economy
All posts tagged economy
Michael Snyder
In America tonight, tens of millions of men and women will struggle to get to sleep because they are stressed out about not making enough money even though they are working as hard as they possibly can. They are called “the working poor”, and their numbers are absolutely exploding.
As a recent Gallup poll showed, Americans are more concerned about the economy than they are about anything else. But why are Americans so stressed out about our economic situation if things are supposedly getting better?
Well, the truth is that unemployment is not actually going down, and the real unemployment numbers are actually much worse than what is officially being reported by the government. But unemployment is only part of the story. Most American workers are still able to find jobs, but an increasing proportion of them are not able to make ends meet at the end of the month. Our economy continues to bleed good paying middle class jobs, and to a large degree those jobs are being replaced by low income jobs. Approximately one-fourth of all American workers make 10 dollars an hour or less at this point, and we see them all around us every day. They flip our burgers, they cut our hair and they take our money at the supermarket. In many homes, both parents are working multiple jobs, and yet when a child gets sick or a car breaks down they find that they don’t have enough money to pay the bill. Many of these families have gone into tremendous amounts of debt in order to try to stay afloat, but once you get caught in a cycle of debt it can be incredibly difficult to break out of that. Continue Reading
It’s time to admit that we live in a false economy. Smoke and mirrors are used to make us believe the economy is real, but it’s all an elaborate illusion.
Out of one side of the establishment’s mouth we hear excitement about “green shoots”, and out of the other side comes breathless warnings of fiscal cliffs and the urgent need for unlimited bailouts by the Fed.
We hear the people begging for jobs and the politicians promising them, but politicians can’t create jobs. We see people camped out to buy stuff on Black Friday indicating the consumer economy is seemingly thriving, only to find out everything was bought on credit.
The corporate media does their best to distract us from seeing anything real. We see the media glorify Kim Kardashian who got rich by being famous, and became famous merely by being rich. She got front page coverage on Huffington Post this week because her cat died. Enough said.
Meanwhile the financial media makes the economy seem complicated and they ban anyone who speaks truthfully about the economy from their airwaves.
Is it any wonder why people are angry and confused about the economy?
Well, hopefully these signs that we live in a false economy will help clear up some of that confusion. Continue Reading
An integral part of the American Dream is under threat – as “downward mobility” seems to be threatening the education system in the United States.
The idea of going to college – and the expectation that the next generation will be better educated and more prosperous than its predecessor – has been hardwired into the ambitions of the middle classes in the United States.
But there are deep-seated worries about whether this upward mobility is going into reverse.
Andreas Schleicher, special adviser on education at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), says the U.S. is now the only major economy in the world where the younger generation is not going to be better educated than the older.
“It’s something of great significance because much of today’s economic power of the United States rests on a very high degree of adult skills – and that is now at risk,” says Mr Schleicher.
“These skills are the engine of the US economy and the engine is stuttering,” says Mr Schleicher, one of the world’s most influential experts on international education comparisons.
Lack of opportunity Continue Reading
 |
|
Riot Police
Credits:
Courtesy of subrealism.blogspot.com
|
On Aug. 17, Germany became the latest country to remove longstanding protections for civilian populations from military intervention in domestic conflicts. In a new court ruling, which repealed laws created out of the Nazi era in Germany, the government can now use the military against citizens in extreme cases, joining the U.S. and other nation states who have removed the dividing linebetween civilian and military policing.
The German military will in future be able to use its weapons on German streets in an extreme situation, the Federal Constitutional Court says.
The ruling says the armed forces can be deployed only if Germany faces an assault of “catastrophic proportions”, but not to control demonstrations. - BBC Continue Reading
Michael Snyder, Contributor
Activist Post
Every single day more Americans fall into poverty. This should deeply alarm you no matter what political party you belong to and no matter what your personal economic philosophy is.
Right now, approximately 100 million Americans are either “poor” or “near poor”. For a lot of people “poverty” can be a nebulous concept, so let’s define it.
The poverty level as defined by the federal government in 2010 was $11,139 for an individual and $22,314 for a family of four.
Could you take care of a family of four on less than $2000 a month?
Millions upon millions of families are experiencing a tremendous amount of pain in this economy, and no matter what “solutions” we think are correct, the reality is that we all should have compassion on them. Sadly, things are about to get even worse. The next major economic downturn is rapidly approaching, and when it hits the statistics posted below are going to look even more horrendous.
When it comes to poverty, most Americans immediately want to get into debates about tax rates and wealth redistribution and things like that.
But the truth is that they are missing the main point.
The way we slice up the pie is not going to solve our problems, because the pie is constantly getting smaller. Continue Reading
(NaturalNews) From edible landscaping to biointensive gardening, Americans around the nation are discovering the financial beauty of creating practical solutions to our food woes. Beyond the dangers of GMO’s and industrial farming, a basic fact remains: food costs are skyrocketing. Savvy individuals are recognizing the value in growing their own food to ensure nutritious, organic, and cost-effective produce. A revolution is quietly gaining momentum in backyards across America that resists dangerous farming practices, nutritionally depleted produce and increasingly restrictive governmental control over our food supply.
Not all backyard garden farms are created equal
The biointensive style of gardening is a breed apart from standard practices. In 1966 Alan Chadwick, an English master horticulturist, synthesized the theory of biodynamics by Rudolph Steiner with the French intensive system. John Jeavons of Ecology Action in Stanford, California adopted Chadwick’s biointensive theory while subjecting it to careful observation, testing, and modification. Crop harvest, using Jeavons method, produces up to six times the average US yield.
