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If Consumers Are So Confident, Then Why Aren't They Spending?
Submitted by Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform
If Consumers Are So F%#king Confident Why Aren't They Spending?
The sheep have been told their confidence is at a 7 year high by the propaganda peddlers working at the behest of the oligarchy. The sheep are also told that 10 million jobs have been added since the GOTUS played his first round back in 2009. The sheep have been told the record highs in the stock market prove that all is well. If the .1% are doing fantastic, some of the wealth must be trickling down. The sheep are told that QE and ZIRP were really to save Main Street and not the bonuses of Wall Street (at record highs by the way). The sheep are told to fear ISIS, Iran, Assad, Putin, and China. The sheep are told U.S. energy independence is just around the corner and to ignore the fact that gas prices have tripled since in the last ten years. The sheep are told drones will keep them safe and the DHS militarizing the police is just for their safety and security. The sheep are told guns are dangerous in their hands, but not in the hands of the government. The sheep passively eat their iGadgets and barely bleat while being led to the slaughter house.
The propaganda machine is working at hyper speed as the wheels fall off this out of control bus. But all the messaging, packaging, and lies can’t change the facts. Ignorance about the facts doesn’t change the facts. The oligarchs are getting pissed. You mindless consumers simply won’t consume as much as you used to, even with 7 year 0% interest subprime auto loans, $1 trillion of government loans to generate consumption disguised as student loans, and five credit card offers per week from the Too Big To Trust Wall Street cabal. WTF is wrong with you?
You’ve ruined the storyline used for months about horrific winter weather being the cause of non-spending in the 1st quarter. Once it stopped being cold you were supposed to spend like drunken sailors again. Just like the old days. How could you spend less in July than you did in June? You’ve only increased your spending by a mere 1.8% so far this year. With real inflation on stuff you need to live running above 5%, you’re actually spending far less than last year. No wonder confidence is skyrocketing.
A little examination into the facts behind the Commerce Department report might shed a little light on the truth about the good old American consumer:
- 25% of all personal income in the country is either a transfer from the government to someone or from a government job. That is $3.7 trillion taken from producers and given to takers. In 2000 this figure was 21%. The relentless increase in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Benefits and Other will drive this percentage to 30% by 2020.
- Real personal income (excluding government transfers) has gone up 2.6% over the last year and this is using the false CPI figure of 1.6% to reach that pitiful number. Using a true inflation figure of 5% yields lower real personal income than last year.
- These numbers also fail to recognize the 2.2 million increase in population. On a per capita basis, real personal income is up 1.9% in the last year.
- Senior citizens and conservative savers are earning $120 billion less today than they did seven years ago. All the grandmothers eating cat food thank you Ben and Janet. If interest rates were allowed to adjust to market levels consistent with inflation, savers would be generating $500 billion to $700 billion more interest income that could be used to propel economic growth. Per capita real disposable income was $37,582 in May of 2008. It is currently $37,553. Again, this is using the fake BLS inflation numbers, so it is even far worse.
Is it really a shocker that Americans are spending less? The MSM is so captured by the organizations providing their advertising revenue that their faux journalists don’t even attempt to examine the facts and reach logical conclusions. Their job is to cheer lead and make excuses for why their storyline of improvement never plays out. The snow storyline is history. The surge in consumer confidence storyline has been proven false by the actual spending data. Now we move onto the surge in jobs storyline that is proven false by the personal income data. I’m sure back to school season will be a resounding success. Just wait until the holidays. The consumer will surely be back this year. And the beat goes on.
The chart below tells you all you need to know about why this recovery is false. The people who are supposed to be in their peak earnings and spending years have seen their real household incomes decline dramatically since the END of the recession in June 2009. Think about that for a moment. The only people who’ve seen their real incomes rise are those who no longer spend. I wonder if it is a coincidence that government transfers since June 2009 are up 18% and the grey hairs have seen their incomes rise?
The consumer is not back. They are not coming back. The decades long debt fueled orgy of consumption has long since peaked and we are on the long road to perdition. Confidence can’t cure our disease. More debt to cure a disease caused by too much debt will not save the patient. Our disease is terminal.
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You have to have money or credit to spend money
Because those trillions of cash the Fedd printed was not given to the consumers. They were given to the rich who horded it.
This is not hard to figure out.
Jobs outsourced > manufacturing decline > savings decline = nothing to see here, move along.
If TPTB couldn't see that one coming, they really are dumber then boxes of rocks.
