Anyone have any idea what all this government spending, economic turmoil, and collapsing dollar will eventually lead to?

In Q3 2006 2.1 billion credit card offers were sent out, compared to 325 million in Q3 2009, a hefty 85% drop.

I read there isn't a single grocery store in all of Detroit because they all kept getting robbed. You have to travel 15 miles outside the city to find a grocery store.

This chart seems to indicate the monetary supple has doubled in the past year http://www.chartingstocks.net/wp-con...ney-supply.gif

McDonalds has decided to close down all locations in Iceland due to ~100% inflation, and then you also got Ukraine where all schools have been closed, all public events have been banned and restrictions imposed on people’s movements for the next 3 weeks because of swine flu.

And lets not forget the multi-trillion dollar government programs that and skewing the markets every passing day

I'm still trying to figure out where all this is going, and I get the feeling it's not headed in a direction many of us will like.

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- Albert Einstein

If you ever need wypall x80 or wypall l40, I'm your man. Check out my janitorial supplies website for more products.

Where on Earth did you read that?

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"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

"All" = "both."

There were only two of them and those were 100% dependent on imported and therefore extremely expensive articles because local production wasn't worth it.

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Ach, mein Sinn, wo willst du endlich hin, wo soll ich mich erquicken? Bleib' ich hier, oder wünsch' ich mir Berg und Hügel auf den Rücken?
Bei der Welt ist gar kein Rat, und im Herzen steh'n die Schmerzen meiner Missetat, weil der Knecht den Herrn verleugnet hat.

I dunno about the rest of your mongering, but there are plenty of grocery stores in Detroit. There are not many big-name chain stores, but there are many-many smaller ones.

Generally speaking, things will get worse before they get better, and once they get better, they will sooner or later get worse again. That's life.

edit to add: There are many grocery stores within 5 miles of the boundaries of Detroit.

Fred

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I went to Google Maps and did a search on "grocery stores Detroit". It gave me 6,795 results, and the map displayed looks like a terminal case of chicken pox.

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

Even in Robocop Detroit had a grocery store.

But don't worry too much MrB398. The response to the financial crises in developed countries has ranged from good (Australia) to insufficient (USA), but all developed countries have taken steps limit the damage that could have resulted. As you are in the United States, you unfortunately currently face the prospect of a jobless recovery where the unemployment rate could stay above 10% for a protracted period of time, but even so, in time things should return to "average".

When 1 kg of onions cost more than a bottle of scotch it's really hard to run a cheap-food restaurant.

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‘To those who regard “crime fiction” as some sacred icon which must follow a rigid formula, I will always be the man who writes 18-syllable haiku.’Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

I was a bit skeptical to this story when I read it on BBC. Sure, to import a bag of onions from Germany costs as much as a bottle of vodka. But surely the people of Iceland must be able to grow some onions themselves? Last I saw, onions were pretty easy to grow even at light levels above the polar circle. They don't have a problem with heat in Iceland, either.

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Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.

"Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you."

So now you're talking conservatory onions grown in low light, which begs the questions what quality would you expect, and what's the average depreciation per growing area of a conservatory.

Looking at the net, optimum yield is about one pound per square feet, cost to build a conservatory is guessed at about $100-$150 per sqf (based on cost to build one in Europe and multiplied by a fudge factor of 3 to including the cost of drilling for thermal and installing what's needed to get it which is likely to be the major cost and for having to import all building materials).
Depreciating over 5 years because there's a crisis and long term doesn't count, that means that without counting running costs and cost of establishing heating, a pound of onions will be around $20-$30.
Not likely to be a venture you'd get a bank to invest in.

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‘To those who regard “crime fiction” as some sacred icon which must follow a rigid formula, I will always be the man who writes 18-syllable haiku.’Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

Kilo of onions = 29 cents
Cheap bottle of scotch = $40
Check in luggage allowance = 25 kilos
Carry on luggage allowance = 7 kilos
Ticket to Iceland = $1,260
Profit = $10.72

Perhaps I should mention I have an MBA from the University of Underpants Gnomes.

I don't speak Icelandic, but I was able to google this site: http://islenskt.is/?pageid=34 which seems to state the amount of floor space vegetables and other things are grown in iceland.
Considering the low population and that tomatoes are harder to grown than onions... I think somebody found it worth it.

On www.kronan.is I find a price of 85 ISK/kg of onions for home delivery. That's about 0.6834 U.S. dollars according to Google. Not actually more expensive than in Sweden... Marked up supermarket prices, for sure, but still a lot better than a bottle of whisky.
So either they were talking big bags, or somebody there was making a lot of profit they shouldn't have.



