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10 Charts Which Show We Are Much Worse Off Than Just Before The Last Economic Crisis
Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
If you believe that ignorance is bliss, you might not want to read this article. I am going to dispel the notion that there has been any sort of “economic recovery”, and I am going to show that we are much worse off than we were just prior to the last economic crisis. If you go back to 2007, people were feeling really good about things. Houses were being flipped like crazy, the stock market was booming and unemployment was relatively low. But then the financial crisis of 2008 struck, and for a while it felt like the world was coming to an end.
Of course it didn’t come to an end – it was just the first wave of our problems. The waves that come next are going to be the ones that really wipe us out. Unfortunately, because we have experienced a few years of relative stability, many Americans have become convinced that Barack Obama, Janet Yellen and the rest of the folks in Washington D.C. have fixed whatever problems caused the last crisis. Even though all of the numbers are screaming otherwise, there are millions upon millions of people out there that truly believe that everything is going to be okay somehow. We never seem to learn from the past, and when this next economic downturn strikes it is going to do an astonishing amount of damage because we are already in a significantly weakened state from the last one.
For each of the charts that I am about to share with you, I want you to focus on the last shaded gray bar on each chart which represents the last recession. As you will see, our economic problems are significantly worse than they were just before the financial crisis of 2008. That means that we are far less equipped to handle a major economic crisis than we were the last time.
#1 The National Debt
Just prior to the last recession, the U.S. national debt was a bit above 9 trillion dollars. Since that time, it has nearly doubled. So does that make us better off or worse off? The answer, of course, is obvious. And even though Barack Obama promises that “deficits are under control”, more than a trillion dollars was added to the national debt in fiscal year 2014. What we are doing to future generations by burdening them with so much debt is beyond criminal. And so what does Barack Obama want to do now? He wants to ramp up government spending and increase the debt even faster. This is something that I covered in my previous article entitled “Barack Obama Says That What America Really Needs Is Lots More Debt“.
#2 Total Debt
Over the past 40 years, the total amount of debt in the United States has skyrocketed to astronomical heights. We have become a “buy now, pay later” society with devastating consequences. Back in 1975, our total debt level was sitting at about 2.5 trillion dollars. Just prior to the last recession, it was sitting at about 50 trillion dollars, and today we are rapidly closing in on 60 trillion dollars.
#3 The Velocity Of Money
When an economy is healthy, money tends to change hands and circulate through the system quite rapidly. So it makes sense that the velocity of money fell dramatically during the last recession. But why has it kept going down since then?
#4 The Homeownership Rate
Were you aware that the rate of homeownership in the United States has fallen to a 20 year low? Traditionally, owning a home has been a sign that you belong to the middle class. And the last recession was really rough on the middle class, so it makes sense that the rate of homeownership declined during that time frame. But why has it continued to steadily decline ever since?
#5 The Employment Rate
Barack Obama loves to tell us how the unemployment rate is “going down”. But as I will explain later in this article, this decline is primarily based on accounting tricks. Posted below is a chart of the civilian employment-population ratio. Just prior to the last recession, approximately 63 percent of the working age population of the United States was employed. During the recession, this ratio fell to below 59 percent and it stayed there for several years. Just recently it has peeked back above 59 percent, but we are still very, very far from where we used to be, and now the next economic downturn is rapidly approaching.
#6 The Labor Force Participation Rate
So how can Obama get away with saying that the unemployment rate has gone down dramatically? Well, each month the government takes thousands upon thousands of long-term unemployed workers and decides that they have been unemployed for so long that they no longer qualify as “part of the labor force”. As a result, the “labor force participation rate” has fallen substantially since the end of the last recession…
#7 The Inactivity Rate For Men In Their Prime Working Years
If things are “getting better”, then why are so many men in their prime working years doing nothing at all? Just prior to the last recession, the inactivity rate for men in their prime working years was about 9 percent. Today it is just about 12 percent.
#8 Real Median Household Income
Not only is a smaller percentage of Americans employed today than compared to just prior to the last recession, the quality of our jobs has gone down as well. This is one of the factors which has resulted in a stunning decline of real median household income.
I have shared these next numbers before, but they bear repeating. In America today, most Americans do not make enough to support a middle class lifestyle on a single salary. The following figures come directly from the Social Security Administration…
-39 percent of American workers make less than $20,000 a year.
-52 percent of American workers make less than $30,000 a year.
