JoeI noticed two days ago that three Glossy Zulu figures had 1 bid for $145.00 have'nt been back to check it out since.......The Lt.
I would think dealers might be better off if they had the option to sell stock at discounted prices rather than being forced to sit on it because no one wants to buy at retail. Regardless, the market forces would be allowed to establish the appropriate price.
The real world Ray.
India and China are the only countries experiencing true growth, the rest of us seem to be buying more and more from them whilst producing less and less. America has the world's largest trade debt.
In most countries there is an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor and house prices are getting further out of reach, especially the first home buyers.
Collecting is a luxury and will be the first sector to see downturns in personal expenditure. Clearly K & C are still selling, but I worry for the newer model companies as I fear there are even tougher times ahead next year.
Oz,
I'm sorry, I just don't see any facts to back up a depression which is what a shrinking economy is, the US business rate is growing at 5% this year, China doors are bursting with growth, the indian economy is booming,the Arabs are making record windfall profits and spending like druken liberals do other peoples money. Suprisingly theres still not enough oil to go round to fuel the growth which has triggered the run up in oil prices.
The world is investing 3 billion dollars a day in the United States which fuels a huge trade deficit. Theres never been more money being spent and more products being built at any time in history. Life is better for more people than at any time in history. The world ecomony is healthier and more robust than ever before and shows no sign of abatement.
I completely agree with Oz. I think the trend towards the death of the middle class started in the early 1970's, and has gotten worse every year. The cost of houses in the New York metro area in the late 1960's averaged 1-2 times the average annual salary for workers in the area. Today NY Metro area houses have an average cost about 12 times the average annual salary. Even one bedroom co-op apartments in Manhattan cost about 5 times the average annual salary. Pretty soon only the wealthy will be able to own a home in this area. Plus, with the exception of government/municipal employees, very few workers receive medical benefits for their families without having to pay about half the rising cost of health insurance, almost no workers receive dental benefits, and many workers have no pension plans. For the first time in American history, the present generation has a lower standard of living than the last generation, and the next generation is facing even more grim prospects. And the U.S. dollar itself is pathetic. For the first time in my life it is worth less than the Canadian dollar. I am really concerned for my children.
I would agree with Louis on this point. From what I can see form my readings and travles the gap between the rich and poor has increased and the middle class has suffered a lot. This affects both the developed world and the undeveloped world. The rustbelt of North America and the abandoned industrial heartland on Britian are examples of this. The switch to the service industry is not really an adequate replacement for the jobs lost by companies moving manufactruing to other parts of the world. I went to the museum of mining in Derby in 2006. It was really sad. The guy who worked there had lived in Derby all his life. He told me his father and his grandfather had both worked in the mines. In those days there was no such thing as unemployment you simply went down to the pithead on Monday morning and signed on. When the moines closed in the 1980's the community died.
The unrestrained behaviour of multi nationals in the last two decades has lead to disasters such as the sub prime interest rate issue which is now threateneing to disrupt the world economy. The west mostly thanks to the USA ( to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude) won the Cold War but we now have run away capitalism which needs to be restrained and directed a bit if we are to have a stable world. If we allow these vast inequalities to persist then we will have ongoing instability and migration of people. Capitalism is the best way to create wealth but it must be a capitalism set on long term growth and development not just the quick buck of speculation.
I apologise if this post is considered political but the thred seems to be very much about this and I wrote it in the spirit of the thread.
Regards
Damian Clarke
Well economics is my area of study at university and I would love to jump in with my view about this, that and the other thing but economics cannot be divorced from politics, and if there's anything I've learned on countless hobby forums it's to keep politics out of them. I'd like to think we could continue a mature and rational discussion but invariably someone loses their cool and it's all downhill from there.
One thing's for certain: as citizens in a democracy it's vital to keep informed about the world and have conversations like this, but at the end of the day none of us can change much about the global economy - it's too big and we're too small. The only time big change happens is when the status quo breaks down and those in power lose their legitimacy. We're not quite there, yet.