And don't forget the rising prices and taxes. I bought a shirt at a local market morning as a gift. It was $15 for a basic kids t shirt. Then came the local sales tax, bumping the total almost up to $20. Ridiculous. This is rape and people can't afford to live like this.
Then buy the shirt second-hand from Goodwill. I hear it's fashionable now.
Yard sale.
I can't understand the meaning of your statement because it seems you don't understand that the symbol ">" means "greater than". If your are unsure of its meaning/use then just say the words.
As a math major I know you are correct...but as a normal person I can see how it could also mean 'leads to'...like Sponge Bob says...'use your IMAGINATION...'
Well I Had a good attitude going into the weekend but now......
Ah, but when you use your Credit Card, you are creating "money" (currency), and are part of the Fiat Currency + FRB.
Not so when you use cash or Debit card.
I just clised my office & put 5 peoplr on the unemployment rolls thanks to obamacare. As owner i am not eligible for the gummint freebies. Fuku corrupt incompetent arrogant narcissistic illegal indonesian kenyan alien sociopathic pathological lying fudge packer in chief. Fuku.
been there, done that, I feel your frustration. 5 years from now you will still feel like you do today.
why do you you think hundreds of foreigners, including out of work americans, have joined isis? While I don't think their approach is the best path, I understand their choices.
"You have to have money or credit to spend money"
Very true, but even if you do have money, good luck finding anything worthwhile to spend it on.
Restaurants? Don't trust the food or the people handling it, and my wife and sister-in-law are better cooks than you'll find in any restaurant, so friends and family are now the 'dining out" experience in our little group.
Movies? Forget it. Nothing to Hollywood, nothing from Hollywood. Burn Hollywood, Burn.
Bars & Nightclubs? Overpriced watered down drinks, deafening sound levels, overcrowding, and the ever present chance of death by fire or stampede brought to you courtesy of organized crime. Pass.
New car? What for? Our 13 year old Corolla runs as good as new. Likewise our 16 year old Jeep. Repairs? I can do most of that myself.
Computers? Between my 10 year old Mac and my wife's 5 year old laptop, we have enough computing power for a manned mission to Mars. Repairs and upgrades? As with cars.
Clothes? Only what we need, and that isn't much. We shop for quality, as it tends to last longer. We are modest people who make things last.
Cell phones? The only angry birds around here are the chickadees when I forget to put out seeds. It's a fucking telephone. When it breaks I'll get a new one.
Travel? Only for family and friends and NEVER through US territory. I've seen enough of the world to know I don't want to see any more. Happy where I am.
Stocks and other "investments" Right. As with Hollywood, so with Wall St.
What's left? Coffee and the occasional chocolate bar I guess. Can't think of anything else.
We're not rich, but neither are we poor. What we are is sensible and well aware of how dicey the current situation is becoming. So, we conserve, we prepare, but most of all we enjoy the simple things in life such as friends, family, and the great outdoors.
We're not alone either. Everyone I know is in this mode to one degree or another, and they're not poor either - just sensible*.
* sensible is a requirement in our circle - we don't tolerate fools
Great post Ebear. Your circle must be small, being that the vast majority of the population are either out of their minds or just plain stupid - and you cant fix stupid.
Maverick
free_lunch, very clever and funny. I hope to remember and use this. With your permission of course.
Respectfully disagree with that analogy about being dead ,free lunch. Not all, but many know and move forward willingly by grace. Take that however you want.
"Great post Ebear. Your circle must be small,.."
Thanks. Yes it is - about a dozen people, or four families if you measure it that way. All solid people who've known each other a long time. Hard to find that in a big city - more common in rural areas, so I'm very thankful.
Yum! Mutton stew!
Get those fucking helicopters up in the air, Mr. Yellen.
baaa, baaa, baaa, baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah BARRY!
But-but I've tripled my spending on guns and ammo!
"The consumer is not back. They are not coming back. The decades long debt fueled orgy of consumption has long since peaked and we are on the long road to perdition. Confidence can’t cure our disease. More debt to cure a disease caused by too much debt will not save the patient. Our disease is terminal."
I wouldn't say the disease is terminal. But it will take time for the medication to work...once it is administered correctly. The cure should include lower levels of consumerism, lower debts, fewer jobs, lower wages, less tax revenues, less government spending (if that's possible).
But none of those things is ever-increasing growth. How can the economy recover without ever-increasing growth,
Hypnotoad says:
"BUY IT. BUY IT. BUY IT..."
The cure for this disease is more productive work and less theft of productive work.
This disease, like so many others, is a matter of ethics first and then economics.