-63 percent of American workers make less than $40,000 a year.
-72 percent of American workers make less than $50,000 a year.
We all know people that are working part-time jobs because that is all that they can find in this economy. As the quality of our jobs continues to deteriorate, the numbers above are going to become even more dismal.
#9 Inflation
Even as our incomes have stagnated, the cost of living just continues to rise steadily. For example, the cost of food and beverages has gone up nearly 50 percent just since the year 2000.
#10 Government Dependence
As the middle class shrinks and the number of Americans that cannot independently take care of themselves soars, dependence on the government is reaching unprecedented heights. For instance, the federal government is now spending about twice as much on food stamps as it was just prior to the last recession. How in the world can anyone dare to call this an “economic recovery”?
So you tell me – are things “getting better” or are they getting worse?
To me, it is crystal clear that we are in much worse condition than we were just prior to the last economic crisis.
And now things are setting up in textbook fashion for the next great economic crisis. Unfortunately, most Americans are totally clueless about what is going on and the vast majority are completely and totally unprepared for what is coming.
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Ignorance is bliss so I should not read this? That presumes that I believed the counter bullshit to begin with. I said it before I'll say it now this year big market crash to rival 1929. Bank on it.
Well actually avoid the bank but you can place your bets
Your on to something with that compariison. Was just thinkning 2007-08 was to 1920-21 and the Big was is just starting to take shape.
Agreed. I think that we are at a tipping point and I think that is why all the stops are being pulled. The political elite see it and are aware that they can no longer hide it. This is the reason for the scandals and the attempt at war cover it up, destroy the proof, or kill the population to preserve themselves.
In any event the end is at hand. And soon will be apparent to even the most uninformed.
We are in year 7 of the recovery.. how many more
Layoff / Closing List: http://www.dailyjobcuts.com
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Yea this article misses the point.
You see we are transitioning to an era of post scarcity. A utopia in which nobody dies for lack of sustenance. The government provides everything they determine that you need to survive.
Jobs, wages, home-ownership, etc are a thing of the past. A Relic of a bygone era for the average man.
There are two classes of people in today's America, those who bought the dips and those who are retards destined for poverty.
If you bought 1, (One) S&P e-mini contract when Obama told you to and rolled it to present day you would be up approximately $60,000. That is basically a down payment on 1BR in Manhattan.
No the article doesn't miss the point. The gov
1. doesn't get to determine what everyone needs, and if they did you can bet it wouldn't be proportionate.
2. ppl get what they have mainly on credit via loans, and are expected to pay it back. is gov going to pay it back? if not then your comment is null and void.
3. even if gov were going to hold everyones hands and be the tit on which to suckle, where would they get their money? bad tax collection from bad economy, not enough tax dollars. gov owes money too, not just to US ppl holding bonds, but to many other countries. Once they are unable to pay, they will further tax and decrease quality of life, quality of work, and resulting in even less jobs-damned if you do damned if you don't. Once they can't pay, faith is lost in bonds.
4. you also aren't considering the relevancy of how we have been able to print/loan, and hide inflation due to outsourcing, or from the worldwide demand in USD to for all countries to exchange all products with one another, this is on it's last leg. We have been able to reap a good quality of life from this for years and ppl just think it is cause we are great or we have good work ethic.
Finally, this type of utopia in books like Looking Backward will not occur soon cause robots cannot do all the work that humans can. it makes it easier for our work, but they are not able to replace humans yet. if they were, corporations aren't just going to make this service free. corporations who own the robots will actually have to pay taxes too to support us not working and we all know that major corporations don't pay taxes.
Sez everything about you we need to know. Believe me, it will suck to be you one day.
if ignorance is bliss, then we're having a national orgasm
too bad it's just masturbation
Take a close look at Europe -- high unemployment, many people on the dole, subsidized industries, slow to no economic growth, a bloated and byzantine bureaucracy controlling everything and their fate completely in the hands of central bankers; this is where the US is heading.
I have placed my bets assymetrically. Would I get paid is a separate question.
If it does not happen I am hedged to break even.
Bets are one thing payout is another show. Ha!
There will be no payout when the big one hits. GET OUT OF THE CITIES!!!
Yasou koritsi,,,
;-D
"this year big market crash to rival 1929. Bank on it."
Too soon.
The forces in play (and they include the Controlling variety) are aware of all of this; and the game continues.
