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By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Beyond the Sun
Sun coverage
The worst of it finally appears to have passed.
After two years of economic decline, the gross metropolitan product of Las Vegas, which measures Southern Nevada’s total output of goods and services, grew slightly in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.
The quarter also brought a substantial reduction in the foreclosure rate, although Nevada still leads the nation.
“When news has been bad for so long, things not getting worse is good news,” said Elliott Parker, a UNR economist.
Nothing is certain and a double-dip recession isn’t out of the question, but the report from Brookings — a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that collaborates with UNLV — indicates we may be on the cusp of economic improvement.
Still, the report and other recent data include reams of sobering conclusions for the Las Vegas economy:
The employment picture has not improved, as firms are not adding new workers; the recovery looks to be slower and weaker than those of any of the past three decades; and finally, Southern Nevada is ill-suited for this recovery because of the continued dearth of commercial and residential construction and a relatively uneducated workforce.
Among 100 major American metropolitan regions, Las Vegas has experienced a worse recession than nearly all the rest: Southern Nevada had the 10th highest job loss, with nearly 10 percent of our jobs lost to the recession. We also had the 15th highest rate of economic contraction and the steepest drop in home prices.
Reno’s numbers aren’t much better. In fact, this recession has pummeled the Intermountain West, with Boise and Phoenix also suffering in ways not seen in past recessions and still struggling to recover.
There are a few striking conclusions to draw, said Mark Muro, one of the report’s authors.
“For the first time in 30 years, the Intermountain West has not snapped back and snapped back faster than the nation as a whole,” he said. “This is troubling.”
“This should be cause for some reflection about how you achieve economic growth, and some deep thought about the future.”
In the past, the steady migration of Americans to the West from the Rust Belt, and the immigration of Latin Americans to places such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, created a virtuous cycle of growth and attendant economic prosperity.
Las Vegas also benefited from the rising popularity of gambling and from the region’s highly effective marketing, which transformed it into an upscale, international destination.
But there were weaknesses in the economic model.
Cities with the fastest growth have experienced the steepest declines, a phenomenon unique to this recession, Parker noted. That’s because much of the growth was due to the bubble in the real estate market, as opposed to real, sustainable economic expansion.
As John Restrepo, the local economic consultant and vice chairman of Nevada’s Economic Forum, put it, “We were too dependent on discretionary spending, and consumers with heavy debt loads.”
Tourists are paying down debt and making hard choices about priorities, with Las Vegas well down the list of required spending.
Convention spending is recovering, however, and will almost certainly be an important part of recovery as Southern Nevada has become a relatively affordable destination for gatherings that require lots of convention space and hotel rooms.
Local economic consultant Jeremy Aguero said the region must work to continue to provide adequate infrastructure, including water. He also made a subtle point about the relationship between the region’s strengths and weaknesses: “Right now, our biggest strength (low cost) is also our biggest weakness (because we underfund education).”
Las Vegas, relative to other cities, has low taxes and is filled with cheap buildings and cheap labor. The problem is that cheap, uneducated labor does not appear to be very useful at the moment or in the near future.
“The main policy implication is the human capital issue,” Parker said. “The extent to which Intermountain West cities are in recovery is highly correlated with education and skills. And we’re an outlier: We’re heavily dependent on industries that don’t require education.”
Indeed, the unemployment rate for those with a college degree is roughly 10 percentage points lower nationwide than those without a high school diploma, which probably understates the true picture because the undereducated are also more likely to be underemployed — they’ve dropped out of the labor force and thus aren’t counted in the official statistics.
Muro said this gap between those with college educations and those without simply confirms what’s been known for some time: “Education is a mainstay of success at the family, company, community and national level. There are few insights better documented than the benefits of education.”
The Intermountain West cities that have staved off the worst of the recession are those with lots of educated workers, such as Denver and Boulder, Colo.
Even as this has been true during the recession, it will continue to be true during recovery, Parker noted. That’s because for the first time in recent memory, the continued glut of buildings of all types will mean construction will not be the sector to lead the economy out of recession.
Instead, it would seem exports and technology will drive expansion, sectors that often require educated, skilled workers, whom Nevada lacks, Parker said.
worst is over-good luck. worst might be over for rich and lazy crowd, but middle and lower income people are in deep sh--. the economics of only helping the rich will change our country forever. both parties stink. how'd that tax break for the rich guys by bush work out for you america. thank god for those toxic fema trailers bush sent to new orleans, we can have a home again. WAKE THE BEEP UP
Believing the worst is over in the economy is like belief in global warming from CO2. It requires you to quit thinking and have blind faith that politicians really are smarter than you.
