No We Are Not Living Beyond Our Means -Robert Reich
 

[URL]http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/17698-focus-no-we-are-not-living-beyond-our-means[/URL]

[YOUTUBE]_GFYi6bi7G4[/YOUTUBE]

Have at it, but don't expect me to defend. I have neither the skill nor the inclination to take on the heavy hitters here. That's why I post expert discourse. The link includes text discussion.

A central issue with the economy is wage stagnation. Many industries have given pay raises less than the rate of inflation. Quite a few have had no raises at all in 5 or more years. The money is flowing into pockets somewhere, but the average employee is losing ground.

DarJones

We have a Hindenburg Omen, as of last Friday. (It should be noted that this technical indicator is used as a lure to the site [URL="http://www.technicalindicatorindex.com"]www.technicalindicatorindex.com[/URL])

"This Stock Market Omen Has Been Confirmed"
[URL]http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/this-stock-market-omen-has-been-confirmed.html/[/URL]

One could ask, "How many successful dockings did the [I]Hindenburg[/I] and other hydrogen-buoyed dirigibles make without burning?"

(This may not be causally related to the stock market.)

[QUOTE=Fusion_power;342306]A central issue with the economy is wage stagnation. Many industries have given pay raises less than the rate of inflation. Quite a few have had no raises at all in 5 or more years. The money is flowing into pockets somewhere, but the average employee is losing ground.

DarJones[/QUOTE]

My father, an American Airlines pilot, has not seen a "raise" [I]per se [/I]since the early 1990s; he (as did all AA pilots) in fact endured *cuts* in pay immediately following the post-9/11 recession and its devastating blow to the airline industry. The company then stonewalled any negotiations with the pilots' union for a new pilot contract, claiming that the pilots were attempting to bleed the company into bankruptcy, as all the while, executives claimed their usual seven- and eight-figure bonuses. All of this, of course, came to a head with the airline declaring bankruptcy in late 2011. Now it looks as though American will merge with US Airways, and wages should improve, albeit probably nowhere near where an inflation-indexed COLA scheme would peg them.

This situation is endemic in many other industries and within many other companies. The question that I have been pondering quite frequently is that if wages have by-and-large stagnated for the last 10, 20, even 30 years, yet prices of everything from food to fuel to building materials have doubled, tripled, or worse, who is pocketing the difference? And perhaps more importantly, how is the average Alice, Bob, and 0.8 children (the US average birth rate recently dropped from the infamous 1.5 children/family to below 1 child/family ostensibly due to economic constraints (colleges and Sallie Mae, anyone?) forcing Millennials to delay marriages and families into their 30s or beyond) making up the difference between their stagnated wages and the inflating prices? Extra debt on the credit card? Less contribution to the 401(k)? Borrowing from the parents? The long-term ramifications of any of these options - a credit card debt bubble and mass default, an entire generation overly dependent on Social Security that may well not be 100% funded, or aging, tapped-out Baby Boomers unable to afford housing, medical treatments, or long-term care in their later years - are not pretty, any way you consider them.

Anyone noticed how expensive it has become to take a family out to Mickey D's? If four people each order a sandwich, fries, and drink, the bill can exceed $20. This has basically (at least) doubled in the last fifteen years. What is especially troubling is how the employees will rattle off totals like $20 or $25 without even hesitating or blinking an eye...an indication that we have become desensitized to these high prices *despite* wage stagnation! It's easier than ever to *spend* $20, but it's still not an easy feat to land a job paying $20 an hour!

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;342727]My father, an American Airlines pilot, has not seen a "raise" [I]per se [/I]since the early 1990s; he (as did all AA pilots) in fact endured *cuts* in pay immediately following the post-9/11 recession and its devastating blow to the airline industry. The company then stonewalled any negotiations with the pilots' union for a new pilot contract, claiming that the pilots were attempting to bleed the company into bankruptcy, as all the while, executives claimed their usual seven- and eight-figure bonuses. All of this, of course, came to a head with the airline declaring bankruptcy in late 2011. Now it looks as though American will merge with US Airways, and wages should improve, albeit probably nowhere near where an inflation-indexed COLA scheme would peg them.

