@CaptainKhrenov: Government spending is a part of the GDP figures. A common equation used to calculate GDP is as follows: GDP = Consumption + Government Expenditures + Investment +Exports - Imports
thanks for recap of the speech. It was a tough one to sit through. A local radio host suggested that you have a drink each time Obummer said I, me, mine etc. during the speech. We played along...for a bit. We would have been smashed otherwise! The count came out to about 96 self references!
I heard Barry mention plans to boost US exports. I read that as code speak for dollar devaluation relative to other currencies. I'll explain: With higher taxes coming for business owners here, there will be less production than there is now. So, the only way to boost US exports is to make what we have, cheaper for foreign buyers. The only way that can be done it to devalue the dollar and bring it closer to par with the currencies of foreign countries.
He was referring to the fact the Senate did not pass a motion filed to create a small bi-partisan commission to come up with suggested tax hikes and spending cuts...which the Senate would then HAVE to take an up and down vote on whatever was suggested.
Well you have the right idea as far as wanting to increase export revenue, but if tuition goes up, it should be because of market forces. As Peter has taught us, and we've experienced, the increase in government guaranteed loans (which would be paired with increased tuition) leads to a devaluing of the dollar.
Sweet, a 15 minute blog. Well Done, Peter! Schiff for PRESIDENT sounds like a better idea everyday. Imagine Peter Schiff giving the State of the Union Address!
@CaptainKhrenov: I understand that the GDP measures production in the private sector, but they also add government spending on top of the private figures. It's you who can't seem to grasp this. If the government taxes the public and decides to build a battleship with that money, the battleship is added as 'production' despite not adding anything of value to the economy. The government can spend money, bleeding the economy of real wealth and the GDP makes it look positive.
One of the things this country still exports, but you got to come here to get it, is education, so for foreign students, I think tuition should go up, but that the increase should go to the state to feed lower level education coffers.
I opened my own business 3 yrs ago with nothing but my savings and an idea on how to do something better for less. I worked hard without pay...then hired someone...then another..and another...and another. I'd like to hire more help but I'm having to set aside $ for April taxes. I just have to suck it up and work harder. If I find myself working too hard, I'll be tempted to sell to someone who will absorb my profits and lay off my workers. Mine is the reality that Peter speaks of.
The underlying point was the government can increase its spending, and even if the economy is going south the GDP can still 'increase'. By itself the GDP is NOT an accurate measure of the economy.
my philosophy is, it doesnt work to have just service jobs. we cant just service each other, and maintain a high standard of living. it used to be service jobs were just to support our manufacturing. you had a factory and an office.now we just have the office. whoever said its ok to lose all our manufacturing, because we can all just go to college and become engineers was wrong.
Glass Steagall was instituted to prevent banks from getting into speculation, housing market, etc, separating commercial and investment banking. It worked just fine until its repeal.
The arguement is if you put safeguards and guaranteed money from the govt. under any industry (remember real estate?) there is no incentive to be modest or prudent. The same goes for our healthcare industry. Hospitals buy more and more machines for procedures to be billed because insurance will always pay for it.
OK, Peter, we need to get you to look a little more "senatorial:" Get your coat & tie on, put flags in the background (American and Connecticut flags), get a nice podium, stand up, put little more inflection in your voice (fight the monotone tendency). OK, OK, but at least THINK about it...... :) Actually, your inflection is pretty good, but I would suggest graphs. Glenn Beck uses a chalkboard & it serves him well. Think about it, if you use graphs, it will force opponents to use graphs.
Just because you pay for your Tuition doesn't mean you are guaranteed a degree. You still have to do your studies and pass the class. In Fact, most employers look at your GPA before hiring. If its not good, you are not getting a Job. So, Peter is saying that degrees will be worthless, but while degrees are definitely losing value because of reasons he mentioned, you still need to pass the classes to get a degree.
@postrealitysyndrome: You don't need to waste a semester, many hours, and a great deal of taxpayer money learning philosophy. You can learn it in a book. Speaking from the point of view of one who has just finished college, I can state pretty plainly that I absolutely hated all of the mandatory classes they made me took which had no relevance to my programming degree. They make me take 'humanities' classes and 'ethics' classes. As if I couldn't learn that stuff on my own.
he never guaranteed a price for gold at a certain date. he just said it could go that high soon depending on how inept the government is. imo it will eventually go very high, possibly as high as $5k withing a year or two. you can risk staying in dollars if you want but your taking a huge risk.
