BeoWorld People & Lifestyle

Re: Your Countries Economy..

jk1002 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:01:53 GMT

Interesting point, I migrated from Europe to US 10 years ago.

It is still tough (in Germany) for what I consider middle class to buy a home or be financially independent (read - enough that you don't have to worry about the cost of food that you eat & can have vacations). With jobs that my parents had it was possible to buy a house, put 2 kids through university and still have annual vacation and decent cars.

With the same jobs today, I think they would struggle paying for our studies. Looking at the US though, I would say it is very much similar.

There was an article on CNN explaining how it looks in a household that makes 250K annually. It wasn't as luxurious as one would think.

Yes there is a house and there are private schools for the kids and there is vacation but I did not see the BMW or Mercedes in the garage or Louis Vuitton Handbags.

What makes me nervous about the US is that there is no savings in most households for emergencies.

Cheers

Re: Your Countries Economy..

saf — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:40:43 GMT

Well, the problem with (not only) Europe is that it’s becoming a kind of a financial trap and people are finding it increasingly difficult to live there happily – or as comfortably as they used to: even if they are paid (still) astonishingly high salaries (for less and less done) relative to most of the world, more and more of what is left after tax is immediately sucked away by higher cost of living (– what was supposed to go back for ‘public good’ now has to bail out the banks.)

Those who can afford to travel far and wide will have a good comparison … also regarding the quality of living, which will not necessarily be in Europe’s favor - when you really think about it!

And it becomes a real trap for those who borrow money to consume and/or pay for insanely priced ‘assets’ which, indeed, remind more of (well turned to, right?) liabilities. When you earn you can borrow. When you borrow you have to pay back. To pay back you have to earn. … it’s hard to escape.

For example: for the price-equivalent of a house in Europe, you can get plenty of real estate elsewhere (where the cost of living is also much lower), which would actually give you a reasonable income + a place to stay, making it a true asset as opposed to a liability towards a 20- 30 year(!!!) loan for a piece of ground and a few bricks, which even households where both adults work struggle to afford. (How comes the prices in some places doubled just over a decade?! Did incomes there also doubled - or what, have everything else become half-price so people could afford to use money on something new – or have someone witnessed population-growth explosion?)

Thankfully, the world offers many choices (fingers crossed politicians will not spoil this) for all those bright and open-minded. A lot of migration is already on its way – both virtual and real. Many will benefit, many will lose …

Re: Your Countries Economy..

Pattabhiraman — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:36:31 GMT

i guess as long as there are talented people with US, Europe (more specifically UK) and Japan there is no question of economy engine/ baton changing hands to BRIC nations.

having said that impact on India with the current uncertainities is likely to be the least compared to the other countries with huge domestic consumption.

Re: Your Countries Economy..

darren — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:01:29 GMT

j0hnbarker:

My experience is that the housing market is well and truly shafted here in the UK. Anyone else have any experiences of trying to sell a house at the moment???
We have a lovely house that we spent a fortune on, up for sale at a very reasonable price (knocked £40k off the asking over the past three months), but we still can't sell. There are so many houses for sale at the moment it takes the pi$$, but no one is selling - it's like we're all caught in some housing market purgatory. Everyone wants to move, but nothing's moving. We can well afford to move and get another mortgage, but I guess the lack of first time buyers coming into the market is really impacting on the number of chains getting off the ground.
I wouldn't mind, but we're only moving back to Sheffield as I start Medical School in 7 weeks. Anyone want to buy a house in Pudsey?!
:P

Sorry to hear that you cannot sell your house in Pudsey, congratulations on med school though. You know Sheffield is better anyhow...................maybe. Pudsey is rumoured to be the location of a huge new climbing wall.

Luckily for me I sold up last year, unluckily the catalyst for the sellimg was the break up of my marriage, all 362 days of it. As I have no property in the UK Ia m free to move anywhere in the world and next week I move to the south of France.

Only problem is that I still get paid in Pounds Sterling so have to exchange to Euros and I cannot see any improvement in the exchange rate for the next year or so what with the downturn in the UK economy. I know its a world wide recession but i believe that the mis-management of the economy by Blair/Brown et al has put the UK in a very weak position.

Re: Your Countries Economy..

bayerische — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:21:38 GMT

Finland is doing pretty alright.

Seems like we learned something from 1991 when we went BUST big time!

Re: Your Countries Economy..

9 LEE — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:14:25 GMT

Jandyt:
We need some comment from 'Down under' now.