Yea right
thanks to Harry Reid we have a long long way to go
Maybe the Sun should tell us who's hiring before they tell us the recession is over.
Now let's come to the real world: 1. Foreclosures continue all over this land. 2. Unemployment will continue to be high (not my words but the Obamination's group words). 3. China backing off at funding us. 4. Obamination and his group of fools in the congress continue to spend spend spend. 5. Taxes going up. 6. Four states near bankruptcy and many more in line. 6. Oil prices climbing. 7.Jobs still leaving this country.
Recovery????? What Recovery???? We aren't even halfway thru this and are closer to a depression than a recovery. Rule Number 1. -----You cannot spend your way out of DEBT!!!!!! Obamination, Reid and Pelosi the modern day version of the Three Stooges. With a supporting cast of Franks, Schumer, Backus, Dodd, Axelrod, Emmanuel, Clinton and Gibbs. Brought to you by the voting morons of this country.
Cignettis, as soon as you mention the current administration, you lost credibility. The pevious admin started the ball rolling, it was up to speed when the new admin came into power.
Your damned if you spend & damned if you don't.
This is going to be a very lengthy process to rebuild the economy. Because the tourism #'s improve does not mean the previous acquired debts are wiped out.
The recession is a longggggg way from being over.
Serpent,
Lest you forget for the last 2 years of the Bush Administration, the Democrats controlled Congress and spent like drunken sailors. I will give you this though, Bush went along with it. Now let's look at the big problem-----Both Frank and Dodd pushed unabated spending by Fannie and Freddie and described it as talk against people entitled to home buying when the opposition railed against it and wanted an investigation which was overuled by the Democratic controlled Congress. That event took place way before the last 2 years of the Bush Era. Doubt my credibility?? Check it out yourself by going to the Congressional Record which I do often.
If the greedy casino corporate fools stopped fleecing the tourists and locals with their tightened rip off slot machines and crappy Blackjack odds, then perhaps the tourists would return, and some jobs would be recovered. But these fools are too greedy and will take the rest of the city down with them..
Downtown Las Vegas is a totally different holiday destination than the Strip.
Now that Downtown has a new Meeting Center, perhaps conventions held Downtown could be promoted.
Once people realize what a bargain Downtown Las Vegas has become, with reasonable hotel rates, nice modestly-priced restaurants, and free entertainment, a good percentage of former Strip conventioneers will be thrilled. That might mean repeat convention business for Downtown.
There really are two totally different experiences to be had in Las Vegas. Downtown is the hidden jewel.
good lord...more "rich people are evil" nonsense. i think if you spent more time...i don't know...looking for a job, than complaining and beeing bitter...you might some day BE a rich person.
look, nobody under the age of 40 wants to visit, much less STAY downtown. they scared off the grand prix race, you gotta pay for parking, etc.
All politicians care about is themselves, let your voices be heard in November .
I love people who type in Caps. It confirms their stupidity. Are you listening, HELEN WEILS and your band of dopes?
Good grief, whoever wrote this article is taking a lesson from the casinos. They, like the casinos, think that they can make something happen by simply saying it is going to happen. Not true!
If some of the posters simply scanned this article they would know that employment numbers are almost always the last to drop after a recession and more importantly, the fact that, as the article states, Las Vegas has a large "relatively uneducated work force" it takes doubly longer for unemployment numbers to turnaround.
Considering the stupidity of people in Las Vegas co-signing en masse for homes for $350,000 when the home was worth only a quarter of that in normal times, and the hole we dug ourselves, it's a wonder we're actually looking this good- relatively speaking.
So you FOX News indoctrinated posters should at least scan the article before spewing your junk posts.
Let us hope that pent-up demand for Las Veegas is overwhelming! The tourists and visitors will be back.
American lives and families who are struggling worse than they ever have.
America is the richest nation in history, yet we now have the highest poverty rate in the industrialized world with an unprecedented number of Americans living in dire straits and over 50 million citizens already living in poverty.
The government has come up with clever ways to downplay all of these numbers, but we have over 50 million people who need to use food stamps to eat, and a stunning 50% of US children will use a food stamp to eat at some point in their childhood. Approximately 20,000 people are added to this total every day. In 2009, one out of five US households didn't have enough money to buy food. In households with children, this number rose to 24%, as the hunger rate among US citizens has now reached an all time high.