There is nowhere to go, anyway.
1929 will come when controlling forces lose control, by no choice of their own.
Right. Another round(or two) of QE first. One that's big enough to drive foreigners out of more than 50% of dollar based trades. So big that it promotes starvation in some Asian countries, like Egypt a few years back.
I still think this is a possibility;
http://redefininggod.com/nwo-schedule-of-implementation/ A manufactured reset, at our expense.
How are you banking on it? Cant bet in other currencies, US equities wont keep up with inflation if it goes parabolic, gold is dangerous but might have its place for a portion of your wealth.
Im young so Im buying stuff and learning what I can. In a lot of ways its easier to protect $10-20k than a portfolio large enough to justify more sophisticated methods. Im looking at pulling the trigger on that AR build Ive been researching, quality shoes/clothes and outwear, maybe Ill get some furniture built well enough to last a couple decades (I could even crank up my leverage on one of those low interest deals), eating right and going to the gym.
Worst case scenario, Im right and dont lose my life savings to inflation. Best case, Im wrong and end up like every other 20-something who spent their cash rather than saving.
Good idea man! Diversifying your capital the way you are is the best "bet" anyone can make as far as I'm concerned. I recommend people check out aquapontic systems, and the basics of solar energy collection and preservation as well. There are ever better options to our current system emerging every day!
Buy a small piece of productive farm land.
Gotta say that advice isnt within the realm of realism. A piece of productive farm land and the equipment to utilize it is not going to be a small investment. Most of us live and work in cities and would not be able to maintain it anyway.
The world has never gone 'Mad Max' overnight in human history. The worst that has happened was the dark ages following the collapse of the Roman Empire - a collapse that spanned centuries. If shit hits the fan in the worst kind of way, we will have a supply chain collapse in the short term, maybe civil war or other conflict, but we wont fall into anarchy overnight. I keep food, water, toiletries around my apt but its unreasonable to abandon your entire way of life for downside protection. Its silly to give up everything you know but your family and pulse on the assumption that you might be able to preserve those two things if an event that has never occurred before actually happens.
Im taking the approach of being friends with the person who owns that productive farm land.
Here's why it's called the dark ages, by our masters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury
"The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense where interest rates may be regulated by law. Historically, some cultures (e.g., Christianity in much of Medieval Europe, and Islam in many parts of the world today) have regarded charging any interest for loans as sinful."
Now, that they have started banning bankruptcy (the ultimate counterbalance to usury) for student loans, slavery has officially returned.
And here's the moral justification they use, from the old bible(gramps called it the jewish bible);
Realistically that is an option for 10? Maybe 15% of the population. For those who don't have the means to take that step there are other more accessible options. Any necessity you can provide for yourself grants one a little more freedom from an increasing oppressive organization.
Buying 'a piece of productive farmland' is a common (and to an extent, wise) refrain. One must keep in mind however, just where we are in the context of a government increasingly going 'rogue', and how that will translate into issues of 'private property' going forward - as if that issue hasn't already manifested itself many times over already for at least 25 years & counting...
In short, if you happen to be lucky enough to live on a piece of 'productive' land - that isn't too big and is located far out of the way enough to not be worth the time nor hassle of taking it from you with Force-on-a-whim, then perhaps Ok...
Many Americans seem to have this mental block when it comes to a semi-chaotic unwind of the U.S. economy - that they're somehow going to be 'safe' from the prying mitts of government, just because they have a piece of property in Podunk Montana... In a situation like that, ~Anything~ you own or have under your possession is going to be fair game for (attach heavily armed alphabet agency acronym here) at ~their~ discretion, under whatever Pretense the 'authorities' (Congressionally approved, or Not) decide...
Have a place. Have like minded individuals in your circle. Have storable food. Have defensive weaponry. Have some tools. Be prepared to be as 'mobile' as practical.
Ballin D
If you're in your 20s and reading this website, you have already won, in my opinion. Your post and presence on ZH indicates you have a really good idea of what's going on around you. I wish I had more awareness just 10 years ago. Being awake and in your 20s? Priceless.
When it happens, and it will happen, then yeah, EPIC. I'm not going with this year though. I believe it'll be next year. Exceptional volatility ought to remain with us (and I like that). I believe this shit is engineered. It's global and systemic.