.. and Scandinavia plus the rest of Europe! I'd also love to hear comments from Chinese, Russian, Indian and Mexican members!

Lee

Re: Your Countries Economy..

Jandyt — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:13:51 GMT

We need some comment from 'Down under' now.

Re: Your Countries Economy..

beoperson — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:08:23 GMT

It seems to me that US is definitely heading towards recession.
House prices are down - great number of foreclosures. I even have friends who are facing the possibility of loosing their properties (Well actually vacation/investment properties and not primary residences)
So general mood is not very optimistic. Oil prices are affecting prices in the US tremendously. US infrastructure in contrast from European is heavily dependent on automotive transportation. This hits consumer market as well as average person who will now have to pay twice the everyday commute costs.

And I doubt this situation will change in following 12 month. Especially with this ridicules war in Iraq draining countries resources.

I think India is on top of my list of countries that will evolve economically in the near future and will take significant position in the worlds economy. China, Russia are still politically suppressed, therefore I see their economical future is somewhat unstable.

I have to admit I'm bias against Russia and China due to the fact I'm originally from Georgia (ex-communist republic).

Re: Your Countries Economy..

Stars — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:27:12 GMT

The future prospect of a recession in Italy seems ever more likely as it has suffered its second quarter of negative growth in the past nine months. Output has shrunk to its lowest percentage of 0.3% in five years. However Italy is not yet officially in recession as this requires there to be two consecutive negative quarters.

Italy is the third largest eurozone economy and it is by no means the only European country suffering an economic slowdown at the moment, as must of us know. Denmark and Ireland are already either in recession or teetering on the brink of it. The European economic slow down has on the whole been triggered by a combination of the global credit crisis, US economic weakness and rising inflation. The Italian economy has also been hampered for some time by poor productivity, labour unrest and political instability.

Re: Your Countries Economy..

9 LEE — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:32:14 GMT

Anyone else? - you don't have to be an economist to answer this, just alive and living in a country that's in the world somewhere!

Lee

Re: Your Countries Economy..

ChrDH — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:55:27 GMT

DK can be summed up like this: Growth is slowing to almost 0, but unemployment is still at an all time low. The housing market has been at a stand still the last year, and probably will continue like this for some years, I estimate price drops around 30 % depending on the future interest rate.

Chr.

Re: Your Countries Economy..

j0hnbarker — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:56:55 GMT

My experience is that the housing market is well and truly shafted here in the UK. Anyone else have any experiences of trying to sell a house at the moment???

We have a lovely house that we spent a fortune on, up for sale at a very reasonable price (knocked £40k off the asking over the past three months), but we still can't sell. There are so many houses for sale at the moment it takes the pi$$, but no one is selling - it's like we're all caught in some housing market purgatory. Everyone wants to move, but nothing's moving. We can well afford to move and get another mortgage, but I guess the lack of first time buyers coming into the market is really impacting on the number of chains getting off the ground.

I wouldn't mind, but we're only moving back to Sheffield as I start Medical School in 7 weeks. Anyone want to buy a house in Pudsey?!

Re: Your Countries Economy..

9 LEE — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:30:28 GMT

mobeyone:
To be honest, no one really knows what will happen or when it will happen...

Absolutely, which is why i'm looking more for personal opinions and an insight into the 'mood' in each of our members countries. We have a fabulous array of intelligent people from all corners of our planet (me excluded of course - LOL) and it's always fascinating to see how each culture and nationality lives, works and feels.

The feeling in places like India is huge optimism from the youth, who have had a less traditional and more western upbringing - and even China's traditional system seems to be fading in favour of a more modern approach to education and entrepreneurialism. People are flooding from the countryside to the cities, and they feel like times are really changing.

However, it's the exact opposite (doom and gloom) in the UK. The Scandinavians seem to be bobbing along very nicely - and the Australians and New Zealanders seem to be oblivious to what a recession is. Correct me - please!!!

Lee

Re: Your Countries Economy..

mobeyone — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:21:53 GMT

Lee, I enjoy reading them too as I sound like a right fool sometimes!!!

To be honest, no one really knows what will happen or when it will happen, but the goung has been good and with good comes bad...

Re: Your Countries Economy..

9 LEE — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:15:51 GMT

If i remember rightly - we have some big brains on here when it comes to economics - i'm looking forward to hearing the views!

I always enjoy reading Mobe's predictions and analysis (or whatever the plural of that is)

Lee