[PRCo] Fare Registers - Passenger Counts - Recessions Depressions

[Phillip Clark Campbell]

> ----- Original Message ----

> From: Schneider Fred <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 8:01:58 AM
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Fwd: Would Fineview be abandoned today?
> 
> 
> In 1948 PRC had fare registers and the operator pulled the cord every  
> time you gave him a transfer or dumped coins in the box.   I  
> personally never saw an operator screw up.  But I think it was a much  
> more conscientious world then than it is now.
> 
>
Not exactly Mr.Schneider.  Cash fares were rung on the register; 
transfers were collected and counted at each end of the line (theoretically.)
This was entered into the trip report carried by each operator.
But as trolleys kept moving downtown this count was sometimes
overlooked wasn't it.  (Remember the tray on the bottom of the transfer
stand for holding the collected transfers?)  Agreed - end result is 'similar.'

Counts were organized toward the result needed then.  Counts today are
'most' (but not exclusively) used to get funding from 'someone' whether
state or fed.  Same happens to schools; absentees reduce funding.  Emphasis
on school attendance is then money, not quality of education for the pupil.
When I lived in SF a counter on board said they counted passengers outbound
in the AM rush because count is lower.  This increased 'Fed' funding relative to
service offered because count was low - higher count reduced funding.  Please
note that I am not accepting this as gospel - just relaying what I heard.  Was it an
actual loophole being exploited or was this a sea story?  Don't know.


Recessions / Depressions:  It was just recently 'confirmed' that we are in a recession
but many in the public said 'we already knew that.'  Not really - if we follow the
definition it takes time for that to be confirmed.  Newspapers said we can't be in a
depression because unemployment hasn't risen to 1930s era.  What they ignore is that
in the 1930s unemployment did not go from 5% to 30% overnight; it was spread over
several years wasn't it.  I sincerely hope we are not going into depression but the
financial crisis is nowhere near solved and what looms on the horizon sounds much
worse than what we are experiencing.  'Seems' like any funding directed at auto
industry literally prolongs 'life' simply for weeks or a couple months at best.  When
auto industry fails in part or whole it will have serious consequences for the economy;
the trickle down - domino effect will accelerate significantly.

Christmas sales for 2007 did not meet expectations did they; remember that this
financial crisis started some time in the last several years.  Thanksgiving weekend
2008 was 'fine' for the most part but that is not expected to follow through for
the rest of the season.  Many have stated that Christmas this year is for the
children only thus implying that people are cutting back.  Many also live on the old
saw of a recession is when the neighbor is out of work but depression when 'I' am
unemployed -- I am employed thus I spend.

Auto sales have dropped drastically - as much as 40% for some of the big-3.
Even foreign auto makers are experiencing 12% and more sales drops.
Big ticket items are not being purchased.
News interviews with retailers reveal sharply curtailed buying this season; some
employees report for work but are sent home because it is slow.  Even here
in Pocatello the restaurants are slow, very slow, and Christmas is usually a
busy season for food industry.
US T-bills sold last week for 0% - that's Zero-Percent - return, first time in history.
People fear the economic climate like no other time since the 1930s that they are
willing to 'give' their money to the Fed and actually pay to give it to them in
commissions for the transaction - 'presumably' because this is the safest investment.
The Nation, States, Counties, Cities, Local Governments are all experiencing
major funding shortages and are facing many layoffs.  Depreciating home values
only compound the problem going forward as tax revenues will be reduced thus
making for more layoffs and reductions in services.
City infrastructures are crumbling and need immediate attention - sewers, water, roads;
this may make for great New Deal employment but money for such employment
comes from the tax base and won't contribute to solving the crisis but only
prolonging and compounding the same as did the previous New Deal.  This means
more 'borrowing' by govt. since unemployed don't pay taxes.
Was it a Los Angeles news report which stated that many people are not turning on
heaters this season?  Yes, LA is warm relative to the rest of the nation but winter
nights are often / usually in the low 40s.  When did this happen last?  Can't remember.
When the weather warms, when the plants start growing, when the 'swallows' return
home we know that spring and summer is coming - signs of the season.  What
do the above signs portend?


Purchases of $5 teddy bears or $40 crockpots at Walmart won't keep
the economy going will it.


Mr.Schneider said in a recent post (about socialism) that government issues money.
I disagree - money is a store of value and that position has been held by gold for
millenia and by silver to a lesser extent.  Paper money is fiat money.  People will
argue that the value of the money is the workforce behind it.  If such is the case,
who says that slavery is dead?  People holding dollars can then demand 'from the
workforce' a return when they wish to cash those dollars.  Better minds than ours
have made this claim.  There are some who can substantiate a claim that the 'Fed'
is unconstitutional - Richard Russell of La Jolla - in the business for nearly 60-years.

On top of all this the world has been in a competitive devaluation of currencies for
the last 5-decades - when money is cheap then exports increase so it is possible
to sell to the 'world.'  Each country is purposely devaluing currency to become
seller to the world  --  world leaders are selling selves and country down the drain.


And life goes on - or will it.


Phil