@toady/@ebworthen
Implicit in my comments is the need to come to terms with lower growth (if not zero growth) and therefore a lower standard of living. Sure, that blows a big hole in the current economic model which requires perpetual growth to pay off debt. But I cannot see that happening given the rising cost of energy and depletion of natural resources.
An entirely new paradigm for economic wealth is required that accounts for the associated costs as well as the so called benefits, with incentivisation towards sustainable outcomes and weighting towards those outcomes with the greatest utilitarian benefit.
Unfortunately however greed and the other deadly sins have corrupted mankind's tendency towards self-preservation to the detriment of our wider species and apparently from the current trend, this will be our downfall.
It stems from the fundamental failing that is religion (or any similarly strong set of beliefs) leading to: I'm right, you're wrong; i'm superior, you're inferior; i'm one of god's chosen people, you're goyim; my nation is indispensable/ you're dispensable...the failing of absolutes.
It's not called the human race (contest) for nothing.
We are genetically programmed to destroy one-another in the flawed belief that it will ensure the survival of our own genes. Darwin's natural selection/ survival of the fittest has been empirically proven, but other species do not create nuclear winter in course of winning the territory/ female to ensure survival of one's genes. We complicate things somewhat.
The simple solution is to stand back and realise that our planet is finite and to maturely apply the currently wasted effort and ingenuity towards outcomes that are in the best interest of us all. But again, greed for a bigger slice of pie is overwhelming and the sadistic pleasure of perceived supremacy intoxicating for the weak of mind.
But I don't think we are currently capable of this without first experiencing a massive cataclysm that will result in epiphany for whoever may be lucky (or unlucky) enough to remain.
We are capable of love, but rarely towards strangers. Our heart of darkness seems to prefer hatred and ignorance.
'i know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.' Albert E.
"...fewer jobs, lower wages..."
Eh?
Nonsense, just look at all that pent up demand out there. Everybody can hardly wait to spend all that money they don't have. /sarc
it's saturday hon, did you take ur meds?
back door barry and his crew just keep on printing everything's fine, until someone shits on his rose colored glasses.
Our nobles have reduced rations and expect more out of their serfs.
Indeed. We are experiencing Feudalism 2.0.beta.
Full 2.0 to be unveiled after the Big Reset.
As long as CBs get to issue and control currency/money for the State, even a decentralized system (of regional powers) are at their mercy.
Ultimately, power resides in creation and control of money, the military and philosophy (worldviews). Whoever controls all three, this "holy trinity", has total power.
In this context, who are your Masters? And can you criticize them w/o fear? Openly?
I can.
Those FED Bankster cocksuckers.
Right Mr. NSA?
Looks like savers aren't contributing enough through zirp. Let them carry some "bail-inable long-term debt."
At least they can say that the taxpayers won't have to pay.
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer
At the "The Great Recession--Moving Ahead," a Conference Sponsored by the Swedish Ministry of Finance, Stockholm, Sweden
August 11, 2014
"Work on the use of the resolution mechanisms set out in the Dodd-Frank Act, based on the principle of a single point of entry--though less advanced than the work on capital and liquidity ratios--holds the promise of making it possible to resolve banks in difficulty at no direct cost to the taxpayer. As part of this approach, the United States is preparing a proposal to require systemically important banks to issue bail-inable long-term debt that will enable insolvent banks to recapitalize themselves in resolution without calling on government funding--this cushion is known as a "gone concern" buffer."
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/fischer20140811a.htm
Inflation running above 5% sure, but I've found in many food stuffs (meats, spices, butter, etc.) that prices have increased double digits, some to the tune of 50% or more.
FUCK THE FED AND THE LYING, CORRUPT, COMPLICIT GOVERNMENT!
August 29, 2014
A letter from a key supplier:
Dear Valued Partner:
In line with today's economic reality, we are not shielded from facing inflationary pressures on raw materials and conversion costs. These inflationary pressures may force us to consider taking some concrete steps to overcome them. (code for increasing prices)
________ is experiencing this in two major areas. first in material costs... Hot Coil Roll, Chrome, Vanadium, Molybdenum, and Manganese. and second in ..... and health related costs.
____________________________________________________________
And of course the lying criminals in charge tell us there is no inflation.
The economic recovery that the media and talking heads have been bantering around does not exist and is just a myth. A manipulated stock market distorted by recent economic policy hides and mask the real truth, in many ways it is ground zero in the war to convince us all is well.
The American people and Main Street will tell you they are far from convinced that it is smooth sailing ahead. Huge weakness in the economy has been shown by numbers that barely get by even after record amounts of stimulus. Fact is if QE or the massive government deficit spending that props up our economy is removed it will fold like a cheap umbrella.