It's also part of a plan.
yes, but just one problem . . . the feds will never allow another market crash. They've shown their ability to print, bought all the real estate paper, most of the treasury debt, why not all the stock market? Traditional economics and finance seems obsolete, there is no market to hold them accountable . . .they have become the market. Money printing continues and to what end? Relatively tame inflation, golds in the tank . . . why couldn't the fed just forgive the debt and take it off their books. Who's going to hold them accountable? My only question is if debt doesn't matter, why are we paying taxes? I've come to question everything learned throughout the decades . . .
I do wonder about that - the Fed keeping the market permanently pumped up. Will people really keep flooding money into the markets is earnings are horrendous? I guess it has happened in the past but there eventually was a correction. Makes me wonder.
works for Japan
(until maybe it doesn't)
good point on wiping out the debt. reason they won't, is that until it gets out of control ,is usery; billions in interest going to their banks with the taxpayers(labor) working for their policies of printing(no labor). our labor is their reward to service them with luxury. totally fucked up dude! FUBAR and we all whistle as we work- FUCKING JOKE ON US...
Think 200+ nations and massive counterparty risk. Someone's gotta pay the piper. Someone will be left holding the bag, and the protest for that happening will be huge (wars). Once that unwinds, and confidence leaves the system, then it collapses. So they are trying to avoid that, but what can they do about international counterparty risk?
It's fascinating that on many of those charts things started going south about 1971 when Tricky Dick decoupled the dollar from gold. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Yeah, that's it, I'm sure it's just a coincidence.
Not a coincidence at all. And it is fascinating - but only to be appreciated in retrospect, over a period of 40 years or so. It was a big move in a big nation with a Big economy. Moving 'Big' things takes time, but eventually the 'move' reaches a speed where acceleration begins to ramp dramatically, which is perhaps where we are right now.
Great article to send to people who don't realize just how bad things are.
Short, sharp, to the point.
Most likely the people that one will waste one's time on sending this article to will reply back that one is a fool and have missed out on so much profit, and will parrot every point that has been said on MSM ad nauseum.
I had this exact same conversation recently with a relative.
If they have not figured out the parallels to 2000 / 2001, 2007 / 2008 by now, one will be much better off doing something much more constructive with one's time.
Agreed .. useless to try to get those on board who haven't, on their own, started to 'study up'. Cognitive dissonance on high, the 'fight or flight' primative part of the brain is screaming "WARNING" the intellectual side (fed by lying pols and the MSM) is reassuring "WON'T HAPPEN HERE".
The primative side will take over only when the store shelves are empty and hungry people can no longer dilude themselves.
It's like I was telling the woman who comes to clean my house once a week, not to sound Biblical or anything but it's like all the pieces are falling into place for the perfect storm where everything will hit the fan all at the same time. Stock up on what you can and try to stay out of the shitstorm when it happens. Good luck y'all!
I am not suggesting you are wrong. I didn't know Buddhists could be angry. I thought they achieved nirvana or inner peace :)
buddhists can be angry, buddha cannot.
nirvana cannot be achieved.
Harvard is teaching people mental illness.
...as normal reality.
"It is no measure of success to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" - Krishnamurti
They need war. That's what it comes down to, in the end. They need a huge conflict to really get the two minutes of hate flowing, so that when the rotten facade falls apart someone foreign and far away can be blamed. It's pathetic and sad, but really, can you blame them? They aren't very bright and it's always worked for them before. Of course, they've never been this far down the rabbit hole before either, but they don't care about that. The worst thing of all is that nothing from history makes me think they won't get away with it.
They need a war and we stupid plebs will give it to them by enlisting in their armies. I dream of a moment when every man in the world says "fuck it" and just walks away from their armies.
As stupid as the oligarchs may be, they are far more intelligent than the masses.
John Lennon died for singing about that dream.
The war solution works only when you win the damn thing ! Due to a combination of structural deficiencies in our economy, social body, but also sheer intellectual incompetence across the board, we are not capable of that accomplishment anymore even when it comes to a mediocre war, much less a full blown intercontinental affair. The good news is that a war will finish our present PTB for good. The bad news though is that unfortunately, it will also finish us first...
Eveything that you have said is true; the problem is that psychopaths are literally incapable of conceiving a scenario in which they lose.
Sometimes they don't. They will probably pull off the event, but odds are it won't end well for them personally. They might not get the happy ending they think they deserve. They might get one like Benito Mussolini.
