This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

58 Facts About The U.S. Economy From 2015 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

The world didn’t completely fall apart in 2015, but it is undeniable that an immense amount of damage was done to the U.S. economy.

This year the middle class continued to deteriorate, more Americans than ever found themselves living in poverty, and the debt bubble that we are living in expanded to absolutely ridiculous proportions.  Toward the end of the year, a new global financial crisis erupted, and it threatens to completely spiral out of control as we enter 2016. 

Over the past six months, I have been repeatedly stressing to my readers that so many of the exact same patterns that immediately preceded the financial crisis of 2008 are happening once again, and trillions of dollars of stock market wealth has already been wiped out globally.  Some of the largest economies on the entire planet such as Brazil and Canada have already plunged into deep recessions, and just about every leading indicator that you can think of is screaming that the U.S. is heading into one.

So don’t be fooled by all the happy talk coming from Barack Obama and the mainstream media.  When you look at the cold, hard numbers, they tell a completely different story.  The following are 58 facts about the U.S. economy from 2015 that are almost too crazy to believe…

#1 These days, most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.  At this point 62 percent of all Americans have less than 1,000 dollars in their savings accounts, and 21 percent of all Americans do not have a savings account at all.

#2 The lack of saving is especially dramatic when you look at Americans under the age of 55.  Incredibly, fewer than 10 percent of all Millennials and only about 16 percent of those that belong to Generation X have 10,000 dollars or more saved up.

#3 It has been estimated that 43 percent of all American households spend more money than they make each month.

#4 For the first time ever, middle class Americans now make up a minority of the population. But back in 1971, 61 percent of all Americans lived in middle class households.

#5 According to the Pew Research Center, the median income of middle class households declined by 4 percent from 2000 to 2014.

#6 The Pew Research Center has also found that median wealth for middle class households dropped by an astounding 28 percent between 2001 and 2013.

#7 In 1970, the middle class took home approximately 62 percent of all income. Today, that number has plummeted to just 43 percent.

#8 There are still 900,000 fewer middle class jobs in America than there were when the last recession began, but our population has gotten significantly larger since that time.

#9 According to the Social Security Administration, 51 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year.

#10 For the poorest 20 percent of all Americans, median household wealth declined from negative 905 dollars in 2000 to negative 6,029 dollars in 2011.

#11 A recent nationwide survey discovered that 48 percent of all U.S. adults under the age of 30 believe that “the American Dream is dead”.

#12 Since hitting a peak of 69.2 percent in 2004, the rate of homeownership in the United States has been steadily declining every single year.

#13 At this point, the U.S. only ranks 19th in the world when it comes to median wealth per adult.

#14 Traditionally, entrepreneurship has been one of the primary engines that has fueled the growth of the middle class in the United States, but today the level of entrepreneurship in this country is sitting at an all-time low.

#15 For each of the past six years, more businesses have closed in the United States than have opened.  Prior to 2008, this had never happened before in all of U.S. history.

#16 If you can believe it, the 20 wealthiest people in this country now have more money than the poorest 152 million Americans combined.

#17 The top 0.1 percent of all American families have about as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent of all American families combined.

#18 If you have no debt and you also have ten dollars in your pocket, that gives you a greater net worth than about 25 percent of all Americans.

#19 The number of Americans that are living in concentrated areas of high poverty has doubled since the year 2000.

#20 An astounding 48.8 percent of all 25-year-old Americans still live at home with their parents.

#21 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans now live in a home that receives money from the government each month, and nearly 47 million Americans are living in poverty right now.

#22 In 2007, about one out of every eight children in America was on food stamps. Today, that number is one out of every five.

#23 According to Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer, the authors of a new book entitled “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America“, there are 1.5 million “ultrapoor” households in the United States that live on less than two dollars a day. That number has doubled since 1996.

#24 46 million Americans use food banks each year, and lines start forming at some U.S. food banks as early as 6:30 in the morning because people want to get something before the food supplies run out.

