America has a massive truck driver shortage. Here's why few want an $80,000 job

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

LOL!! Your Mom did what I told you to do, sell the house, pocket the profits and move to an apartment.

---

You got that one wrong! Your advice was to sell my house and move into an apartment. My mom sold the house and BOUGHT an apartment, or 8.

Maybe you should get some reading glasses!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

It's so funny how you reveal a story that proves my point to the letter about inflation.

---

Just the opposite. The profit she made was building the apartments and renting them out for money, not sitting on a bank account, stock certificates, or property waiting for inflation to make her "rich". It was the hard work in building the apartments and maintaining them for the rent money that made the property far more valuable than the predominantly vacant land she bought.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Americans have made small and large fortunes through inflation, in wages, earnings, profits, and oh my yes, real estate.

---

Only in specific areas. But for the overall economy, it has been bad! That's why we have a 22 trillion dollar national debt burdening our economy. The interest on that debt eats up about 1/3 of our tax revenue just to make rich bankers richer. If we didn't have that debt, we could do 50% more for the people of our country with the same tax revenue. Or we could blow it helping the rest of the impoverished world. :mad:

But the bottom line is INFLATION IS BAD!:sad:

By the way, on Watter's World tonight, Jessie asked the guy who just got evicted from his parent's house, who he voted for in 2016. He said Gary Johnson. Jessie asked him why. He said Johnson was for personal responsibility. Jessie asked if he thought he was following that lead. He took a long time thinking up an answer, then said no. :lol:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jtdc

By the way, on Watter's World tonight, Jessie asked the guy who just got evicted from his parent's house, who he voted for in 2016. He said Gary Johnson. Jessie asked him why. He said Johnson was for personal responsibility. Jessie asked if he thought he was following that lead. He took a long time thinking up an answer, then said no. :lol:

---

Well he was honest!! Good for the parents who did this for him.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jtdc

You got that one wrong! Your advice was to sell my house and move into an apartment. My mom sold the house and BOUGHT an apartment, or 8.

Maybe you should get some reading glasses!

Just the opposite. The profit she made was building the apartments and renting them out for money, not sitting on a bank account, stock certificates, or property waiting for inflation to make her "rich". It was the hard work in building the apartments and maintaining them for the rent money that made the property far more valuable than the predominantly vacant land she bought.

Only in specific areas. But for the overall economy, it has been bad! That's why we have a 22 trillion dollar national debt burdening our economy. The interest on that debt eats up about 1/3 of our tax revenue just to make rich bankers richer. If we didn't have that debt, we could do 50% more for the people of our country with the same tax revenue. Or we could blow it helping the rest of the impoverished world. :mad:

But the bottom line is INFLATION IS BAD!:sad:

---

Your mom did exactly what I told you to do. What she did with the extra was invest it. You would invest it too. You could put it in savings and earn interest, you could put it in stocks or bonds and earn returns, or you could do what she did which is buy some investment property and earn income. That is all still possible today. You claimed you can't do that today, of course you can, people are doing it every day all over the country.

Inflation is not bad, but if you want to sit there thinking it is, then have at it.

The original article is about truck driving jobs being available for people who need jobs

and then the comments went out in all directions, way out.

WE need to do a better job of staying on subject.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

The original article is about truck driving jobs being available for people who need jobs

and then the comments went out in all directions, way out.

WE need to do a better job of staying on subject.

---

Let's see:
Post #2 by JohnDoe2:
A California Chick-fil-A Will Pay Its Workers $17 an Hour

Post #12 by JohnDoe2:
Conservative Leads Effort to Raise Minimum Wage in California

7/27/16


Donald Trump supports raising federal minimum wage to $10

Post #13 by JohnDoe2:
Romney, Santorum back minimum-wage hike

Mitt Romney: Raise Minimum Wage

Post #20 by JohnDoe2:
in·fla·tion
inˈflāSH(ə)n/

You wanted lots of discussion to get counts up! :confused:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Up the pay, pay them what that long, lonely, frustrating, boring job is worth.

---

Shortage of truckers starting to cause prices to rise

Originally published May 21, 2018 at 8:00 am Updated May 25, 2018 at 4:51 pm

https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-c...4c-780x520.jpgA student practices hooking an 18-wheeler up to a trailer during a commercial drivers license class at Lake Cumberland CDL Training School in Mt. Sterling, Ky. (Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg)

"I've never seen anything like this," says one trucking company CEO. Truck drivers are getting 15 percent pay raises.

By Heather Long
The Washington Post

Joyce Brenny, chief executive of Brenny Transportation in Minnesota, gave her truck drivers a 15 percent raise this year, but she still can’t find enough workers for a job that now pays $80,000 a year.

A year ago, when customers would call Brenny, she could almost always get their goods loaded on a truck and moving within a day or two. Now she’s warning customers it could take two weeks to find an available truck and driver.