War or revalue PMs to cover the debt. War at this point would only make the debt situation even worse, even if "victorious" - but against the duo russia/china along with the rest of the BRICS... I have my doubts the US can prevail militarily. Either way, the real economies of the world continue to collapse and they are printing like mad to make up for it (monetary inflation for which ZIRP and NIRP are prove). It looks to me that very soon only bad and hard choices are left, and they will all be bad for the 99% and possibly even the 1%.
Alternate scenario, maybe a few years out.
http://redefininggod.com/nwo-schedule-of-implementation/
I was just watching "Inside Job" the story of how the 2008 collapse happened. From reviewing that documentary, it is easy to see what caused the crisis, it is even easier to see how nothing at all has been done to correct what caused it. In fact, "Inside Job" sounds like the actual play book for what we are doing right now again. Only this time even worse. Because this time the debt is higher, the stock market bubble bigger, the government debt bigger, the central bank balance sheet totally out of control, interest rates already at zero.
The next bust will be 10X worse, and unfixable by monetary dicking around, tax payer bailouts or central bank intervention. We have staked the entire nation of an ocean of debt and government borrowing, and central bank printing. All that can't stop the coming disaster.
No wonder Washington is working us into a major world war. It is the only option left. Full scale global war. As if Russia was not enough. Washington has just issued a severe threat to China. Get out of the South China sea, or the USA will kick you out. Not in those exact terms, but reading between the lines, that is the essence of what Washington said!
"Get out of the South China sea, or the USA will kick you out. Not in those exact terms, but reading between the lines, that is the essence of what Washington said!"
I'm sorry, but that is an utterly empty threat, bordering on the preposterous. There is no way in hell that the US will ever do anything to oppose China. How can we, when they make just about everything there is? If China decided to stop shipping their junk to the US, the store shelves here would be bare in a week, and just about every item on Amazon would say "currently unavailable."
Boy, weren't NAFTA and GATT just the best treaties ever? Gosh, I can hardly find the words to say just how much I love those treaties and all of the toxic swill that followed in their wake. And now we get to see Hillary run for President, so that we can be perpetually reminded of just how great those treaties are every time we see her face, being as she was on the team that enacted those treasonous outrages in the first place.
An empty threat? The USA is building a major military installation in Australia right now for this very purpose
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/world/asia/obama-and-gillard-expand-us...
These type of investments are made in a longer term basis then you would think. America is a war mongering nation. It is a massive business that will not be curtailed by fringe opposition.
A major world war is coming. It has been in the works for years
agreed, if China halts imports, ppl are gonna loose it. Hyperinflation. Hope you have enough crap around the house, cause all you'll be getting is food. but that is short term, long term, this is a good thing as it will open the opportunity for us to create what we consume ourselves offering a proper cycle of production and consumption. And the products will be better quality.
A manufacturing renaissance. Smart money right now is going to detriot real estate and factories-and China is betting on that too. They are covering all the bases well.
I could not finish watching Inside Job, for my blood was boiling too much.
I have not become that angry from watching any documentary before or since.
Yes, NOT. ONE. THING. has been fixed since then, and I do believe that 10X worse is being VERY conservative.
When IOUSA came out, I had essentially the same personal effect. I went to the theatre in 2009 and watched the whole thing. The graphs are heavy, but for someone with a functional cranium it was nearly too much. Now the stakes are so much higher and it won't turn out good at all. You are 115%+ spot on. NOTHING has been fixed and the reasons for it are so numerous. Greece ain't nothin'. When the multiple trillions of Mount Everest of garbage crap Derivatives comes home to roost, millions won't know what hit them! At least a few of us tried in vain to warn them. One Arkansas representative certainly got an earful and didn't expect someone in the audience realizing to the degree just how awful the Ponzi was then, but I did quadruple $$ on the land I sold 4 years earlier. I see more leveraging on the horizon if properly timed (for the few of us with any $$ left, that is!)
"No wonder Washington is working us into a major world war. It is the only option left. Full scale global war."
It is not the only option. It is the option they choose to protect themselves.
Print or die.
Print and die
Die while printing
Print while dying.
Brings a whole new meaning to the word
UNSUSTAINABLE
This time is different in that there is the Internet. There is a critical mass of awakened people all over the world now and the curtain has been drawn open. Many people refuse to look but many like us will and have. Their centuries of deceit and fraud only work when they control the information. This time they do not and cannot. This time is different and they know it. It will be bad and many will suffer and wonder what happened. But this time the autopsy will be done and the truth will be known. Whether they get away with it is another story. Even those remote island locals need supplies. The world is now too small for them to hide.
