50 Economic Numbers About The US That Are "Almost Too Crazy To Believe"

[stockholmer]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/50-economic-numbers-about-us-are-almost-too-crazy-believe

The Economic Collapse Blog does a terrific job of periodically putting together a compilation of the scariest data points about the US economy. Today is one such day, and the list of 50 economic numbers presented is indeed, as the author puts it, "almost too crazy to believe"... Almost. As noted: "At this time of the year, a lot of families get together, and in most homes the conversation usually gets around to politics at some point. Hopefully many of you will use the list below as a tool to help you share the reality of the U.S. economic crisis with your family and friends. If we all work together, hopefully we can get millions of people to wake up and realize that "business as usual" will result in a national economic apocalypse." Or, far more likely, 99% of the population can continue watching Dancing with the Stars, as what little wealth remains is terminally transferred to those who are paying attention right below everyone's eyes.

From the Ecopnomic Collapse Blog: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/50-economic-numbers-from-2011-that-are-almost-too-crazy-to-believe/comment-page-1#comment-91369

The following are 50 economic numbers from 2011 that are almost too crazy to believe....



#1 A staggering 48 percent http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/15/9461848-dismal-prospects-1-in-2-americans-are-now-poor-or-low-income of all Americans are either considered to be "low income" or are living in poverty.



#2 Approximately 57 percent http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/15/9461848-dismal-prospects-1-in-2-americans-are-now-poor-or-low-income of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be "low income" or impoverished.



#3 If the number of Americans that "wanted jobs" was the same today as it was back in 2007, the "official" unemployment rate put out by the U.S. government would be up to 11 percent. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/wonkbook-the-real-unemployment-rate-is-11-percent/2011/12/12/gIQAuctPpO_blog.html



#4 The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the United States is now over 40 weeks. http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/UEMPMEAN



#5 One recent survey found that 77 percent http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/11/07/7-in-10-blame-economy-for-hiring-freeze of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers.



#6 There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 http://www.usnews.com/opinion/mzuckerman/articles/2011/06/20/why-the-jobs-situation-is-worse-than-it-looks even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.



#7 Since December 2007, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-13/census-household-income/50383882/1 once you account for inflation.

snip

[peace frog]

1. YIKES

Thanks. I guess. No really, thanks for posting. The numbers are ghastly, are they not.

[izquierdista]

2. Warning!

What conclusion does this article draw from these 50 facts?

That Ron Paul's crusade to shut down the Federal Reserve is just the right medicine!

[stockholmer]

8. the Federal Reserve needs to be nationalized, ASAP, I dont care who supports it, just get it down

Just say no to the private banksters control over the debt-based money supply.

[NNN0LHI]

11. The Federal Reserve didn't have anything to do with all the factories shutting down around here

My neighbor who supports Ron Paul and just bought another imported car and others like him did have something to do with it though.

Don

[hifiguy]

3. Interesting and scary stuff.

Although the commenters over on that board are a bunch of first-order lunatics, raging paranoids and just plain nutcases.

[Ghost Dog]

10. True, that, to quite a degree, imo.

... And, quite a few of them claim to be 'financial professionals', albeit of a critical variety.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. It's Interesting That The European Social Democracies That The Reich Wingers Knock

It's interesting that the European social democracies that the Reich Wingers knock have both more equality and upward mobility. I though we great Americans "traded" equality for upward mobility. Looks like we are getting neither.

[roguevalley]

5. whatever you do to the least of them you do also unto me. fuck us for this.

[JustAnotherGen]

6. response for bookmark

[MilesColtrane]

7. Hard to take any article seriously from a site that sells survivalist gear and full-on crazy books.

http://astore.amazon.com/theeconomiccollapse-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=4

[stockholmer]

9. all the links for the 50 points are mainstream sources, are you saying the 50 points are invalid?

[MilesColtrane]

12. The numbers appear to be valid.

The interpretation of the statistics and the conclusions reached by the author are what is ridiculous. (A national economic apocalypse is immanent and the only way to avert it is to do away with the Federal Reserve.)

[StarsInHerHair]

13. it's a Republiscum site, I don't believe #50 Obama has spent more than Washington-George HW Bush

that would be interest, if anything. No, we know W spent more, actually, & had started with a surplus.

[fasttense]

14. The last 10 Too Crazy To Believe Economic numbers are.

The last 10 numbers are on how scary and crazy our national debt is and it's all Obama's fault.

Bunch of useful idiots at that site.

[mmonk]

15. A lot of whacko advertisers on that page

[Viva]

16. Perhaps the root of the problem

#28 The United States spends about 4 dollars on goods and services from China for every one dollar that China spends on goods and services from the United States.

China puts huge tariffs on our imports and we have decimated entire industries due to trade with China. Try and purchase jewelry made in the USA or clothing or televisions or cell phones or a computer, etc. There are too many of us to be the designers alone. We have to make stuff here. Look at Germany or Switzerland for example. Our tax code encourages people to take money out of businesses instead of investing in businesses. That was why the top tax rates where so much higher than the corporate rate. As it stands now, it is a better deal to run a business as a sole proprietorship or a S corporation. Think of Romney who made millions from extracting money from companies.

The solutions I hear from those in power are silly.

Saying that people should go to school to become civil engineers, and then saying we have no money to build bridges is stupid. If everyone has a college degree, the value of a college degree disappears. Do you really need a college degree to pour coffee or to be a secretary or to run a cash register? I am all for people being education, but talking 18 year olds to go $20,000+ in debt with no hope of getting a job is fraud.

Instead of Pell Grants, why not business loans? You could have counseling,and assistance. I think this would be money much better spent, but only if we put up some tariffs at our borders. We should reinstate the Hamilton tariff and if need be, in order to pass the bill, have the fees go directly to pay off the principle of the national debt. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_tariff)