We also currently have over 50 million US citizens without healthcare. 1.4 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2009, a 32% increase from 2008. As bankruptcies continue to skyrocket, medical bankruptcies are responsible for over 60% of them, and over 75% of the medical bankruptcies filed are from people who have healthcare insurance. We have the most expensive healthcare system in the world, we are forced to pay twice as much as other countries and the overall care we get in return ranks 37th in the world.
In total, Americans have lost $5 trillion from their pensions and savings since the economic crisis began and $13 trillion in the value of their homes. During the first full year of the crisis, workers between the age of 55 - 60, who have worked for 20 - 29 years, have lost an average of 25% off their 401k. "Personal debt has risen from 65% of income in 1980 to 125% today." Over five million US families have already lost their homes, in total 13 million US families are expected to lose their home by 2014, with 25% of current mortgages underwater. Deutsche Bank has an even grimmer prediction: "The percentage of 'underwater' loans may rise to 48 percent, or 25 million homes." Every day 10,000 US homes enter foreclosure. Statistics show that an increasing number of these people are not finding shelter elsewhere, there are now over 3 million homeless Americans, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population is single parents with children.
One place more and more Americans are finding a home is in prison. With a prison population of 2.3 million people, we now have more people incarcerated than any other nation in the world - the per capita statistics are 700 per 100,000 citizens. In comparison, China has 110 per 100,000, France has 80 per 100,000, Saudi Arabia has 45 per 100,000. The prison industry is thriving and expecting major growth over the next few years. A recent report from the Hartford Advocate titled "Incarceration Nation" revealed that "a new prison opens every week somewhere in America."
http://ampedstatus.com/full-report-the-e...
I went through the Houston depression that started in early 80's. The puff pieces in the Chronicle always talked about the "turnaround" that never happened. Into the 90's, the palaver continued. So just for grins, I looked at the "value" of my house in 2010 that I gave back to the bank in 1985.
I bought it for $61,000. Today, it is worth $90,000. And don't forget, Texas has done well in our depression. Good deal? In the span of my 30 year mortgage, I would have paid over $300,000. Interest rates were out of sight back then.
And the house was a little POS. Think about it people. You're not getting your money back in Vegas. Walk till you drop. It's worse here than Houston was back then. There's no way out..
The government unemployment rate is deceptive on several levels. It doesn't count people who are "involuntary part-time workers," meaning workers who are working part-time but want to find full-time work. It also doesn't count "discouraged workers," meaning long-term unemployed people who lost hope and don't consistently look for work. As time goes by, more and more people stop consistently looking for work and are discounted from the unemployment figure. For instance, in January, 1.1 million workers were eliminated from the unemployment total because they were "officially" labeled "discouraged workers." So instead of the number rising, we will hear deceptive reports about unemployment leveling off.
On top of this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently discovered that 824,000 job losses were never accounted for due to a "modeling error" in their data. Even in their initial January data there appears to be a huge understating, with the newest report saying the economy lost 20,000 jobs. TrimTabs employment analysis, which has consistently provided more accurate data, "estimated that the U.S. economy shed 104,000 jobs in January."
When you factor in all these uncounted workers -- "involuntary part-time" and "discouraged workers" -- the unemployment rate rises from 9.7% to over 20%. In total, we now have over 30 million US citizens who are unemployed or underemployed. The rarely cited "employment-participation" rate, which reveals the percentage of the population that is currently in the workforce, has now fallen to 64%.
Even based on the "official" unemployment rate, just to get back to the unemployment level of 4.6% that we had in 2007, we need to create over 10 million new jobs, and most every serious economist will tell you that these jobs are not coming back. In fact, we are still consistently shedding jobs, on just one day, January 27th, several companies announced new cuts of more than 60,000 jobs.
Due to the length of this crisis already, millions of Americans are reaching a point where the unemployment benefits that they have been surviving off of are coming to an end. More workers have already been out of work longer than at any point since statistics have been recorded, with over six million now unemployed for over six months. A record 20 million Americans qualified for unemployment insurance benefits last year, causing 27 states to run out of funds, with seven more also expected to go into the red within the next few months. In total, 40 state programs are expected to go broke.
Most economists believe that the unemployment rate will remain high for the foreseeable future. What will happen when we have millions of laid-off workers without any unemployment benefits to save them?
http://ampedstatus.com/full-report-the-e...
