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 [...]
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 grand financial recovery myth – 8 charts reflecting the true beneficiaries of four years of taxpayer bailouts. Transfer payments make up 22 percent of household income and public debt surpasses annual GDP.
While the economy is recovering in raw GDP terms the working and middle class Americans are having a smaller and smaller piece of the pie. The recovery is disproportionately flowing to a tiny fraction in our population and largely is based on targeted bailouts to the financial sector. After four full years of bailouts and [...]
Federal Reserve openly aiming for inflation – The Fed looks for a sequel in punishing the U.S. dollar and hopes to inflate debt and the middle class away.
The Federal Reserve has painted itself into a very narrow and troubling corner for most of working and middle class America. The massive debt problems on hand have no realistic way of being paid off and the best path in the eyes of the Federal Reserve is to slowly inflate away the currency and debt. [...]
The downsizing of America – Oil production off 1980s peak and manufactures learn creative methods of repackaging inflation.
There is a slow burn going on and it is happening in your wallet and also in the gas tank of your car. The US Treasury and Federal Reserve have made it their mission to slowly cut the value of each one of those green dollars you have. Since many Americans are struggling to make [...]
The Federal Reserve plans on exporting the U.S. middle class abroad with Quantitative Easing II. QE1 cost $1.7 trillion and took the underemployment rate from 10 percent to 17 percent.
The Federal Reserve is entering uncharted territory with this second phase of quantitative easing. The public may or may not be aware that the Fed has already embarked on quantitative easing (QE1) and has grown their balance sheet by $1.7 trillion (that’s $1,700,000,000,000) by exchanging U.S. Treasuries for questionable assets including a shopping mall in [...]
What does it take to be middle class in America today? Living on $50,000 per year in America.
Is it possible to live a middle class lifestyle in America with a household income of $50,000? The recent Census survey puts the median household income at $50,000 for American households. So technically speaking, this is the middle class. Yet what we think of a middle class lifestyle including affordable public colleges, accessible healthcare, and [...]
Will quantitative easing 2 bailout the commercial real estate market further? The shadow bailout world not being covered by the mainstream media. Fed deliberately trying to crush U.S. dollar to bailout banking system.
As the Federal Reserve gears up for quantitative easing part two, a slow hidden bailout is occurring in the commercial real estate market. Commercial real estate is a giant industry making up over $3 trillion in outstanding loans in the U.S. Yet not much is being said about this in the press. Why? Because in [...]
The Ponzi Decade: A Lost Decade in Stocks, Industrial Production, U.S. dollar, and Housing. How we Managed to Inflate and Destroy the Biggest Financial Bubble of our Generation.
It is fitting that we end the current decade just like we started it, with the bursting of bubbles. In the early part of the decade we were dealing with the fallout of the technology bust. That was quickly replaced by the even bigger housing bubble and that has now popped as well. The trillions [...]
Federal Government Budget Deficit in October is Three Times the Annual Budget Deficits of the Banana Republic of California.
California has been the poster child of ineffective state government. Bickering politicians, constant spending, and budget deficits that baffle the economic bottom line. But California isn’t alone in this spend more than you earn reality. Last year, California had to patch up $60 billion in budget deficits. A large and historical sum no doubt. Yet [...]