#25 The number of homeless children in the U.S. has increased by 60 percent over the past six years.

#26 According to Poverty USA, 1.6 million American children slept in a homeless shelter or some other form of emergency housing last year.

#27 Police in New York City have identified 80 separate homeless encampments in the city, and the homeless crisis there has gotten so bad that it is being described as an “epidemic”.

#28 If you can believe it, more than half of all students in our public schools are poor enough to qualify for school lunch subsidies.

#29 According to a Census Bureau report that was released a while back, 65 percent of all children in the U.S. are living in a home that receives some form of aid from the federal government.

#30 According to a report that was published by UNICEF, almost one-third of all children in this country “live in households with an income below 60 percent of the national median income”.

#31 When it comes to child poverty, the United States ranks 36th out of the 41 “wealthy nations” that UNICEF looked at.

#32 An astounding 45 percent of all African-American children in the United States live in areas of “concentrated poverty”.

#33 40.9 percent of all children in the United States that are being raised by a single parent are living in poverty.

#34 There are 7.9 million working age Americans that are “officially unemployed” right now and another 94.4 million working age Americans that are considered to be “not in the labor force”.  When you add those two numbers together, you get a grand total of 102.3 million working age Americans that do not have a job right now.

#35 According to a recent Pew survey, approximately 70 percent of all Americans believe that “debt is a necessity in their lives”.

#36 53 percent of all Americans do not even have a minimum three-day supply of nonperishable food and water at home.

#37 According to John Williams of shadowstats.com, if the U.S. government was actually using honest numbers the unemployment rate in this nation would be 22.9 percent.

#38 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs.  Today, only about 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#39 The labor force participation rate for men has plunged to the lowest level ever recorded.

#40 Wholesale sales in the U.S. have fallen to the lowest level since the last recession.

#41 The inventory to sales ratio has risen to the highest level since the last recession.  This means that there is a whole lot of unsold inventory that is just sitting around out there and not selling.

#42 The ISM manufacturing index has fallen for five months in a row.

#43 Orders for “core” durable goods have fallen for ten months in a row.

#44 Since March, the amount of stuff being shipped by truck, rail and air inside the United States has been falling every single month on a year over year basis.

#45 Wal-Mart is projecting that its earnings may fall by as much as 12 percent during the next fiscal year.

#46 The Business Roundtable’s forecast for business investment in 2016 has dropped to the lowest level that we have seen since the last recession.

#47 Corporate debt defaults have risen to the highest level that we have seen since the last recession.  This is a huge problem because corporate debt in the U.S. has approximately doubled since just before the last financial crisis.

#48 Holiday sales have gone negative for the first time since the last recession.

#49 The velocity of money in the United States has dropped to the lowest level ever recorded.  Not even during the depths of the last recession was it ever this low.

#50 Barack Obama promised that his program would result in a decline in health insurance premiums by as much as $2,500 per family, but in reality average family premiums have increased by a total of $4,865 since 2008.

#51 Today, the average U.S. household that has at least one credit card has approximately $15,950 in credit card debt.

#52 The number of auto loans that exceed 72 months has hit at an all-time high of 29.5 percent.

#53 According to Dr. Housing Bubble, there have been “nearly 8 million homes lost to foreclosure since the homeownership rate peaked in 2004″.

#54 One very disturbing study found that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either currently have medical bill problems or are paying off medical debt.  And collection agencies seek to collect unpaid medical bills from about 30 million of us each and every year.

#55 The total amount of student loan debt in the United States has risen to a whopping 1.2 trillion dollars.  If you can believe it, that total has more than doubled over the past decade.

#56 Right now, there are approximately 40 million Americans that are paying off student loan debt.  For many of them, they will keep making payments on this debt until they are senior citizens.

#57 When you do the math, the federal government is stealing more than 100 million dollars from future generations of Americans every single hour of every single day.

