The Myth of the Election Slowdown.

[onefootflipper1]

I hear the "Things are slow because of the election." theory floated every single election. 

You hear sellers who are extremely emotionally invested in politics continually floating the idea that other people are not spending because of the upcoming election. What I have never heard once was an actual person saying that they were putting off making mundane purchases because of the election. 

The huge majority of the population is not all that interested in politics and does not follow them all that carefully even if they do have their favored party.

The amount of people not shopping because they are afraid of the election outcome is so tiny that it could never be more than a blip in the data.

[krazzykats]

The grass is always greener on the other side until there is a drought.

[bryo_3145]

Climate Change Will Cost Taxpayers Billions in Near Future, Federal Report Shows.

By 2100, the country's GDP could shrink by 10 percent, triggering an economic crisis twice as damaging as the Great Recession. 

[ed8108]

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@onefootflipper1 wroTe

The huge majority of the population is not all that interested in politics and does not follow them all that carefully even if they do have their favored party.

The amount of people not shopping because they are afraid of the election outcome is so tiny that it could never be more than a blip in the data.

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I suspect that when it's your money that is  being spent you ikely begin to question why & is there a cap

The financial cost to American taxpayers of millions of new arrivals into this country & other issues arrising from the vast number of migrants who have & are expected may continue entering the US makes this election outcome of greater interest & concern than in the past 

[fbusoni]

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@jg.mason wrote:

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@mustang707 wrote:

@jg.mason  I don’t have a problem with your numbers. As the chart shows, the stock markets 

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 As for the markets reaching all-time highs under Biden, they also reached all-time highs under Trump and they will probably reach all-time highs under the next President.😁

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Bingo.   That's what the market periodically does, has done, and will forever continue to do.  Who would have guessed?  😂

After reading the most recent contributions to this thread, I just had an idea for how eBay could use artificial intelligence more effectively:

Review every post here that mentions politics and economics, compare its contents to the most recently published independent data available, and give it a rating on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the most asinine.  

There would be a whole lot of 1s being passed out.   

[movieman630]

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@mustang707 wrote:

@gamersbaystore  Not all aspects of the economy are down. The stock markets under Biden have gone way up. The Dow Jones on Jan 20, 2021 (when Trump left office) was 31,186 and today is 40, 835, a 31% increase. It reached its highest in July of this year. The S&P 500 was 3852 on Jan. 20 2021 and today it is 5597, or a 45% increase. 

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The stock market is not the economy.

[bryo_3145]

Cat lady are we talking about San Francisco? 

[bryo_3145]

"Encounters so there could be more uncounted for."  The data shows that from January 2021 starting a month into this administration through June 2024, there were about 10.3 million such encounters at all borders and ports of entry.  "Illegal entries." Edward Alden, a senior fellow who specializes in immigration policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Boarder protection data specialist.  

The administration kicked off what critics call an amnesty program for illegal immigrants during the week of the Democratic National Convention. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services calls it "Keeping Families Together," which make an estimated 500,000 noncitizen spouses and another 50,000 non-citizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens eligible for parole. The agency specifies "Noncitizens who are present in the United States without admission or parole may be considered for parole in place under this process. "Admission means being legally authorized to be in the country with green card, visa or other reason. 

This is a massive amnesty that Congress never authorized," Andrew Arthur, resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for immigration Studies. 

 The Fiscal Burden of Illegal immigration on U.S. taxpayers 2023 cost study 

- At the start of 2023, the net cost of illegal immigration for the U.S. at the federal, state, and local levels was at 150.7 billion. 

-FAIR arrived at this number by subtracting the tax revenue paid by illegal aliens just under $32 billion from gross negative economic impact of illegal immigration, $182 billion. 

- In 2017, the estimated net of illegal migration was approximately $116 billion. In just 5 years, the cost to Americans has increased by nearly $35 billion. 

-Illegal immigration costs each American taxpayer $1,156 per year ($957 after factoring in taxes paid by illegal aliens). 

-Each illegal alien or U.S. born child of illegal aliens cost the U.S. $8,776 annually. 

- Evidence shows the tax payments by illegal aliens cover only around a sixth of the costs they create at all levels in this country. 

-A large percentage of illegal aliens who work in the underground economy frequently avoid paying income tax at all. 

-Many illegal aliens actually receive a net cash profit through refundable tax credit programs. 

[inhawaii]

Don't forget to vote!

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@inhawaii  Thanks for that reminder! I keep forgetting there's an election coming up. I wish the Media would provide some coverage, so that I wouldn't need reminders. 

[bryo_3145]

$113 billion: Where the U.S. investment in Ukraine has gone. The U.S. has given more to Ukraine than any other country.  Does the money go where it's supposed to? There have been indications of corruption. Zelensky, for instance, replaced the leadership at his defense ministry just before traveling to the United Nations and appear at the white house with our president. Is anybody from the U.S. tracking this money and seeing how it is being spent. Is there any kind of democracy in Ukraine. 

[bryo_3145]

Most Fentanyl is smuggled across the Mexican Border. Fentanyl is made in China. 

More than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States during the 12-month period ending in April 2021, according to provisional data U.S. Centers if Disease Control and Prevention. That's a new record high, with overdose deaths jumping 28.5% from the same period one year earlier. This administration grapples with Americans addiction as overdose deaths hit a record high. Experts said that the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise in use of fentanyl have both been key contributors to the rising overdose death toll.  

Alcohol related deaths in United States jumped 29 percent in 5 years. 

[ed8108]

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@ed8108 wrote:

The financial cost to American taxpayers of millions of new arrivals into this country & other issues arrising from the vast number of migrants who have & are expected may continue entering the US makes this election outcome of greater interest & concern than in the past 

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 Change has certainly come to America, we now really need to ask ourselves has our quality of life improved with mass migration into the US over the last few years 

[onlinecentral]

Not to worry though, Kamala Harris will not be winning this election. She couldn't run a hot dog stand much less a country.

In 2020, Donald Trump became the first president since Herbert Hoover to not get reelected and lose both the congress and senate.

In 2022, the Red Wave never materialized.

In 2024, there are RINOs and Nikki Haley supporters who will not vote for Trump a third time.

The Harris/Walz ticket has had upward momentum in the polling, so far.

It is common for sellers to misdiagnose the reason for slow sales. Hidden listings, shadow ban, price increases from shipping services and the subscription cost for a store. The reality is they have undesirable inventory. From a 50 to 100 months' supply which is 4 to 8 years. The solution is to list different items in other categories.

[tools*]

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@krazzykats wrote:

I had an appointment at Costco yesterday and was anticipating large crowds, which is one reason I seldom shop there or at Walmart.

To my surprise, the parking lot was far from full, not even 25% on a Saturday! I was able to comfortably navigate the store without the need for traffic control and only one person ahead of me at the checkout.

What is wrong with this picture? 

I believe its simply high prices finally hit the ceiling.  High prices and value for the money...

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My Costco is always packed, weekend or weekday. And a large percentage of the shoppers are new immigrants. But I live in NYC where the economy is thriving, and immigrants are welcome.

[tools*]

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@gamersbaystore wrote:

Its not a myth that the economy has been in decline since Biden took office, and it only continues to deteriorate. That's reality, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, and its the whole reason sales are so sluggish right now.

Not to worry though, Kamala Harris will not be winning this election. She couldn't run a hot dog stand much less a country.

Biden has done nothing but destroy lives. Tens of billions for Ukraine, tens of billions more for immigrants, nothing for the American people but runaway inflation and joblessness.

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We may have spawned the orange menace (I live in NYC) but we've known what he is since the eighties. I guess it takes a while for news to travel to Missouri.