I just read a study that the stimulus saved 2,155,65.78 jobs. Wow, that was a very sophisticated and meticulous study commissioned by our Treasury to top economic experts, both liberal and conservative, on both sides of the aisle. So whoever says the stimulus saved 2million jobs is off by 155,65.78 -- a quite significant number!
Obama's executive order will still create the commission to come up with suggestions to reduce the deficit but now the Senate won't be forced to vote on the suggestions if they don't want to, this way they can still cherry pick and avoid making any "tough political" decisions that could be proposed by the commission.
I should have been more clear. What I meant, that if the FED was concerned about sound policy...the interest rate would be higher as if the market set it...but the pain would be immense after a while, especially after the bank bailout loans.
Oh, but yes it does. The very fact that some public utilities can be serviceable for some time mean that there is enough to tax from the private sector to fund these inefficient, unnecessary projects. If what you mean by pooling resources together is insurance, then I agree. But again, let it be private insurance.
What created the depression was The Federal Reserve lowering interest rates and an easy money policy while newspapers advertized gains made in the stock markets. People borrowed more money than they should have because it was cheap to do so and bought stocks on margin. Any of this sound familiar? When there was no one left to borrowing and buy, stock prices started to fall. Then came margin calls followed by the collapse. See, the markets were regulated. With a low interest and easy money policy
I read that Bill Gross of PIMCO said that the fed funds rate should be 1% lower than nominal GDP growth rate.....so the rate should be 4.7%..not 0.25%....certainly the economy would be shocked....in conjunction with the guaranteed loans given to the banks...that's my problem....what happens then?
i've seen factories shipped overseas lock stock and barrel within a week. guys in china would be using the same machine within 24 hours.... at 1/15th of the wage, no medical, no unions, no environmental stuff, no big taxation...etc.
With Obama helping drive tuitions up, its ironic to see that the states are doing more to drive the costs down. Indiana has told Purdue University to cut $36 million from their budget and is not approving a 5% tuition increase for state or out of state students. As a student there, I have not yet observed any key programs cut. All the computer labs are still open and maintained, the professors aren't canceling any classes, and the laboratories are still properly equipped.
The real $64K question is "Who tells the FED when to change and what the rates will be?" Wall ST, the EU, China.....? No one truly OWNS anything. If your house is paid off you are still going to pay property taxes to the state, county and city you live in. If you own your business you have to pay out for licenses to operate said business, rent/mortgage and other overhead, wages(benefits) and taxes upon taxes out the ass. It's almost not worth it in this economy. Who really calls the shots?
@continuityofliberty The grant has to come from somewhere. The money issued for the grants comes from bonds, the bonds are bought by banks for 4% who borrow that money from the Fed at 0% based on their 100:1 ratio of reserves in their savings accounts which they're paying 2%.
Bah, just check the dollar index, the dollar has been gaining on other currencies. It's not that gold is worth less, it's that the dollar is currently worth a little bit more.
3. A brief history of the financial crisis, part 2 2005: Sen. Charles Schumer, (D-NY) says I think Fannie and Freddie over the years have done an incredibly good job and are an intrinsic part of making America the best-housed people in the world if you look over the last 20 or whatever years, they've done a very, very good job. CONT>
The only people who will qualify for these student loan caps will be public sector employees. There is already a provision for federal loans that limits how much money you pay back and whether you can defer or forbear the payments. Any cap on repayment will be similar. I'm guessing you will have to make 40,000 or less to even qualify for any assistance.
and the huge pain and suffering settlements handed out by sympathetic juries are routinely struck down in appeals court. the single most important factor used to dertermine the actual award is lost earning potential. with this being said, pain and suffering is considered while death is not. and the level of p & s to actually ellicit an award, is more than you or would care to undergo
What scares me the most about the massive bank bailouts of late 2008 is the fact that my taxes did NOT go up at all in 2009. Did anybody see their taxes go up in 2009? How is this possible, when we the taxpaying public are supposedly the ones who bailed out the big banks? Most importantly, what does this mean for our expected taxes for 2010 thru 2012?