#58 An astounding 8.16 trillion dollars has already been added to the U.S. national debt while Barack Obama has been in the White House.  That means that it is already guaranteed that we will add an average of more than a trillion dollars a year to the debt during his presidency, and we still have more than a year left to go.

What we have seen so far is just the very small tip of a very large iceberg.  About six months ago, I stated that “our problems will only be just beginning as we enter 2016″, and I stand by that prediction.

We are in the midst of a long-term economic collapse that is beginning to accelerate once again.  Our economic infrastructure has been gutted, our middle class is being destroyed, Wall Street has been transformed into the biggest casino in the history of the planet, and our reckless politicians have piled up the biggest mountain of debt the world has ever seen.

Anyone that believes that everything is “perfectly fine” and that we are going to come out of this “stronger than ever” is just being delusional.  This generation was handed the keys to the finest economic machine of all time, and we wrecked it.  Decades of incredibly foolish decisions have culminated in a crisis that is now reaching a crescendo, and this nation is in for a shaking unlike anything that it has ever seen before.

So enjoy the rest of 2015 while you still can.

2016 is almost here, and it is going to be quite a year…

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Thu, 12/24/2015 - 18:36 | 6961481 ---------
---------'s picture

thank you magical nigger obummer and jew-filth. all usa is still lacking is muslime mass immigrantion

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:24 | 6961603 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Merry Christmas, folks!

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 20:09 | 6961703 Fukushima Sam
Fukushima Sam's picture

Fifty-eight fucking facts people!  Count them!  Fifty-eight facts!

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 20:52 | 6961837 Ms No
Ms No's picture

Yep, that total equals more facts than the MSM reported on all year. 

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 14:36 | 6963285 espirit
espirit's picture

If you like your delusion, you can keep your delusion.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 00:49 | 6962291 PTR
PTR's picture

Michael's on fire.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 10:31 | 6962811 JRobby
JRobby's picture

"#10 For the poorest 20 percent of all Americans, median household wealth declined from negative 905 dollars in 2000 to negative 6,029 dollars in 2011."

How can this math work? It is not like the banks are rushing to the door to give them credit?

EIC

Food Stamps

AHCA

SSA

Housing Assistance

Medicare

All of the above = CONTROL

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 00:40 | 6962276 nomofiat
nomofiat's picture

It's racist idiots like you that keep the machine going.

paint a minority as the source of all evil to divert attention from the real culprits. 

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 01:34 | 6962365 ---------
---------'s picture

   whinie whine nananana   climb on the roof of you house and start crying you pussy

 

fact is fed, banks and money is ruled by jews

fact jews open the broders and promote all kind of immigrant trash

fact jews own the whole media and education system

 

you can eat your shoes now

and the word "racist" and "antisemite" do not work on me

fuck you, become one with your muslim immigrants and explode

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 18:40 | 6961494 Ban KKiller
Ban KKiller's picture

Well I didn't buy an iphone. Is that the problem?

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:03 | 6961543 I am Jobe
I am Jobe's picture

Yes you ar enot compliant with the sheeples ideology Suggest you buy one to blend in 

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 21:10 | 6961883 Seahorse
Seahorse's picture

you didn't eat it

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 18:27 | 6963623 mkhs
mkhs's picture

Billy Dudley said you can eat Ipads.  Was that the computer or the fem hygiene  products?

Sat, 12/26/2015 - 07:10 | 6964694 Pipetex
Pipetex's picture

"You have 20 seconds to comply" -Robocop

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 18:41 | 6961498 Chuck DeBongo
Chuck DeBongo's picture

Those are some pretty frightning facts. I think you can add 2 more to that list (make it a round sixty):

59. People and economists think government bonds and the stock market have real value and that gold and silver are barbarous relics of history.

60. In light of all of this data, people think the US economy is the best place to be in comparision to the rest of the world.