Shipping costs have skyrocketed in the United States in 2018, one of the clearest signs yet of a strong economy that might be starting to overheat. Higher transportation costs are beginning to cause prices of anything that spends time on a truck to rise.

Amazon, for example, just implemented a 20 percent hike for its Prime program that delivers goods to customers in two days, and General Mills, the maker of Cheerios and Betty Crocker, said prices of some of its cereals and snacks are going up because of an “unprecedented” rise in freight costs.

Tyson Foods, a large meat seller, and John Deere, a farm and construction equipment, also recently announced they will increase prices, blaming higher shipping costs.

The trucking industry shows an extraordinary labor shortage in one corner of the economy can spill out and affect the economy more broadly.

Related

Jon Talton | Keep on trucking: The industry’s booming and that’s good for Paccar

“I’ve never seen it like this, ever,” said Brenny, who has been in the trucking industry for 30 years. “It doesn’t matter what the load even pays. There are just not drivers.”

Trucking executives say their industry is experiencing a perfect storm: The economic upswing is creating heavy demand for trucks, but it’s hard to find drivers with unemployment so low. Young Americans are ignoring the job openings because they fear self-driving trucks will soon dominate the industry. Waymo, the driverless car company owned by Alphabet, just launched a self-driving truck pilot program in Atlanta, although trucking industry veterans argue it will be a long time before drivers go away entirely.

Brenny anticipates she will have to raise pay another 10 percent before the end of the year to ensure that other companies don’t steal her drivers.

“The drivers deserve the wages. They really do, but the raises are coming so fast that it’s hard to handle,” said Brenny, who is having to adjust contracts for drivers – and customers – rapidly.

The United States has had a truck driver shortage for years, but experts say it’s hitting a crisis level this year. There’s even more demand for truckers now as just about every sector of the economy is expanding and online sales continue to soar.

On top of that, the federal government imposed a new rule in December that requires drivers to be on the road for no more than 11 hours at a time. Drivers are now tracked by an electronic device that monitors their time so they can’t cheat.

“It’s as bad as it’s ever been” to find drivers, said Bob Costello, chief economist at the American Trucking Associations. “Companies are doing everything they can to make drivers happy: increasing pay and getting them home more often, but that means they aren’t driving as many miles.”

America had a shortage of 51,000 truck drivers at the end of last year, Costello found, up from a shortage of 36,000 in 2016. He says “without a doubt” it’s going to be even higher this year, even though many companies are giving double-digit raises. He gets asked about the driver scarcity daily as companies try to figure out how to handle the growing backlog. His best advice is for companies to invest in technology like what Uber and Lyft have to cut down on the time a driver or truck sits idle between runs.

As driver pay rises quickly and diesel fuel costs tick up, shipping companies are charging higher and higher rates to move goods. It now costs more than $1.85 a mile to ship a “dry good” that doesn’t require refrigeration or special accommodation, a nearly 40 percent increase from the price a year ago, according to data from DAT Solutions.

Shipping costs hit an all-time high earlier this year and have remained near that level ever since, according to DAT Solutions and the Cass Freight Index Report.

Manufacturers are complaining that higher shipping costs are causing their profits to fall. It was a constant topic of discussion as American firms reported earnings in recent weeks. Walmart said this week that high transportation costs are its “primary head wind” right now.

Economists warn those costs are almost certainly going to end up resulting in higher prices for everyday items that many Americans purchase.

“Every single good ends up on a truck at some point.

Businesses that use trucking to receive and ship goods are going to do their best to pass on the costs to the rest of us,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group.

Logistics and transportation accounts for about 10 cents of every dollar in the U.S. economy, says Donald Broughton of Broughton Capital and author of the Cass Freight Index publication.

“I don’t normally speak in hyperbole, but we’re entering some uncharted territory,” Broughton said. “If there is a 10 percent increase in transportation costs, that gives you a 1 percent increase in inflation for the broader economy. That’s real.”

It could mark a turning point for the U.S. economy. Inflation has stayed unusually low in the past decade, largely because costs have stayed low for food, clothes and other items Americans buy in store or online as companies got more efficient and worker wages barely increased. But rising shipping costs could change that dynamic in 2018, potentially forcing people to have to spend more and employers to hike pay as they try to compete for workers with the trucking industry.

There already aren’t enough trucks on the road to keep up with demand this spring. It could get even worse when the holiday season hits.

Trucking companies hope they can lure more drivers with higher pay, signing bonuses and shorter hours. The job doesn’t require a high school degree or being in great shape.

Someone can obtain a truck license in a matter of weeks, although they must pass a drug test. But many say the biggest hindrance is that the job doesn’t have a lot of cachet in modern society, a perception that’s hard to change.