@Mr. Sears: That would do wonders for our current national debt, but not our unfunded entitlements currently valued at $1MM+ per non-retired household above the poverty line. Entitlements are much bigger of a problem than the debt, even at $13-15TT.
nailed it exactly near the end by saying, in other words, that no matter how bad things get, these clowns in office will boast about how their policies prevented things from being much worse. you know it!
OK, am I the only one that heard the pres say that he fixed the senate's inabilty to act on the budget the day before by writing an executive order. He is making the senate irrelevant and I believe he will get rid of it soon.
we wont always be able to buy gold and silver with federal reserve notes. thats why people are getting as much gold and silver as they can and the amount they can get keeps getting lower and lower due to the loss of value in the non-constitutional dollar.
When people stop looking for work they're not counted in the unemployment figures. It's entirely possible for the official unemployment rate to shrink while the actual amount of unemployed workers rises. Also, there is the possibility that we're seeing 'job growth' from an increase in government "jobs". Personally I don't think we're seeing real recovery.
Peter nails it again. Unfortunately Mr. Obama would never even give these ideas a listen. Instead, he will just keep on digging the hole deeper and deeper.
You know, I'm tired of running my business. I think I'm going to close my business and open up a school. I can't believe how much money schools make. And all you have to do for marketing is to tell your potential customers how much it's going to change their lives. So many people go to school simply for the piece of paper and don't even focus on the retention of knowledge. The whole educational system is a gimic but wow does it make a lot of money and debt. Vociti University opens next week! :)
In regards to low interest rate and home buying. I just bought a house through an FHA with a 30 year fixed with a 5.5% IR...after I finish paying the money back I would have paid more than double the price of the house now ...so, low interest rates is not bad for the lenders, they make their money back regardless....so I think on that he is wrong
its basic supply and demand. if you want to see it in action look at the commodities exchange. see how they are screaming at each other, constantly bidding up and down the price of pork bellies? the higher the demand, the higher the price. say the current demand is about 1 million pork bellies per day. then the government comes in and says they want buy an additional 1 million per day. the price skyrockets. thats what happened with college tuition, health care, housing, etc.
You're missing the point. The college administrators wouldn't be able to raise their tuitions if the gvt wasn't backing the loans. It doesn't matter how greedy they are.
State service is cheap because part of it is taken out of taxes. Privatization is not perfect. It might be that the resources are conceded to only one firm, creating a monopoly, but it is most ideal from an economic and moral standpoint. The advantage of private insurance is that if you don't want to join in, you don't have to pay(taxes). That is why it is superior to government.
Wow Peter, you are a genius... impressive stuff. I watch all your daily video blogs but man, this one takes the cake.
This was a great video. Lots of passion, knowledge, and experience.
"Last night I watched Obama read from his teleprompter"
That made me laugh.
Thanks for taking the time to break this down. I really appreciate your analysis.
amazing video peter!
one of his best blogs.
the president was talking and i was thinking about what you had to say, you are the best peter.
@CaptainKhrenov: Government spending is a part of the GDP figures.
A common equation used to calculate GDP is as follows:
GDP = Consumption + Government Expenditures + Investment +Exports - Imports
thanks for recap of the speech. It was a tough one to sit through. A local radio host suggested that you have a drink each time Obummer said I, me, mine etc. during the speech. We played along...for a bit. We would have been smashed otherwise! The count came out to about 96 self references!
Excellent post Peter ..Right on the button...
Great stuff from Mr. Schiff! Now I'm waiting to see how Blumenthal, Simmons, and McMahon give their explanations of the economic mess in 15 minutes.
The "Hi everybody" sounded very much like Stefan's "Hi everybody". Go Peter!
Right on again Peter. I am definitely going to donate more notes to you.
fantastic blog once again peter....!!!!..on the money!!!
15 mins!?!?! Awesome! No more having to cut the videos short, I hope.
I give this video 1000 stars.
Great job with the analysis Peter! ***** stars, keep up the good work, we need more people like you in government.
I heard Barry mention plans to boost US exports. I read that as code speak for dollar devaluation relative to other currencies. I'll explain: With higher taxes coming for business owners here, there will be less production than there is now. So, the only way to boost US exports is to make what we have, cheaper for foreign buyers. The only way that can be done it to devalue the dollar and bring it closer to par with the currencies of foreign countries.
Peter makes more sense in this 15 minute video than any dozen Keynesians over the course of a year. Peter is a fantastic teacher.