I'll admit Europe is pretty messed up, China is a paper tiger and Japan is on borrowed time; so the US is not in a unique position.

This can't last, but I'm pretty it will hold out until the next US presidential election, Pres. Obama will throw everything at this until his presidency is over; he won't want this imploding on his watch. And for the record, I can't say I blame him. I think all of us would do the same thing if we were in the same position.

Until this all falls over (Goodness knows when that will be), I will carry on stacking. I am eyeing up Bitcoin, but don't full understand it, if someone is willing to educate me, I'd love to hear from you. My biggest problem with it is how is a store of value over, say, gold or silver?

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:09 | 6961555 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Send me your gold and I will send you my Bitcoins........

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:13 | 6961564 Chuck DeBongo
Chuck DeBongo's picture

Looney,

To be fair to me, I did say I'd carry on stacking, so I was clear that I value gold and silver. I just wanted to diversify my assets. That's all...

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 14:39 | 6963297 espirit
espirit's picture

Stack ammo also.

(one protects the other)

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:18 | 6961573 sgt_doom
sgt_doom's picture

And #62, an amazing number of fools believe that Blockchain technology (bitcoinage) is THE FUTURE (oh wow, centralized file on ALL financial transactions accessible to who????)!

And brought to us from Blyth Masters (CDS . . . CDS . . . CDS . . . carbon derivatives . . . carbon derivatives . . . CDS) --- now why should anyone care about that factoid?

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 22:36 | 6962046 Demdere
Demdere's picture

The entire point and technical innovation of the blockchain is that it is NOT a centralized file on a transaction.  Blockchain doesn't care about content, we can encrypt to our heart's content.

Blockchain is a mechanism to enforce consistency in a distributed database system where people might want to cheat.  Useful, I thought.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 13:08 | 6963118 ThanksChump
ThanksChump's picture

Blockchain also relies on infrastructure that might not exist after a collapse event.

7.62mm rounds through 13 routers can end it, one torpedoe to a sea-floor fiber trunk can end it, one big solar flare can end it, and any moderate scale nuclear exchange will end it.

The internet is an incredibly fragile thing, and BTC is 100% dependent on internet service.

I'm trading boxes of Win .22LR HPs for equal weight in gold bullion, or 2x weight in gold scrap. We've got your toilet paper, we've got soap... You need it? We've got it. Follow the people! Follow the bicycles! Bring your barbaric relics today!

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:19 | 6961580 algol_dog
algol_dog's picture

Can someone remind me to short the market Monday - Thank You ....

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:22 | 6961594 algol_dog
algol_dog's picture

Oh Wait - I take that back. I keep forgetting, the stock market isn't the economy stupid ....

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:21 | 6961589 Osmium
Osmium's picture

61. Personal bankruptcy filings up 30% in 2015.

That just SCREAMS recovery.

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/26335616#26335616

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 18:46 | 6961507 Tinky
Tinky's picture

That's all ya got?

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 18:50 | 6961518 boattrash
boattrash's picture

Whew! There for a bit, I thought it was gonna be bad news.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 18:46 | 6961508 ThrowAwayYourTV
ThrowAwayYourTV's picture

Can't wait till this Brown Clown is on his way to anywhere but here.

This guy doesnt have a clue and is being milked by the elite from every corner of the world.

Shit, this guy would take a dive for $1. Go Away! Please!

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:39 | 6961638 thisguyoverhere
thisguyoverhere's picture

I love it when the low information person blames the state of a nation on the puppet in office.

Look behind the puppet to the corporations and members of interlocking boards which run this country.

It is no secret.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:43 | 6961652 Arnold
Arnold's picture

I bet I make this 30 foot put.. and it won't cost you a dollah neither!

 

-- Anon Golfer in Hawaii

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 12:21 | 6963002 quartshort
quartshort's picture

Tell me how much that flight on Air Force One cost again?

Merry Christmas ZH!

