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18 Sobering Facts Which Prove That The Middle Class Is Not Being Included In This “Economic Recovery”
This article by Michael is filled with despair and presents evidence that the recovery in the stock market is more like the price of bread in Zimbabwe than a real recovery. - Ilene
18 Sobering Facts Which Prove That The Middle Class Is Not Being Included In This “Economic Recovery”
Courtesy of Michael Snyder, Economic Collapse
Have you heard the news? The stock market is absolutely soaring and according to the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve we are in the beginning stages of a robust economic recovery. Yippee! The S&P 500 is up 6.8 percent so far in 2011, and the stock market recently hit a two and a half year high. So shouldn't we all be celebrating? Well, if stock market performance was an accurate measure of economic health, then Zimbabwe would have had one of the healthiest economies on the entire globe during the last decade.
But just like Zimbabwe's stock market was artificially pumped up with "funny money" that was rapidly being devalued, so is ours. All of the "quantitative easing" that the Federal Reserve has been doing is pumping plenty of money into the financial markets and is helping to inflate a false stock market bubble, but it is doing very little to alleviate the suffering of the U.S. middle class. In fact, when you take a closer look at the numbers you quickly find out that the suffering of the middle class is getting even worse.
According to Gallup, the unemployment rate is now over 10%. The number of Americans that have given up looking for work recently set a new all-time record. The number of mortgages in foreclosure tied a record high during the fourth quarter of 2010. Gas and food prices are rising rapidly. The number of Americans on food stamps continues to increase every single month.
Yes, right now the economic situation is not in free fall like it was a couple years ago. We should be thankful for that. Periods of relative stability such as we are enjoying now will be few and far between in the years ahead. This "bubble" of economic calm is a great opportunity that we should all be taking advantage of.
However, those that are hoping that this is an economic "turning point" and that things will soon be back to "normal" are going to be greatly disappointed. This is about as "normal" as things are going to be ever again.
Even during this time of relative economic stability, the U.S. middle class is still being ripped to shreds. If there are those among your family and friends that are somehow convinced that the U.S. economy is recovering nicely, you might want want to show them the following 18 very sobering facts....
#1 According to Gallup, the U.S. unemployment rate is currently 10.3 percent. When you add in part-time American workers that want full-time employment, that number rises to 20.2 percent.
#2 According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of job openings in the United States declined for a second straight month during December.
#3 There are currently more than 4 million Americans that have been unemployed for more than a year.
#4 The number of Americans that have become so discouraged that they have given up searching for work completely now stands at an all-time high.
#5 Gasoline prices in the United States recently hit a 28-month high.
#6 During the 4th quarter of 2010, 4.63 percent of all U.S. home loans were in foreclosure. That matched the all-time high, and it was up significantly from 4.39 percent in the 3rd quarter.
#7 It is estimated that there are about 5 million homeowners in the United States that are at least two months behind on their mortgages, and it is being projected that over a million American families will be booted out of their homes this year alone.
#8 Almost 14 percent of all credit card accounts in the United States are currently 90 days or more delinquent.
#9 The average credit card rate in the United States had increased to a whopping 13.44 percent at the end of 2010.
#10 Americans now owe more than $890 billion on student loans, which is even more than they owe on credit cards.
#11 Average household debt in the United States has now reached a level of 136% of average household income. In China, average household debt is only 17% of average household income.
#12 U.S. life expectancy at birth is now three years less than Canada and four years less than Japan.
#13 New home sales in the state of California were at the lowest level ever recorded in the month of January.
#14 43 percent of all mortgages in south Florida are currently underwater.
#15 Prior to the most recent economic downturn, there were usuallysomewhere around four to five million job openings in America. Today there are about 3 million.
#16 When you adjust wages for inflation, middle class workers in the United States make less money today than they did back in 1971.
#17 One out of every seven Americans is now on food stamps.
