I got razzed for years, driving a GEO metro that got 40 mpg. Some of these guys didn't get 10 mpg. Even when fuel was cheap, it never made sense to me to waste that much money on commuting to work. Another thing, my GEO was 6K, brand new. Some of these folks have 60K wrapped up in these rigs. Maybe I'm cheap, but commuting in a huge truck seems wasteful to me.

It's stupidity to have a vehicle like that and not use it for it's intended purpose. Guys have to have that to beef up their image or something I guess. I drive a modest 1/2 ton pickup because I have to for my job, I need the 8 ft bed, but I hate the cost of doing it. All this big truck image stuff is going out the window here pretty soon.

 

[bigbull338]

wrong the f250s an f350s will never go out of style.the people that buy them for looks an status will be weeded out fast.an only farmers an cattlemen will buy them.

 

[033614]

You guys have made me feel better, I thought it was just here in the UK where we paid farmers not to grow food, courtesy of the EU of course. Our politicians promise reform as well, but when elected always seem to find a reason to change their mind, abstain or just don't turn up for the vote. Non of them can give a straight answer to questions, you wouldn't trust any of them to tell you the time of day. Like you, our "social security" pays people more to stay out of work than they can earn in work, Rent, food, transport etc. all paid for, BY ME!!!
The idea of poverty now seems to be if you are without a freezer, fitted carpets, a car ( to collect your handouts), TV (a big one), dishwasher, etc. etc.
I won't say that the old times were better, but the attitudes were. Many of us can recall being hungry (often), newspaper to cover the hole in our shoes (cardboard if you were rich) and many other now comical sounding episodes in life. But neighbours were always there, being unemployed was to be frowned on (OK the jobs were there). But somehow just "being" felt better.
Can I be Emperor of the UK for a day? Give me a year to prepare and note all the changes the need to be made and I'll spend the day signing all the new laws:laughing:

 

[Heavyduty]

I wonder what the unemployment rate would be if the war was over next week and all those people overseas came back looking a job?

 

[tulenutn2o]

I heard the recession ended in June,2009:laughing:

Me too!!! Same ole B.S. out of D.C.