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 18:30 | 6963631 mkhs
mkhs's picture

With or without Mitch's entourage?

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 18:49 | 6961514 commie
commie's picture

Yeah. but in Russia things are going great. full employment and high wages,  Thangs to St. Putty.  

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 22:39 | 6962051 Demdere
Demdere's picture

Thank you.  You made me realize that we at ZH can no longer know which side hasbara must be working for.

That is the kind of snark that would get Putin more approval on zh.

Small hasbara tidbits tailored to web sites.  I bet there is a business in that.  "I was a writer for the Army" best seller bio next year.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:05 | 6961549 km4
km4's picture

#58 An astounding 8.16 trillion dollars has already been added to the U.S. national debt while Barack Obama has been in the White House.

Wow !

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:40 | 6961644 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

yeah, someone typed another 1.2 trillion into the database field... yee haw!  we can pay for stuff

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 20:05 | 6961695 km4
km4's picture

no way next President will be able to add $8 Tillion to US debt http://www.usdebtclock.org/ or else USA will be like zimbabwe which now use china currency ;-)

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 22:11 | 6962002 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

It happened.  You can look back to 2008 and compare to present, do on the 31st for cleaner comparison.

http://www.usdebtclock.org/2008.html

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

 

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 00:54 | 6962298 PTR
PTR's picture

Irrelivent.  It's debt owed to a corporation, aka "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."

Why the Right to Vote in the United States is a Fraud

 

 

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 02:39 | 6962426 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

Well, yeah, but the concept of doubling thenational debt by one fukin' president is still newsworthy.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 10:08 | 6962779 drendebe10
drendebe10's picture

Regardless, the illegal Indonesian kenyan alien muslim fudgepacker needs its skin sandpapered off buried in salt then thrown out in the middle of an Iranian desert with a can of Pennzoil.   Fuk da turd.  The CEO sets the tone for a company. The President sets the tone for the country & the US has never been more divided along racial, social, economical, religious & political lines in its history thanks to the fudgepacker. Merry fukn Ramadan from the fudgepacker.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:07 | 6961550 debtor of last ...
debtor of last resort's picture

#59 there's no such thing as a ECONOMY anymore. Exponential growth has become Obamacare, Nato, fractional reserve banking and subprime reporting

The big short ain't no movie bitchez.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:12 | 6961563 SMC
SMC's picture

Zero confidence in the USSA surviving the decade.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:16 | 6961569 Ajax_USB_Port_R...
Ajax_USB_Port_Repair_Service_'s picture

58 reasons to open a pawn shop.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 20:33 | 6961776 FreeShitter
FreeShitter's picture

Just not one in watts or compton california

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 22:16 | 6962013 Ajax_USB_Port_R...
Ajax_USB_Port_Repair_Service_'s picture

How about across the street from here? http://www.wallstreetpawnshop.com/

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 21:44 | 6961950 xyzcracker
xyzcracker's picture

And have a couple of guns handy

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:19 | 6961581 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

All i want is a room somewhere

Far away from the cold night air

 

Oh wouldn't it be Loverly!

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:45 | 6961657 Arnold
Arnold's picture

Nice.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:31 | 6961621 edifice
edifice's picture

I'm "middle class" and can barely survive. Just rent in the Denver area, for a 600 sq. ft. apartment in a non-shithole area, is around $1,300/month ($2.17/sq. ft.)

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:49 | 6961667 Arnold
Arnold's picture

I'd give you my edible Alpo recipe, but I 've had to read a lot of poor doggerel about it.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 21:41 | 6961945 thisguyoverhere
thisguyoverhere's picture

Ha, a former employer encouraged me to "move to Denver" during the oil boom. I knew that as soon as the bubble burst, they'd be firing most of the staff. So we bought away from CO metro areas, in a small town of 20k. Now I work at most 6 mo a year, 1800 sq ft home and a full acre.