#18 One out of every six elderly Americans now lives below the federal poverty line.
You know things are bad when articles start popping up in the mainstream news instructing us how to interact socially with the hordes of unemployed Americans that are out there today. A recent USA Today article entitled "What not to say to someone who is unemployed" listed some of the things that you should not say to someone that does not have a job. The following are some of their suggestions on what NOT to say....
"Hey, have you found anything yet?"
"How's the search going?"
"You just have to pound the pavement."
"Something will turn up."
"It's tough out there."
"Other people are going through the same thing."
"Maybe you're asking for too much money."
"Maybe you should go back to school."
"There are plenty of jobs out there."
I am sure most of us have heard things like this at one time or another. It can be a soul-crushing thing to have others look at you in pity because you don't have a job and you can't pay the mortgage and feed your family.
Most unemployed Americans are not lazy. The vast majority of them desperately want jobs. But the U.S. economy is not producing nearly enough jobs today. As noted above, the U.S. economy currently has about 3 million job openings, but approximately 20 percent of the workforce wants to find a full-time job. The demand for jobs is far, far, far greater than the supply.
Unfortunately, this is the legacy of decades of bad economic decision-making. The U.S. economy should be able to provide work for every single person that wants it, but because of the choices that have been made that will never be the case again.
The middle class in America is being ripped to shreds right in front of our eyes and very little is being done to stop it. Desperation is rising across the nation. More Americans slip into poverty every single day. It is almost as if a cloud of gloom and despair has descended upon the U.S. economy and every single month the situation only seems to get darker.
So what about you? How has this economy affected you and your family? Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts below....
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You've already seen the answer to your question. The Treasury/Fed will print up the money needed to fill the hole. Simple.
"#10 Americans now owe more than $890 billion on student loans, which is even more than they owe on credit cards."
So if the middle class isn't included, why would anyone pay these fake dollars back?
well, here is a mystery for you.
exxon-mobil, based in irving, tx[dallas] has decided to move its hq to move its hq to south montgomery county[metro-houston].
today, i decided to explore those areas that are cited as its target relocation zones.
i was astonished at how many production homes had been erected in these areas.
what is the disconnect, here?
What is your point?
Hmmmm, that sounds strange; same reaction I had a few minutes ago when I read this odd story in the local paper regarding coal:
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/02/coal-ships-create-sight-hampton-roads-waters
Austrailia is where the coal is. Those ships need to sail there to get it.
Hampton Roads and Baltimore is mostly Domestic boxes coming in from UK, Germany, Europe and quite a bit of spirits and ores as well.
We're just as Rush Limbaugh says we are....bottom feeders and freeloaders. Instead of blowing our money into the stock market (giving everything right back to the maggots who caused this) why don't they do something creative and throw a bone to the people that can make a difference. The market can't be held up artificially for long. Give everyone a 750 FICO score and if they screw it up in 5 years they're toast. The individual American as we all are and have been would create a new country. Nuke Washington and let the people run the country through the internet. We would see all the legislation and the pork that we pay for and we would recover power over OUR money again. OUR money is buying stocks. Did you know that? Do you know what happens when the market crashes again? Ben doesn't either. We are burdened with that too? The idea of 2 people going to Washington to represent us is broken.
Top engineering (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) grad here from 2002. Employers never gave me the 'time of day' in favour of hiring H1-B's. Extremely few of my classmates from a top-20 university (not ivy league, but very close to it) were ever employed.
Heard every excuse in the book from employers ("you're too smart to work here", "why don't you apply at Google", "you'd just be bored of working here", "we're like to hire you but we can't pay you what you're worth"). After a while, it just gets sickening, because you know that employers out there are paying $100k/year to some illiterate piece of shit to keep a chair warm (or in the case of Goldman Sachs employees, a lot more $$$ to do a lot more terrible things to the economy than warm seats). The really sad thing about the past decade is that it has affected not just the typical trailer trash bums, but also, top scientific and engineering professionals who went to school, got good grades and degrees, and weren't even given an opportunity to enter the workforce.
