10 real examples of how Americans are hurting

[kentuck]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/11/economy-not-mental/

<snip>

HOUSING FORECLOSURES INCREASING: As a result of the subprime lending crisis, “housing foreclosures nationwide were up 50% in June compared with the same month in 2007.” In California alone, foreclosures have reached an average of 500 per day.

HOMELESSNESS INCREASING: The number of homeless over the age of 50 are “steadily increasing.”

HEALTHCARE COSTS RISING: According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, “health-care costs are growing much faster than the economy.” Costs are rising so significantly, some Americans are delaying retirement.

GAS PRICES RISING: The national average gas price is $4.09, up 33% from this time last year. Gas prices are now expected to hit “$4.25 by the fall and then stay at more than $4 a gallon until the end of 2009.”

JOB LOSSES INCREASING: In the first six months of this year, a total of 438,000 jobs have been lost, bringing unemployment to 5.5%. The CEO of Bank of America commented, if unemployment continues to rise, “all bets are off.”

FOOD COSTS RISING: “U.S. food prices rose 4 percent in 2007″ making it the fastest rise in 17 years and, as a result, food stamps have considerably less buying power.

HEATING AND ELECTRICITY COSTS RISING: Heating oil costs across the north are expected to be “up 60 percent from last year” and utilities across the country are “raising power prices up to 29%.”

REAL WAGES DECLINING: “Slower wage growth and faster inflation has led to falling real hourly and weekly earnings for most workers.”

LEISURE SPENDING DECLINING: As a result of the rising cost of living, Americans are “tightening their belts and thinking twice about spending extra bucks on entertainment and leisure products.”

VALUE OF DOLLAR DECLINING: The dollar “has been declining steadily for six years against other major currencies, undercutting its role as the leading international banking currency.”

[Psephos]

1. You forgot one

The size of a half gallon of ice cream has shrunk to 1.75 quarts. Breyer's has taken it down even further, to 1.5 quarts. Meanwhile, the price, strangely, has *not* shrunk.

[Breeze54]

2. Pretty pathetic and scary looking, if you ask me!

The number of homeless over the age of 50 are “steadily increasing.” :scared:

And "some" say there is no age discrimination in hiring. Yeah... right. :eyes:

[indepat]

8. No age discrimination in hiring and neither is there speculation in oil prices per the SecTreas

:D

Edited for context

[caledesi]

12. Well said! NT

[notesdev]

3. Some of it is our own fault... some is not

Foreclosures and leisure spending fall into the 'nobody else to blame' category. Participating in the mass delusion of infinite credit is like jumping off a bridge because you saw someone else do so.

The rest of it is directly attributable to the corruption in our government, most specifically the federal government, which has pursued insane foreign policies both political and economic, written a morass of laws that benefit lawyers more than anyone else, and has consistently served private interests - many of those foreign interests - over the welfare of the nation.

[Breeze54]

4. I don't agree that Foreclosures fall into the 'nobody else to blame' category.

Many people with health care crisis and no health insurance are
being financially wiped out as a result and losing their homes.
All the foreclosures are not just due to the housing loan schemes.

[notesdev]

10. True in some cases

In general though people just borrowed far more than they could really afford, through a mix of poor economic education and greed. People have had financial ruin due to catastrophic medical problems for a long time; what is new are things like pay-option ARMs and other negative amortization schemes, and the popularity of HELOCs. Many people saw they could get money now, and paid no heed to the fact that money borrowed must be repaid.

[caledesi]

13. Your concern is duly noted. NT

[Breeze54]

14. And a lot were scammed. Weren't there 433 arrests a few weeks ago of Real Estate "lenders/thieves?

:shrug:

And as I heard it, many, many more to come.

[Bobbie Jo]

7. Free market gone wild.....

Take a look at the last 8 years

Infinite credit indeed, and plenty of blame to go around. However, credit card companies have been among the worst actors of the bunch. They literally flooded the market with easy credit. Do you remember the stories about cards being sent to kids, dogs, the non-existent? CREDIT FOR EVERYONE!!!
This was no accident.....24% interest, late fees, upon late fees, 31% default rate, new bankruptcy laws, mandatory arbitration, etc. But hey...business is business right?


Which created the next fastest growing market...BAD CREDIT? NO PROBLEM! New prey for the next wave of predators.(aka free market). What we are seeing now is the cycle hitting a brick wall.

So now we have an economy based upon buying power that no longer exists. Plenty of bad behavior to go around, but if you look at the big picture it's clear that the worst behavior was enabled and allowed to continue.

[notesdev]

11. Not the free market... the Federal Reserve

The Fed, not the market, owns this puppy. Since it sets interest rates, it is greatly responsible for the enormous amount of liquidity that spurred the lending that became the problem. It was wholly irresponsible to keep interest rates as low as they were/are for the length of time they did so. For a short time it made them seem like geniuses - but their responsibility is long term, not short term, and on that measure they failed catastrophically.

[Warpy]

9. Well, it's not like they teach this stuff anywhere

but the school of hard experience and harder knocks. People got sucked into ARMs and other creative financing simply because they were never taught any better. All they could see was the house that they could raise their kids in and never have to leave and signed on the dotted line.

If they were deluded, it was by the motormouthed loan salesman who wanted to up the ante on the house they bought and increase everybody's fees.

I can't blame the victims of this scam. I put the blame where you do, squarely on the shoulders of the industry, itself. Once you deregulate, you allow thieves to set up shop right out there in the open, making everybody think they're not thieves any more. That's why people got deluded.

These scammers are going to take us all down by the time this thing is over because they didn't just hurt families who wanted housing and the toys they should have had if their wages had kept pace with inflation. They spread their garbage paper all through the financial industry, affecting everybody from banks and brokerages through pension funds and even states, themselves.

Most will be enjoying retirements offshore while the country sinks under what they did. The politicians will never admit how much egg is all over their faces for allowing scammers to rewrite regulatory laws. The people who will suffer are me and thee.

[Captain Angry]

5. Mission Accomplished.

They've wrecked things. If Senator Obama takes the oath in January, he's going to spend 4 years fixing everything.

Which means spending, job cuts in wasteful positions, etc. Add to that the exceptionally corrupt Congress he's going to have to deal with and he'll be unable to get anything actually positive and new done.

Bush has effectively scuttled the ship.

[leftofthedial]

6. those damned Democrats!

Clinton caused this!