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 [...]
Middle class retirement now largely a postcard fantasy – How Wall Street fabricated a buy and hold fairytale and jumped ship with taxpayer golden parachutes. Did baby boomers think about who they would be selling those 401k and pension stocks to?
The days of dreaming about long days playing golf on a green course and taking luxurious cruises around the world are appearing more and more like a foggy memory for those in the middle class planning for retirement. As Wall Street bankers and hedge fund managers rob the public blind, the mission statement sold to [...]
The rise of the new gilded age – Massive market volatility is a dramatic sign of an unhealthy economy – 14 of the 28 biggest percent declines since 1950 in the S&P 500 have come after 2008. Two of those volatile days have occurred in August of 2011.
Massive stock market volatility is not a good sign for the economy and like an EKG is telling us something is troubling the heart of the nation. The most tumultuous times in the stock market have occurred during times of great economic uncertainty. August of 2011 has quickly brought back the troubling memories of 2008 [...]
The four horsemen of the middle class apocalypse – what does it say that we as a nation bailed out the financially wealthy too big to fail banks yet failed to bail out the middle class?
What made the U.S. the envy of the world was the belief that if you worked hard enough and had the right kind of grit and intelligence that you would be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. This is what built the solid middle class after World War II. The majority of people [...]
The systematic financial pillaging of the middle class – Millionaires don’t feel rich unless they have $7.5 million while 45 million Americans live on food stamps. Another 50 percent cannot come up with $2,000 in the next 30 days.
For over 30 years the debilitating shrinkage of the middle class has been papered over with access and use of debt. Debt in every form; mortgage debt, credit card debt, auto loans, and student loans. Yet debt is not wealth. Americans are facing a financially nightmare where 1 out of 3 has no savings. This [...]
The destruction of the middle class will not be televised – 56 percent of American workers have less than $25,000 saved. Even worse 60 percent of retirees have less than $50,000 saved. 45 million on food stamps and the consequences of peak debt.
The disappearance of the middle class will not be televised. Don’t expect your favorite talking head to relay this information to you. At the core of our economy we have become a consumption nation. This necessarily isn’t negative if we were to balance out the opposite side of the equation with adequate savings. It would [...]
Middle class in shambles – more debt, more job losses, more deceit. Banks attempt final push to break up the middle class. Housing values down by 30 percent but total household debt only down by 2 percent.
On Friday the grim reality of more job losses for Americans was plastered across headlines. What makes this even more distressing is this is occurring during what is supposed to be a recovery. Yet most Americans realize that there is no recovery outside of Wall Street. If anything, things have gotten progressively worse as foreclosures [...]
How the Middle Class Slowly Evaporated in the Last 40 Years – Loss of Manufacturing, Bank Deregulation, Hyper Consumption, and Short-term Profit Seeking from Wall Street.
Some like to think that the middle class has always been a fixture of American society. In fact, the rise of a steady and strong middle class didn’t happen until after World War II. Clearly people can’t look at the economically painful Great Depression, which rampaged the nation from 1929 to 1939 as a good [...]
Stock Market Casino Royale – S&P 500 is overvalued by 100 Percent – Earnings do not Justify Current S&P 500 Levels. Financial Markets setting up for Another Correction.
When I look at the S&P 500 like most people do, you would expect that this wide cross-section of companies in the U.S. would reflect an accurate measure of the true health of industries in our economy. Yet the S&P 500 is fully disconnected from any historical measures of valuations. It is startling to see [...]
Buying a Home in America today is Expensive Thanks to the Banking Sector: Examining Income and Home Prices from 1950 to the Present. Can Home Prices Fall Another 38 Percent?
A question rarely asked regarding the housing market today is whether prices are affordable. There seems to be this implicit belief that because prices have fallen so drastically that they somehow must reflect a bargain. This is not necessarily true. I think in our consumerist society people are conditioned to automatically assume that a lower [...]
