wages are slipping :-(

[WIP]

Govt regulations make it much harder ,you can't run a small grocer and compete with Wal-Mart because of trade tariff favors or other things like that .

The biggest problem the small grocer faces is buying power. They don't move enough product to have the buying power to demand more with less. As a result they are not able to compete with Walmart. Even larger companies like, K-mart even cave in because they aren't big enough. The only way small grocers can compete is to fill a niche market like in a small town far enough away that the local customers are able to get what they need without driving all the way to a larger town where Walmart resides.

The company I retired from last May designed and built industrial packaging machinery. We really struggled when Walmart was looking at our equipment. Why? Because Walmart represented a HUGE potential business partner but it came with a catch. Walmart was extremely controlling as a customer and they had the buying power to do so (remember the HUGE potential). Their demands were deemed too extreme for us and so after some attempts at working with them, our companies eventually parted ways.

But now there's another competitor that is making it difficult for the small grocer here in my area - Dollar General. They pack a lot of variety in a smaller store reducing their building costs while increasing their inventory and they place these stores in small towns trying to fill that niche between the walmart super centers and it appears to be working. Unfortunately this pulls customers away from those small town grocery stores. About the only thing the small grocers still have going for them is their meat market, which Dollar General does not have.

 

[stovebolts]

Fuel economy standards force automakers to use super thin steel on cars. Many people switched to SUVs and trucks in self defense, because the standards were more generous on them. Ford has decided to just not make hardly any cars anymore, because many people won't buy them.

Clean air standards are good, because people need clean air to breathe. However, the fuel economy standards are just not realistic. The technology isn't there yet to make safe cars that use such scant amounts of fuel.

I cannot speak for GM, but I do know that in the 80's and 90's they switched to cheap metal from overseas for cost cutting measures, not fuel economy. This lead to plastic fenders which were cheaper than steel fenders. Yes, they crumpled easier, but it led to government regulations with safety as a concern. They now design cars to crumple around the passengers to minimize injury and absorb impact.

My son has a 2002 S10 and a 2014 Cruze diesel. The S10 cost 3x the Cruze to insure. When I asked why, the insurance company told me liability. In a crash, the S10 was more likely to cause serious injury or death to the other vehicle because of its rigid construction and no crumple zones to absorb the impact to the driver.

U.S. automakers are dropping their car lines because people are not buying cars, and the market supports this.

As far as fuel economy standards, GM is on track to meet the Obama era CAFE standards and are fighting Trumps rollback of those standards.

Zero crashes, zero congestion and zero emissions. That's GM's goal and last year's massive restructuring was part of that vision.

 

[jasonc]

The biggest problem the small grocer faces is buying power. They don't move enough product to have the buying power to demand more with less. As a result they are not able to compete with Walmart. Even larger companies like, K-mart even cave in because they aren't big enough. The only way small grocers can compete is to fill a niche market like in a small town far enough away that the local customers are able to get what they need without driving all the way to a larger town where Walmart resides.

The company I retired from last May designed and built industrial packaging machinery. We really struggled when Walmart was looking at our equipment. Why? Because Walmart represented a HUGE potential business partner but it came with a catch. Walmart was extremely controlling as a customer and they had the buying power to do so (remember the HUGE potential). Their demands were deemed too extreme for us and so after some attempts at working with them, our companies eventually parted ways.

But now there's another competitor that is making it difficult for the small grocer here in my area - Dollar General. They pack a lot of variety in a smaller store reducing their building costs while increasing their inventory and they place these stores in small towns trying to fill that niche between the walmart super centers and it appears to be working. Unfortunately this pulls customers away from those small town grocery stores. About the only thing the small grocers still have going for them is their meat market, which Dollar General does not have.

Kmart is defunct ,as is sears ,publix a local grocer to my state ,hq is but two hours away has 8 stores versus Wal-Mart's three in my county .

Publix is more costly but the riff raff typical to Wal-Mart isn't and the quality of fruits,meats much better .

 

[Corn Pop]

Commercial fishing is regulated specifically to protect it from your train of thought. You said, "Snapper is like up to $40 a kilo when fish is on everyones back door. The ocean is right there." That's the attitude that can result in extinction of species.

I disagree to a point. The thing is not everyone would fish, or can catch fish, and that is also why there is a quota management system in place.

If people were allowed to catch and sell there quota of fish I don't think too much would change. A few already recrtional fishers might be out fishing more using it as a income, but that's about it. That's what quotas are for, to sustain the industry. Instead of a few vessels taking tonnes to sell, everyone has a fair share and its divided fairly.


I don't blame commercial as recreational fishers take just ass much as the commercials. The difference is there is for example 100,000 recreational fishers who take tonnes but cannot sell or trade there quota and 100 commercial vessels who also take tonnes per vessel and can sell and trade there quota.

Ita a bit obvious the system does not want the corporate giants any fair honest competition.

Fishing vessel gets quota and catches tonnes and sells to big corporation who sells to public.

 

[Michael74]

They now design cars to crumple around the passengers to minimize injury and absorb impact.

Yes they do, but they can't change the laws of physics. Even in today's crash tests, light cars don't generally do very well in a crash versus a heavy pick up truck. There is just too much weight difference between the two.

The size of your car plays a key role in an accident. Bigger cars, trucks, and SUVs generally fare better than smaller cars, especially when there's a collision between big and small.