“You are away from home and family and friends on a regular basis, and the job is not highly respected,” Broughton said.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/shortage-of-truckers-starting-to-cause-prices-to-rise/

Quote:

---

Shortage of truckers starting to cause prices to rise

---

This makes Judy happy. That means more INFLATION, which she thinks is a good thing. https://www.alipac.us/images/icons/icon13.png

We need more transportation of goods by rail. We have too many semi's clogging up our highways.

This needs to be part of REBUILDING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE President Trump!

Cut off ALL foreign aid and start rebuilding America!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jtdc

This makes Judy happy. That means more INFLATION, which she thinks is a good thing. https://www.alipac.us/images/icons/icon13.png

---

HIgher wages for truck drivers and most any American Worker is a good thing, and yes when demand increases and supply doesn't, then that can result in some inflation in that industry. But as wages rise, more will enter that work force providing more supply which stabilizes the inflationary effects because as prices rise, consumers pull back and reduce their demand. This is called capitalism.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

HIgher wages for truck drivers and most any American Worker is a good thing

---

More money for the same amount of work? No, that's inflationary!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

and yes when demand increases and supply doesn't, then that can result in some inflation in that industry.

---

Have you every seen wages go down when demand goes down? The only solution is to lay people off then hire new workers at a lower wage, if the wage isn't fixed by union contracts. https://www.alipac.us/images/icons/icon13.png

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

But as wages rise, more will enter that work force providing more supply which stabilizes the inflationary effects because as prices rise, consumers pull back and reduce their demand. This is called capitalism.

---

And the prices then go down? No! The prices go up and stay up. Then as work becomes less available because of a slow down, workers demand more money for the same work, again, so they can maintain their living standard. And another round of INFLATION begins. It is a one way street.

Prices go up and down all the time on hundreds of thousands of products. For example, gas prices go up and then they go down every day or two. Real estate values go up and then they go down all the time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Prices go up and down all the time on hundreds of thousands of products. For example, gas prices go up and then they go down every day or two. Real estate values go up and then they go down all the time.

---

And the sun comes up, and the sun goes down every day. Yet some days it doesn't get as hot as other days. But time does not go backward. The Stock Market goes up and down, but over time, its track is always up. My groceries sometimes are cheaper, especially if there is a sale. But year to year, they have always gone up. Gasoline has ups and down, but year to year it is always up. Name anything that has gone down in price, other than new products as mass production brings them down. Cars haven't gotten cheaper. I remember a billboard near me as a kid, where Volkswagon Beetles were advertised for $1499! Adding another zero since then will not cover the increase. And over the years, I watched such billboards upping it to $1599, $1699, $1999, etc. But I never saw the price go lower.

It's all INFLATION!

That is supply and demand driving the prices, not wages.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

That is supply and demand driving the prices, not wages.

---

Yes, competitors in the same market compete by having sales or being able to lower prices by being more efficient. But wages are the bases for the cost of everything.

Diamonds don't cost anything. Nature makes them. But it is the labors to obtain them and get them to market that make them expensive. Oil likewise is free but for the labor to get it and refine it and deliver it. Labor is the one thing that makes everything expensive.

Supply and demand can justify higher wages, but wages are the variable that can make or break a business.

As Trump Stresses Manufacturing Jobs, How Important Are Labor Costs for Automakers?

by Paul A. Eisenstein / Feb.06.2017 / 11:26 AM ET

American consumers pay an average of $35,000 for their new car, truck, or crossover. But what does that sum actually cover? And with President Donald Trump's border tax threats that could add 20 percent to the price of any car manufactured outside America, exactly how crucial are labor costs to consumers — and automakers?

"We’d kill to cut a nickel off the price of a car,” one high-ranking automotive insider told NBC News.

Labor is nowhere near the most expensive part of building a car. Add in all factory costs, including the $1 billion price tag for the plant itself, and you’re looking at roughly 10 to 15 percent of that vehicle’s $35,000 sticker price, according to several senior industry executives who asked to remain anonymous in revealing typically proprietary data.

The auto industry has found itself in the political spotlight in recent months, as Trump has called on automakers to shift production back from Mexico to the U.S. Though a variety of factors have led them to move many models to plants south of the border, labor costs are one of the key factors.

Mexican auto workers barely earn as much in a day as their U.S. counterparts do in an hour — between $50 and $60, including wages and benefits, when you average out various union and non-unionized plants across the States, according to industry data.

Mounting Labor Costs

By far, parts and components add up to the single biggest factor when it comes to the cost of building a car — anywhere from 60 to 65 percent, says analyst David Andrea, with the Center for Automotive Research, or CAR, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

But both parts and labor figures are fluid and depend upon the type of vehicle. When it’s a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, equipped with such niceties as heated and cooled massaging seats, infrared night vision and semi-autonomous safety systems, those parts account for significantly more of the vehicle’s price tag.

