I grew up drinking well water, and had an ever-growing mouthful of cavities. In junior high I had more teeth with fillings than without. That mercifully ended when the dentist prescribed daily fluoride tablets for me and my brother.
Anyone who thinks banning fluoride is a good idea, you don't have a single clue what you're talking about. Not one.
> I also think it's interesting that the 2008 mortgage crisis was very close to becoming just as bad as the great depression, but fiscal policy prevented that.
Compare unemployment in the Great Depression vs Great Recession:
Fiscal policy certainly did help, but the Great Recession probably would have still been significantly smaller than the Great Depression for several reasons.
(I suspect the Great Recession is more analogous to the Long Depression of the late 19th century, in that both of them significantly worsened inequality, while the Great Depression reduced inequality. I suspect whenever the US starts dealing with its mountain of debt, the resulting recession/panic/depression will also reduce inequality, though I doubt too many people will be cheering that when it happens).
> Compare unemployment in the Great Depression vs Great Recession:
The second chart I linked does exactly that. The point is to not look at the absolute numbers because, the unemployment trend in 2008 was reversed by fiscal policy, but during the great depression there was no such intervention.
Until the central banks intervened, unemployment was tracking almost exactly with the great depression.
You also can't compare the absolute unemployment numbers for a lot of other reasons. A major one is that unemployment (The U6 number, i.e. "real unemployment") in the first half of the century was consistently 10%+ higher than it is today. That's because of less women in the workforce.
In 1929, the workforce was considered fully employed with an unemployment rate (U6) of 15%. In 2008, we considered a fully employed workforce to be just 5% unemployment.
No. My brother suffered acute liver failure following a diagnostic procedure to check his brain after having brain cancer surgery. He survived two weeks. And they were a horrible two weeks.
If you're looking for a good predictor, look at the 10 yr/2 yr yield curve. When it inverts, a recession normally follows in 12-24 months, and it will likely invert in March.
The smart money has been getting out of the market for some time. But you can't sell unless someone else wants to buy. So at the end of the business cycle there is usually a blizzard of "the economy will keep doing good" articles contrary to common sense, trying to get the rubes to buy so the smart money can bail, await the crash, and then buy the stock back at pennies on the dollar.
Anyone who thinks banning fluoride is a good idea, you don't have a single clue what you're talking about. Not one.