The punishment of the American saver – JP Morgan Chase CEO makes 843 times the median household income and pays his Chase customers 0.01 percent on their savings.
The current financial system is designed to punish old school savers. By definition in our debt based economy those who save are actually taking fuel out of the consumption based economy. Spendthrifts are the high octane that keeps things spinning even if it comes with a high debt price tag. You see this occurring in [...]
The Big Change: Massive financial volatility and the occupation of Wall Street – when the middle class breaks protests will hit the financial streets. Poverty in the suburbs and rising food costs.
When the basic costs of living move up there is bound to be shocks deep in the economy. As we mull over the humbling Census data, it is clear that many Americans are struggling in this modern day economy that protects the banks at the cost of the majority. Let us call a spade a [...]
The coming failure of Operation Twist – The Federal Reserve resurrects a program from the 1960s named after the Twist Dance. Appropriate timing for a Dancing with the Stars nation.
The Federal Reserve has literally run out of ideas. Operation Twist, a throwback to the 1961 action taken by the Fed named after the Twist Dance fad at the time, is now back in 2011. This time the Fed plans to purchase $400 billion of bonds with 6 to 30 year maturities while selling bonds [...]
The banking gears of housing – Bank of America sells mortgage servicing rights on large loan pool to Fannie Mae. 400,000 loans shifted to Fannie Mae with $73 billion in unpaid principal.
Things just seem to get more perplexing with the housing market. Back in August the Wall Street Journal discussed a deal between Fannie Mae and Bank of America. The deal is odd even for the current banking system we have in place. It was reported that Fannie Mae purchased the servicing rights to 400,000 loans [...]
A new gilded age shines on America – 50 million Americans roam the countryside uninsured. 45 million Americans receiving food stamps up by 18 million since the Great Recession began in late 2007.
Much of the country is in psychological denial to the damage being created by the current recession. Some even believe that we are fully in a recovery. Part of this has to do with the way the safety net is designed but also the lack of coverage presented in the media. We have over 45,000,000 [...]
The $1 trillion student loan market begins to implode – Department of Education shows two-year default rates at for-profit colleges up to 15 percent. Student loan debt increasing at a rate of $170,000 per minute.
We seem to have entered an era of perpetual and unshakeable financial bubbles and the next ripe bubble to burst is in the student loan market. Student loan debt has become the fastest growing debt sector throughout the economic recession. Growth at for-profit colleges has been incredible and tactics used at these institutions reflects patterns [...]
How Wall Street and the media forgot about the middle class – 10 incredible charts highlighting the problems facing the middle class. China labor costs, debt ratios, Euro-zone finances, and balance sheet disequilibrium.
The mainstream press and ego driven politicians have completely forgotten about the middle class in this country, pretending as if ignoring the cacophony of discontent would simply make it go away. Both parties are simply doing the bidding of the financial upper-crust and that is why you rarely hear about household income being discussed in [...]
The giant gamble in the desert – how Las Vegas bet big on commercial and residential real estate and lost big. Home prices in Las Vegas now down 60 percent from their peak and nearly 1 out of every 5 mortgages is in foreclosure.
Las Vegas is an economic enigma. A gambling and resort paradise planted in the middle of the barren Southwest desert like an electrical oasis. Very few areas witnessed such a large boom in both residential and commercial real estate rolled into one. In a city known for big wins and even bigger defeats the real [...]
101 years of the most secretive central bank in history – Dollar has fallen over 90 percent since Fed was put into place. Fed running out of ammo with negative interest policy.
Few people realize how secretive the Federal Reserve operates even though it is the central bank to our financial system and wields a sword strong enough to be called Excalibur. The Federal Reserve came about from a secretive meeting on Jekyll Island by some of the world’s top financiers back in 1910 including the powerful [...]
While D.C. and Wall Street burns the middle class flails – top 10 percent control 98 percent of all financial security wealth. For stocks and mutual funds bottom 90 percent controls only 19 percent of total assets.
Part of the unfortunate theatre being played out in the political arena is that little focus and energy is being placed on the issues plaguing the middle class. The interests of the big financial banks continue to dominate what politicians will discuss and the media seems content at rehashing the argument over and over like [...]