Behind each of these numbers, is a tremendous amount of misery, the physical toll is only outdone by the severe psychological toll. Anyone who has had to put off medical care, or who couldn't get medical care for one of their family members due to financial circumstances, can tell you about the psychological toll that is on top of the physical suffering. Anyone who has felt the stress of wondering how they were going to get their child's next meal or their own, or the stress of not knowing how you are going to pay the mortgage, rent, electricity or heat bill, let alone the car payment, gas, phone, cable or internet bill.
There are now well over 150 million Americans who feel stress over these things on a consistent basis. Over 60% of Americans now live paycheck to paycheck.
These are all basic things that every person should be able to easily afford in a technologically advanced society such as ours. The reason why we struggle with these things is because the Economic Elite have robbed us all. This amount of suffering in the United States of America is literally a crime against humanity.
Don't hold your breath about the recession being over. Vegas will continue to suffer....death by a thousand cuts. Discretionary income has to recover to a level that people feel comfortable planning a vacation or weekend junket. They need jobs to generate that kind of income. The jobs aren't being created fast enough and when they do taxes are going to take a big bite out of their paycheck...so where's the discretionary income going to come from? This will take years to correct and in the mean time people will suffer, particularly if they believe any of the politicians.
I knew years ago that Las Vegas was in for BIG trouble when all of the implosions and redevelopment was happening. It was a bubble that was bound to burst..We all knew it but only lived Rah Rah Rah for today forgot the lessons of the past, and for sure were in denial of what the future held. So here we are in the crapper thanks to the time honored values of greed and excess.
Las Vegas as we know it today was created by 20 years of hard core vigourous growth(as most know). It's done for quite some time.
This city or any other will not start a recovery until "social darwinsim" takes effect. In other words, businesses have to fail natrally and not be supported by more credit or bailouts. The plug needs to be pulled.
As far as real estate goes,it's real simple:
Home prices will be determined on total combined household income, debt to income ratio, excellent credit and of course a down payment. In orange county, homes are still well above 500K, but the average combined income is 73K, that puts a home price at just over 300K. It still has a way to go before their recovery begins.
Another problem Las Vegas is facing currently is it's business model.It is still geard towards a pre recession market.
Stevem is up to his eyeballs in his own BS. Last weekend, as every weekend, all four bars on East Fremont were packed, and most of the patrons are well under 40. Downtown didn't "kick out" the "Grand Prix" race, the economic recession killed the Champ Car race. I'm not sure why, but stevem has a personal agenda against Downtown; his remarks are therefore in question.
OK everybody! Click your heels together three times and repeat after me-
...the recession is over ...the economy is strong ...our borders are secure ...we are winning the war on terror ...our government is working hard for us.
There, that should cover everything!
I am in the camp that believes that Las Vegas as a whole will recover, and relatively soon.
Without being rude to America, I take exception to the comment of poster "mrxroc.8" when he says "America is the richest nation in history".
That is no longer true because of your costly useless wars and bailouts, resulting in your multi-trillion dollar debt to the rest of the world.
Stating that "America is the richest nation in history" is similar to saying "Toyota makes the safest cars in the world". It may have been once true, but no longer.
maybe barak can give us some fresh stimulus cash hot of the presses. print up a few trillion for cali an az too
The ignorance and idiocy of some of the commentators on the LVSUN is only matched by the alacrity with which they expose it by posting comments. Every day.
Hold on. There are still a large number of residential and corporate ARMs set to reset next year. We will see more foreclosures in 2011-2012.
What did we learn? The deregulation in the '90s of the banking and securities industries paved the way for the economy to tank, making a lot of people very wealthy and the middle class scarce. People were allowed to buy homes based on little or no credit worthiness or ability to pay when the rates adjusted. Lenders packaged those subprime loans and sold them to unsuspecting buyers because the raters were paid by the lenders to inflate values. In the end, we all got majorly scre**d.
If you are undereducated or want to be more recession proof, this would be a good time to go to school. If you have a job, save more and don't live beyond your means.
Nevada needs to diversify FAST. The casino and mining industries are obviously not going to pay their fair shares as long as they own our politicians.