The Internet was developed by and for DoD. Do you really think it'll be available during the next global war?
Considering how Russia today has a SWIFT system which they're prepared to wiggle the middle finger of enlightenment at the bank$ters, it's not a stretch to consider two things:
1) You're correct in thinking the internet will likely have a large chastity belt with huge "Do Not Enter" letters embossed, but...
2) An alternate internet could well spring up. If privately funded or owned, it could even be argued outside the Fed's authority. So much for net neutrality if the primary internet is neutered already. The bottom line as I see it - the Genie is out of the bottle and there ain't no shoehorning him back in.
There's enough hackers waiting in the wings to keep things interesting, despite the other noise. I'm surfing to Pastebin to see what new leaks there are.
But isn't the internet like finding out you just had a car accident and your house burned to the ground? We just have better seats to watch the deterioration. All questions will be answered as the ship sinks. I don't see anyone getting up out of their chairs yet. Few people take any tangible action, like even write a letter. Most people don't even have the ability. Too much TV has ruined their brains. We are getting ready for a major flush of some kind, and I don't have a good feeling about it.
The Ministry of Truth will make use of the i-net.
The Millenneals Gen X are getting most of their info via internet. The whole Russia is evil Ukraine ISIS IS ISIL talaban fear mongering and shift of blame on others is no longer holding much weight. They are being seen for as what they are, actors. TV is just acting. It's a damn show. But some idiots still believe it, and they shop at walmart and act like patriots with thier eagle and flag in the back window of their truck. They think they are patriots for hating Obama and want to reelect Bush-that'll fix Merica alright (sarc)
but...but...but.....
the operative and actionable question is.....when?
i've been nibbled to death by ducks watching my portfolio wither away, as i have been expecting this for far too long.
But when it happens, you won't have a breakdown, freak out, and die. Most will not be so fortunate. They will be unable to accept what has happened, and perish no less confused than the deer in the headlights. All the while, "But,..I have,..I own,...how can this....". Lights out.
I am starting to think ignorance is bliss. I look at the charts and there is nothing I can do about them. My vote doesn't count for beans.
I don't know if the underlying data is accurate or based on government bullshit.
Why do I torture myself reading this blog?
I have been doing it for years. Meanwhile I lived in three countries and some of the inhabitants are living in a hell as it is, or we think it is a hell. I read someplace yesterday that the ten countries with the happiest occupants are all in Latin America.
How can that be when we are told they are third world?
I think I will stick to ignorance is bliss, seems to be the best way to achieve some peace. :)
The good news.......
There is no fucking good news.
Is this what the late 70s felt like?
Kinda, except the media were not 100% in the tank for Big Government and Big Corporations. We had 5 channels on TV at home, too, as I remember, yet even as a little kid I knew things were rotten in the world, and the U.S. economy.
I think it was a little better in the late 70's, at least some investors in flipping residential housing thru remodeling was still banking on making a profit.
But starting in 1980 those hopes faded away.
In 1984 I completed my first spec house and had trouble selling it. I remember asking the realtor when she thought things wound start to pick up and she said hopefully when mortgage Interest rates went below 10%. 1 yr latter as it was.
And here I sit with mortgage rates at 3-4%, have a business plan to make some good money for investors and workers in micro houses and whose fn me over, local government. (Zoning, building department)
Theses government A holes are focused on their liberal utopia while all around them is falling apart.
You try to explain this to them and it's like talking to an Alzheimer's patient. This attitude will continue as long as they receive their paycheck.
You are exactly right. Builders cannot adapt housing to the changed demographics because of the local govt/zoning alzhimers afflicted functionaries. Macro lewey bodies. Nothing can be done.
This is a crucial POI for me. The modern dwelling and relevant regulation is completely out if date. The post modern home should offer all necessities.
"it's like talking to an Alzheimer's patient"
That's hilarious. Most of the people I know aknowledge an awareness of our 'country' being screwed up. I believe most people living in this 'country' believe the media is a hoax, that our 'leaders' are pathological liars who behave like two opposesing criminal gangs rather than as public servants and that the 'economy' is as corrupt and and as failed as our 'political system'.