Labor costs mount with complicated products like a Ford F-Series, explains CAR’s Andrea. That pickup “is a highly customized product, with a great number of permutations: bed lengths, cab sizes, powertrains. You can have 20,000, even 30,000 variations before you get to color and trim options. So, for a carmaker managing that sort of complexity, your manufacturing costs can be significantly higher.”

And that’s more than labor. There are the logistics of managing the plant — making sure the right parts are in the right places along the line. Such complex operations may be more difficult to automate and, where robots are used, they may be more costly because they have to be flexible enough to handle a variety of different tasks.

“On the opposite end of the spectrum are the entry level products sold almost purely on price,” such as a Ford Fiesta, Nissan Versa or Honda Fit, says Andrea. That’s why those vehicles normally have lower equipment levels, options available grouped together into manageable packages.

Vehicle manufacturers are trying to limit complexity,” he notes, adding that, “It becomes an economies of scale game.”

On average, parts and manufacturing costs still average about three-quarters of the cost of a new vehicle.

Roughly 10 percent more goes for advanced research and development, design and engineering. But the exact figure is also somewhat fluid. It’s one thing to update an existing vehicle. It’s another thing, entirely, to launch an all-new model.

And R&D costs climb even higher for breakthrough products such as the new Chevrolet Bolt EV, the first mainstream-priced, long-range battery-electric vehicle. It can cost billions to develop all-new, high-efficiency, low-emissions powertrain systems.

What's the Profit Margin?

Assuming there’s room left, the industry is, on the whole, shooting to earn to achieve net returns of about 10 percent, though only a handful of companies come close. That would work out to roughly $3,500 of that new vehicle.

What’s left covers a variety of general sales and administrative costs, a broad catch-all covering everything from overhead to marketing and incentives, as well as the interest a manufacturer must pay on its debt.

Wrap things up with the money dealers earn on each vehicle. Surprisingly, reports the National Automobile Dealers Association, those retailers typically don’t pocket much for a new car after covering the costs of running a showroom, paying employees, and other expenses. With some brands, it can be less than $100 a vehicle.

But don’t let that scare you off from bargaining for a good deal. Dealers make most of their profits on financing, insurance, and maintenance and repairs.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/aut...makers-n716001

Quote:

---

Labor is nowhere near the most expensive part of building a car. Add in all factory costs, including the $1 billion price tag for the plant itself, and you’re looking at roughly 10 to 15 percent of that vehicle’s $35,000 sticker price, according to several senior industry executives who asked to remain anonymous in revealing typically proprietary data.

---

Anonymous, of course!

So how did that plant come to be? It was labor that built the pieces and assembled them.

Quote:

---

By far, parts and components add up to the single biggest factor when it comes to the cost of building a car — anywhere from 60 to 65 percent, says analyst David Andrea, with the Center for Automotive Research, or CAR, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

---

And how are those parts created? LABOR! The high price of all of those parts are the result of the high labor costs!

Even if the vehicle is manufactured by robots, who build the robots? It still LABOR!

Maybe someday machines will build and maintain machines that build everything. But then, what will labor be worth then?

It's dishonest to list labor to assemble the parts but exclude labor to create those parts or the labor to build the plant. It all requires labor.

Shale country is out of workers. That means $140,000 for a truck driver ...
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-shale-oil-boom-20180608-story.html
1 day ago - Shale country is out of workers.
That means $140,000 for a truck driver and 100% pay hikes.
By David Wethe. | Bloomberg |. Jun 08, 2018 ...
==========================

Shale Country Is Out of Workers and Dangling 100% Pay Hikes

By David Wethe
June 6, 2018, 4:00 AM PDT

• ‘This economy is on fire,’ and that’s not necessarily all good
• How to compete with $140,000 a truck driver can pull down?

Everything You Need to Understand Fracking

Jerry Morales, the mayor of Midland, Texas, and a local restaurateur, is being whipsawed by the latest Permian Basin shale-oil boom.


It’s fueling the region and starving it at the same time. Sales-tax revenue is hitting a record high, allowing the city to get around to fixing busted roads. But the crazy-low 2.1 percent unemployment rate is a bear. As the proprietor of Mulberry Cafe and Gerardo’s Casita, Morales is working hard to retain cooks. As a Republican first elected in 2014, he oversees a government payroll 200 employees short of what it needs to fully function.

“This economy is on fire,” he said from a back table at the cafe the other day, watching as the lunchtime crowd lined up for the Asian Zing Salad and Big Mo’s Toaster hamburger.

