blackdragon I agree. and one of the best encouragements for business startups is consumers with purchasing power, biz can not survive without customers purchasing and for the purchasing to be economically sound they need to be able to purchase more without having to use credit..

Our system is unsound...It is based on the Idea of Continual Growth..We need to re-evaluate our priorities...Something wonderful is happening. The change is coming whether or not we are prepared.

Robert,  population increases every year therefore we DO HAVE a continual growth system OUT OF NECCESSITY to meet the needs of an ever expanding population.    For a system to NOT to be based on the idea of continual growth population would have to remain stagnate.

barbara,  this shift  is what the pres.  is  doing and its not working

Rogo ,    LOL. policies have always been based on Continual growth by BOTH PARTIES  and all president's because of growing population there has been NO SHIFT  from that, except perhaps from the republican party that wants to kill social security, medicare,  increase taxes on lower and middle income and give more tax cuts to top income.  Maybe the reason the republican party is so bent on those policies is they want more deaths in older age sectors so population will not increase so much.

Barbara Jones:

Robert,  population increases every year therefore we DO HAVE a continual growth system OUT OF NECCESSITY to meet the needs of an ever expanding population. ...No that is not the case...The baby boomers are big bubble of population...This is why the Ponzi scheme of Social Security is not viable...The system depends on continually adding more people to its rolls but that is not what happens in real life...in real life Birth rates went down dramatically after the boomers...so we end up with lots of people taking money out and very few putting money in...Again this is also a problem for our entire economy which is also based on continual growth...There is no mechanism to handle reductions in workers....or citizens...If you have to have a 2% growth rate at the large population figures that means that as the Population goes down the growth rate must increase to remain stability...And then you throw in a Huge Rip-off from wall street and here we are...............................................................................................................................................................     For a system to NOT to be based on the idea of continual growth population would have to remain stagnate.

.................................................................................Barbara the ideal system is stable no matter if population goes up or down....if we are living sustainably population does not matter...Economically speaking...of course resource wise, population is always a factor and must be considered...The idea of Continual Growth is just Stupid...it is an impossibility...therefore it is a failed idea...But of course that is all about to change...everything will change...The replicator is on the way and it will force the world to realize that there just is not going to be nearly enough jobs for even half of us to keep busy so how are we going to deal with that?...If we do nothing it will be outright anarchy...

rogo:

barbara,  this shift  is what the pres.  is  doing and its not working

................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Rogo...Obama is not making any great changes...nope he has just been like all the other politicians....and what do you mean it is not working?................................................................Many did not think the bailout scheme laid out by George Bush and his Economic Advisors would work but Obama went with it and it did in fact work....at least for the short term...5-10 years probably...of course it only worked because it was and still is a Global Operation...with support from all over the world...But that is just one area, the economy...What area do think is not working?...let us think...Stocks up...Sales up...Jobs Growing...reducing our military exposure...so what is it that is not working?...looks great so far...with the work he has done in this term the next should be gang busters....WooHoo...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Barbara, you are incorrect...Population does not ALWAYS Increase.....Duh....Have you not ever heard of the Baby Boomers....Do you have any clue why they have been important, and the effects they have had and will continue to have on our society as the have grown up and now enter their elder years when they will really begin to push the limits of abilities...And unfortunately the Insurance Companies lost what little money they had set aside to cover the healthcare insurance they have sold to all these Boomers in the Great Collapse of 2008 and so we get Mandatory Insurance...We all are FORCED to purchase insurance so that the insurance companies have enough cash to cover the healthcare cost of the Boomers with money paid in by the young who do not need it....Insurance is Gambling and should be illegal...If we want Universal Healthcare, and I certainly do, so be it let us decide that is what we want and let us determine what form it will take...and do it as a tax...Just as we do with our schools...Even people with no children pay for education...and roads...etc...healthcare should be no different...we should not use our precious resources to keep the Failed, and completely un-trustworthy insurance companies rich....That is not our responsibility as citizens...I believe we do have a responsibility to share our healthcare resources with all Americans no matter who they are...the only requirement should be...Are you sick?....simply as that...Doctors should not be concerned with money...Money should not even be a consideration when it comes to healthcare? They only question should be, How can we help this person...Medicine like politics should not be influenced by money...in both cases it spoils the outcome.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................So Rogo....I consider myself pretty much a liberal...but I am more in the Middle....For instance....our Friend Magoo is way off on the Right, even believing the conspiracies and all of that, and then we have Barbara, way over on the end at the left edge...She does not see even the most basic scams like Insurance or the Federal Reserve....Completely believes the need for both.....And of course the Truth is somewhere in the Middle...Obama is not from Kenya...and His Healthcare Reform was only a scam to bailout the Insurance companies..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................And the beautiful thing about all of this the question is Income Inequality....and it turns out Technology is going to solve that question much sooner than we ever thought possible...in less than ten years we will have a Replicator in our homes....and will be able to make virtually anything we want at will....Life is Amazing...And now this how we relate this discussion to the Markets....Which of the Companies making these 3D Printers, Additive Manufacturing Machines, or Rapid Prototyping Machines is going to be the next Apple or will be bought by Apple or Someone else with Big Bucks? Now is the time to start looking into this market...so these companies have machines that sell for as little as $1500!...There is even one that prints with Chocolate!...Looks like the Future will be Delicious!