Not many of the people I know understand how GLOBAL this rot is though. All this hysterical squealing over so called "global warming" is particulary offensive. Humanity is being set-up for the most calamitious financial collapse ever experienced on a global scale.
1982 I think was the key year, when all the vital statistics of our financial system and government spending started veering out of control. We didn't feel it then, but now we are. I'd have to say the best times were late 1950's until maybe the late 1960's. We will never, ever see that again. Without question, the golden age of America. 1970's wasn't that bad. This is bad and getting way worse. Our economic vitals have never been worse, and unlike earlier times, when everyone pretty much expected a recovery, most people I talk to that have a clue don't even see how one could happen now.
If debt were the answer wouldn't the economy be booming?
Appears we're heading into a recession. "Solution is more debt"?
Not like we have a problem of food or energy production. Appears the "solution" is outright default "in a time of riches."
When you have nothing and owe everything, and what you borrowed has run out, everything will be wonderful. Now just keep repeating that over and over: "Everything will be wonderful, Obama tells me so!" Put a melody to it, it gets even better.
So the algos will push the dow to 20k.
Dow 18.5K and Nasdaq 5100 then look out below.
I keep readiing of this crash and yet year after year they keep increasing our debt so whats the difference of lets say 50 trllion in debt that would take us to 2025? So never fear the normalsy bias is here. Really considering I am prepared for anything and life sucks burn baby burn you cant get ahead anymore in the USSA fuck Barack H Obama and all the roaches in Washington BC
Bullardish
the recovery is still recovering! Will raise rates in Jan no Feb no March no April no MAy no Jun no Sep!? Seriously!?
Ignorance is never bliss. It's idiocy.
The bastards are in complete control. They can starve us out anytime they want or worse. There will always be pigs willing to do their bidding for a few pieces of paper so they don't have to get their hands dirty. Then there are the patriots, and the biblethumpers that turn the other cheek and the idiot slobs that watch TV and collect handouts. As long as there are assholes like us that keep running after imaginary worth and value, there is no hope for better or saner, they will keep the jack-boot firmly on our necks.
What we don't know is exactly what hurts us. Have a good day!
Remember the people that were responsible for the success of the boom years prior to 2008?
The "wealth creators".
What happened to them?
1) Did they all die?
2) When the going got tough did they retire to their luxury yachts waiting for someone else to sort out the mess?
3) Were they abducted by aliens?
Where are the "wealth creators", answers on a postcard to Barack Obama, the Whitehouse.
Its not all doom and gloom, there are also a few rays of light here and there.
Small positive advances that many seem to overlook.
Like religion for example. The Catholic church who was frozen in time, slowly withering away, stumbling from one scandal to the next, is going trough a much needed period of recovery.
Benedict started this revolution of new thought that is sweeping trough the religion, and Francis keeps the fire burning, along with all those who care about this religion.
People are also more open minded and more independent in thought.
If you would imagine that there was a war going on between the elites and us sheeple, it used to be so that if a brave sheeple would jump out of the trenches and charge across the enemy lines, an army of sheeple would jump up and start firing. And when the brave sheeple would finally dive into the mud, 99% of the bullets would be in its back.
This has changed somewhat in recent years, as sheeple like myself realize that the elites that try to run the world may not be working towards our best interests.
Things that have held us down, like gender inequality, racism etc, are also fading away. Slowly, but surely.
Racism was basically on its way out in the sixties. Why would anyone who works for a living want to not have a huge part of the population gainfully employed and not supporting themselves? Otherwise, whoever is working pays. Keep in mind in the 1950's unemployment rate among blacks was virtually zero. But they fixed that, didn't they? Now it's 20%, more for black teens. What's a government to do? Easy: pick up the Communist playbook and blame it on "racism".
It's not a race war it's a fucking class war!! Anyone who says racist is victim of disinformation.
"gender inequality" whatever. I was in the service for more than one term and the regular workforce. Women have it easier than men in the workforce. You know with their sensitivity and feminine "needs"
SO STFU about this equality crap regarding gays, minorities, blah blah. It's about $$, class warfare and class inequality. Do they give a shit if you are gay black or have a vagina? THey just want $$ it's about $$ the rest is "social issue" diversion. These social issues are caused by one thing: $
American Goy will look at those charts and say employement is on the mend, as he suits up to liberate another country he's never heard of before.
Excellent article.