Fire, of course, can be dangerous. In the country’s busiest oil patch, where the rig count has climbed by nearly one third in the past year, drillers, service providers and trucking companies have been poaching in all corners, recruiting everyone from police officers to grocery clerks. So many bus drivers with the Ector County Independent School District in nearby Odessa quit for the shale fields that kids were sometimes late to class. The George W. Bush Childhood Home, a museum in Midland dedicated to the 43rd U.S. president, is smarting from a volunteer shortage.


https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/.../v0/200x-1.jpg

Weekly rig count in front of a bank in downtown Midland.
Photographer: David Wethe/Bloomberg

The oil industry has such a ferocious appetite for workers that it’ll hire just about anyone with the most basic skills. “It is crazy,” said Jazmin Jimenez, 24, who zipped through a two-week training program at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, about 100 miles north of Midland, and was hired by Chevron Corp. as a well-pump checker. “Honestly I never thought I’d see myself at an oilfield company. But now that I’m here -- I think this is it.”

That’s understandable, considering the $28-a-hour she makes is double what she was earning until December as a guard at the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs. When the boom goes bust, as history suggests they all do, shale-extraction businesses won’t be able to out-pay most employers anymore. Jimenez said she’ll take the money as long as it lasts.

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/.../v0/200x-1.jpg

A roughneck cleans the drilling floor of a rig for Chevron in the Permian Basin near Midland.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

And this one could go on for a while. Companies are more cost-conscious than ever, and the evolution of oilfield technology continues to make finding and producing oil quicker and cheaper in the pancaked layers of rock in the Permian. It now accounts for about 30 percent of all U.S. output.

There’s no question the economic upside is big in the basin, which covers more than 75,000 square miles in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Midland saw year-over-year increases of at least 34 percent in sales-tax collections in each of the last four months. Morales said coffers are full enough that he may ask for raises for city workers -- so they don’t bolt for the oil fields.

How Low Can You Go?

Oil boom drives Midland to record-low unemployment at 2.1 percent

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics


The labor shortage is inflamed by the real-estate market: The supply of homes for sale is the lowest on record, according to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center. The $325,440 average price in Midland is the highest since June 2014, the last time the world saw oil above $100 a barrel. Apartment rents in Midland and Odessa are up by more than a third from a year ago, with the average 863-square-foot unit commanding $1,272 a month.

That’s one reason the Ector County Independent School District has more than 100 teaching positions open, said spokesman Mike Adkins. People who move for jobs are stunned by the cost of living. Armin Rashvand’s apartment is smaller and costs more than the one he rented in Cleveland before moving last August to run the energy-technology program at Odessa College.

“That really surprised me,” he said, because Texas’s reputation is that it’s affordable. “In Texas, yes -- except here.”

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/.../v0/200x-1.jpg

The George W. Bush Childhood Home
Photographer: David Wethe/Bloomberg

Another surprise: Some of his students, with two-year associate degrees, can make more than he does, with his master’s in science, electrical and electronic engineering. At Midland College’s oil and gas program, which trains for positions like petroleum-energy technician, enrollment is down about 20 percent from last year. But schools that teach how to pass the test for a CDL -- commercial drivers license -- are packed.

“A CDL is a golden ticket around here,” said Steve Sauceda, who runs the workforce training program at New Mexico Junior College. “You are employable just about anywhere.”

And you can make a whole lot more money than waiting tables at Gerardo’s Casita. Jeremiah Fleming, 30, is on track to pull down $140,000 driving flatbed trucks for Aveda Transportation & Energy Services Inc., hauling rigs.

“This will be my best year yet,” said Fleming, who used to work in the once-bustling shale play in North Dakota. “I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.”

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/.../v0/200x-1.jpg

McDonald’s hiring event
Photographer: David Wethe/Bloomberg

Morales, a native Midlander and second-generation restaurateur, has seen it happen so many times before. Oil prices go up, and energy companies dangle such incredible salaries that restaurants, grocery stores, hotels and other businesses can’t compete. People complain about poor service and long lines at McDonald’s and the Walmart and their favorite Tex-Mex joints. Rents soar.

“This is my home town. I don’t want that reputation,” he said. He’s not yet quite sure what to do about it as mayor of a city that has been on the oil-industry rollercoaster for nearly 100 years.

He has, though, come up with strategies for his restaurants.

For example, he now issues paychecks weekly, instead of twice monthly, and offers more opportunities for over-time hours. He also makes common-sense bids to employees tempted by the Permian’s siren call.

His pitch: “If you’ll stay with me, I can give you three quarters of what the oil will give you but you don’t have to get dirty or worry about getting hurt.” And just maybe, when crude crashes, they’ll still be employed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/u...njunction.html

Damn, that is music to my ears!! GO TRUMP GO!!! Beautiful. Save the money, workers, this is a boom in the oil business, it won't last forever, so save your money for the future when they're finished drilling.

Quote:

---

Shale country is out of workers.
That means $140,000 for a truck driver and 100% pay hikes.

---

The would-be employees are probably smoking pot and not caring about earning a living. It will only get worse!

What will get worse?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

What will get worse?