Recent changes in how the GDP is figured , which boosted growth thus reducing the debt to growth ratio, and attempts to spin poor numbers regarding employment have been met with skepticism. More on this subject in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/10/myth-of-economic-recovery.html
all part of Potemkin, USSA.
The show will go on until it doesn't. And then there will be blood. Rivers of it.
You are correct. Perception is not reality. Reality is reality. And the reality is, even if Main St. America is brainwashed into believing things are looking up, they don't have any money to spend. Belief that good times are ahead does not make debt go away.
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
There should be a mandatory class in Senior year High School called, LIFE.
why? are u some kinda anti-government terrorist?
Used to be there were several. Consumer Maths, Home Economics, Home Cooking, Shop, Auto Repair, all brought together home financial management, life planning, cooking, and repair.
Who needs to buy mindless shit when you have everything you need?
Coughs, looks like the saturation of advertising is not working. Who would of thought?
Fuck you advertisement agencies. I block you on the Internet, and switch the channel on cable during commercials. Edward Bernays marketing is dead.
Dead for you & me, maybe, but not for the grazing sheep.
Just wait until the new i-phone comes out and watch the lines of overnight campers vying to be first. OOOOHHHH! Look! It has like a bigger screen, and the camera has an like an extra 5 Megapixels! Like WOW! Like
We have too many computer devices for the two of us.
Both laptops have been dormant for nearly a year. One equipped with Windows 8 was reverted back to windows 7. The Other is touch screen with Windows 8. She uses neither of them. They collect dust.
Once she started using my Intel core 7, everything was to slow. Intel 5 processor is so yesterday. Her words, not mine.
I have a iPhone 5 and iPad, both pieces of shit. They are never used and collect dust. She has a Galaxy 5 phone. She seems to like it. I always goto my workhorse devices, BlackBerry Z10 and Playbook. Apple screen is not going to make me go out to beta test new OS. They fucked themselves on breach of security.
ad agencies are getting far beyond the quaint methods of Bernays now. the technical sophistication of their models means they can extrapolate what you want from what you do, think/type, and inquire about. Philip K. Dick's 'Precogs' aren't far from what search algos can 'see' from data collection, and most people aren't smart (or rebellious) enough to defy the carrot being held out in front of them.
it's why TPTB like ad agencies won't go away easily, or in the near future; they're very good at manipulating perceptions and have dedicated a lot of resources (and lot of damned brain power) to improving the tek. Apple under Jobs was a good example of how people actually WANT to be manipulated (and tracked), all in the name of some nebulous sense of personal satisfaction that comes from a product.
Why are they even allowed to advertise pharmaceuticals that require a Doctor's prescription?
Why are they allowed to advertise car or health insurance which you must have by law?
GREED.
I signed up for 10 different insurance policies. Each one advertized I could save 460.00 per year. I am now saving 4600. My annual insurance coverage is only 1700. So I am netting 2900.00 per year on my car insurance.
Wait till I get health insurance policies in all 52 states. I will be saving 2500 per year on each policy, according to Oshithead. With the 130K in savings I won't have to work.
welp, off to spend my EBT.
It is said animals get nervous before an earthquake.
I would like to think that more people are clueing in that most advertising is designed to create a sense of insecurity that ostensibly can only be cured by purchasing the touted product. That more people are feeling fine in their own bodies just the way they are, and now see these products for the modern snake oil that they are. Also, when you truly accept yourself, the need to impress others (often via "stuff") fades.
I would like to think that more people are clueing in that unprocessed food is usually much healthier for the body, and that changes in diet such as ditching soft drinks, chips, and modern grains, and embracing more fresh vegetables can lead to big improvements in health and reduce or eliminate need the need for prescription medication and associated doctor's visits.
I would like to think that more people are clueing in that just a two mile walk several times a week and daily meditation can do more to settle the mind than some of the most prescribed drugs in the US. And it does so with no harmful side effects.
I would like to think that more people are discovering sites and books that promote minimalist ideas, and realizing that the compulsion to continually collect "stuff" is often due to unrecognized fears, and that less stuff creates an environment that is conducive to serenity, focus, clear thinking and an abiding sense of well-being. And it is easier on the budget.
I would like to think that reasons such as those above are contributing to the nominal decline in consumer spending (it's been declining in real terms for some time). However, I sadly suspect that the main factor is the shrinking pool of real middle-class wage jobs while the population continues to grow is resulting in an increasing percent of the population having reduced earning power. Taking on debt for consumption can only take you so far, and doesn't lead to a good place.