Wow, this stuff was going through my mind when I was watching the STUA.
Great video. Here's to hoping you do the Republican response to next years SOTU. In fact, this vlog should have been this years.
This is one of your best vids yet. I hope you get elected and make a difference.
He was referring to the fact the Senate did not pass a motion filed to create a small bi-partisan commission to come up with suggested tax hikes and spending cuts...which the Senate would then HAVE to take an up and down vote on whatever was suggested.
Peter Shiff's book makes great sense...if you guys haven't read crash proof 2.0 you owe yourself to read that book.
UA-cam, why is it that Very Funny Cats 71 loads so fast, but Schiff's videos never do?
ok I see it now...I only see the consumer side and not really the bank aspect of the loans and Interest rates...thanks for explaining it
Well you have the right idea as far as wanting to increase export revenue, but if tuition goes up, it should be because of market forces. As Peter has taught us, and we've experienced, the increase in government guaranteed loans (which would be paired with increased tuition) leads to a devaluing of the dollar.
Sweet, a 15 minute blog. Well Done, Peter!
Schiff for PRESIDENT sounds like a better idea everyday. Imagine Peter Schiff giving the State of the Union Address!
@CaptainKhrenov: I understand that the GDP measures production in the private sector, but they also add government spending on top of the private figures. It's you who can't seem to grasp this.
If the government taxes the public and decides to build a battleship with that money, the battleship is added as 'production' despite not adding anything of value to the economy. The government can spend money, bleeding the economy of real wealth and the GDP makes it look positive.
One of the things this country still exports, but you got to come here to get it, is education, so for foreign students, I think tuition should go up, but that the increase should go to the state to feed lower level education coffers.
I opened my own business 3 yrs ago with nothing but my savings and an idea on how to do something better for less. I worked hard without pay...then hired someone...then another..and another...and another.
I'd like to hire more help but I'm having to set aside $ for April taxes. I just have to suck it up and work harder.
If I find myself working too hard, I'll be tempted to sell to someone who will absorb my profits and lay off my workers.
Mine is the reality that Peter speaks of.
The underlying point was the government can increase its spending, and even if the economy is going south the GDP can still 'increase'. By itself the GDP is NOT an accurate measure of the economy.
my philosophy is, it doesnt work to have just service jobs. we cant just service each other, and maintain a high standard of living. it used to be service jobs were just to support our manufacturing. you had a factory and an office.now we just have the office. whoever said its ok to lose all our manufacturing, because we can all just go to college and become engineers was wrong.
@Mecha
I would say Peter's arguments are a lot better
and easier to understand
Glass Steagall was instituted to prevent banks from getting into speculation, housing market, etc, separating commercial and investment banking. It worked just fine until its repeal.
thanks Peter. i'll take your advice and be realistic for the future.
The arguement is if you put safeguards and guaranteed money from the govt. under any industry (remember real estate?) there is no incentive to be modest or prudent. The same goes for our healthcare industry. Hospitals buy more and more machines for procedures to be billed because insurance will always pay for it.
OK, Peter, we need to get you to look a little more "senatorial:"
Get your coat & tie on, put flags in the background (American and Connecticut flags), get a nice podium, stand up, put little more inflection in your voice (fight the monotone tendency).
OK, OK, but at least THINK about it...... :)
Actually, your inflection is pretty good, but I would suggest graphs. Glenn Beck uses a chalkboard & it serves him well. Think about it, if you use graphs, it will force opponents to use graphs.
Just because you pay for your Tuition doesn't mean you are guaranteed a degree. You still have to do your studies and pass the class. In Fact, most employers look at your GPA before hiring. If its not good, you are not getting a Job. So, Peter is saying that degrees will be worthless, but while degrees are definitely losing value because of reasons he mentioned, you still need to pass the classes to get a degree.
@CaptainKhrenov: There still is a substantial amount of spending that IS included in the GDP, and Keynesian economics does not work.
@postrealitysyndrome: You don't need to waste a semester, many hours, and a great deal of taxpayer money learning philosophy. You can learn it in a book.
Speaking from the point of view of one who has just finished college, I can state pretty plainly that I absolutely hated all of the mandatory classes they made me took which had no relevance to my programming degree.
They make me take 'humanities' classes and 'ethics' classes. As if I couldn't learn that stuff on my own.
