comment #1

Gordie Lachance says ...

I'm all for smashing people who live beyond their means, but in 1985 you could have gotten a job at UPS for $9 an hour and bought a new car for $10,000.

Today UPS still starts new hires at $9 (24 years later!) yet a new car costs $30,000.

Something needs to be mended here, but it ain't 'spendthrifts".

comment #2

arturobandini2 says ...

Although they're not '08 docs, The Corporation (2003) and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) deserve some retroactive hosannas (and some apologies from rightwingers who ridiculed them). I came out of the latter wondering if Enron wouldn't turn out to be a microcosm for the USA; sure enough, our trusted leaders' fiscal policies were cooking the books just like Lay, Skilling and Fastow. The Corporation is probably the scariest and most prescient movie of the last 10 years -- especially now that its theory is basically proven: Corporations share the same personality quirks as psychopaths, only the system locks up the latter and financially rewards the former.

comment #3

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Gordie, there's a difference between "America" used metaphorically and "Americans." The US has been a college grad at her first job with a brand new credit card and now those bills are piling up.

Only, the country can't declare bankruptcy (and thanks to the GOP, neither can we anymore)...

comment #4

Gordie Lachance says ...

Deathtongue-

I actually do understand the difference. But I still felt my comment was appropriate because I.O.U.S.A. touches on American consumer debt as a byproduct of our nation's madness.

Although it's reassuring to see that there's no shortage of people rushing to correct other people on the internet.

If only we could bottle that up and sell it.

comment #5

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

One anecdote about the wages at UPS (which I found pretty shocking - I can remember back when getting hired at Big Brown was the holy grail of non-professionals) versus the fact that this country has been buying every consumer toy that has come down pike for the last 25 years instead of saving does not refute the basic premise.

...there's no shortage of people rushing to correct other people on the internet.

Ironic Amen to that.

comment #6

arturobandini2 says ...

The conundrum we now face, as outlined by Martin Feldstein and Joseph Stiglitz on Charlie Rose last night, is that Americans are finally learning to save their money. Which is good in the long run, but catastrophic in the short term as the economy grinds to a halt. The less we spend, the more jobs lost. The only thing that will get us off this downward spiral is another bubble.

comment #7

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Arturo - infrastructure. Sexy word.

comment #8

arturobandini2 says ...

Sorry, I was still paraphrasing Feldstein and Stiglitz. Their concern was that when the bailout money runs out, the economy will again collapse unless there's something akin to the internet bubble or the real estate bubble. Personally, I fear that investing in infrastructure, while sexy *and* necessary, won't help the economy until homeowners stop hemorrhaging on their mortgages. That should be the top priority of the 'rescue package,' but so far it's getting short shrift.