With another massive up day in the markets on Tuesday on dismally low volume, it is officially back to the baffling and the bizarre. Whatever the incumbent politicians will tel you in their stump speeches as we approach the mid-term elections, the economic recovery that we keep hearing about is less than stellar. Not that the politicians running against the incumbents seem to be offering any solutions. But the facts speak for themselves. Here are 19 truths about the state off the US Economy from the Economic Collapse Blog: #1 After accounting for inflation, median household income in the United States is 8 percent lower than it was when the last recession started in 2007. #2 The number of part-time workers in America has increased by 54 percent since the last recession began in December 2007. Meanwhile, the number of full-time jobs has dropped by more than a million over that same time period. #3 More than 7 million Americans that are currently working part-time jobs would actually like to have full-time jobs. #4 The jobs gained during this recovery pay an average of 23 percent less than the jobs that were lost during the last recession. #5 The number of unemployed workers that have completely given up looking for work is twice as high now as it was when the last recession began in December 2007. #6 When the last recession began, about 17 percent of all unemployed workers had been out of work for six months or longer. Today, that number sits at just above 34 percent. #7 Due to a lack of decent jobs, half of all college graduates are still relying on their parents financially when they are two years out of school. #8 According to a new method of calculating poverty devised by the U.S. Census Bureau, the state of California currently has a poverty rate of 23.4 percent. #9 According to the New York Times, the typical American household is now worth 36 percent less than it was worth a decade ago. #10 In 2007, the average household in the top 5 percent had 16.5 times as much wealth as the average household overall. But now the average household in the top 5 percent has 24 times as much wealth as the average household overall. #11 In an absolutely stunning development, the rate of small business ownership in the United States has plunged to an all-time low. #12 Subprime loans now make up 31 percent of all auto loans in America. Didnt that end up really badly when the housing industry tried the same thing? #13 The average cost of producing a barrel of shale oil in the United States is approximately 85 dollars. Now that the price of oil is starting to slip under that number, the shale boom in America could turn into a bust very rapidly. #14 On a purchasing power basis, China now actually has a larger economy than the United States does. #15 It is hard to believe, but there are 49 million people that are dealing with food insecurity in America today. #16 There are six banks in the United States that pretty much everyone agrees fit into the too big to fail category. Five of them have more than 40 trillion dollars of exposure to derivatives. #17 The 113 top earning employees at the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington D.C. make an average of $246,506 a year. It turns out that ruining the U.S. economy is a very lucrative profession. #18 We are told that the federal deficit is under control, but the truth is that the U.S. national debt increased by more than a trillion dollars during fiscal year 2014. #19 An astounding 40 million dollars has been spent just on vacations for Barack Obama and his family. Perhaps he figures that if we are going down as a nation anyway, he might as well enjoy the ride.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 14:33:25 +0000
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