I've never taken a dime of social assistance, not even a government subsidized student loan, but I'd love to work and pay for the social assistance of others. But nobody wants to let me. My resume just sits on a pile with 75,000 others that Google and other similar tech firms receive in a week, never to see the light of day.
Come on Obama you stupid motherfucker, tax me. Put me to work and tax me. You'd have a lot more $$$ to implement your socialist agenda if you put guys like me to work.
Someone like you who is supposed to be highly educated believes that this is socialism? I'm not seeing that the masses own the markets.
Continue to blame others for your inability to see that this was all a house of cards and you'll be assured of being buried alive.
Food, Shelter and Water. Google? Get fucking real. It's about as far from reality as you can get.
Calling Obama a "stupid motherfucker" doesn't exactly bode well for you. I mean, you're blaming him for your failures to succeed in HIS system. You've been betrayed by your System, the "American DREAM," the one that's so fucking far from reality that it was ALWAYS going to implode (and you're stupid enough to believe that it's the result of a few people?). Yeah, I'd look for a tall building if I were you; that or pull up your laces and face reality.
All I suggested above is that if Obama wants to implement his grand agenda of socialism, he needs to create a system where guys like me are working and happily paying his taxes. Otherwise, the 'stupid motherfucker' will not succeed in his agenda.
Other than that, I can't argue with your philosophical bullshit. I'm just a guy who paid his dues, put in the time, got myself educated, didn't go into debt, worked hard, only to be thrown under the bus by the dysfunctional economy of the past decade, in favour of some cheap labour from India on fraudulent H1-B work visas.
pitz,
did you just do 4 yrs of schiool, or did you actually learn to make things?
I've hired engineers for 25 yrs and 80% of todays graduates only know how to do school.
If you actually learned how to make things then find a company doing something interesting and go beg to intern for free for a few months, if after a month or two you prove to actually have skills you will be hired.
Jaws, of course I took design courses. And completed a final project (in the embedded systems area) that was very complex.
You do make a good point -- schools are letting people through simply for putting in time.
I don't know if I would be a good designer or not. Nobody gave me the chance, and I haven't personally come across anything in my personal life that requires design.
But I sure as heck do a good job of keeping all the junk I own, or acquired, running. Completely overhauled a Jaguar E-type. Build all my own computers. Developed some algorithmic trading software to keep myself in the money. Etc.
Don't believe in working for free. If society wants my output, they can pay for it. Not going to denigrate myself or the profession by undercutting others in a race to the bottom. This accomplishes nothing and just ruins my professional reputation.
For what it's worth, perhaps you are more entrepreneurially slanted than a cubicle denizen. Get out there and do what you do best and see if there is a market for it.
I worked for a fine custom cabinetry company for 6 months -- for free -- during my last year of college. Did it just to learn the trade. It has served me well in many ways more useful than being able to manually work up a cutting list. I learned to work with some really dull and/or irascible people, to show up on time, to take criticism, to offer to help another fella unasked, to clean up after myself, and perhaps most of all to take pride in completing something that was utilitarian as well as beautiful. I was offered a full time position there after the first month of work but turned it down. The only thing I asked was that they let me work in all the divisions so I could get a good overview of the operation. I did layout, cutting, sanding, laminate finishing, epoxy coatings, hardware installations, and swept the floors. They had to put me on minimum wage payroll anyhow due to worker comp rules, etc. Give it a try.
Take a couple of weeks and read "Atlas Shugged". Maybe irony of Immelt being Hussein's jobs czar will be more clear.
You know, I read that book and I started to believe what that story was about when the no-bid Iraq contracts were leaked into the media. Then when Immelt became Obama's advisor, that sealed the deal. What is in that book is so much truth. I think everyone should hear d'Anconia's monologue on the root of money. The sound logic will make you disgusted with everything, especially the Fed.