"Government took out the risk in the market place. . ."
Totally 110% agreed.
he never guaranteed a price for gold at a certain date. he just said it could go that high soon depending on how inept the government is. imo it will eventually go very high, possibly as high as $5k withing a year or two. you can risk staying in dollars if you want but your taking a huge risk.
Good points Peter.
I fear you are right.
wow great video
double exports is code name for halving the value of the dollar
I just read a study that the stimulus saved 2,155,65.78 jobs. Wow, that was a very sophisticated and meticulous study commissioned by our Treasury to top economic experts, both liberal and conservative, on both sides of the aisle. So whoever says the stimulus saved 2million jobs is off by 155,65.78 -- a quite significant number!
why attack them unless it to rid them of nukes? there is no precedent for attacking them otherwise.
Obama's executive order will still create the commission to come up with suggestions to reduce the deficit but now the Senate won't be forced to vote on the suggestions if they don't want to, this way they can still cherry pick and avoid making any "tough political" decisions that could be proposed by the commission.
I should have been more clear. What I meant, that if the FED was concerned about sound policy...the interest rate would be higher as if the market set it...but the pain would be immense after a while, especially after the bank bailout loans.
spot on
Oh, but yes it does. The very fact that some public utilities can be serviceable for some time mean that there is enough to tax from the private sector to fund these inefficient, unnecessary projects. If what you mean by pooling resources together is insurance, then I agree. But again, let it be private insurance.
The view counter stops at 302 and updates daily...
what do i have wrong?
You are the Real Deal Peter...Thank You !!
What created the depression was The Federal Reserve lowering interest rates and an easy money policy while newspapers advertized gains made in the stock markets. People borrowed more money than they should have because it was cheap to do so and bought stocks on margin. Any of this sound familiar? When there was no one left to borrowing and buy, stock prices started to fall. Then came margin calls followed by the collapse. See, the markets were regulated. With a low interest and easy money policy
I read that Bill Gross of PIMCO said that the fed funds rate should be 1% lower than nominal GDP growth rate.....so the rate should be 4.7%..not 0.25%....certainly the economy would be shocked....in conjunction with the guaranteed loans given to the banks...that's my problem....what happens then?
So true.
Excellent points. You're spot on! Go get 'em
Peter Schiff 2010!
then...
Peter & Paul 2012!
i've seen factories shipped overseas lock stock and barrel within a week.
guys in china would be using the same machine within 24 hours.... at 1/15th of the wage, no medical, no unions, no environmental stuff, no big taxation...etc.
you obviously didn't watch Peter Schiff's explanation of why college tuition is high.
With Obama helping drive tuitions up, its ironic to see that the states are doing more to drive the costs down. Indiana has told Purdue University to cut $36 million from their budget and is not approving a 5% tuition increase for state or out of state students. As a student there, I have not yet observed any key programs cut. All the computer labs are still open and maintained, the professors aren't canceling any classes, and the laboratories are still properly equipped.
Fortunately none of these proposals will come to fruition. They can't.
There is a movement out there, that is for sure. The question becomes what will it take for the average American to buy in.
Great perception of the Address. I agree, the worst of the economic crisis is yet to come. Keep up the good work Mr. Schiff.
The real $64K question is "Who tells the FED when to change and what the rates will be?"
Wall ST, the EU, China.....?
No one truly OWNS anything. If your house is paid off you are still going to pay property taxes to the state, county and city you live in. If you own your business you have to pay out for licenses to operate said business, rent/mortgage and other overhead, wages(benefits) and taxes upon taxes out the ass. It's almost not worth it in this economy.
Who really calls the shots?
@continuityofliberty The grant has to come from somewhere. The money issued for the grants comes from bonds, the bonds are bought by banks for 4% who borrow that money from the Fed at 0% based on their 100:1 ratio of reserves in their savings accounts which they're paying 2%.
Peter is right. Hopefully Connecticut will open their eyes and vote for this man.
Peter= reality & common sense
I feel your pain!
Bah, just check the dollar index, the dollar has been gaining on other currencies. It's not that gold is worth less, it's that the dollar is currently worth a little bit more.
its ok to try. its not ok not to try.
Single most valuable comment:
"...homes are not investments, they are....homes"
17% of the budget and .58% of the total.
