I took a seaplane up to Roche Harbor to cover one of the many owner's
rendezvous we see up this way every spring and summer. The boats were
all 36-60 feet, (nearly all 42 or larger and over 50 very common). The
least expensive boats run about $500k, with 7-figure price tags
extremely common. This line of Asian trawlers has been imported by the
regional dealer for about 5 years, so I was impressed to see over 30
boats gathered the last weekend in April at Roche Harbor.

When I remarked about the large gathering, I was told that several of
the people who had intended to come had to change plans at the last
minute, or the gathering would have been larger.
"We'll have a substantially larger group next year," said a
representative of the local broker/importer, "we currently have orders
for another 31 yachts."

That's a lot of upscale boat business, by any standard.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I took a seaplane up to Roche Harbor to cover one of the many owner's
rendezvous we see up this way every spring and summer. The boats were
all 36-60 feet, (nearly all 42 or larger and over 50 very common). The
least expensive boats run about $500k, with 7-figure price tags
extremely common. This line of Asian trawlers has been imported by the
regional dealer for about 5 years, so I was impressed to see over 30
boats gathered the last weekend in April at Roche Harbor.

When I remarked about the large gathering, I was told that several of
the people who had intended to come had to change plans at the last
minute, or the gathering would have been larger.
"We'll have a substantially larger group next year," said a
representative of the local broker/importer, "we currently have orders
for another 31 yachts."

That's a lot of upscale boat business, by any standard.


And all despite the escalating fuel costs. The economy is apparently
stronger than some would like us to believe. Imagine if fuel was back down
to $2/gallon!

A handful of boats arent representative of a nation of people.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I took a seaplane up to Roche Harbor to cover one of the many owner's
rendezvous we see up this way every spring and summer. The boats were
all 36-60 feet, (nearly all 42 or larger and over 50 very common). The
least expensive boats run about $500k, with 7-figure price tags
extremely common. This line of Asian trawlers has been imported by the
regional dealer for about 5 years, so I was impressed to see over 30
boats gathered the last weekend in April at Roche Harbor.

When I remarked about the large gathering, I was told that several of
the people who had intended to come had to change plans at the last
minute, or the gathering would have been larger.
"We'll have a substantially larger group next year," said a
representative of the local broker/importer, "we currently have orders
for another 31 yachts."

That's a lot of upscale boat business, by any standard.


The sales figures you presented a few weeks ago comparing Q1 2005 to Q1 2006
indicated the same.

wrote in message
ups.com...
A handful of boats arent representative of a nation of people.


It's nothing more than an indicator. But when paired with all of the other
indicators, its lends credibility to the notion that our economy is firing
on all cylinders.

NOYB wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

I took a seaplane up to Roche Harbor to cover one of the many owner's
rendezvous we see up this way every spring and summer. The boats were
all 36-60 feet, (nearly all 42 or larger and over 50 very common). The
least expensive boats run about $500k, with 7-figure price tags
extremely common. This line of Asian trawlers has been imported by the
regional dealer for about 5 years, so I was impressed to see over 30
boats gathered the last weekend in April at Roche Harbor.

When I remarked about the large gathering, I was told that several of
the people who had intended to come had to change plans at the last
minute, or the gathering would have been larger.
"We'll have a substantially larger group next year," said a
representative of the local broker/importer, "we currently have orders
for another 31 yachts."

That's a lot of upscale boat business, by any standard.



And all despite the escalating fuel costs. The economy is apparently
stronger than some would like us to believe. Imagine if fuel was back down
to $2/gallon!



No matter what the current situation, there is always a certain group
that will; make money..and lots of it.
eg... CEOs of major companies (especially if they have strong ties to
sitting government)

"Don White" wrote in message
...
NOYB wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

I took a seaplane up to Roche Harbor to cover one of the many owner's
rendezvous we see up this way every spring and summer. The boats were
all 36-60 feet, (nearly all 42 or larger and over 50 very common). The
least expensive boats run about $500k, with 7-figure price tags
extremely common. This line of Asian trawlers has been imported by the
regional dealer for about 5 years, so I was impressed to see over 30
boats gathered the last weekend in April at Roche Harbor.