Sorry, but following the crowd never ends well. Living away from large cities these days is a good move.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 19:42 | 6961649 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

At least the federal government and political class are exceptionally corrupt ... oh wait

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 20:09 | 6961704 Fred123
Fred123's picture

Nothing surprising about this. This has been 0bama and the democrats goal for years, and they succeeded. Of course they needed help which they got from the GOP in the House and Senate and of course the press. Soon 0bama will give the press a Medal of Freedom and have a choom/bathhouse party with the GOP who made it happen.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 20:53 | 6961839 El Hosel
El Hosel's picture

Yeah, but look how nice the Santa rally worked out... 3% in three days!  "Investors" join hands, form a circle, and start jerking.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 21:54 | 6961967 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

Scrooge - A Christmas Carol - An Adaption of Charles Dickens Classic (1951 Alastair Sim )

24th December; Scrooge to Clerk ' I suppose you'll be wanting the whole day off tomorrow? '

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 22:34 | 6962043 Johnny Horscaulk
Johnny Horscaulk's picture

I forget... Are we all still waiting for a 5th blood moon?

Another shemitah?

Do we wish Judeo-Christian Zionists like Snyder a merry christmas?

Seems like they worship 'Israel' and 'the jew' rather than "The Christ."

Which sort of misses the entire point of the New Testament.

Repent, Snyder - and join a *Christian* Church.
Hint: if they perpetually discuss 'prophecy' or speak of 'Yeshua' they arent Christian - they dont seek salvation through Christ, but through false idol worship... The false idol of 'the jew' and 'israel' as "chosen."

i see a blood moon rising/
I see trouble on the way..

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 23:06 | 6962100 JR
JR's picture

And now a USA Today exclusive from GAZA CITY tells us that after 2000 years Christians, and Christmas, are disappearing from Gaza.

Why?

“Despite the packed pews at Gaza’s Church of St. Porphyrius just weeks before Christmas, Christianity is not booming here. Rather, the worshipers at the 1,600-year-old shrine believe they may be the last group of Christians in Gaza, where they have lived and prayed since the birth of Jesus.

“The ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and the highest unemployment rate in the world are prompting Christians to leave the besieged area in droves, some using the holiday season to their advantage.

“Although Israel rarely grants permits to leave the Palestinian territory, dozens of Christians are allowed to visit Bethlehem and Jerusalem during Easter and Christmas, and some take the opportunity to never return home so they can start a new life elsewhere.

“Today, the population that once spanned 3,000 Christians in Gaza just a few years ago has been reduced to 1,200, and worshipers say the area could be entirely devoid of the religious denomination within two decades.

“’People might think we’re leaving because of Hamas, but no it’s because of ... (Israeli) policies on Gaza,’ Jaber Jilder, an official with the Greek Orthodox Church said, referring to the militant group that governs Gaza and is labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and others.

“Israeli sanctions on Gaza have made freedom of movement and goods almost non-existent, and have contributed to an economy that the World Bank said is on the ‘verge of collapse.’ A United Nations report this year said the 2014 Israeli-Hamas war and the current blockade will make the Palestinian territory ‘unlivable’ by 2020.

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frequently defended the blockade, saying it stops weapons from being smuggled into Gaza and to Hamas....

The Christian population in the West Bank has also been on the decline for similar reasons, said George Abueed, a Palestinian-Christian from Bethlehem.

"Palestinian Christians ... receive no tolerance or mercy from the Israeli occupation. Their land has been confiscated, their houses have been destroyed, and they have been subjected to daily humiliation on checkpoints when they travel," he said. "Same discriminatory measures for everyone. Christians and Muslims." …

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/12/20/after-2000-years-christians-gaza-disappearing/77503936/

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 22:40 | 6962052 JR
JR's picture

The government primarily is responsible for the new demographics of multicultural America. It can’t open its borders exclusively to the Third World and have a welfare state and a high standard of living at the same time.

