Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Comment over at The Big Picture:So sick of reading about why the system is broken due to the lack of liquidity and insolvency of Wall Street. The system is broken because American's don't make enough money due to globalization, expensive education and expensive health care but were encouraged to live the American Dream beyond their declining means. Taking on debt was the last gasp of the consumer who could not otherwise raise their standard of living. Real wages have been declining for 20 years. First the wife went to work to augment their income and then they borrowed against their house. Now it's game over for the 75% of the population who have no savings and are buried in debt. Sounds about right.
posted by Quiddity at 3/25/2008 09:29:00 PM
3 comments
How about OPEC price gouging? That's a huge factor. Probably larger than all the rest.
To me, the irony is that on the one hand Wall Street demands that companies keep their wages low and then gets surprised when people stop being able to pay off their mortgages.
I had wondered how the new reality would set-in. It seems it will be a bang and not a wimper.
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