The incredibly uneven recovery: Net worth of bottom 93 percent declines by $0.6 trillion while top 7 percent net worth increases by $5.6 trillion. Why? Most Americans don’t own a sizable amount of stocks and bonds.
One unique signature of this economic recovery is how narrow it is. When we look at actual wealth, the net worth figures of Americans, we see some dismal numbers. In fact, what we find really isn’t a recovery at all if we look at 93 percent of the country. Then again, with most of Congress [...]
Retirement no more: Median net worth at lowest level since 1969 recent study finds.
There may be a temporary jubilee with the notion that the fiscal cliff has been deferred for a few months. The media is quick to accept anything for a victory but very little has been done to stop our marching path onward on this massive debt spiral. Many Americans continue to live in poverty with [...]
Starting life in the negative net worth column. What the Fed does not want you to know about American net worth figures.
The reports on American wealth from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Census did not get the press they deserved. You would think that an overall decline of 40 percent for household net worth would get the attention of the press but that might throw a wrench into the consumption machine that they are promoting. Up [...]
How to lose 40 percent of your net worth in 3 years – Americans see their net worth collapse during the recession. Federal Reserve survey highlights a case of austerity for the masses and social welfare for the politically connected.
Working and middle class families already feel the burden of a more limited financial middle in our economy. What was once taken for granted such as affordable quality college education, homes with moderate mortgages, and healthcare costs that didn’t put families on the verge of bankruptcy are now largely harder to come by. The Federal [...]
The old get wealthier and the young get poorer.
This recession has been unmercifully brutal on younger Americans. Many are entering the most difficult employment market in generations with a flood of low wage jobs saddled with record levels of student debt. Many have never even witnessed how it is to live in a bull stock market. Of course this is assuming they had [...]
Kabuki financial theatre – Congress net worth up 15 percent from 2004 to 2010 while the average American sees their net worth decline by 8 percent in the same timeframe. Welcome to plutocrat USA.
We truly have the best government money can buy. From 2004 to 2010 members of Congress increased their median net worth by 15 percent while the average American saw it fall by 8 percent. Yet this fall in net worth does little justice to the rising cost of food, energy, healthcare, and college expenses that [...]
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 [...]
America’s wealthiest 25 percent of households own 87 percent of all U.S. wealth. How the middle class face growing income inequality in the new era of the psychopath corporatocracy.
A true measure of economic vitality is measured by wealth. We can look at incomes or other measures of productivity but real wealth is measured by net worth. Who controls wealth in the U.S.? According to a study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies the top 25% of U.S. households control 87% of all [...]
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 [...]
The Balance Sheet Recession: $4.2 Trillion Lost in Residential Real Estate Value. Yet Mortgage Debt Down by $140 Billion.
What we are experiencing is a balance sheet recession. The reality of our current economic funk is highlighted by the growing unemployment rate and the diminishing purchasing power of many Americans. What is going to make this economic crisis drag out like a painful Hollywood divorce is the inability to reconcile the past with our [...]