When I remarked about the large gathering, I was told that several of
the people who had intended to come had to change plans at the last
minute, or the gathering would have been larger.
"We'll have a substantially larger group next year," said a
representative of the local broker/importer, "we currently have orders
for another 31 yachts."

That's a lot of upscale boat business, by any standard.



And all despite the escalating fuel costs. The economy is apparently
stronger than some would like us to believe. Imagine if fuel was back
down to $2/gallon!



No matter what the current situation, there is always a certain group that
will; make money..and lots of it.
eg... CEOs of major companies (especially if they have strong ties to
sitting government)

Hey....that only happens in banana republics. Or, that's what I thought....

NOYB wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
I took a seaplane up to Roche Harbor to cover one of the many owner's
rendezvous we see up this way every spring and summer. The boats were
all 36-60 feet, (nearly all 42 or larger and over 50 very common). The
least expensive boats run about $500k, with 7-figure price tags
extremely common. This line of Asian trawlers has been imported by the
regional dealer for about 5 years, so I was impressed to see over 30
boats gathered the last weekend in April at Roche Harbor.

When I remarked about the large gathering, I was told that several of
the people who had intended to come had to change plans at the last
minute, or the gathering would have been larger.
"We'll have a substantially larger group next year," said a
representative of the local broker/importer, "we currently have orders
for another 31 yachts."

That's a lot of upscale boat business, by any standard.


And all despite the escalating fuel costs. The economy is apparently
stronger than some would like us to believe. Imagine if fuel was back down
to $2/gallon!



The economy is *extremely good* right now, for certain groups and
certain sectors.
The gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing by leaps and
bounds. Some of the former middle class are joining the "haves", but a
greater number are probably joining the "have nots". For people basing
their personal economic life around working at a skilled or
semi-skilled occupation for a salary or hourly wage, incomes are more
fequently almost stagnant or even slowly declining, (while prices for
most things rise slowly and prices for eenrgy are shooting through the
roof.) But I do agree, if one only looks at a portion of the picture or
considers only ones' specific personal curcumstances the current
situation can appear very rosy indeed for a lucky (or hard working and
highly deserving) minority.

Most of the world never had a middle class. It was a product of the
need for skilled labor in a highly industrialized society in the
western economies where it has existed in the last 150 years. I think
historians will look back on this time and observe that when the
industrial base shifted from the first world to third world nations,
computers and robotics replaced a lor of the supervisory and skilled
labor occupations. This new dynamic, coupled with a surplus labor
supply numbering in the hundreds of millions in the newly emerging
industrial
powerhouses, will allow lifestyles in the Asian countries to improve
dramatically but there will be no need to transfer enough wealth to the
workforce to ever create a middle class consumer economy in most of
those areas similar to that of the United States in the last half of
the 20th Century.

When the dot.bomb stock frenzy was in full swing, a lot of big boats
were sold as well.
Obviously this isn't primarily high-tech stock money going into these
boats, a lot of it is probably people refinancing nice homes, or
selling off that rental house they bought 30 years ago for $30,000 and
walking away with $1mm.

More people than ever can afford a $1mm plus boat. More people than
ever cannot afford to pay the premiums for basic health insurance. You
could look at either end of the spectrum and draw some conclusions
about the economy, and many people (with a variety of motivations, of
course) will do so. I think the fact is that the total economic picture
legitimately includes both extremes, with an increasing emphasis on
each of the extremes and less emphasis than ever before on the area in
between.

wrote in message
ups.com...

NOYB wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
I took a seaplane up to Roche Harbor to cover one of the many owner's
rendezvous we see up this way every spring and summer. The boats were
all 36-60 feet, (nearly all 42 or larger and over 50 very common). The
least expensive boats run about $500k, with 7-figure price tags
extremely common. This line of Asian trawlers has been imported by the
regional dealer for about 5 years, so I was impressed to see over 30
boats gathered the last weekend in April at Roche Harbor.

