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 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 brittle financial American middle class – 50 percent of Americans would be in financial trouble if $2,000 of expenses came up in 30 days. By 2020 the world’s richest households will control $202 trillion in wealth, 4 times current global GDP.
This economic recovery has excluded working and middle class Americans which begs the question, what really defines a financial recovery? In past and distant recoveries the economic gains were widely distributed amongst all Americans. Most realize that income gains will never be equal simply because in a market based economy those with certain desirable skills [...]
The financial scam of the century – In 2010 we added 600,000 millionaires while 5,000,000 people were added to the food stamp program. Wealthy derive profits from stocks while middle class hold most of their net worth in housing.
Part of the discontent roaming across America is that the economic recovery is targeted to a small portion of the population. This part of the population controls most of the mainstream media channels so the working and middle class are wondering why isn’t the fact that food, college, health care, or many other day to [...]
Retirement account fantasy and middle class erosion – 1 out of 3 Americans has zero dollars in a retirement account. From 1950 to 1989 top 1 percent earned roughly 7 to 8 percent of nationwide income. Today it is inching closer to 20 percent resembling pre-Great Depression levels.
Many Americans live precariously close to the edge of financial insolvency flirting with economic disaster daily. If you casually browse mainstream articles and watch any amount of television you would think that the US still had a vibrant and strong middle class. When we pull back the covers on the current financial situation we realize [...]
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 [...]
Income disequilibrium – The top 74 Americans earned an average of $518 million in the economic troubling year of 2009. Top 1 percent earned 14 percent of all earnings in 2009 versus 11 percent in 1989.
The disappearing middle class in the United States is a troubling consequence of the culmination of economic and political policies of many decades. There is a sense, and probably why so much frustration is out in the country, that the once comfortable life of being middle class is slowly slipping through our hands. The American [...]
The debt end game – Top 10 percent of families own an average of $700,000 in stocks while the next 15 percent own an average of $53,000. The other 75 percent are insignificant players by Wall Street standards.
The government recently announced on a slow Friday a $1.29 trillion budget deficit as if it were no big deal for the completed fiscal year. In fact, this was spun as grand news since the previous budget deficit topped $1.4 trillion. We are now reaching a nationwide tipping point of debt. The U.S. Treasury and [...]
Wealth inequality rivals the months prior to the Great Depression – Americans would prefer a more evenly distributed wealth system. Over 80 percent of Americans still feel we are in a recession.
The official announcement that the recession is over underscores the massive disconnect between Wall Street and the rest of America. Wealth inequality in America is at levels last seen right before the Great Depression ravaged our economy. Yet the inequality has grown even more intense as this crisis has gone forward. 43 million Americans are [...]
Fooled by financial randomness – Number of millionaires back to late 1990s levels and the end of a 30 year bull market. Real estate and stock market speculators luck out but want to believe in Wall Street religion.
It is hard to convince a generation of Americans built on the “greed is good” motto that we have just lived through a once in a lifetime bull market in stocks and real estate. I’m reminded of Michael Lewis and his semi-autobiographical book Liar’s Poker printed in 1990 that was to serve as a warning [...]