This link is for a newsletter pitch, but honestly, the James Rickards piece is worth it. It basically covers everyone of these points.
http://pro.moneymappress.com/MMRBSSH39PPM3/LMMRR364/?h=true
This one is helpful:
Seven Early Warning Signs of the Collapse
1. The price of gold
2. Central Banks Increasing Gold Holdings
3. IMF Governance Reform
4. Failure of the regulatory system
5. System Crashes (technical system crashes, ie, NASDAQ computer 'glitches')
6. End of Quantitative Easing
7. China's collapse
(So it appears Hilary's plan to put us all in Adult 'Fun' Camps to deal with our white anger, Starbucks inciting 'race' discussions, having banks report cash withdrawls above $5K, and now SOCOM/Delta force pressing the flesh with policeman in Utah and Texas is just the tuning of the orchestra.)
Two things the article forgot to mention, Congress controls the money & direction to a great extent, & all of those steep changes of the graphs/economy are & have been intentional.
wwxx
So after this crash, do they "fix" it like they fixed the last crash? And will that be just before or after the nuclear war?
Depressive charts give me orgasms.
Bullishski....
How do we get uncorruptable "National" leaders who really care ? System is rigged to perpetuate what we now have. Only catalyst for change is economic collapse or more of the same. Jack Burton for President, Latina Lover for VP and David Stockman Sec. of Treasury. Abolish the Fed. Just daydreaming
this is the new normal. you have to got to post ww2 england to see the near future for americans. a dying empire is no fun place to live without money.
We just haven't printed enough, yet...
#3 The Velocity Of Money
When an economy is healthy, money tends to change hands and circulate through the system quite rapidly. So it makes sense that the velocity of money fell dramatically during the last recession. But why has it kept going down since then?
Yeah, and notice some of our FRED Charts are "New" and don't go back very many years. The FED also changed the way they measure Velocity and never talk about the Multiplier Effect. I believe John Williams uses something more a kin to the MZMV which topped out in 1981 after the high in Manufacturing in 1979.
But I like Michael Snyder's Work.
#6 The Labor Force Participation Rate
There seems to be something Unique about US Consumers and the Labor Force Participation Rate. We know that the US Consumer Markets are the most sought after in the World. But... there is a deeper story of how the US is the most productive (or nearly so) in the world. How the US People want to work for others and give up free time and leisure. How US People are drawn to work for big organizations.
If you look at other countries the work participation rate is not so different maybe. And maybe the data is not considered accurate. A woman's work at home is often not counted I would guess. In third world countries probably people scrape by with picking produce, fishing, picking scraps or recycling, making what they can with their hands, asking for work in the community.
I think the Lower US Labor Participation Rate not only hides people that want to work full time, people that can't find full time jobs, but that the problem is much worse than the data shows since we have high expenses and strong cultural Bias for both men and women to make "good" money.
#8 Real Median Household Income
This FRED Chart is inadequate since it only goes back to the year 2000 and clearly was falling in 2000. Would really like to see a Graph going back to 1979.
Weekly and hourly earnings data from the Current Population Survey
Series Id: LEU0252881600
Series title: (unadj)- Constant (1982-84) dollar adjusted to CPI-U- Median usual weekly earnings, Employed full time, Wage and salary workers
Year Qtr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Annual
1979 339 334 325 328 332
1980 324 314 315 317 318
1981 317 311 304 314 312
2012 337 335 329 336 335
2013 334 333 330 337 333
2014 339 328 332
Constant Dollars, Weekly Earning same in 1979 as 2014.
It is begginning to look like realestate Christmas in TX where there is a yard every 100 yards on every street. I remember when a home for sale was a rare item in a neighborhood and ussually because someone was moving to a new job or had passed away. Now, I often see streets in Houston where almost half the homes are being sold. Very much like 2007!
I have to say that I too believe this.
As you inflate the economy fed 101 you leave the bottom way behind. If food prices are based on min wage of 4.55 an hour.
Even if you dont have a job you can feed yourself with odd jobs.
When a trip to the grocey store cost 200.00 bucks you are not odd jobbing it.
even if you have a pert time job you need food stamps to make it.
So more and more at the bottom will not only qualify but actually have to apply.
And any ideas about how to kick them off instead of how to get them more.
Is a failure to grasp the result of your fed's policies.
To bring the number of people who show up asking for because they need help feeding their families is to get rid of the fed, and its inflate no deflation at any cost fed.