---

Right now we have growers who can only get help in the field from immigrants or illegal aliens. Americans no longer are willing to do such jobs. When I started trucking I had no air conditioning. After I had it, when it stopped working, I parked the truck. Today drivers are even more spoiled. And of course there are more rules today to make driving risky.

So all you need is a little apathy, and no one wants to learn to drive a truck. As pot becomes legal, the apathy is likely to increase.

This isn't apathy in California, this is the oil business in Midland, Texas and a good economy creating jobs and raising wages for American Truck Drivers and other American Workers. I guess it's been so long since you've seen winning, you don't know it when you see it. SAD!!

GO TRUMP GO!!! Tell Canada, Mexico and the Euros to kiss your ass. We don't need them.

Truck Drivers in the USA. There are approximately 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States, according to estimates by the American Trucking Association.
Truck Drivers in the USA | AllTrucking.com
www.alltrucking.com/faq/truck-drivers-in-the-usa/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

This isn't apathy in California, this is the oil business in Midland, Texas and a good economy creating jobs and raising wages for American Truck Drivers and other American Workers. I guess it's been so long since you've seen winning, you don't know it when you see it. SAD!!

---

It's true that I haven't seen winning in my life. I was a would-be inventor. But few inventors have the financial resources to get products to market by themselves, at least complex devices. But it's all behind me now.

The raise in wages is good for the employees that get them. But generally, for every winner, there is a loser. And as I have said, this contributes to inflation, and that is society's loss. If McDonald's gives their employees a minimum wage increase, those employees benefit in the short term. But the Dollar Meal becomes a Two Dollar meal. And everybody buying there loses until inflation gives them a raise. Then those employees are right back where they were, except it looks good on paper. If you store money under your mattress, or in a simple savings account, you lose. So the security which might have once been adequate, is no longer adequate.

Inflation is an illusion of prosperity!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Truck Drivers in the USA. There are approximately 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States, according to estimates by the American Trucking Association.
Truck Drivers in the USA | AllTrucking.com
www.alltrucking.com/faq/truck-drivers-in-the-usa/

---

I'm too old and couldn't pass the health requirements!

Higher wages are not only good for the employees who get them, they're good for their families, they're good for the businesses they trade with, they're good for the communities they live in, and they're good for our country.

What's happening in the United States right now is the most exciting political-economic event of our lifetimes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Higher wages are not only good for the employees who get them, they're good for their families, they're good for the businesses they trade with, they're good for the communities they live in

---

That much is true, at least in the short term.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

and they're good for our country.

---

That part is wrong! As I pointed out, those higher wages result in higher prices. So purchase power, after the round of increases, is lost and the country, over all, loses.

Inflation is an illusion of prosperity!

Inflation is the result of higher demand than supply, which is corrected when either supply increases or demand retracts.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Inflation is the result of higher demand than supply, which is corrected when either supply increases or demand retracts.

---

No, inflation is spending more than you have which adds financing cost the the actual cost of production. In the end, that causes the money to become worth less.

If we still had an actual reserve backing up each dollar, like silver and gold certificates of old, the amount of total dollars we would have would be grown by the actual reserve we had on hand. GDP would still expand as production expands, but it wouldn't be fictitious monetary increases. The Stock Market would grow much slower. But year to year your money would maintain its value. It's buying power would be the same and reliable.

That's deficit spending, not inflation. I'm going to leave you with your illusions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

That's deficit spending, not inflation. I'm going to leave you with your illusions.

---

Well, thank you! But I don't think our country would be 22 trillion dollars in debt if we hadn't broken away from the gold standard. But that allowed government to print more dollars than we had backed by reserves. And that allowed government to deficit spend like a person using one charge card to make payments to another charge card, until the interest gets to be more than they make and they end up bankrupt. You can live high on the hog until fate catches up to you. And that is where inflation is taking this country.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jtdc

Well, thank you! But I don't think our country would be 22 trillion dollars in debt if we hadn't broken away from the gold standard. But that allowed government to print more dollars than we had backed by reserves. And that allowed government to deficit spend like a person using one charge card to make payments to another charge card, until the interest gets to be more than they make and they end up bankrupt. You can live high on the hog until fate catches up to you. And that is where inflation is taking this country.

---

Well, let me ask you a simple question. When $800 billion a year of our money, US dollars, flies out of the country every year to foreign lands in trade deficits, do we have to reprint that money or do we just reduce our own money supply as a result of it?

I don't really see a relationship between ending the gold standard and monetary deficits. I opposed ending the gold standard, mainly because I just liked having the gold on hand to back it up in case we needed it for some catastrophic reason, but I see strong relationships between the monetary deficits, trade deficits, massive immigration and the evil income tax.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Well, let me ask you a simple question. When $800 billion a year of our money, US dollars, flies out of the country every year to foreign lands in trade deficits, do we have to reprint that money or do we just reduce our own money supply as a result of it?