Your news division isn't going to do an expose on a pharmaceutical company that spends millions on advertising on your network....... same with the ads for Boeing and other contractors...
It's all about buying influence.
Don't get me started on big pharma. Some truly useful things have come from that quadrant. However, I've read about far to many instances of incredibly creative defining of drug efficacy that would have made Enron blush; problematic side effects swept under the carpet; and when all else fails, bribe doctors to write prescriptions.
How can it be ethical for a pharma company to mass advertise for a drug that is only availably through a doctor's prescription? Lobbying the MD is bad enough, but lobbying "consumers" who have almost zero knowledge of the product seems very suspect.
I would like to think so, too, but sadly agree with your conclusion.
We've spent a lot more lately, but it's eroding confidence, not building confidence. Property tax tripled (still trying to figure that out), roof repairs cost $, clean, misc repairs, FEES, & paint after rent moved out costs $$$, trips to Vegas & LA with the outlaws cost $$$$....
Now it's all quiet for a while. Hope the accounts recover quickly!
"Property tax tripled (still trying to figure that out)"
Bloated government pensions and inflation protected government employees assure that property taxes will continue to rise.
It won't stop until the carcass is picked clean.
Yeah, but TRIPLED?
I can uunderstand some incremental growth over years, but tripling from one year to the next?
I still gotta figure this out... gotta find last years printout to see which mils went up...
Time to review this: http://olduvai.ca/?p=9430.
"And then we told them wealth would trickle down..."
Trickling down (like the spent semen from her many rapists), down her thighs...
filled to the gills with debt w/ no more credit card offers
Car sales down, check- home sales down, check- retail sales down, check - movie viewers down, check. Recession in 1 2 3 check!
car sales are up it's just the majority are subprimers again.
7 year financing on a car that will be junk in 3 years ? Wait for it- 25 year mortgages on cars !
The Fed politburo has fucked up the real world so bad all price signals have become meaningless.
Let's have a free market in interest rates and see if the country can be saved.
I saw 240 months on a $110,000 Mercedes Sprinter. Fully loaded you could live in it.....that might be a good idea !!!
97 months now offered. That's a year longer than the life of a vehicle.
I am such a loser buying used for cash.
I am holding out for a 30yr mortgage on my next vehicle.
IKR, as long as the sheep can have their shiny new bimmer, camaro, mustang, challenger, or vette all is well. The NFL starts next week too. Happy times.
Oh...I'm spending alright...on the shiny barbaric relics.
Never to be consumed and guaranteed to still be around even after all that plastic has finally degraded.
"my precious..."
"Sheep" Rodger Waters
Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland awayOnly dimly aware of a certain unease in the air
You better watch out
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan and I have seen
Things are not what they seem.
What do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem
No, this is no bad dream.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to lie
Through pastures green he leadeth me the silent waters by
With bright knives he releaseth my soul
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places
He converteth me to lamb cutlets
For lo,m he hath great power and great hunger
When cometh the day we lowly ones
Through quiet reflection and great dedication
Master the art of karate
Lo, we shall rise up
And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.
Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream.
Have you heard the news?
The dogs are dead!
You better stay home
And do as you're told
Get out of the road if you want to grow old.
Big Mac meal now $7.30. Before Obama $3.80.
Also the Big Mac used to have two slices of "cheese", now it only has one.
The fast food index is the best way to gauge inflation because it is the most price sensitive sector of the economy and feeds the majority.
If almost all fast food has doubled in price in six years, you have a much higher inflation rate than 2% a year. You've got close to 20%.
In fact just this year the Big Mac index has seen a 15% increase in average cost. What was $6.25 is now $7.30. With one less slice of cheese which McDonald's claims is $.25. So the actual cost of an equivalent Big Mac meal is $7.55.
You used to be able to feed three people for under $10 at a fast food restaurant, now it costs between $16-$20. Double cost at lower wages.
None of this bodes well for the consumption economy. Maybe waistlines though.
"Big Mac meal now $7.30."
In 1969-1970 you got "change back from your dollar !
So, $7.30/$1.00 is inflation at 730% !!!!!
your problem is using cash!
I order double cheese, extra large fries and 32 oz fizz without problem on da EBT /sarc
No prepared food with EBT, douche.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items
It's very telling that they don't allow vitamin purchases but do allow soft drinks, cookies and ice cream!
