ORIGINAL: Andre@Edge
I see declines more in Los Angeles then many places. So many places going under. Now overseas investors are buying a large amount of the repo homes.
No easy way out now, but we can only drop so far.
It would seem that unemployment could be fixed by dropping the work week to 36 hours. Sure we all suffer in a small way, but every 8 people who do it would open another full time job for 1 more.
Why cant we take a set fee on gas sales? For a few cents per gallion liability insurance could be paid at the pump. No more uninsured drivers. If you drive a V8, you pay more then the prius driver. We should set a fee on gas, so we have reserves the next time it reaches 4.00 plus.
How much fuel do we use a day in the US? Imagine a 1.00-1.50 fee added per gallion? That could be used in many ways, and dictated by the people.
Not another tax... a reserve.
When things get bad, you fix up your old car.... When things are good... you fix up your old car. Good time to be in the parts business.
A couple points. I see investors buying repo houses as a good thing as now someone who has the money is getting some good out of them instead of them being left vacant. This way money is being pumped back into our economy.
The 36 hour week sounds like an idea that might work on paper, but I'm not sure if it would work. There are more costs to an employee than just the hours they work (training the employees, benefits, etc.). The problem with dropping to a 36 hour week is employees would loose their benefits and I'm afraid of the problems that could come from lowering the length of the work week. Based on what I've seen with Gov't run anything the last thing I want to see is the Government getting involved in car insurance. If you do that, there will be no oversight and you'll have to have a lawyer with you at all times to get anything done. What are you proposing with the set fee with the V8s and hybrids? Correct me if I'm mistaken but you are proposing that we have a standard fee for each fill up instead of on the quantity. I like the idea that the hybrid drivers have to pay their fair share of the expense for once, but I can see the opportunity for abuse. People will buy huge drums like what farmers use and fill those up to get out of paying for the tax. How would this give us reserves when it reaches around $4 a gallon?
Are you proposing a stablized price by increasing the price paid before hand for when it is more expensive? I'm doubtful about this working honestly.
Yes the parts industry is likely a negative business industry (when the economy goes down it roars).