The cascading waves of debt implosion – 5 charts looking at debt leverage, velocity of money, and contagion impacts from the European crisis.
If you inject money out of thin air into the banking sector but no quality jobs emerge, is the result a success? The bailout mission statement revolved around keeping credit available for the American public. The absolute opposite has occurred. A massive internal credit deleveraging has been taking place but the banks have simply hoarded [...]
The young and the jobless – Half of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 are unemployed or underemployed, in the US. Social Security short fall highlights deeper reality of economy.
The news for young Americans doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Earlier this week it was announced that Social Security will be running out of funds by 2033, three years earlier than expected. What this means if nothing is changed is that future retirees will receive only 75 percent of expected payouts. Not a [...]
The big swindle and a fog of debt – hiding the unemployed in the higher education bubble and three years of economic recovery equates to 11.5 million more Americans on food stamps.
A large part of our recovery is running on public relations trickery and smoke and mirrors debt machinery. Let me explain what I mean by this since on the surface we have been out of a recession since the summer of 2009. Government debt is soaring and public debt in certain sectors is flying off [...]
The long debt emergency has arrived – From 1950 to 1980 total US credit market debt to GDP held a ratio of 1.5. Today that figure is above 3.5 with total US credit market debt at $54 trillion.
We are reaching a point of no return with global debt. The US will be running deficits for as far as the indebted eye can see. This isn’t a new or novel trend but the magnitude certainly is. Since we stepped on the deficits do not matter accelerator in the 1980s the US dollar has [...]
Low wage America and the working poor – US has one of the highest number of employees working in low wage jobs of high paying industrialized nations. 1 out of 4 Americans employed work in jobs that pay less than $10 per hour.
Low wage jobs have been a big part of the so-called recovery. What they also signify is a more troublesome trend that continues to eat away at the middle class in this country. I’ve noted that the per capita average income for Americans is $25,000 and many seem to be shocked when they hear how [...]
Educating students to debt – Student loan debt now second largest sector of household debt approaching $1 trillion. 14 percent of consumers have one account in collections.
College debt is fueling the out of control higher education bubble. The Federal Reserve tracks most household debt sectors very carefully including mortgage debt, auto debt, and credit card debt. You would think that they would follow student loan debt carefully. That was not the case until recently. More disturbing however is that student debt [...]
The suffocation of unsustainable global debt – Total global debt is now over $190 trillion and more than three times global GDP. Contagion with European Union.
The biggest market in the world is the European Union and debt problems are still rippling through the global markets. It is apparent with the financial crisis that the global markets are tied together by large banks and interconnected trade. A problem in the largest market should be unsettling and the unemployment rate in the [...]
The phony economic deception machine – JP Morgan Chase CEO earns $23 million in 2011 while 2.7 million foreclosures are filed in the US. GDP at record levels but employment figures down by 5.3 million from their peak.
The US economic and political system is doing an excellent job sealing off opportunities for millions that aspire to be part of the middle class. Many are starting to realize that the system is rigged in favor of large financial institutions and those with political connections. The idea of raw success based on talent can [...]
The creeping cost of consumer inflation brought to you by a lower US dollar – Americans squeezed as inflation filters into the cost of daily life. The uncertain employment market of low wage work.
There are unintended consequences when policy aims at depreciating a currency in favor of bolstering an ailing banking system. The Federal Reserve has been on a multi-decade mission to lower the value of the US dollar. The primary purpose of this mission is to inflate banks into solvency as they try to work their way [...]
