Korean Job Discussion Forums

[No_hite_pls]

American families median net worth falls nearly 40%, 2007 to 2010 from 126,400 USD to 77,300 USD.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2012/pdf/scf12.pdf

This Fed report was released yesterday and really helped the market drop.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/06/family-net-worth-down-to-early-90s-level/

In 2011, "The median net-worth per adult in Canada is $89,014 USD, but in America, it's $52,752 USD." I think Canadian families median net worth is nearly double Americans now.

http://lsminsurance.ca/life-insurance-canada/2011/12/canadas-net-worth-tops-the-united-states

[No_hite_pls]

Trickle down economics and lack of affordable healthcare have finally made there mark on America. Most forclosures have healthcare expenses as a major factor.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/health-care-horror-story_n_306572.html

[rollo]

Decline in housing prices mostly. The attack on unions by Republicans begininning in the 90's has not helped.

[No_hite_pls]

[comm]

[wishfullthinkng]

[Unposter]

Very interesting analysis Comm. In some sense don't you think that part of our rise of social programs starting in the 1930s was in response to a worry about a rejection of capitalism?

[Kuros]

[comm]

[slothrop]

edit

[ontheway]

What we are seeing is a very large scale macro-economic adjustment. It is beyond the understanding of those whose background is in the non-economic field of Keynesian studies.

What has happened is that since 1913, the Federal Reserve has inflated the currency far beyond what is reflected in the CPI (which doesn't measure inflation at all). At the same time, the US government has run up massive debt - far beyond the official $14 trillion or so.

The real inflation rate has caused the dollar to lose approximately 99% of its value at the same time that the TOTAL US Federal Government Debt according to the Federal Reserve itself has surpassed $100 trillion - Yes, more than $100,000,000,000,000. The debt is still snowballing and the dollar is still declining at an accelerated pace - not reflected in the CPI.

Some of that debt could be undone by repealing entitlements and repealing numerous governmental financial guarantees. Most of it can be, and eventually will be, elimiated by default.

In the meantime, the market has to adjust to reflect the reality of the money already having been spent. As long as these governmental liabilities are due to be collected from the income producing and asset holding members of society, the income levels and asset values of these productive citizens have to take a major hit. That is what we are seeing in stagnant wages and falling property values. The stock market, adjusted for inflation, has also fallen, but it is up in nominal terms due to the massive inflation injected into the marketplace by the Fed. This inflation hasn't yet impacted other prices, due to structural factors, but it will.

Eventually, we will see housing prices rising in nominal terms. However, adusted for the real inflation rate, they will still be 50% or more below what they were.

Finally, because of the destruction of the US capital asset base and the worldwide shortage of investment capital relative to the supply of labor, capital asset values and returns on investments will have to rise greatly relative to a falling value of labor. This condition must continue until a healthy savings and investment climate is created and enough years pass to establish a rising base of investment capital relative to the available labor. At that point labor values can rise and the money individuals have available for housing can rise.

This entire collapse - 100 years in the making - is a result of the expanding stupidity of following a socialist economic governmental system including: going off the gold standard, income taxes, property taxes, socialist entitlement programs and deficit spending.

Socialism always fails.

There are no exceptions to the rule that socialism always fails. In cases where we have a mix of socialist policies and free market policies, the free market policies succeed and are used to fund, support and offset the socialist failures. And of course, lying politicians whose carreers depend on continued expansion of their power and pelf will lie to the public, supported by lickspittle, benighted Keynesian and other socialist non-economists who fool easily a compliant, economically illiterate, star-struck media, and make scapegoats out of the innocent producers in public, while privately apologizing for having done so.

The solution remains:

We must repeal all taxes on income and property and institute a national consumption tax of 10% to be shared by all levels of government. No other taxes allowed beyond the single consumption tax. Deficits prohibited. Printing money not backed by gold prohibited. Cut all government spending to live within the constitutionally capped 10% consumption tax and mandate a balanced budget. Cap government salaries at $100,000 per year and cut all government workers salaries on a progressive sliding scale below $100,000. Massively reduce the number of goverment workers and eliminate most of the current departments. Repeal the expensive war on drugs and other victimless crimes. End the empire and bring the troops home from around the world. Repeal all entitlements and return government to its constitutionally allowed functions. Go on a 100% gold backed currency to replace the current dollar.

[No_hite_pls]