The Corporatocracy Systematically Destroying the American Middle Class: In 40 Years the Corporatocracy has Shifted Americans from a Sustainable Middle Class to a Perpetual Cycle of Debt Serfdom.
The biggest scam of the century is making a full conclusion with this deep recession. What made America the envy of the entire world, a strong and vibrant middle class, is being quickly dismantled so the new order of corporate raiders can siphon off life support from the productive economy. Nothing highlights this grand robbery more so than the current situation of our country. For eight straight months foreclosure filings have hit 300,000 or more yet banks on Wall Street are gearing up for record yearend bonuses for a job well done. The average American is seeing the culmination of 40 years of systematic leeching by the corporatocracy that culminated in the largest transfer of wealth in modern history. A bloodless coup that cemented the true nature of our current economic system.
S&P 500 Overvalued by 100 Percent: Estimated Price-Earnings Inflation Adjusted Ratio does not Reflect Actual Earnings. VIX now Back to August 2007 Levels. Bank of America P/E Ratio over 500?
It is hard to justify the 1,100 mark for the S&P 500. The 676 low of March, as disastrous as it may have felt, actually reflected a more accurate measure of earnings potential of the 500 S&P companies. The S&P 500 is a good index because it measures 500 companies with a current collective market cap of $9.6 trillion. The S&P 500 over a century of data has seen price to earnings ratios of between 5 and 10 after severe contractions. It is safe to say that what we are experiencing is a strong contraction.
The New Economic Misery Index: Five Sectors that Show Financial Pain for Americans. Food Stamps, Bankruptcy, Credit Access, Employment, and Housing.
Talking with a few colleagues I was reminded about a misery index used in the 1970s to measure the real feel of the stagflation hitting the country. Today, we have a more insidious version of economic crisis because what is good for Wall Street is counter to what is good for the average American. There seemed to be some cheer regarding the latest employment report that unemployment dropped to 10 percent yet overall 11,000 people still lost their jobs. We still have 27,000,000 unemployed and underemployed Americans. At closer examination, it looks like last month’s data is more of a statistical aberration instead of a new trend. Today we are going to look at a few indicators of the new misery index.
Bankruptcy Filings up 100 Percent from 2007: Americans Financially Unable to Meet Current Debt Payments. 85 Percent of Chapter 7 Filings are Classified as No-Assets.
The U.S. Courts released data last week closing out the 2009 fiscal year. In the release we find that bankruptcy filings are up 100+ percent from 2007. No other economic vehicle shows deeper signs of financial strain than bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is the end of the road for many Americans. Although businesses file for bankruptcy as well the vast majority of filings come from individuals simply not able to meet the demands of their monthly payments. Average Americans are looking at the recovery talks but the reality on the street is much different.