Then, read this. All you gots to do is say you you're having problems preparing your own meals.
http://blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com/news-feed/does-your-state-allow-f...
http://www.wggb.com/2014/04/18/ebt-accepted-at-local-fast-food-restaurants/
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_fast_food_restaurants_accept_ebt_cards
http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/shopping-retail/using-food-...
From Howard's article:
On another note, I overheard a conversation between a grocery store cashier and a customer who knew each other during a recent trip to the supermarket. The customer was putting nice food items up on the belt and the cashier said, "I've never seen you buy those before, you always buy the store brand." The customer replied, "I'm done with that [expletive,] I've got food stamps now!"
x
what! only 1/2 as much cheese colored product? it's an outrage
Ever since my first job at McDonalds (1977) , I have used the Big Mac as both a measure of inflation and purchasing parity in foreign countries. A Big Mac cost $.75 and I made $2.25 / hour or 3BMs. Today my local McDonalds charges $4.09 for a Big Mac and pays kids $ 8.00 / hour. So by my back of the envelope calculations:
Inflation = $4.09 / $.75 = 545%
Pay = $8.00 / 4.09 = 1.95 BMs
1.95BMs / 3BMs = 65% ( value of 2014 wages to 1977 wages).
Let's not forget medium size was the standard now you're upsizing to medium or large at extra cost.
One thing we can't really guess how much because how much cellose is now filler in the burger meat...
We have bank reform. We jailed the crooks. So why are consumers frightened?
I am a training developer for a Federal Contractor and my annual salary is roughly $70K. I'm not trying to say anything, just give you guys a cost breakdown of the legitimate state of a middle class worker. Here is a rough breakdown of cost for every two weeks:
Gross income $2,900
Net income $1,668 (this is after taxes, insurance, & IRA) minus the following:
Child support $600
Rent $400
Bills* $350 (these are discretionary and non-discretionary) *this includes fuel and energy costs
Groceries $150
Leaving a whopping $167 left over to cover consumer spending. So, when asked why the economy is in the tank; those that are working to supply the vehicle by which the economy is created are having the exhaust flushed through the ventilation system. I make too much on paper to qualify for any Government entitlements, of which I could sorely use, but don't make enough to "make it". If it wasn't for the minor stipend I receive for veteran disability, I would have no money to "spend" at all.
So for savings - nope. For debt payments - damn near nothing. For charity - I do when possible, but soon I feel like we are all going to be in the soup line.
Cheers.
Not sure if I've told this one yet:
How's a Scotsman find a sheep in tall grass?
Very sexy ;)
So a single person needs 66k a year to be barely middle class, with no life?
Drop the CPS, then it lowers to 51k.Just to have the basics, and then sit at home and do...nothing.
Join the FSA or keep working slave.
DON'T do the math.
rent is only 400? You must live in the homeless shelter or among niggers. Food is only 150? You must only eat beans from a can!
400 for ever 2 weeks. So 800 per month.
Don't talk about the Scots --it should have been the muslim!!!
Child support and taxes. You're a dual slave, the polar opposite of the modern day dual citizen.
"The MSM is so captured by the organizations providing their advertising revenue that their faux journalists don’t even attempt to examine the facts and reach logical conclusions."
+1000
FUBAR.
Just wait till they figure out how to infuse the consumer with more free money.the CFR says to do it and is coming. Just deposit a 100,000.00 in every households check card and tell them they must spend it that would make the economy hum again. Jobs will be made manufacturing will come if they shut of the imports. But that would be way to easy wouldn't it. The money will never be paid back anyway.
"The money will never be paid back anyway."
None of the Fed money will every be repaid by the criminals in Washington and New York (or at least by them).
A point the RoW has now got in spades.
Friend A to Friend B: You can't have everything.
Friend B: Why not?
Friend A: Where would you put it?
In my view people have just about everything they need and the rest they can get on ebay, second hand shops and borrow from friends.
But let's face it. Storage is becoming a big problem.
The sheep are told to fear ISIS, Iran, Assad, Putin, and China. The sheep are told U.S. energy independence is just around the corner… – Jim Quinn
The tyrants who rule America have a problem: the middle class wants to make its own decisions about its life and its future. So the oligarchy needs to knock down that independence, allow the aspects of a Third World Society to develop in the US so its control of resources and labor will be simplified.
The economic lies are to cover the fulfillment of its strategy.
The dream of our Founding Fathers, the dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has been replaced by a corporatocracy’s march to global empire. Any leader who gets in the way of its oil policies and grab for the world’s resources will be undermined – sending in the EHMs, the jackals, the military interventions, NATO encirclement -- be that leader in Panama, Iran (Mossadegh who was replaced by the shah), Guatemala, Chile, Iraq, Africa, Venezuela, Equador, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Argentina, Ukraine… or Russia.
