Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Are you better off than you were four years ago?Best statement on that score comes from a Tweet by pourmecoffee: Were you better off getting into wars and financial crises or getting out of them? Take your time, you have till Nov. 6.
posted by Quiddity at 9/04/2012 07:17:00 AM
5 comments
what most people don't really get about 2001-2007 was that the housing bubble pumped $5T of borrowed money into the middle-class economy.
it was one helluva stimulus:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=abJ
shows how mortgage debt (blue) totally outran wages during the Bush Boom.
additionally, the trade deficit got really out of hand:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/NETEXP
as increased imports from China and higher gas prices started really sucking money out of the paycheck economy.
it's shocking to me how nobody understands these dynamics.
The (BIG) problem is that we never got out of the financial crisis. The root problem, enormous amounts of toxic debt, was not addressed, and the utterly self-serving FED and politicians simply kicked the can down the road.
As a result, the U.S. is in for an even bigger and more devastating crisis, thanks in no small part to Obama (and Summers, et al).
Tinky, I'd say there is no way to dig out of the hole we dug the previous decade:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=acV
is total debt / GDP.
The "toxic debt" is the mess remaining after the debt party of 2002-2007.
The only solution is to claw back via taxes the trillions the 1% have banked 1980-now.
Politically daunting, given the 1%'s control of the media and ability to bullshit ~40% of the country thereby.
Ha ha, so glad I randomly clicked on a bookmark I haven't checked in years.
Interesting perspective. I'd reckon the whole western world is about the same as four years ago!
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