Hiya Pitz,
I think you have an interesting back story and point of view. I am interested in hearing about what you and your friends/compatriots experience and what you think about what you experience. Please keep posting :-) HEZ
If you actually think Obama is a socialist, perhaps your critical thinking skills are not as developed as you think, and maybe that is why you cannot get a job.
So, junk and run, huh? Step up and debate me junker. Naw, run away with your tail between your legs you coward... Sigh, time to move on, this thread it beat...
Jobs is the solution. MAJOR REFORM IS THE ONLY VEHICLE. Money printing is preventing the URGENCY for this reform.
Huh?
So, if no money is "printed" there would be plenty of jobs? How?
This has everything to do with credit. Real credit isn't being made available because it is CLEAR that there the future doesn't possess enough "wealth creation" (read "increased levels of resource extraction/depletion").
And the employed are going to magically be able to buy the stuff that they're making? No credit and back-breaking debt.
"... And the employed are going to magically be able to buy the stuff that they're making? ... "
Yes. We are what we make. Every single job out there is dependent on someone who grows something; extracts something; or, makes something. We can only consume what is produced - even if production is large enough to permit all the lampry eels that are services.
Here is a tired old example. I am a baker. I can trade my bread for shelter, other types of food, clothes etc. Some day, I will not be able to bake any more. I need to bake more than I can consume (directly or indirectly) and trade it for something that will be useful in the future and can be exchanged for what I will need to continue to live. If I need to bake more, and I am unable to do so with my current situation, then I need to increase capacity. To do so requires time where I cannot bake. To survive, I must reduce my consumption to save bread (by exchanging it for a store of value - be it gold, or cured meat, or barrels of water etc) that will let me take the time to increase my production capacity so that I can save for retirement. Either that, or I need to consume less now ( if possible) in order to save for retirement.
I will gladly pay you a loaf of bread next Tuesday for a hamburger today - doesn't cut it. My future self will now have less bread to consume. I either produce more than I need, or I die - maybe in a debtors' prison. heh.
Seer---
I did not say not printing money would create jobs.
I said that printing money was blocking the URGENCY needed to make REAL structural changes that create jobs.
Never underestimate the stupidity of a human. You pissed me off. Are you the same idiot that crosses the middle of street without looking just assuming cars will stop and if they don't, you get a lawsuit?
Dumb shit, printing money is prolonging the sense of URGENCY needed to start real reform:
repatriating jobs, adjusting to lower standard of living and developing alternative energy sources OR putting it all into the military and trying to conquer most of the world.
Without URGENCY (ie crisis) it'll be a deeper fall as we wallow in denial EXACTLY LIKE AN ALCOHOLIC
You are as stupid as they come
Not to be snoopy...but "what economic recovery"
When you start off with a fantasy then anything goes! :-) It's all feel-good stuff, ain't you feeling good? Edward Bernays says ya should!
yes Barney Frank has had his socialist recovery response, $1 Trllion pissed down the toilet... big bill for zero, what's your next fuking brainwave Barney???
Only 18 ???
rise of the mega cities............
http://nakedempire.wordpress.com/
Metro Manila, been there, done that. Makes an agrarian way of life seem like pure paradise.
No one cares anymore about us, so we must care about ourselves. The very people we elected to represent us in a government are the same people who are out to destroy us .......... & the worst part is that this is all being done DELIBERATELY ! DELIBERATE & PURPOSEFUL policy is coming out of Washington & Wall St. to drain wealth out of the average citizen into their bank accounts.
DELIBERATE & PURPOSEFUL POLICY. & it's been going on now for quite sometime. Funny, we're good enough to pay those taxes, good enough to keep that central bank funded with our tax dollars, but, we're just not good enough to care about anymore.