Edit: Aha, this makes more sense:
Exactly what I suspected.

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Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.

"Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you."

A further probem is that, believe it or not, McDonalds has quality standards for its ingredients. That doesn't mean that everything is good or high quality, just that the products have to conform to that certain standard that allows McDonalds to taste and look the same everywhere.

Thus, just taking any old onion that happens to grow locally isn't enough. It has to be the right kind of onion. Standardized. The same goes for the meat, bread, potatoes, etc. blah, blah.

McDonalds would rather close down two, err, "restaurants" than allow them to deviate from their industry standard, just so they can use local products and save money.

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Ach, mein Sinn, wo willst du endlich hin, wo soll ich mich erquicken? Bleib' ich hier, oder wünsch' ich mir Berg und Hügel auf den Rücken?
Bei der Welt ist gar kein Rat, und im Herzen steh'n die Schmerzen meiner Missetat, weil der Knecht den Herrn verleugnet hat.

So more bad news there.

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Principal Principle Offender

In my opinion, this is a good thing. It has raised the average quality of food worldwide.

Which is correct but strange, as I know for a fact they also change recipes to suit local tastes - Curry dip sauce tastes *very* different depending on whether you order it in Austria, Germany, Denmark or Sweden.

So it has to be all the same, but at the same time it doesn't.

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Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.

"Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you."

Perhaps you shouldn't.

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One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

[citation needed]

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There are few left who
Stare at the skies with wonder
Wishing to know more;
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But the eyes below are blind.
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Check out my writing, maybe.

Unless you're buying a kimchiburger in Korea, I assume?

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There are few left who
Stare at the skies with wonder
Wishing to know more;
The clouds still drift by above
But the eyes below are blind.
--Laura Lundberg

Check out my writing, maybe.

Yes, but even those changes are standardized and have to go through a very long test and approval process. Once made, they apply to a large region.

Going through that whole process for two "restaurants" would be a little overboard. The McDonalds philosophy says that exceptions and non-standard applications are worse than closing down a few dispensaries, errr, oops: restaurants.

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Ach, mein Sinn, wo willst du endlich hin, wo soll ich mich erquicken? Bleib' ich hier, oder wünsch' ich mir Berg und Hügel auf den Rücken?
Bei der Welt ist gar kein Rat, und im Herzen steh'n die Schmerzen meiner Missetat, weil der Knecht den Herrn verleugnet hat.

try seeing the good things and you'll be a happier person.

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Originally Posted by MrB398
In Q3 2006 2.1 billion credit card offers were sent out, compared to 325 million in Q3 2009, a hefty 85% drop.
For instance, that's a really good thing (to me at least).

If you ask me, reliance on credit cards is more of a cause of problems than a solution.

However, I am a layman when it comes to economics, and I admit that I'm rather ignorant on the total pros/cons of credit cards.

__________________
There are few left who
Stare at the skies with wonder
Wishing to know more;
The clouds still drift by above
But the eyes below are blind.
--Laura Lundberg

Check out my writing, maybe.

Are you sure? I find that hard to believe. I spent time in Ireland early this year --- there was a McD's in Clonmel (a relatively small town) and I'm 90% sure I walked past a McD's on a major road (McConnel st? the one by the famous post office) in Dublin. (there certainly was a Burger King and a KFC there). I'd be shocked if those are/were the only two.

try 74

Iceland, not Ireland.
They're not quite the same place.

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‘To those who regard “crime fiction” as some sacred icon which must follow a rigid formula, I will always be the man who writes 18-syllable haiku.’Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

they both start with "I"

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"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

No. I made a terrible mistake for which I want to apologize.

Having rechecked my sources, I now see that there are/were three McDonalds "restaurants" in Iceland, not two.

(Google is our friend)

Hmmm, but we were talking about Loftleiðir and not Aer Lingus.

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Ach, mein Sinn, wo willst du endlich hin, wo soll ich mich erquicken? Bleib' ich hier, oder wünsch' ich mir Berg und Hügel auf den Rücken?
Bei der Welt ist gar kein Rat, und im Herzen steh'n die Schmerzen meiner Missetat, weil der Knecht den Herrn verleugnet hat.

in fairness, they're closer than just the beginning letter.

oh well....
[/slinks tail between legs and crawls slowly away]

without looking can you name the 8 countries that start with "I"? and the other optional one?

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"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross