ShortJohnSilver
8th November 2010, 09:40 PM
Today I spent some time in the library, asked for the "Statistical Abstract of the US" and while it is neat to flip through the pages, the whole thing is online...
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
Note that even these (sometimes suspect, if you believe the govt massages the numbers) official numbers show us how bad things are going to get.
For instance, you can try to determine apprixmate, REAL price inflation over the years, in a spot-check fashion, to demonstrate how bad the CPI numbers are.
Go to "Energy & Utilities: Production, Consumption, Trade" and see table 894 (in PDF or Excel format). Look at Expenditures, average per household ... compare the 2001 to 2005 numbers, a difference of just 4 years - see the increase?
Go to "Prices: Food Cost and Prices" - look at table 717 - compare prices from 2000 to now.
etc.
Reading through the mining PDFs, seeing the amount of consumption of gold and silver, and whether we are net importers or exporters of various items, is quite revealing.
Result: we are not heading for doom and gloom land, but, we are seriously screwed if we keep thinking that the good times are going to last, and that the last two years are just temporary bumps in the road.
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
Note that even these (sometimes suspect, if you believe the govt massages the numbers) official numbers show us how bad things are going to get.
For instance, you can try to determine apprixmate, REAL price inflation over the years, in a spot-check fashion, to demonstrate how bad the CPI numbers are.
Go to "Energy & Utilities: Production, Consumption, Trade" and see table 894 (in PDF or Excel format). Look at Expenditures, average per household ... compare the 2001 to 2005 numbers, a difference of just 4 years - see the increase?
Go to "Prices: Food Cost and Prices" - look at table 717 - compare prices from 2000 to now.
etc.
Reading through the mining PDFs, seeing the amount of consumption of gold and silver, and whether we are net importers or exporters of various items, is quite revealing.
Result: we are not heading for doom and gloom land, but, we are seriously screwed if we keep thinking that the good times are going to last, and that the last two years are just temporary bumps in the road.