American incomes and low wage America – top 1 percent earn above $343,927, top 5 percent above $154,643, top 10 percent above $112,124, top 25 percent above $66,193, top 50 percent above $32,396 – Over 68,500,000 tax filers, 50 percent of the country, make $32,000 a year or less. Food stamp usage peaks at over 46 million.
A recent report regarding income has thrown a few people off. I think many Americans fail to realize how many people are barely making it day to day financially. Do people realize that we still have 46,000,000+ Americans on food stamps and this coincides perfectly with the booming market in dollar stores? These are not […]
The day of reckoning for global total debt – total credit market debt up from $28 trillion in 2001 to $53 trillion in 2012. US consumer debt went up in last few months but largely because of giant amounts of student loan debt taken on.
You have to really question what passes for financial analysis these days. One financial show was discussing the recent increase in consumer debt as something positive. In the same breath this person also said that households increased savings. Now think about this statement. If you financed a $2,000 vacation on your credit card but increased […]
United States of Dollar Stores – dollar stores see a rise in households making $70,000 a year or higher as a customer base. What does the rise of dollar stores say about the middle class?
Before 2000 dollar stores were largely seen as a bazaar of quirky trinkets and plastic oddities. Many sold excess volume of products, even selling old Super Bowl t-shirts of teams that did not win. Yet the dollar store of today is not the one of even one decade ago. The disillusionment of the middle class […]
The banking protection racket – 5 charts highlighting the laundering and dismantling of the middle class. New methods of looking at employment. Peak debt and tweaking statistics.
Part of the crushing blow to the middle class is the misinformation being lobbed out as good economic news. For example, inflation is increasing yet the average American worker pulls in $25,000 per year. You also have the civilian population ratio still at levels last seen three decades ago. It depends on how you look […]