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 […]
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 […]
American Financial Dream Deferred: How the U.S. is Mirroring the Japanese Lost Decade after the Heisei Boom.
This weekend I decided to take a trip to a couple of local stores to pick up some food that didn’t involve turkey so I wouldn’t be fatigued of eating the same thing for the entire week. A chain grocery store had about five people on a Sunday when it typically would have many more. […]
Credit Card Monopoly: Top 5 Issuers Hold $550 Billion in Credit Card Debt Taking up over 60 Percent of the Entire Credit Card Market.
As Americans rush out to shopping centers around the country on Black Friday many retail outlets have their fingers crossed that consumers will spend money that is clearly not on their balance sheet. The average American is maxed out. In fact, the typical American family has been subsidizing a decade of stagnant wages with credit […]