Category: U.S. Economy

U.S. Economy Posted on

2018: This May Be The Beginning Of The Great Financial Reckoning

For the past several years, the government has always been able to rely on the usual suspects to loan them money and buy up all the debt, namely– the Federal Reserve, the Chinese, and the Japanese. Those three alone have loaned trillions of dollars to the US government since the end of the financial crisis. The Federal Reserve in particular, through its “Quantitative Easing” programs, was on an all-out binge, buying up every long-dated Treasury Bond it could find, like some sort of junkie debt addict. And both Chinese and Japanese holdings of US government debt now exceed $1 trillion each, more than double what they were before the 2008 crisis. But now each of those three lenders is out of the game. The Federal Reserve has formally ended its Quantitative Easing program. In other words, the Fed has said it will no longer conjure money out of thin […] Read More

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2016: “America Peaked Back Then and We’ve Been In Decline Ever Since”

This article was written by Michael Snyder and originally published at his End of the American Dream website. Editor’s Comment: How far we have fallen! The American Dream used to be attainable to all who worked hard, and freedom was still a tangible thing that many experienced. People used common sense and wisdom from experience to make it through life. Today, most people are dumbed-down consumers who only know what they have been told through the television, who eat processed foods made by leading corporations with almost no nutritional value, they are in debt up to their eyeballs, and couldn’t think independently if they tried. Problem-solving and common decency have disappeared, and the gap between the Americans of 60 years ago is so astonishing as to make movies like Idiocracy and books like The Time Machine appear absolutely correct. America 1956 vs. America 2016 by Michael Snyder Is America […] Read More

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2016: The US Economy Has Not Recovered And Will Not Recover

The US economy died when middle-class jobs were offshored and when the financial system was deregulated. Jobs offshoring benefitted corporate executives and shareholders because lower labor and compliance costs resulted in higher profits. These profits flowed through to shareholders in the form of capital gains and to executives in the form of “performance bonuses.” Wall Street benefitted from the bull market generated by higher profits. However, jobs offshoring also offshored US GDP and consumer purchasing power. Despite promises of a “New Economy” and better jobs, the replacement jobs have been increasingly part-time, lowly-paid jobs in domestic services, such as retail clerks, waitresses, and bartenders. The offshoring of US manufacturing and professional service jobs to Asia stopped the growth of consumer demand in the US, decimated the middle class, and left insufficient employment for college graduates to be able to service their student loans. The ladders of upward mobility that […] Read More

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2016: Is “Terminal Phase of Most Destructive Ponzi Scheme” in History

This article was written by SGT and was first published at SGTreport.com. Editor’s Comment: Most anyone who follows the economic news already knows that the signs of collapse are all over the wall, but what numbers and statistics on paper can’t convey is the pain that ordinary people are going to feel as a result of the financial decisions being made by central banks, and the actions being taken by indifferent Wall Street players. The consequences of the 2008 economic collapse have been bad enough, though for the most part they have been subtle and hidden from view. However, the next round may well be bad enough that no one can turn away from the suffering and displacement that more economic chaos will bring. It is obvious enough who has sown the next wave, and even more plain to see who will be paying the price. 2016 Will Be […] Read More

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2015: Robert Reich: Why America’s Economy Is an Utter Disaster

The real reasons behind widening inequality. For the past quarter-century—at least since Bob Kuttner, Paul Starr, and I founded The American Prospect—I’ve offered in articles, books, and lectures an explanation for why average working people in advanced nations like the United States have failed to gain ground and are under increasing economic stress: Put simply, globalization and technological change have made most of us less competitive. The tasks we used to do can now be done more cheaply by lower-paid workers abroad or by computer-driven machines. My solution—and I’m hardly alone in suggesting this—has been an activist government that raises taxes on the wealthy, invests the proceeds in excellent schools and other means people need to become more productive, and redistributes to the needy. These recommendations have been vigorously opposed by those who believe the economy will function better for everyone if government is smaller and if taxes and […] Read More

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2015: America Is About To Change In a Major Way: “Everything That Can Be Shaken Will Be Shaken”

Editor’s Note: We know things are getting worse. But how bad can they get? According to the information shared by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse Blog in the article below, families across America are being systematically destroyed and the trajectory of the economic data suggests that it’s are only going to get worse. And though most people don’t realize it’s happening and continue to live their lives in passive oblivion, their lives will soon be shaken to the very core, as everything they have come to know as “normal” is torn to pieces. 19 Signs That American Families Are Being Economically Destroyed By Michael Snyder The systematic destruction of the American way of life is happening all around us, and yet most people have no idea what is happening.  Once upon a time in America, if you were responsible and hard working you could get a good-paying job […] Read More

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2015: Eight Points on the Investment Climate and the Dollar

1.  The swing in the pendulum of expectations back toward a mid-year Fed rate hike is one of the key developments that will shape the investment climate.  The data in the week ahead, including the broader measures of the labor market, like the Fed’s new index (Labor Market Activity Index) and JOLTS (Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey), and core retail sales will strengthen the view.   The rise in US interest rates will lend the dollar support and allow the appreciating trend to continue after a consolidating over the last few weeks.   Equity investors need to adjust to the rise in interest rates.  High dividend payers and utilities are vulnerable.  US companies have expanded overseas more by direct investment than exporting.  That means that while they earn revenues in foreign currencies they also incur local costs.  In addition, many producers price and invoice in dollars.  In any […] Read More

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2014: The American People Are Utterly Clueless About What Is Going To Happen As We Enter 2015

Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog, The American people are feeling really good right about now.  For example, Gallup’s economic confidence index has hit the highest level that we have seen since the last recession.  In addition, nearly half of all Americans believe that 2015 will be a better year than 2014 was, and only about 10 percent believe that it will be a worse year.  And a lot of people are generally feeling quite good about the people that have been leading our nation.  According to Gallup, once again this year Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America and Barack Obama is the most admired man in America.  I don’t know what that says about our nation, but it can’t be good.  Unfortunately, when things seem to be going well common sense tends to go out the window.  A couple days ago, the […] Read More