And for those who believe Pew Research that Mexican immigrants are heading back south of the border, come take a look at California. It’s now official; Latinos outnumber whites in California.

The LA Times gloats: “The new tally, released in late June (2015), shows that as of July 1, 2014, about 14.99 million Latinos live in California, edging out the 14.92 million whites in the state."

Comparing yesterday’s America with today’s America, and leaving out open-border effects on statistics and the culture as Snyder does, is disingenuous. Not only that, its intent is dishonest. And that's a fact.

According to the Census Bureau, 17.4% of the US population is Mexican or Latino (2014 estimate). And according to a comprehensive study of U.S. Census Bureau reports this past September, welfare use by households headed by immigrants from Central America and Mexico is 73% while 51% of immigrants -- legal and illegal -- access welfare programs, far more than the 30 percent of native-born Americans, many of whom, both black and white, lost their jobs to low-wage Mexicans, H-1B immigrants and offshoring.

Of households headed by immigrants who have been in the country for more than two decades, 48% access welfare.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2571257/?utm_content=buffer9363e&utm_medium=social&utm_source

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-census-latinos-20150708-story.html

Sat, 12/26/2015 - 10:19 | 6964866 Pipetex
Pipetex's picture

With the privilege of counterfeiting the world's reserve currency comes some responsability... rest assured America is still taking a lot more from the 3rd world.

 

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 23:00 | 6962088 Holy Roller Empire
Holy Roller Empire's picture

Ya but America is exceptional.

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 23:06 | 6962099 Faeriedust
Faeriedust's picture

A few quibbles:

"#4 For the first time ever, middle class Americans now make up a minority of the population. "

First time EVER?  Unlikely. Poverty levels in colonial and revolutionary America were astoundingly high by modern standards, and starvation was still common in the 1930's.  Probably the first time since statistics began to be kept, or since around 1950. #22 In 2007, about one out of every eight children in America was on food stamps. Today, that number is one out of every five. The inevitable result of linking all government welfare benefits to having children is that the poor will have more children in order to qualify for the subsidies.  Just because they don't have college degrees doesn't make them THAT stupid. According to a local social benefits specialist who works across the hall, welfare families are adept at intricate strategies to maximize benefits by spacing children at appropriate intervals to circumvent the time limits imposed by "welfare reform". And from the inside of the Child Support apparatus, it's obvious that a woman who wants a small but consistent income from the state needs only apply herself to getting pregnant about once every four years to arrange for support payments over at least 30 years, after which she can develop a "disability" and apply for SSI. Naturally, people who get paid for having children will have more children than those who must pay (and PAY) for everything related to having children, and then some.  People who want food stamps, have to have children in order to get them. "#28 . . . more than half of all students in our public schools are poor enough to qualify for school lunch subsidies." See above.  What this comes down to is that the highly-taxed middle class is delaying and avoiding procreation due to the expense and intrusion of government at all levels into family life.  The subsidised poor, on the other hand, are continuing to have kids as if they were farmers in 1880 cranking out little farmhands.  Similar trends in the fading Roman Empire had a lot to do with the early Christian Church banning contraceptives, abortion, and infanticide, all of which had been legal and common methods of restricting family size under the pagan Empire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 07:00 | 6962585 Aussiekiwi
Aussiekiwi's picture

Lets not forget the next step......Soylent Green

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 00:26 | 6962238 assistedliving
assistedliving's picture

tell ur friends to see The Big Short.  It's a start...

Always grateful (even the downsters) WIshing all a Merry Christmas

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 01:42 | 6962372 uhland62
uhland62's picture

... and then what can they do? 

The whole situation looks like the classical junction where you need to distract the population from their misery by starting another war. How the hell does one prevent the hawks from covering up the finance industry's distraction? One million were in the streets of London trying to disssuade the British government from participating in the Iraq War - and yet the government did the dirty deed, The soldiers did not defect. 

