The crisis in housing: Not enough homes are being built and rents are outstripping wage gains.
There is an economic crisis happening in the housing market. The working class is finding more of their wages sucked into the housing financial puzzle. Stagnant wages combined with rising home prices and rents are putting a lid on household formation. It probably doesn’t help that many young families are caught in the low wage economy. Before purchasing a home, you probably want to ensure a secure paying job. Many are also reluctant to purchase given that they are already carrying a heavy burden of student loans. The housing crisis is being heavily reflected on home prices, rents, and the lack of household formation. When all of this is combined we find that construction spending is a small part of GDP when in most recoveries, it is a sizable portion of gains.
The working few and the inverted pyramid of labor: 1 out of 3 Americans financially carry the other two-thirds.
Last month a record 93,194,000 Americans were counted as not being in the labor force. Counted might be the wrong word since this group is largely erased from any employment figures. In fact, this is a large reason why the unemployment rate has fallen so dramatically. Yet one grim financial reality remains. That reality includes the fact that 1 out of 3 Americans is carrying the country financially by working in the private sector. There needs to be a better balance and the working class is already getting slammed in this so-called recovery. If things were so great, why is the battle cry for the 2016 election all about the working and middle class? The stock market is near a peak. Too bad most Americans own no stocks. Housing values are rising. Too bad more home purchases are going to investors versus single families. Debt is more accessible. Too bad it is for items like cars that depreciate immediately once the vehicle is driven off the lot. The employment situation in the US is largely looking like an inverted pyramid.
The working class Hunger Games: Reality TV show now pits working class against working class family for the chance to earn $101,000.
Reality TV has a nice connection to our growing low wage economy. Reality TV is easy to make, costs relatively little, and can be flushed away if it fails. If a hit occurs, the big profits are frontloaded to the network while “stars†can make money after the cream has been taken away. There is a certain dark psychological draw of watching people in struggling situations (think of shows like Intervention or the morning talk shows). These shows still exist because there is an audience to watch. So it was interesting to see a show called the Briefcase appear on network TV that is couched as an opportunity for struggling families to get a break. The break is the chance to receive $101,000. The catch? Another family is also offered this much and both enter into a modern day version of the prisoner’s dilemma. It is difficult to watch because these families represent the struggles of millions of Americans caught up in the low wage high debt culture and then are put into an emotional predicament. Poor against poor.  The choice appears to be seem ruthless and take the money or continue to struggle in your financial misery but show some empathy and likely forfeit the money. All I could think of watching this is that we are entering a new version of the low wage Hunger Games.
Inflation acts as a pickpocket on the wallets of working Americans: Young Americans take a big hit given the small weight given to tuition in the CPI.
Inflation is a very real thing. The Fed continues to downplay the impacts of inflation to support their ongoing easy monetary policy. What this has created is an inflated stock market and hot money chasing into other asset classes including real estate. This wouldn’t be such an issue if your typical working American family was benefitting. Instead, it is assisting larger financial institutions and big investors to pick up assets in all segments of the real economy and consequently crowds out regular buyers. Inflation is the end outcome of all this kind of action. More easy money chasing the same number of goods in the economy. The way inflation is measured is odd and it also understates the impact being pushed onto younger Americans. How is this the case? The CPI gives very little weight to educational costs yet for many attending college, this is by far their biggest expense. Let us look at inflation in various segments going back to 2000.