Why THIS recession is BAD news. (compared to the others)

[SoCalDem]

According to MY family (and probably many LIKE mine)

1970:

20 yrs old, newly married..no debt..cheap rent..low wages, but both employed and doing fine..gas at about 36 cents a gallon..only gas credit cards & Sears (500 limit)

1973-74:

still renting at fairly low rent, both employed..no worries of layoffs..gas prices all the way up to 50cents or so and odd-even day fill-ups.. no debt..only gas credit cards & Sears (500 limit)

1979:

by then we had 3 kids and only one income, we had bought house, and had two cars and still very little debt.. we were renting in NM due to two job transfers and selling our house in Denver for a loss.. still very little debt, no savings and managed ok in our $300 a month rented house.. a house with almost 2500 sq ft.. and it even came with a free country club membership..

1982:

bought a house in SoCal 4 br $82000.00 with 16% down..still only one income, but debts starting to pile up..kids cost a lot...still no savings

1991:

recessions? what recession? two incomes..money money money..but still no savings..and debt..still debt.. make it..spend it..

2001:
sham recession..no biggie


.......................................

That said, we rode it all out well, but many people in our age group collected credit cards like baseball cards and used equity from their homes, so when this recession hit, combined with impossible gas prices, unaffordable health care & medicine and falling home values..and tricky loan conditions.. We paid off ,and cut up all but Discover Card, and have a decent amount in CDs & savings..

well.you can see the difference..

previous recessions did not hurt all that much IF you were not in debt when they hit..and IF you had a fixed & affordable mortgage (based on ONE income), and IF gas & other energy prices were do-able..

Until the 80's & 90's ordinary people did NOT have "mass quantities" of credit cards...

We have the "perfect storm" recession upon us..

Decades of mergers, buyouts and outsourcings have lessened the number of places people can even FIND work, manufacturing jobs are no longer a fall-back for unemployed office workers..

People are in debt to their eyeballs & have no savings.. they have nothing left to "cling" to...

You might say they are "bitter"..

[Karenina]

1. Did you utter that B-word, SCD???

Wash your mouth out with soap!!! ;-) :loveya: K&R!!!

[SoCalDem]

2. B-word??

:shrug:

[Karenina]

3. Bitter...

[SoCalDem]

4. whew.. for a minute there I thought I said bitch

:spank:
there are just getting to be too many words we cannot "say"..