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 00:39 | 6962273 HopefulCynic
HopefulCynic's picture

:-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)     :-)

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 00:57 | 6962304 PrimalScream
PrimalScream's picture

taking an objective look at your data ...

Your statistics are describing a country that's on the brink of a Depression, not just a Recession.

If ever there was a time for the World to get down on its knees and pray - this is it!

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 01:59 | 6962394 pitz
pitz's picture

Brink of?  Hell we've been in a Depression for the past decade, if not longer.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 06:34 | 6962566 Aussiekiwi
Aussiekiwi's picture

Sorry, I missed that memo, I thought it was just me!

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 02:23 | 6962415 East Indian
East Indian's picture

Now that the American real estate has been opened to foreign pension funds, sooner than later it will be open to foreign citizens as well. Then the elite of the world will become the landlords, and the American citizens will be their tenants.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 04:58 | 6962519 JailBanksters
JailBanksters's picture

Everything is fine, go back to your homes !

TWAS the night before AIG and not a creature was stiring......

The next day, BOOM Baby, yeah, that's what I'm talkin 'bout, BOOM.

Everything just turned to tapioca

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 06:32 | 6962565 Aussiekiwi
Aussiekiwi's picture

ewwwww, I hate tapioca, looks like worms, but the Kardashians will be OK in 2016, right? and I hear iphone 6's are going to get cheaper in 2016.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 07:26 | 6962611 geo_synch
geo_synch's picture

Besides under-reporting unemployment, you can probably add:

59.  The government has been under-reporting inflation since the 1990s at least. All the numbers showing declining income are actually a LOT worse than the government says they are, and our real GDP hasn't really been growing much in the last decade.

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 08:54 | 6962688 moman
moman's picture

And now you know why they put floride in the drinking water.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 13:50 | 6963194 morethan1
morethan1's picture

Having worked in the drinking water industry for twenty years, fluoride accusations are unfounded. Research dental problems prior to 1900, for instance.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 14:46 | 6963314 dizzyfingers
dizzyfingers's picture

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3890436/ Small study but significant.

More definitive: http://rense.com/general57/flur.htm

Halogens are in toothpaste too!

"Drinking water industry"... doesn't want to address the halogen issue. USGov doesn't force it to do so, so why worry?

This is why: http://www.iodine-resource.com/halogens.html

 

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 10:21 | 6962798 johmack2
johmack2's picture

i am a bit of a sociopath because i consider this is great fucking news. Unfortunately for you americans who never had the "priviledge" of living in a poor 3rd world country you will realise this means opportunities abound,as more and more people are priced out of assets. The prudent few who were disciplined and saved will have access to more debt and thus more assets.  My worry is of course is with americas failing economics we will launch a great war to "refocus" the nations interests, whether that be external or internal threats(i am thinking the latter).  The politics of america is approaching that of argentinian standards and if we examine history Argentina was once richer than america till it faced the same issues. An increasing gap between  wealthy and the poor which led to the rise of socialism which further killed the economy.

 

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 10:25 | 6962805 Contrariologist
Contrariologist's picture

The worst part of all this: fundamentals are dead, and there is seemingly no safe haven from economic oppression. We may get deflation, inflation, or both. We may see cash get banned, or maybe helicopter drops of cash. It might be wise to borrow every dollar possible (in hopes of massive debt forgiveness programs) or to be debt free might be best. There are good arguments for both sides of these dilemmas. We are just so fucked no matter what. And no, we cannot be saved by some politician, regardless of party affiliation.

Fri, 12/25/2015 - 10:59 | 6962858 johmack2
johmack2's picture

best case scenario is to invest in companies that make their money outside of the USA, think argentina and that will give you clues on what to do

Mon, 12/28/2015 - 00:29 | 6969215 onmail1
onmail1's picture

cabals & banksters get richer

rest should rest in grave

(becuz they are Transformers - they think)

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!