When I remarked about the large gathering, I was told that several of
the people who had intended to come had to change plans at the last
minute, or the gathering would have been larger.
"We'll have a substantially larger group next year," said a
representative of the local broker/importer, "we currently have orders
for another 31 yachts."

That's a lot of upscale boat business, by any standard.


And all despite the escalating fuel costs. The economy is apparently
stronger than some would like us to believe. Imagine if fuel was back
down
to $2/gallon!



The economy is *extremely good* right now, for certain groups and
certain sectors.
The gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing by leaps and
bounds.

That's the fault of the have-nots.

(Just thought I'd beat NOYB to the punch)

On 1 May 2006 11:14:16 -0700, "
wrote:


NOYB wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
I took a seaplane up to Roche Harbor to cover one of the many owner's
rendezvous we see up this way every spring and summer. The boats were
all 36-60 feet, (nearly all 42 or larger and over 50 very common). The
least expensive boats run about $500k, with 7-figure price tags
extremely common. This line of Asian trawlers has been imported by the
regional dealer for about 5 years, so I was impressed to see over 30
boats gathered the last weekend in April at Roche Harbor.

When I remarked about the large gathering, I was told that several of
the people who had intended to come had to change plans at the last
minute, or the gathering would have been larger.
"We'll have a substantially larger group next year," said a
representative of the local broker/importer, "we currently have orders
for another 31 yachts."

That's a lot of upscale boat business, by any standard.


And all despite the escalating fuel costs. The economy is apparently
stronger than some would like us to believe. Imagine if fuel was back down
to $2/gallon!



The economy is *extremely good* right now, for certain groups and
certain sectors.
The gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing by leaps and
bounds. Some of the former middle class are joining the "haves", but a
greater number are probably joining the "have nots". For people basing
their personal economic life around working at a skilled or
semi-skilled occupation for a salary or hourly wage, incomes are more
fequently almost stagnant or even slowly declining, (while prices for
most things rise slowly and prices for eenrgy are shooting through the
roof.) But I do agree, if one only looks at a portion of the picture or
considers only ones' specific personal curcumstances the current
situation can appear very rosy indeed for a lucky (or hard working and
highly deserving) minority.

Most of the world never had a middle class. It was a product of the
need for skilled labor in a highly industrialized society in the
western economies where it has existed in the last 150 years. I think
historians will look back on this time and observe that when the
industrial base shifted from the first world to third world nations,
computers and robotics replaced a lor of the supervisory and skilled
labor occupations. This new dynamic, coupled with a surplus labor
supply numbering in the hundreds of millions in the newly emerging
industrial
powerhouses, will allow lifestyles in the Asian countries to improve
dramatically but there will be no need to transfer enough wealth to the
workforce to ever create a middle class consumer economy in most of
those areas similar to that of the United States in the last half of
the 20th Century.

When the dot.bomb stock frenzy was in full swing, a lot of big boats
were sold as well.
Obviously this isn't primarily high-tech stock money going into these
boats, a lot of it is probably people refinancing nice homes, or
selling off that rental house they bought 30 years ago for $30,000 and
walking away with $1mm.

More people than ever can afford a $1mm plus boat. More people than
ever cannot afford to pay the premiums for basic health insurance. You
could look at either end of the spectrum and draw some conclusions
about the economy, and many people (with a variety of motivations, of
course) will do so. I think the fact is that the total economic picture
legitimately includes both extremes, with an increasing emphasis on
each of the extremes and less emphasis than ever before on the area in
between.

Oh woe is me.

That's for all y'all saying the economy is so bad. I wonder who's buying
all these middle class homes? I wonder who's buying all the cars? I wonder
who's getting all the jobs and promotions?

What tripe!
--
'Til next time,

John H

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***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
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