And when the tax fight is over, one way or another, you can be sure that the people currently defending the incomes of the elite will go back to demanding cuts in Social Security and aid to the unemployed. America must make hard choices, they’ll say; we all have to be willing to make sacrifices. But when they say “we,” they mean “you.” Sacrifice is for the little people.Paul Krugman - The Angry Rich and Taxes - NYTimes.com (via bijan)
(via bijan)
More than a few top economic thinkers have significantly upped the chances of a return to a recession. Today, the noted bear Nouriel Roubini, the president of RGE Monitor and a professor at New York University, delivered a grim prognostication via Twitter: “Risk of a double dip recession in advanced economies (US, Japan, Eurozone) has now risen to 40%.”
And also don’t forget about the notion of new normal which is here to stay for long time.
This clip from the Daily Show deserves award!
- 73% consumer debt being held by bottom 90% by income (Scary)
- No wealth inheritance for 91% Americans
- 572,000 Millionaires
““[Apart from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,] the rest of the federal government, including fighting two wars, homeland security, education, art, culture, you name it, veterans — the whole rest of the discretionary budget is being financed by China and other countries.””—
Alan Simpson, Co-Chairman of Obama’s debt commission.
We’re so screwed.
This is what you get when people (boosted by government’s desire for credit based economy) live above their means. Not only the US, most developed countries with Europe at the top of the list are fucking screwed!
Default, like pain, is a very useful signal that something is not right. If you mask it or make it too difficult to register you will carry on doing the things that are damagingIn praise of default
Crises of Capitalism
Another awesome presentation from RSA Animate
The mortgage finance companies, created by Congress to help Americans buy homes, have become two of the nation’s largest landlords.Cost of Seizing Fannie and Freddie Surges for Taxpayers
US Debt overtaking GDP
Obama is borrowing record amounts to fund spending programs to help the economy recover from its longest recession since the 1930s.
It’s really easy to blame Obama for soaring national debt but I am pretty sure that even if the president was a conservative republican, he would have no choice but to prioritize growth over deficit. And US entered the age of trillion dollar deficit during earlier administration.
But again these are just a blame games. The real problem is the US including the west have been living above their means for couple of decades starting from the end of Soviet Union while accelerating during late nineties. So, there will be some painful cost to pay, may be by this generation and more to come.