END the FEDERAL RESERVE BANK & the CRIMINAL SYNDICATE BANKERS & may justice await Robert Rubin & Bill Clinton & Bush 1 & Bush 2 & Hank Paulsen.
Lynny, how have you been?
Just wondered: are your friends and relatives coming around yet? Or are you still beating your head against a wall?
While the individual stories of despair can certainly be heart wrenching, the aggregate can be described as something else. Many are victims of poorly conceived social conditioning; specifically the false notion that doggy paddling on a personal economic level is some type of entitlement. It's not like the original settlers of this land arrived to discover a bustling job market. No, they took it upon themselves to survive and prosper.
The irony of it all is that there are countless niche industries currently dominated by a fragmented, backward-thinking "knuckle draggers" (the type of people who brag about their inability to operate a computer) waiting to be pulled into the modern era. Maybe ironic is the wrong word- but so many of the unemployed, with a little enterprising spark, could find themselves as the employer.
Well maybe. I have a little enterprising spark, started a tiny biz. There are a lot of days when I want to chuck it all and join the SNAP crowd. Regulation on top of regulation and then there are the taxes and taxes and taxes and taxes...Profit? Growth? What the hell is that???
"No, they took it upon themselves to survive and prosper"
I think that you used too many words. Should read:
"They took it."
Desire cannot create that which doesn't physically exist. It's ALL about resources. Wars are fought over resources.
Fairy tales are just that. Reality is something else...
Lets see if I have what Washington wants to do correct:
1) increase or hold military spending.
2) cut programs to help the poor.
3) kill abortion programs.
4) kill planned parenthood.
5) complicate education standards.
6) give money to special interests.
7) give money to banks who don't lend it.
8) cut taxes for the rich.
9) end unemployment benefits
10) talk about creating jobs and talk and talk.
Well, sounds like a plan to me.
If the middle class goes, so too does most of the upper class. It's a matter of growth-oriented swelling that has happened, all thanks to fossil fuels. Many of these folks believe that they're ordained to "do something," that the "system" can be steered to correction. No one's going to escape the pain, no one: the disgruntled mobs are going to do what they always do, shed blood.
We've all been complicit in the crime of fantasy, in believing that we could have perpetual growth on a finite planet.
Going forward people's options are limited: head for the hills and do hunting and gathering, or stick your hands in the soil and farm.
The time's past for looking for scapegoats. Mother Nature has stepped up and is now calling the shots...
'The rich need many poor' -Voltaire...the middle class is optional.
In Voltaraire's time middle class didn't really exist (well, nothing like today). And, unlike then, the poor are more heavily armed.
No, today's rich need the middle class as a buffer. The buffer goes and the poor eat the rich.
+100
Let's then hope the poor are more tenacious than the middle class and will fight for what is theirs...
So how many Roger Babson's do you need to tell you what you already know. In an uncanny way, the same dynamics that were forming in 1929 are forming today. I guess we are destined to repeat history.
This is bad news for whom? Not the rich and the ruling class...only for the poor and middle class, the ones who belive in religion and politics. They're the idiots that vote for the policies that destroy them...this is not news, it's been going on since Roman times...
The rich and ruling classes worship money, not a bunch of preists and politicians...that's their religion.
""This is bad news for whom?""
It's Certain, US Govt Shuts Down in Two Weeks...March 4th...
http://seenoevilspeaknoevilhearnoevil.blogspot.com/2011/02/its-certain-us-govt-shuts-down-in-two.html
No gods, no masters.
to each his own, no power
Increased government spending will solve our problems
A forced march of stupid fat people to Alaska would help and cure obesity. A win:win.
How does that help the stupid part?
http://guerillatics.com
Can I get the snowshoe franchise? :>(
a march of taxpayers would be more apt, they've had to take the pain and deal with this recession.... unlike the bleating public sector who've been living in a pampered debt-fueled LaLa Land for the past 3 years untouched... who the fuking hell do these delusional Govt workers think they are to protest across Europe and America???