Practical Money advice and WISDOM of the ages.. from SNL

Comment

Comment by Ben McCann on March 10, 2009 at 9:31am

what makes a nation wealthy, when a nation produces more than it consumes, what makes a nation poorer? when it consumes more than it produces.

pk...you are right, this is not a partisan thing, evedryone is at fault at some level.. that is why I said Mr. President & CONGRESS.

the problem with government borrowing is that they are borrowing money that someone else has to repay... no other person or entity does that.

If I borrow money, I purchase an asset, that can help me generate wealth to repay the debt and start to get ahead. In bade times, I have an asset to sell off....maybe not for what its worth or what I paid for it, but its something. Same thing if a business borrows money.

but our government is borrowing to keep the lights on, with no asset being purchased and planning for our children and their children to repay it....STUPID.

When I have lost my job, I start cutting back on spending. cut off the cable, sell myh car and buy a paid for cheaper one etc.. my family and friends would be pissed off if I came to them with a hand out and said can you support my spending and the increase as well, I would rather not cut back, it would make me uncomfortable.

Comment by PK Koduri on March 10, 2009 at 7:22am

The past decade reminds me of the crash you feel after the effects of RedBull or any sugar induced high wears off. The US has lost most of its manufacturing base to other countries and the economy has been sustained by consumer spending. In the shortrun the only thing that will get us moving is borrowed spending. Long run we need to have a sustainable core of middle class jobs to keep the economy moving along. Having said that I feel stupid for not having lived it up like many of my friends instead of saving/investing my money - few more weeks of Dow sliding and pretty much I will be where every other borrow and spend American is in terms of net worth :-). On a serious note PLEASE stop making everything a partisan issue. Financial distress does not discriminate between parties, everyone had a role in this mess.

Comment by Ben McCann on March 10, 2009 at 1:17am

LOL, yeah... I know, great Idea Mr. President and Congress, Let's fix the debt issue by extending more credit and making more people in greater debt.. duhhhhhhh!!!

Comment by Darrell G. Walton on March 10, 2009 at 12:33am

Just God given common sense! But Ben my friend,get ready for the onslaught of being accused of sub coming to fear because you don't want to stimulate the economy with your credit card or being a fear monger for common sense advice!