In a crash, the S10 was more likely to cause serious injury or death to the other vehicle because of its rigid construction and no crumple zones to absorb the impact to the driver.

Twice as much weight will always produce twice as much momentum (mass times velocity). Light cars with thin steel will have to absorb twice as much force as a truck weighing twice as much. There is no way around that, even if trucks are redesigned to crumple upon impact. Different fuel economy standards apply to trucks versus cars, so cars are at a weight disadvantage. Here is a tutorial on how to calculate the extra force that the driver of a lighter vehicle must absorb.

With equal change in momentum and smaller mass, the change in velocity is larger for the smaller truck. Since acceleration is change in velocity over change in time, the acceleration is greater for the smaller truck.

Crumple zones and air bags help, but crash tests prove that it is still safer to be riding in the heavier vehicle.

 

[Michael74]

It's called pushing the envelope.

Yes, but sometimes they push too far, and some types of vehicles become unsafe, uncomfortable to ride in, and unaffordable. The smoothness of a vehicle's ride is substantially a function of the sprung to unsprung weight ratio. Many of today's vehicles noticeably bounce the occupants around more than heavy vehicles of yore, stressing brains, kidneys and backs.

The larger the ratio of sprung mass to unsprung mass, the less the body and vehicle occupants are affected by bumps, dips, and other surface imperfections such as small bridges.

Many vehicles today cost a mint, and light cars don't do well in crash tests versus heavy trucks. Physics is physics. Physics doesn't change just because of envelopes.

Similarly, homes can become unaffordable in some areas due to excessive zoning.

A cost benefit analysis of envelopes needs to be done, to keep people safe and prices within reason.

 

[jasonc]

The s10 has a frame .many,newer trucks are using sub frames with a unibody .

 

[Michael74]

Bankers do not control the printing of money.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) consists of twelve members--the seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and four of the remaining eleven Reserve Bank presidents, who serve one-year terms on a rotating basis. The rotating seats are filled from the following four groups of Banks, one Bank president from each group:

Banks appoint bankers to the Open Market Committee, which decides how much inflation to print. They printed inflation even in years when the budget was balanced. Bankers want inflation. Inflation oppresses the majority, especially elderly.

 

[stovebolts]

The s10 has a frame .many,newer trucks are using sub frames with a unibody .

Michael74,
I was going to mention this. Also, my 2018 Silverado ($49,000) is less to insure than the 2000 S10. I wouldn't give my son $1,500 for the S10.

 

[Michael74]

It helps some.

 

[Corn Pop]

Banks appoint bankers to the Open Market Committee, which decides how much inflation to print. They printed inflation even in years when the budget was balanced. Bankers want inflation. Inflation oppresses the majority, especially elderly.

Why do people give the bank there currency and then complain?.

 

[Corn Pop]

I went to the city the other day and found it amazing the many tallest buildings in the biggest city were banks, insurance, and tech. They obviously make alot of money. Lol.

 

[stovebolts]

Banks appoint bankers to the Open Market Committee, which decides how much inflation to print. They printed inflation even in years when the budget was balanced. Bankers want inflation. Inflation oppresses the majority, especially elderly.

I've been told inflation is needed to adjust debt to income ratios, which allows the banks to loan more money.

Example: I have $100 in revenue, but I owe $50 which we would say is the maximum debt I could run percentage wise.

With inflation, my revenues are now $125, and my debt is $50. This allows me to borrow more since my debt to income ratio has changed.

 

[jasonc]

Michael74,
I was going to mention this. Also, my 2018 Silverado ($49,000) is less to insure than the 2000 S10. I wouldn't give my son $1,500 for the S10.

Therrs something about the 1500s built in,2019 being to wide for lifts and falling off.

 

[stovebolts]

Therrs something about the 1500s built in,2019 being to wide for lifts and falling off.

Ha, wouldn't surprise me. It's a bigger truck!

 

[jasonc]

Ha, wouldn't surprise me. It's a bigger truck!

Lift adapters .it doesn't look,wider .

 

[Michael74]

Why do people give the bank there currency and then complain?.

Common people have no choice. Lobbyists rule.

 

[Corn Pop]

An honest dollar.

 

[Michael74]

I've been told inflation is needed to adjust debt to income ratios, which allows the banks to loan more money.

Inflation slowly confiscates people's wages, savings, and pensions. No way around that.

Inflation does allow banks to make additional profit, but what use is that to an elderly person whose pension can't buy what it used to?

If bankers sent everyone a check in the mail to compensate people for inflation when they created inflation, then it would be neutral. They don't do that though. Bankers won't even CPI adjust PBGC pensions for inflation. Hapless millions of elderly are slowly impoverished by bank inflation.

 

[stovebolts]

Inflation slowly confiscates people's wages, savings, and pensions. No way around that.

Inflation does allow banks to make additional profit, but what use is that to an elderly person whose pension can't buy what it used to?

If bankers sent everyone a check in the mail to compensate people for inflation when they created inflation, then it would be neutral. They don't do that though. Bankers won't even CPI adjust PBGC pensions for inflation. Hapless millions of elderly are slowly impoverished by bank inflation.

Yes, I understand and agree with that.
When you look at the stock market, it always rises. It HAS to rise. I believe inflation is a mechanism that insures it rises.