Yes, indeedy, the comments reflect the fact that while we live in a Republic many have delusions of adequacy and think we live in a democracy. Is the recession over? Well we are still shedding jobs so what do you think? The recession has now lasted throughout the reign of George II and now into the reign of Barrack the Great. Many think that the bailouts were a failure - I think history will be able to demonstrate that they are a great success. History will also note that they are not nearly big enough. Yes, high deficits appear to be folly in the short term but likely will be demonstrated to include great wisdom in the long term. Especially if the economy grows as a result. Of course this is hypothetical and comes from the wonders of my liberal well educated brain. So here is wishing that you each may drink lots of green beer on this great day but please don't post the green onto the computer screen. Blessings and peace to all!
Everybody blames it on the other guy. Republicans blame it on the democrats. Democrats blame it on the republicans. Black man blames it on the white guy. White guy blames it on his parents. About time you all come together as Americans, not anothercountryhere/Americans, and fix what is broken. Everybody want to go to heaven and nobody want dead. Great quote. Everybody wants to pass the blame and everybody wants to take the credit for fixing it.
Ill be back over Memorial Day weekend to stimulate the Vegas economy!
I am in the camp that believes that Las Vegas as a whole will recover, and relatively soon.
LOLOLOLOL Relatively soon??? Guess you haven't been reading any of the posts here today or in the past.
immigration needs to crack down and clear out all the people who aren't legally here (not just hispanic), this will open up jobs for the uneducated.
hey cigs, we're all morons for voting for either of these 2 parties. stevem as usual shows his true nazi colors on his sleeve.
Little is over, the largest Theft of Assets from the middle-class is ongoing. Harry Reid and his gang just today stole our maglev train money and gave it to local Road Contractors.
Nothing has changed.
ATVDAD,
Excellent comment above regarding the poor in the US. I'm sick and tired of politicians and blind left libs (not are blind) that throw poverty numbers around win the definition changes all the time. Tomorrow, poor people could include those without yachts and suddenly 99% of Americans are poor.
Our poor have housing and a larger food budget than I have at home. Sometimes it's an apartment but it is still a shelter. The biggest problems facing our "poor" is obesity. There are exceptions of course but those that claim our poor have it so bad have not seem poverty.
Politicians are always looking for victims to empower because that gives them the votes to do what they want. If the economy doesn't really turn around then we may one day have a problem with poverty. We may also have the same problem if inflation kicks in and if we continue to allow the debt to balloon.
Comment removed by moderator. Comment contained vulgar language.
One person writes, "I am in the camp that believes that Las Vegas as a whole will recover, and relatively soon."
Another person responds, "LOLOLOLOL Relatively soon??? Guess you haven't been reading any of the posts here today or in the past."
What, exactly, do anonymous comments from people of questionable education, agendas and experience have to do with what the economy is going to do?
By and large, the comments here are a daily repetition of the same BS from the same small group of people fighting their little flame wars because the Sun lets them do it.
Questionable agenda? Questionable education?
Jeez. Let's see, a PhD is unquestionably educated compared to a high school grad/college dropout like Bill Gates or Michael Dell?
A right wing conservative who wants to stop a Marxist/Socialist/Leftwing abortionist from killing babies is questionable?
Perspective, people. Perspective. Keep your on the Patriot, the country's freedom protector. Keep your eye on the protestor in front of an abortion babykilling clinic. Perspective.
2fedup2here
Watch your @#$^^&**( language
haha. i have a personal agenda against downtown? lol!
huh?
well...RPJ...i worked for the vegas grand prix the year it was here and i can tell you...downtown (las vegas city) squeezed every freaking nickel out of those people and they decided not to come back to vegas.
i know more about that subject that you ever will.
and i don't consider east fremont the "downtown" area of golden nugget, plaza, etc. that most people think of when they hear "downtown".
east fremont does a lot of marketing to locals and i doubt many people on that block were tourists.
lmao...and how am i a nazi for telling people to get off their sofas and go look for a job?
if that makes me a nazi, then i'll goose step all the way to my JOB tomorrow.
it's funny how the sun has "selective" standards when it comes to "name calling". i've had my postings removed for "name calling" someone an "idiot", but i guess calling ME a "nazi" is totally fine.
RPJ :
As usual you are showing your condescending colors and hypocritical ways by your very participation in these discussions. May is suggest that you switch to decaf?
Libra....the housing economy started to fall apart in the 80's under Carter. His admin was the one to initially push this BRILLIANT 'everyone' should be able to own a home agenda, making the scum wealthy and threatening the banks if they did not make the loans.
Dipstick...almost the ENTIRE world thought Iraq had WMDs. It wasn't just one select group of people. I believe Clinton was well on-board too.
