Who here thinks that any of these are high, mortgage rates, taxes, inflation, gasoline, GDP and income?
Feel free to add any financial factor that you think are high. I ask only one thing: please explain why you think you are high and above all, give a historical perspective. That is a fancy way of saying, are high compared to what or when? A difference is high because I do not like the price. Or, are high because I can not afford them. That sort of thing.
I'm not sure about mortgage rates (although house prices are historically high … that grew too fast and now we're seeing a correction to stabalize prices) and I really do not follow mortgage rates, but keep in mind that all my answers account of inflation … only a dollar not worth what it used to be a value. you must add the interest rates for bonds and short-term interest market rates as indicators / predictors. short-term rates are controlled by the SEC in an effort to avoid a recession (negative GDP growth) and growth positive GDP unsustainable leading to inflation. Short-term interest rates are high for the past few years, but historically low. the lowest is 0% … in fact it is used in extreme circumstances, such as the stock market crash of 1986 … worse than that caused the Great Depression. thanks, Allen Greenspan. has been around 20% in the past, when GDP growth was as high as in the 70's and early 80's. almost every single time, however, the Fed has held rates interest too high, especially in a recession. this is due mainly to the SEC looking at past data, when available, rather than to the future of data. Although taxes are low because the tax cuts (and are lower for everyone who pays income taxes … tax cuts "for the rich" is political spin), tax revenues at historic highs. See, when people and businesses have their own money to invest, the investment objective that are of benefit to people …. and businesses are earning more money today, which means that the government is able to take more even when rates are relatively low. inflation is low today … However, Bernanke, the current SEC chairman, is stubborn to admit the victory … is still low in recent history because it was much higher in 2000. Fed overreacted then raise rates above 6%, leading to recession ever heard of the Bush legacy when he took office. people blame Clinton … but it is practically all in the overreaction of the SEC for Greenspan. I think it is now less than 2% inflation and has been above to 4.5% in the last six years … and much higher in the 70's and 80's. Gasoline pump prices higher than ever. is higher this summer than it was immediately after Katrina, which is the first time that prices broke the previous record during the 1970 U.S. led oil embargo … that hurt the U.S. economy sending it into recession. the fact that we are not in a recession at these prices is another testament to the strength of the current economy. nothing can U.S. consumers stop it seems. GDP is pretty average today. It was as high as 4% in recent years that worries a lot because when the economy grows too fast, inflation rate increases to the problem. It is about 2% now, which is very nice. the economy is not too hot for inflation is a concern and not too cold that a recession is likely. and GDP is very strongly associated with short-term interest rates are controlled by the SEC, Historically, GDP growth is between 1% to about 5%. personal income has reached record highs. both mean and median incomes are higher than ever … ie, the average person earns more than ever, and the middle class earns more than ever. you should also consider unemployment rates are at minimum 50. We have about 4% unemployment which means 96% of the workforce is employed. ultimately, the economy is incredible at this point … but almost never hear of this media. I do not know if they do not want any credit given to this administration (the only thing that seems to have gotten right seems). trying to make us believe that we are in the crapper even though almost all numbers are better than those who have been in decades, if not better than never in the history of USA. you need big events like the Dow 13,000 and a new daily record maximum for most of the media to report on economic indicators good (it took years to get from 11-12, and it took only six months for the 12-13 … and we have more than 13.5 k. … we will be more than 14,000 sometime around the end of the year … and it is likely that if the Fed does what investors are asking and declaring victory over inflation as lower interest rates).
Money Management : How to Compare Mortgage Rates in Canada
