The growing chasm between rich and poor in America – Latest data shows that 500,000 people were added to the food assistance program in one month. 6 million Americans added over the last year. Those that buy diamonds versus those that barely have enough to buy soup.
The shrinking of the American middle class is painful to watch. Shopping at the grocery store I’ve noticed more and more people with unique debit cards that don’t look like your typical debit or credit card. These are actually the modern day food stamps and help to take away the stigma of pulling out a [...]
How much does the average American make in 2010? Examining new data on U.S. household income numbers and high income earners. 100 million Americans make less than $39,999 per year.
Examining the average income for Americans sheds a very troubling light on what has happened to income over a very financially destructive decade. If we look at the median household income in the U.S. this actually underplays the falling behind of wages because we are looking at households with multiple people working. Without a doubt [...]
The era of mega banks – The growth of too big to fail. American banking system still backing over $13 trillion in assets with a negative deposit insurance fund. 7,760 banks but 19 banks make up 50 percent of the asset base.
The growth of the too big to fail bank is something that is modern to this era. In the 1990s there were fewer than 40 institutions that had total assets above $20 billion. In the late part of the 1980s and 1990s this number was below 20. The peak was reached in 2005 with 55 [...]
Catch 22 economics – The U.S. economy has 7,400,000 less workers than the peak in late 2007 yet nominal GDP is at a record. What does that mean for those without jobs?
The Friday jobs report was significant for a variety of reasons but one key theme is that it shows the true fragility of the state of the economy. Even though it was a net add of 39,000 jobs we need to remember that the nation needs to add roughly 150,000 jobs per month just to [...]
The con of the century – Federal Reserve made $9 trillion in short-term loans to only 18 financial institutions. Since 2000 the US dollar has fallen by 33 percent. The hidden cost of the bailouts.
The Federal Reserve released a stunning report showing the details of bailouts that occurred during the peak of the credit crisis. They won’t call it “bailouts” but giving money when others won’t is exactly that. What the report shows is that the Fed operated as a global pawnshop taking in practically anything the banks had [...]
The magical 2.2 housing ratio between median nationwide home prices and household income – Nationwide home prices still inflated by 30 percent based on 50 years of household data.
The typical American family is facing the biggest economic uncertainty since the Great Depression and must feel like their lives are in a washer spin cycle. Many unemployed Americans are now entering a stage where unemployment insurance is being cut off which will send tens of thousands of people into the street. The mainstream media [...]
The shadow bailout of the commercial real estate industry – bailing out the Ritz, failed million dollar unit condo projects, and buying empty shopping malls. Why the Fed wants to destroy the US dollar and continue the failed bailouts of the banking sector.
It is amazing that so little information about commercial real estate has made it onto the mainstream media. Few in the public realize that commercial real estate (CRE) has actually fallen harder than residential real estate yet 99.9 percent of all media coverage has been strictly on residential real estate. The CRE market is enormous [...]
The infection of massive global debt and the era of permanent bailouts – Global bankers on a mission to dilute currencies around the world. Ireland GDP equal to Louisiana GDP.
The problems plaguing Ireland are common and something very familiar with Americans. Irish banks got drunk on housing bubble beer and loans were made without any actual thoughtful analysis of whether the loans would be paid back. Now the European Union is stepping in with the IMF to bailout Ireland not because it has a [...]
When peak credit implodes on the consumer balance sheet – $1 trillion in consumer debt has been removed from the market since 2008. Only consumer debt category growing is student loan debt.
The U.S. insatiable consumer machine has reached a peak debt scenario. Household balance sheets are simply unable to take on more debt on their already financially sore shoulders. At the core of the Federal Reserve quantitative easing actions is the mission to lower the interest rate since consumers simply are unable to borrow more. By [...]
California facing $20 billion budget deficits deep into 2016 – $25 billion budget deficit starring California in the face for the next fiscal year and overly optimistic economic predictions.
California, the wealthiest state in our nation is facing some Herculean financial troubles yet again. As the elections came to a dramatic close, it was announced that a $6 billion budget deficit emerged from “miscalculations” of potential revenue streams. The current Governor was overly optimistic in many respects including an expectation that the Federal government [...]