The fact is that Iraq DID have WMD's, they were spirited out of the country to Syria and Iran before we got there..
"What, exactly, do anonymous comments from people of questionable education, agendas and experience have to do with what the economy is going to do?
By and large, the comments here are a daily repetition of the same BS from the same small group of people fighting their little flame wars because the Sun lets them do it."
RPG
And YOU and YOUR anonymous comments are just as questionable and the same BS as anyone else's on here so get off your high horse. After all - the Sun lets you post, too.
Well, you may count me among the millions of unemployed... but even though I'm discouraged, I'm not giving up. And I won't give up until I have a job. (The idea of giving up sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy.) I'll just keep doing the best I can... I want to work, and I eventually will.
Leaving our any comments bout either party, I'll add my concerns about any possibility of recovery. We haven't begun to scratch the surface on commercial real estate foreclosures and also inflation is just around the corner.
Gee - I sure wish McCain was elected because I know he probably had all the perfect plans in place for saving us. Probably bring back the draft for a full war time economy so we could be fighting Iraq, Afghanistan and nuking Iran with plans for North Korea. I mean - I'm sure he has all the answers but just doesn't want to share them.
Education and spending is the same thing when you follow these so called 'economical laws'.
You should require new thinking from these 'very educated and intelligent' upper-class. Nobody has right answers today.
I don't know what the answer is--but the answer is NOT higher education. College is an evil debt trap. Colleges are not in the business of creating jobs--they are in the business of selling degrees and charging as much as they can for them. In order for an economy to benefit from higher education, the jobs already have to be there, and right now the only growth industry is collection agencies.
My comment was removed for vulgar language? Not one single word was vulgar not one. I don't write vulgar language, in fact not one of those words were on George Carlins list of nasty words. They were all common nouns and verbs no expletitives at all , now I'm offended.
mrxroc8,
Amped Status is a joke, please read it with your eyes open. All this fool did for that report is find snippets of info all over the internet, took the facts that were in his favor and called it a report. Real studies are done with controlled data, all things being equal, and on a level platform. Anyone can find quotes, statements, and data to prove or disprove a fact. This guy is actually just linking to "The Guardian", the NYTimes, and using quotes from random people trying to use this as proof of what he's saying. This is not a report he put together, it's a mish-mosh collection of random facts that he wants everyone to believe are true. Some probably are, but this website should not be your 'source' of what is true and false. Just because you call something a 'report' doesn't mean there's any real substance to it.
LIBRA: you are right arm are going to rest in 2011. also don't forget option arm and alt a program. u know the teaser rate to get u 3 percent first year then jumps up the following year. how about those investor that might loose there home. this city is in deep doo doo and who gave those option arm and alt a program. gee is it mortgage broker. why don't you thing regular bank not lending money for houses they know what coming up in 2 to 3 year. another phase in foreclosure and bankruptcy. this city can not another hit in housing
Why is it that democrats blame republicans and republicans blame democrats? I am neither and frankly they both scare the poop out of me. America was built on hard work and determination, what scares me is if it was like this in the 20's and 30's we would of never made it this far. I'll be the first to admit that I am unemployed, it sucks because my industry has all but dried up, 5 years of school to realize I finaly found something I enjoy doing that I excel at and then BAM there goes the rug. Im at a loss, do I wait for it to turn around milking unemployment and depleting my savings, or do i use my savings to go to school again and find something else to do? What though? Im scared Im going to have to work 2-3 jobs just to make ends meet, is that what the American dream is about? Then I read the news and yalls opinions and all I see is the blame game and hate. I never imagined that there could be so many Americans who are either on their high horse or just plain lack compassion for other human beings. WTF. When are we all going to stand united like it says we are, how long are we going to reside on party lines. I say if something is not working, try something new, makes sense but so many of you people play on fear and paranoia and just plain ignorance and insist on tradition. ahem status quo. We as a nation have to innovate we need new ideas not old criticisms. I agree we face a very difficult situation but what do you do? You break it down into its simplest components. #1 Lack of jobs, #2 Lots of debt. Both issues are actually the reciprocal of the other, so by fixing one you ultimately fix both. #1 enforce immigration, increase tarrifs, and stop giving tax breaks for outsourcing. Infact give a tax credit for everyjob that is brought back to America from a foreign country.