Well said Peter! I hope you are successful in your senate race.
3.
A brief history of the financial crisis, part 2
2005: Sen. Charles Schumer, (D-NY) says I think Fannie and Freddie over the years have done an incredibly good job and are an intrinsic part of making America the best-housed people in the world if you look over the last 20 or whatever years, they've done a very, very good job. CONT>
You might want to check out the video entitled "Imploding Monopolies" here on youtube.
The only people who will qualify for these student loan caps will be public sector employees. There is already a provision for federal loans that limits how much money you pay back and whether you can defer or forbear the payments. Any cap on repayment will be similar. I'm guessing you will have to make 40,000 or less to even qualify for any assistance.
and the huge pain and suffering settlements handed out by sympathetic juries are routinely struck down in appeals court. the single most important factor used to dertermine the actual award is lost earning potential. with this being said, pain and suffering is considered while death is not. and the level of p & s to actually ellicit an award, is more than you or would care to undergo
It all makes sense to me. Pretty elementary.
What scares me the most about the massive bank bailouts of late 2008 is the fact that my taxes did NOT go up at all in 2009. Did anybody see their taxes go up in 2009? How is this possible, when we the taxpaying public are supposedly the ones who bailed out the big banks?
Most importantly, what does this mean for our expected taxes for 2010 thru 2012?
Yes they would, prices would be uniform. For the majority will quality for the program and the few left out will have to take the loss.
@Mr. Sears:
That would do wonders for our current national debt, but not our unfunded entitlements currently valued at $1MM+ per non-retired household above the poverty line. Entitlements are much bigger of a problem than the debt, even at $13-15TT.
nailed it exactly near the end by saying, in other words, that no matter how bad things get, these clowns in office will boast about how their policies prevented things from being much worse. you know it!
Paul/Schiff 2012
OK, am I the only one that heard the pres say that he fixed the senate's inabilty to act on the budget the day before by writing an executive order. He is making the senate irrelevant and I believe he will get rid of it soon.
we wont always be able to buy gold and silver with federal reserve notes. thats why people are getting as much gold and silver as they can and the amount they can get keeps getting lower and lower due to the loss of value in the non-constitutional dollar.
When people stop looking for work they're not counted in the unemployment figures. It's entirely possible for the official unemployment rate to shrink while the actual amount of unemployed workers rises.
Also, there is the possibility that we're seeing 'job growth' from an increase in government "jobs".
Personally I don't think we're seeing real recovery.
Right on, well said.
I don't live in Connecticut so I can't vote but if I did you'd get my vote!
What tubes? I don't see any tubes in this country lol. I know what you mean, I was kidding around.
how did you get so smart
@girlyoudontknow2 That's why I brought it up.
Peter nails it again. Unfortunately Mr. Obama would never even give these ideas a listen. Instead, he will just keep on digging the hole deeper and deeper.
You know, I'm tired of running my business. I think I'm going to close my business and open up a school. I can't believe how much money schools make. And all you have to do for marketing is to tell your potential customers how much it's going to change their lives. So many people go to school simply for the piece of paper and don't even focus on the retention of knowledge. The whole educational system is a gimic but wow does it make a lot of money and debt. Vociti University opens next week! :)
In regards to low interest rate and home buying. I just bought a house through an FHA with a 30 year fixed with a 5.5% IR...after I finish paying the money back I would have paid more than double the price of the house now ...so, low interest rates is not bad for the lenders, they make their money back regardless....so I think on that he is wrong
I hope you are right.
its basic supply and demand. if you want to see it in action look at the commodities exchange. see how they are screaming at each other, constantly bidding up and down the price of pork bellies? the higher the demand, the higher the price. say the current demand is about 1 million pork bellies per day. then the government comes in and says they want buy an additional 1 million per day. the price skyrockets. thats what happened with college tuition, health care, housing, etc.
You're missing the point. The college administrators wouldn't be able to raise their tuitions if the gvt wasn't backing the loans. It doesn't matter how greedy they are.
State service is cheap because part of it is taken out of taxes. Privatization is not perfect. It might be that the resources are conceded to only one firm, creating a monopoly, but it is most ideal from an economic and moral standpoint. The advantage of private insurance is that if you don't want to join in, you don't have to pay(taxes). That is why it is superior to government.
Seriously though, a coat and tie would be a plus :D