Obama's Speech and America, Inc - Nomi Prins

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.nomiprins.com/thoughts/2011/1/26/obamas-speech-and-america-inc-1.html

Watching Obama deliver his State of the Union Speech last night, reminded me of all the rah-rah quarterly meetings that we had to attend as Managing Directors at Goldman, where senior management would remind us all of how great we were, and if there were any areas of competitive weakness relative to our adversaries at other banks, all we had to do was step up our game, innovate and globalize (or something like that.)

Obama wasn't delivering a summary of what has, or is, going on for most Americans last night, no such negative status report. And, if you didn't expect him to, he gave good speech - full of reminders of how it is America's destiny and the American dream to be great and powerful, "robust democracy" that we are.

There was a massive pink elephant in the room called reality though. So, when he waxed proud when he said, "We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing." I had a different reaction.

My reaction was wtf? Two years after the worst recession? After? Really? What about the 26 million people unemployed or underemployed in the country? What about the 4.4 people applying for every job, compared to the 2.9 people per job after the 2000s recession? What about the 4.4 million jobs that should have been added, just accounting for a population coming of job age alone, forget any kind of growth, compared to the fact that instead, the job pool declined by a quarter of a million people in the past two years, because the time required to get a job is at record highs? What about the nearly 8 million FAMILIES that have been foreclosed upon because of the reckless investment bank race to create $14 trillion dollars worth of toxic assets in the five years leading up to the financial crisis and leave them to shatter lives and the non-stock market evaluated economy? What about the fact that the government fiscally stimulated the banking system by a multiple of 20 times more than it stimulated its citizens, with nary a fight from the politicians our democracy is so lucky to have as representation? What about all that warm, cuddly multi-trillion dollar support from the Fed and the Treasury Department on our country's way to Sputnikian economic greatness?

MORE at the link --

[Hydra]

1. Because jobless recoveries work so well...

I remember when people scoffed here when warnings about the ARM resets were coming. The more informed people pointed out that our economy is 70% consumer spending.

A roaring stock market seems not to be able to provide the consumer spending cash needed to actually make the old economy work. Maybe they think they can keep dipping into the treasury for direct profits?

[xchrom]

2. recommend

[WinkyDink]

3. The Investor Class is the one that counts. NPI.