Oil is the key driving force behind empire's imperialist pattern, according to John Perkins (America’s best-known Economic Hit Man (EHM). It is a process that has “involved all the major multinational banks, many corporations, and foreign aid missions from a multitude of countries. The United States played the lead role…”
These players, targeting every country that has resources and coveted by the empire, are “the product of a system that promotes the most subtle and effective form of imperialism the world has ever witnessed,” involving men and women who can be bribed, “recruited by companies, banks, and government agencies,” exploiting not only the peoples of the world but the unity of the world’s ecosystem.
Writes Perkins: “We decry slavery, but our global empire enslaves more people than the Romans and all the other colonial powers before us.” Instead of decreasing poverty, it has increased poverty around the globe (the income ratio of the one-fifth of the world’s population in the wealthiest countries to the one-fifth in the poorest countries went from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 74 to 1 in 1995—1999 UN Human Development Report).
Wrote Perkins in 2004: “Since the original publication of Confessions, the role of the corporatocracy—along with its greed and its willingness to kill its own people, as well as those it calls ‘enemy’—has become more apparent to more people on every continent, including North America…
“These are the times that try men’s souls. We will be faced with increasing acts of desperation by those who feel cheated and oppressed by the corporatocracy. Whether terrorism occurs in Manhattan, Madrid, London, Riyadh, or La Paz, it is essential that we understand that in the long-term these horrible acts will not be stopped by the military or by security guards in airports and along our borders.
“They will only be stopped when enough of us demand that our corporations, banks, and governments cease to exploit the majority of the world’s population and resources and when we insist on dealing with the world from a place of compassion—the very placed envisioned by our Founding Fathers when they wrote:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.’”
Thank you for your candid, refreshing opinion. Being PC needs to die.
The economy is NOT getting better. The FED chairwoman Janet Yellen constantly lies and the media believes her. Obviously she has not talked to the average person on the street, or do her own grocery shopping. She would see food prices rise month after month. How can she not call that inflation?? 5% Inflation is here right now !!
Always a great article. And a whole hearted Thank You for not using that stupid fking "sheeple" phrase.
Give everybody a $1 Million credit lline with a cash advance atm card. Then confidence will be high.
Can i get the option to buy out-of-the money calls on the SPY without having to go to the ATM?
the only income groups that went up
are over 65 years old. The population
of these geriatric groups also increased
substantially (along with 55-65yr olds)
indicating several things...older people
who used to be able to retire early,
or to get along fine
without additional job income
no longer are able to; many older workers
are part of households that can not
get along without their additional income.
This age group is generally
willing to work for substantially less than
younger workers, and since many are
covered by social security/medicare,
employers can avoid medical coverage
.
Many of these older workers are so
grateful to have any job at all that they
are afraid to ask for anything whatsover,
for fear that they will be fired and
unable to find another job.
This article should also include
comparative information by age
group pertaining to average wage
as well as hours worked per week.
I am certain that employers avoid
paying any benefits whatsoever
such as paid vacation or sick leave
by use of part time employment or
employment" as independent contractors".
This article raises one other
very significant question:
Have we entered an
epoch where, for a great
number of the lower
99% income families,
a two income household
is now totally inadequate
to make ends meet??
I think in large cities $200,000 a year family income is the new benchmark for being able to live comfortably. Not sure that would cut it in New York and San Francisco.
A major factor that has radically
affected both wage/income and
consumer spending is the
skyrocketing cost of medical
coverage..
Any year/year comparative data
on income and available
discretionary income for the
lower 99% is totally worthless unless
adjusted for cost medical coverage.
Look at the chart again. After 50 the older you get the less money you make. Also, who in their right mind believes the CPI inflation rate. The young get screwed with education inflation / student loan debt; the old get screwed with medical inflation and zero interest on their savings; and everyone else gets the same general screwing shared by the young and old.
The article rather contradicts itself. If seniors, who disproportionately hold fixed income, are seeing such gains in their income, and the young crowd is falling behind, this means that a continuation of ZIRP is needed until income is finally restored to the younger crowd. Raising interest rates in such an environment would just concentrate more wealth amongst the old and further impoverish the relative young who tend to be indebted with high debt service costs.
You can't have investment w/o savings. Those young debt slaves will only be able to find jobs in finance or gov., thanks to the theft of their ultimate inheritance. Back to work debt slaves!
Too many slaves is difficult to control. Expect final solution soon.
Great piece. Thank you.