---

Trade deficits are business losses, not government money. So it neither comes out of the Treasury nor does it require the printing of more money!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

I don't really see a relationship between ending the gold standard and monetary deficits.

---

I can see that. If the government were mandated to maintain deposits to cover every dollar, they couldn't legally print more dollars than the reserve could cover. They would be forced to live within a budget.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

I opposed ending the gold standard, mainly because I just liked having the gold on hand to back it up in case we needed it for some catastrophic reason

---

Maybe there is a glimmer of hope for you! We had runs on banks because they had more money on paper than they had in reserve. What happened? The Great Depression! If you go the the bank to buy something and they can't give you your money, you aren't happy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

but I see strong relationships between the monetary deficits, trade deficits, massive immigration and the evil income tax.

---

You see income tax as evil, I see inflation as evil!

Uuuuh, the gold standard doesn't apply to the government, it applies to the Federal Reserve which is a private business, FYI, and the value of the US dollar, not national debt.

jtdc wrote:

Quote:

---

We had runs on banks because they had more money on paper than they had in reserve. What happened? The Great Depression! If you go the the bank to buy something and they can't give you your money, you aren't happy.

---

Gee, that was when we had the Gold Standard, so how did that work out for you?

LOL!!! I knew that simple question would be a winner. Ooh boy.

jtdc wrote:

Quote:

---

You see income tax as evil, I see inflation as evil!

---

Yeah, it's really odd that anyone would be more worried about inflation they don't have to pay than the income tax they do have to pay. BONKERS!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Uuuuh, the gold standard doesn't apply to the government, it applies to the Federal Reserve which is a private business, FYI, and the value of the US dollar, not national debt.

---

So you are saying that the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, is appointed by it's board, not the President Of The United States? You mean the place where the Federal Reserve stores the gold that is supposed to be the security for our money, Fort Knox is not a government facility, it is private? It used to be that local banks issued their own money secured by deposits in their banks, but now by governement law, the government through its Federal Reserve issues money that is "Legal tender for all debts public and private".

Quote:

---

Wikipedia:
The authority of the Federal Reserve Banks to issue notes comes from the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Legally, they are liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks and obligations of the United States government. Although not issued by the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Notes carry the (engraved) signature of the Treasurer of the United States and the United States Secretary of the Treasury.

At the time of the Federal Reserve's creation, the law provided for notes to be redeemed to the Treasury in gold or "lawful money." The latter category was not explicitly defined, but included United States Notes, National Bank Notes, and certain other notes held by banks to meet reserve requirements, such as clearing certificates.[8] The Emergency Banking Act of 1933 removed the gold obligation and authorized the Treasury to satisfy these redemption demands with current notes of equal face value (effectively making change). Under the Bretton Woods system, although citizens could not legally possess gold (except as rare coins, jewelry, for industrial purposes and the like), the federal government continued to maintain a stable international gold price. This system ended with the Nixon Shock of 1971, and starting in 1975 Americans were allowed to possess unlimited amounts of gold with its value dependent on the market price. Present-day Federal Reserve Notes are not backed by convertibility to any specific commodity, but only by the collateral assets that Federal Reserve Banks post in order to obtain them.

---

So the gold standard doesn't apply to the government? :confused:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Gee, that was when we had the Gold Standard, so how did that work out for you?

---

I wasn't born yet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Yeah, it's really odd that anyone would be more worried about inflation they don't have to pay than the income tax they do have to pay. BONKERS!!

---

I find it really odd that a supposedly educated person doesn't realize that the interest on that Nation Debt is born by our taxes so it very much affects how much income tax we all have to pay! :(

The Gold Standard applied to all dollars, your dollars, my dollars, business dollars, everyone's dollars, including the government's dollars. There are many more dollars outside of the government than inside the government.

The Federal Reserve consists of Federal Reserve Banks, they are private corporations that issue stocks to their member banks, that are also private corporations, who earn dividends, from the Federal Reserve Banks, they are profiteers like any private corporation.

The Federal Reserve was created in 1913 by DemoQuacks, the same year the DemoQuacks created the mandated income tax and passed the 16th Amendment.

I don't know who owns the gold in Fort Knox and the other locations, whether it's the US government or the Federal Reserve. I guess the gold is still there owned by someone. I sure hope so anyway. Either way, I don't think there's enough gold there to back every US dollar in circulation today, let alone what's in circulation and the national debt.

The government doesn't have the money to buy gold, so how do they pay for buying gold to back our dollar? It's all a strange quacky quandry if you ask me. That's why I call Democrats, "DemoQuacks". They're always coming up with some stupid strange quacky scheme to rip off Americans, and so far I'd say they've done a fine job with that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

The Gold Standard applied to all dollars, your dollars, my dollars, business dollars, everyone's dollars, including the government's dollars.