This situation is endemic in many other industries and within many other companies. The question that I have been pondering quite frequently is that if wages have by-and-large stagnated for the last 10, 20, even 30 years, yet prices of everything from food to fuel to building materials have doubled, tripled, or worse, who is pocketing the difference? And perhaps more importantly, how is the average Alice, Bob, and 0.8 children (the US average birth rate recently dropped from the infamous 1.5 children/family to below 1 child/family ostensibly due to economic constraints (colleges and Sallie Mae, anyone?) forcing Millennials to delay marriages and families into their 30s or beyond) making up the difference between their stagnated wages and the inflating prices? Extra debt on the credit card? Less contribution to the 401(k)? Borrowing from the parents? The long-term ramifications of any of these options - a credit card debt bubble and mass default, an entire generation overly dependent on Social Security that may well not be 100% funded, or aging, tapped-out Baby Boomers unable to afford housing, medical treatments, or long-term care in their later years - are not pretty, any way you consider them.

Anyone noticed how expensive it has become to take a family out to Mickey D's? If four people each order a sandwich, fries, and drink, the bill can exceed $20. This has basically (at least) doubled in the last fifteen years. What is especially troubling is how the employees will rattle off totals like $20 or $25 without even hesitating or blinking an eye...an indication that we have become desensitized to these high prices *despite* wage stagnation! It's easier than ever to *spend* $20, but it's still not an easy feat to land a job paying $20 an hour![/QUOTE]

As college costs continue to inflate at greater than 6%/yr..........

[QUOTE=R.D. Silverman;342736]As college costs continue to inflate at greater than 6%/yr..........[/QUOTE]

It does not serve the elites' perceived interests to over-educate the servant class.

Another data point in this mystery economic theatre of the absurd: [URL="http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-rent-a-tire-20130609,0,2490443,full.story"]High prices are driving more motorists to rent tires[/URL][QUOTE]Soaring costs for natural rubber and petroleum used to manufacture tires have pushed up prices. The average price of a passenger tire in the U.S. increased 57% in 2012 from 2006, according to data from trade publication Modern Tire Dealer. The prices on some popular sizes have more than doubled.

Consumers, meanwhile, have an increasingly difficult time affording big-ticket purchases.

Since 2009, median household income has fallen more than 5%. And in the wake of the recession, the number of households in the country with credit histories too damaged to qualify for most credit cards has risen to 35% from 27% five years ago.

With more people shut out of traditional financing, the rent-to-own industry has flourished. Promising no credit checks, small down payments and the option to return merchandise at any time with no questions asked, chains such as Rent-a-Center are raking in huge profits from a customer base that's swelled to 4.8 million people, up 67% since 2007, according to the Assn. of Progressive Rental Organizations.[/QUOTE]

IMO, there is one valid reason for renting to own. That is for someone who does not have a credit history. For that person, rent to own can be a way to establish a credit record. Otherwise, the prices are outrageous. And for the record, I have never rented to own anything.

There are two things I despise worse than rent to own. Pawn your title pawnshops and payday loan lenders. I'm not saying what I think of pawn shops that make payday loans.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;342930]Earlier today while quick-looking on Amazon.com for a paperback copy of [i]1984[/i] to fill the hole in my bookcase...[/QUOTE]

Interestingly, Niccolò Machiavelli's [URL="http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm"]The Prince[/URL] is considered seminal, and is legally available for free.

Thanks Sonny Bono for the "[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act"]Mickey Mouse Protection Act[/URL]".

May you rest in piece for all the good you did.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;344259][I'm going to be optimistic and assume that at least one other person besides us still reads this crap.][/QUOTE]Nope. There's no-one here but us chickens.