I'll check back in 2012.
lectrocuda,
You bring up excellent points. Actually, by fixing the lack of jobs, you also fix the health care problem. Most people do not realize how easy and cheap private health care costs. My sister does not have health care through her job, but she buys health care privately for about $100 per month. That's not bad.....let's figure out how to put people to work rather than having the government interfere in an industry that it just can't handle.
Let's face it, the only efficient thing the government has ever ran is our Armed Forces. Look at Medicare, the Postal Service. They only know how to waste money and create beaurocracies. There is no way I'm trusting the government with my health care.
"Just because you call something a 'report' doesn't mean there's any real substance to it."
henderson
I couldn't agree with you more on this statement. I think the same thing each time I read a 'report' from the Sun and other 'media' outlets.
All the 'news' we receive is based on sourced information then REPORTED to us. The accuracy of reports are usually determined by the credibility of the source of information and the opinions presented by the author/reporter/editor.
I did read the report with my eyes open. I also followed the source information and found it to be credible. Your disdain for the sources of the information frankly surprise me as you are obviously a reader of the Sun and they use many of the same sources.
The information I referenced is a well sourced web report based on a book with the same name. It is not from some 'Joke' website as you claim.
I believe the information is reasonable, credible and relevant to the 'story/report' of 'Worst of recession may be over...'.
Fed Chief Says Recession Is 'Very Likely Over'
By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: September 15, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/busine...
I hope people read everything contained in this Sun report including the Brookings Institute March 2010 Report and make up their own minds based upon the evidence. Then do what you feel is right based upon your beliefs, personal needs and goals.
I believe the truth will prevail.
I hope you find the truth you seek!
This is far from over and its even further from recovery.This has been one major black eye for Las Vegas and healing hasn't even started.
Wyoming where I reside is thriving. Unemployment under 4%. RE prices stable. Taxes non existent. Few people on welfare rolls. Why? For one thing, we're lucky that "inner city" type people for lack of a better word don't like country living or snow too much; same for illegal aliens. Secondly, most of us ranchers fly the US flag and are pretty patriotic. We wouldn't think of hiring an illegal alien instead of one of our own sons or daughters, even if it cost us a little bit more! If we find someone breaking this rule, we pick up the phone and talk to the violating business owner then straighten things out the easy way or the hard way (ratting them out).
Also, Wyoming is experiencing an influx of new business, mainly because NV has hinted that they're going to tax corporations the next time their legislators vote. NV also now requires a corp gives up all social security numbers of the owners, something they didn't do before. In WY, we don't require your SS number. Plus we charge 86% less for filing fees, the cost to set up a corp. Furthermore, our leaders have promised NO NEW TAXES on corps or it's citizens! No need, the state is running a surplus these days, being we're fiscally responsible, we have natural resources, and we have few people sucking on the "free money" government titty.
Nevada on the other hand, boy oh boy, do you have a problem with illegals who now I'm told account for 1/2 of the kids in you public schools. Yikes! What type of future do you plan on having when half of your students are kids of illegal aliens? What type of business wants to move to a state where most kids in the classroom don't even speak English and hold up the English speaking students? If Obama passes his health care, and it looks like it's going to pass, it will result in higher taxes and a lower quality of service as providers leave for greener pastures.
I hope I'm wrong but it looks from where I sit Las Vegas is going to become a playground for the rich (strip) surrounded by violent plagued slums in the future where Enlgish isn't the first language. Hope I'm wrong.
I just read this, thought it was interesting:
In 2009, there were a total of 5,139,385 millionaire households. In other words, 4.46% of all households in the country were millionaires. That's certainly nothing to sneeze at, but it represents a significant decline. In 2008, there were 5,607,989 millionaires and the year before that there were 5,970,929. That means the recession has claimed nearly a million millionaires.
What's up with that? Wealth distribution? Are millionaires moving to Singapore? What's up? Wonder how many millionaires there will be in 20 years if cap and trade and HC reform pass?
the right answer is to get rid of liberals that want to take more money from working people and companies and reduce taxes so businesses will hire people and the working person can afford to COME to las vegas.
we have to stop taking money from people that work to give to those that don't.
illegal aliens, welfare moms, etc.
gotta stop.
mrxroc8,
Just because I read this rag doesn't mean that I endorse it as a credible or worthy news source. Have you ever heard the saying 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer?'
This paper is a joke, that's why it's been reduced to a 3 page pamphlet in the RJ. It would be extinct today if it were sitting on a shelf by itself.