---

What a concession! You previously said "the gold standard doesn't apply to the government".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

The Federal Reserve consists of Federal Reserve Banks, they are private corporations that issue stocks to their member banks, that are also private corporations, who earn dividends, from the Federal Reserve Banks, they are profiteers like any private corporation.

---

But they didn't appoint Janet Yellen, as a private corporation would. The government put her there. And they don't vote on whether to change the interest rate, Yellen dictates that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

The Federal Reserve was created in 1913 by DemoQuacks, the same year the DemoQuacks created the mandated income tax and passed the 16th Amendment.

---

If you read the Wikipedia article, there had been several predecessor federal reserves before this permanent one was authorized by Congress and the President. So it wasn't a sudden DemoQuack idea.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

I don't know who owns the gold in Fort Knox and the other locations, whether it's the US government or the Federal Reserve.

---

Well, let's look at the clues. It is a military base! It has military personnel protecting it. How many private banks are you aware of that have military personnel guarding their assets?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

I guess the gold is still there owned by someone. I sure hope so anyway.

---

Well, I would guess that it is jointly owned by We The People! Much like you put your money in your bank and you get a deposit slip and a bank statement saying that money belongs to you. The money in your wallet or purse says that is your money deposited in Fort Knox!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

Either way, I don't think there's enough gold there to back every US dollar in circulation today, let alone what's in circulation and the national debt.

---

Exactly what I have been saying. If you have a bank account with $100 in it, and you write a check for $1000, it bounces for insufficient funds. And doing that can get you thrown in jail. Yet the government can write checks against insufficient funds, and just print more dollar bills. If you did that, you would be thrown in jail. And note that states can't do that either, Only the federal government.

If North Korea prints U.S. dollars and circulates them, we get real upset. If counterfeiters print their own U.S. dollars we get upset. Why? Because it devalues the real money we have. There is no product or service in exchange for it. So why is the government printing dollars any different?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

The government doesn't have the money to buy gold, so how do they pay for buying gold to back our dollar?

---

They don't? They have been collecting taxes from everybody for centuries. The banks of old accepted gold and the like from prospectors, put it in their safe, and gave the person a certificate for the deposit, much like money is today. The government bought gold and issued certificates for it, until we went off the gold standard. It is like the Strategic Oil Reserves. The government buys that oil from the oil industry and banks it. They use money collected from taxpayers to buy that commodity. It is a asset that when they decide to supplement the oil market, they sell that reserve oil back to the market, for money.

I'm not interested in your has been stuff. Sorry!

Very exciting positive things I support and believe in are happening now. What or why of 50 years ago about something the DemoQuacks cooked up is just of no interest to me at all now. Back then it made common sense to keep the gold standard, but I can't see any harm done as a result of decision to end the gold standard. What most people want to know is who owns the gold, where is it and can we slow sell it to pay off the national debt. I think not, because I don't think the government actually owns it. I think it's owned by the Federal Reserve. But I don't know for sure one way or another and neither does anyone else.

How much gold is in Fort Knox and is it enough to get the USA out of debt?

Yair Livne, Head of Product at Quora (2016-present)
Updated Jan 6, 2018 · Author has 380 answers and 3.4m answer views

According to the U.S. Mint [1], there are currently 147.3 million ounces of gold in Fort Knox, KY. At a current price of about $1776 per ounce, this is worth 261.6 Billion dollars. This comes very short of getting the US out of its 14.7 Trillion national debt - the gold holdings are worth less than 2 percent of the U.S. Public Debt.

https://www.quora.com/How-much-gold-...-was-cashed-in
=========================
What would happen if all that gold was cashed in?


Regarding the last question, if all the Fort Knox gold was cashed in, it would probably cause a significant drop in gold prices for a short while, while putting a minor dent in the national debt that would be completely erased by next year's deficit.

But here is the rub: even if Fort Knox held all the gold ever mined in the world, estimated at 185,000 tons [3], at current prices this would be worth only 10.5 Trillion dollars, still less than 72% of the national debt.

https://www.quora.com/How-much-gold-...-was-cashed-in
=============================

The US Treasury currently owns 8,134 tonnes of gold of which 7,716 tonnes is stored by the US Mint (4,583 tonnes at Fort Knox, 1,364 tonnes in Denver, 1,682 at West Point) and 418 tonnes at the Federal Reserve Bank Of New York. We've focused on the first audits of the gold stored by the US Mint. Jun 2, 2015
=======================================

Has the Federal Reserve Sold the Gold at Fort Knox?

https://www.thenewamerican.com/.../21212-has-the-federal-reserve-sold-the-gold-at-f...


Jul 8, 2015 - The famed Fort Knox is a facility managed by the U.S.Mint. ... In total US official gold reserves account for the 8,134 tonnes, owned by the US Treasury.”. . .