The land fill supervisor in my county said they had gained an extra seven years on their capacity because of low amount of construction debris.
When one thinks about it, the banksters know what we know, that the ponzi is collapsing and only more "printing," theft, is keeping it temporarily propped up.
If one agrees that "printing" is theft, then one must conclude that their admonishments to "spend," are actually encouragements for the sheeple to transfer more wealth to them the banksters.
An American, not US subject.
"Don't spend, invest in the post-ponzi world: Guns, gold, grub and ground.
Second kid now going to same college first graduated from a year ago. SUBSTANTIAL tuition increase.
Local property taxes continue their upward climb - despite supposed 'limits' - those have more than tripled in less than 20 years so you can have a paid off mortgage but still be paying well over $20,000 a year in taxes.
Fuel oil that was 89 cents a gallon when we bought is now well over $4
Food..... gets more expensive by the week.
We're spending MORE than we did a few years ago - but getting far LESS for it all. And meanwhile the savings we do have are losing value by the day with near 0% interest and over 8% real inflation.
Government is doing a prety good job of screwing us and making sure we don't have any 'extra' money to spend.
$20,000 a year in property tax? Where? What is the assessed value of your home? You might need to move.
i'm not spending/investing because i'm pissed off. i strive to eat a little less, spend a little less, consume a little less every week. believe it or not my grocery bill is down, mostly due to buying less, but it is down bitchez.
You must eat a lot less if inflation is up!
"All the grandmothers eating cat food thank you Ben and Janet."
No they don't... that shit is WAY too expensive now. Three or four years ago, Nana switched to bulk potatoes and off-brand mac & cheese.
"Our disease is terminal."
But the patient died..........a long time ago. Maybe you haven't been keeping up with current events.....
Hell, my median income is $2400 a year. As long as I don't buy health insurance, pay property taxes or inome tax, I can get by off the grid.
"Substitution" I think is how the E-con explain how things work in the New Normal. You'll have "milk substitute" and "cheese weenies" ...so get used to it!
This producer has zero confidence.
They are confident they've been punched in the face real good, have a broken nose and a severe nosebleed. K?
dud dis mean my EBT gon' get cut off...better aks 'bama...we done tow' him aareddy we wants a extra EBT charge on da fifteenf...yeah, we call him on da 'bama-phone and aks 'em...
Those are Joan Rivers numbers, they look so real until you look at them.
GDP is the figure representing garbage and inefficiency.
Please dont say "trickle down". It makes me excited.
"The oligarchs are getting pissed. You mindless consumers simply won’t consume as much as you used to..."
Why should oligarchs be getting upset when they have most of the money?
As a parasite, to exist they must constantly feed on debt.
Consumption beyond a nation’s means produces debt, debt brings about enslavement, enslavement allows exploitation – that is the Global Empire’s process of ensnaring every person in the world into it web of debt and ultimate power.
Example: Saddam refuses to go along with US’ global oil policies. Iraq is invaded for its oil. Iraq’s infrastructure is destroyed in the process. Bechtel Group of San Francisco is awarded the first major contract in the US’ vast reconstruction plan. Bechtel has longstanding ties to the national security establishment…for instance, one director, George P. Shultz, was secretary of state under Reagan working alongside Casper Weinberger, who served as an executive at the SF-based company before his appointment as defense secretary (NY Times, “Company Has Ties in Washington, and to Iraq”).
The Iraqis then must work with the World Bank and the IMF, institutions in which the United States enjoys wide influence, to reshape the country.” – Elizabeth Becker and Richard A. Oppel, “A Nation at War: Reconstruction. US Gives Bechtel a Major Contract in Rebuilding Iraq,” NY Times, April 18, 2003.
If Saddam had played along with the Global Empire as the Saudis have, he would still be in charge of Iraq today. He, too, would have his US missiles and chemical plants with the US upgrading and servicing them.
To bring down this “system” of enslavement to the US/Israel Global Empire, at which the Fed is the financial core, all that is necessary is to remove the dollar, the FRN, as the world’s standard currency.
Its the weather, way too hot for shopping.
commie anti ussa white house policies and DOJ DOE HHS DHS IRS lawlessness....... AND GROSS INCOMPETENCE.... FOR STARTERS
Central planning will continue until spending improves. Move along, nothing to see here.
Why aren't consumers spending?
Because tax revenues to the fed gov't are at record HIGHS after 0baMao increased tax rates.
That and "folks" trying to pay for health insurance after the 0bamacare fuck up.
Why aren't we spending? There isn't enough ammo on the shelf?