Incredibly, the biointensive approach uses 99 percent less energy and one-third the water than conventional farming. Jeavons estimates that it would be possible for an average gardener to generate $10,000 per year from produce grown on a 1/10 acre plot. All without toxic chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
The secret to the tremendous crop yield of biointensive gardening stems from the soil preparation and plant placement. By digging the soil twice and incorporating rich compost, the earth becomes loose and nutrient dense which supports healthy plants along with deep root growth. This allows plants to thrive when grown tightly together. More compact spacing ensures the soil remains moist while hindering undesirable weeds. Companion planting is also an important element where plants help each other, such as placing beetle repelling tomatoes alongside cabbage. Continue Reading
Source: New World Reporter
by R.F. Goggin (Contributing Author)
(NWR) – It would seem that our federally elected politicians in the U.S., have not been financially afflicted, much like the bulk of Americans since the economic downturn of 2008. No big surprise there, perhaps, but let us ordinary citizens hopefully realize that if things keep going as they are, these very same Washington D.C. officials will be telling us all that we need to make sacrifices for the greater good of the country. They will suggest such things as cutting food stamps for the poor or struggling, medical care for the elderly, etc., and likely seek to introduce a variety of new austerity measures, depending on how poorly our economy performs.
Figures from The New Center for Responsive Politics (a respectable, non-profit research group located on-line at opensecrects.org) paint a revealing picture of just how well politicians are doing compared to just about everyone else in America. One glaring example is that of Representative Ed Pastor (D. AR), who upon entering Congress In 1991 with somewhere around $100,000 in savings; being roughly about the same amount that he was indebted to banks or credit card companies, etc., has somehow since become just one more within the crowd of 250 millionaire members of Congress. Continue Reading
By Kenneth Hulsberg
While browsing Bill Still’s forum I came across a Ron Paul quote which motivated me to write a little. The quote originates from an article titled ‘The Beginning of the End of Fiat Money.‘ It’s rather revealing of Ron Paul’s political and economic perspective.
“There’s nothing to fear from globalism, free trade and a single worldwide currency. But a globalism where free trade is competitively subsidized by each nation, a continuous trade war is dictated by the WTO, and the single currency is pure fiat, fear is justified. That type of globalism is destined to collapse into economic despair, inflationism and protectionism, and managed by resurgent militant nationalism.”
Nothing to fear from globalism? Free-trade? A single worldwide currency? So, their globalism is bad, but Ron Paul gold-buggery globalism is good? Protectionism is a bad thing? Hmm… so says the good doctor.
The article continues:
“Efforts to achieve peaceful globalist goals are quickly abandoned when the standard of living drops, unemployment rises, stock markets crash and artificially high wages are challenged by market forces. When tight budgets threaten spending cuts, cries for expanding the welfare state drown out any expression of concern for rising deficits.”
What “peaceful globalist goals” is Ron Paul referring too? Is he suggesting such a thing exists? Does he subscribe to these goals himself? How come he’s not condemning globalism all together? Where does he get this thinking a peaceful globalism will end in results better than any other form of globalism? Continue Reading
2012 is going to be quite a year with falling economies in the UK, Europe, the US, China, Japan and the remainder of Asia. Latin America, and Mexico by comparison should fare fairly well overall. England is in a death spiral. Europe is next, the US is not far behind and China and Japan will soon join the disjoined group. We are about to witness the end of the period that developed since the end of WWII. That is economically, financially, socially and politically. The transition into the future is going to be borne out of chaos. If you have any doubt just look at the recent legislation passed in the US allowing the president to pick up and incarcerate, torture or murder dissidents. Americans will be labeled terrorists for any reason government decides. This is corporatist fascist dictatorial government. We have as well reports from Marion Monte, a top Illuminist, who was appointed Italy’s PM that he wants business to stop making large transactions in cash. Cash will be limited to $1,300 per transaction down from $3,250. That should bring the economy to a halt, create a thriving black market and drive buyers into US dollars and gold and silver coins. They obviously want to bring the Italian economy to its knees. As a result Italian consumer confidence in December fell to its lowest level in 16 years. Their sentiment index is 91.6, the lowest since 19096. Next the fascist appointed plans to make net asset audits to identify people who spend more than they will officially earn. This will become a worldwide trend. These orders should emasculate savings in Italy, the least-indebted nation in Europe. They are switching out of the euro into other currencies and gold and silver. Italy may be broke, but Italians are not. Banks pushed for the cash limit so people would start using credit cards from which the banks extract 2%. Older Italians will get hit hard; 7.5 million have never even had a bank account. The bankers and dictators never give up and you all are about to find that out. It is expected the greatest upheaval will be in the US, as their way of life comes to a halt. The catalyst could be a rigged election next November. Americans know if Ron Paul is not elected they are doomed. In addition, insolvency will touch every family in America bringing on an aggressiveness and warrior mentality that heretofore the world has never seen. If these elitists think they are going to get away with this they are sadly mistaken. Continue Reading
By Michael Snyder
BlacklistedNews.com
The following are 40 undeniable pieces of evidence that show that America is in decline….
#1 Back in 1985, 11 million vehicles were sold in America. In 2009, only 5.4 million vehicles were sold in America.
#2 In 1990, the median age of a vehicle in the United States was just 6.5 years. Today, the median age of a vehicle in the United States is approximately 10 years.
#3 The average price of a gallon of gasoline in 2011 has been $3.50. That is a new all-time record. The previous record was $3.24 in 2008.
#4 The average American household will have spent an astounding $4,155 on gasoline by the time the year is over.
#5 The number of children in the United States without a permanent home has increased by 38 percent since 2007.
#6 A decade ago, the United States was ranked number one in average wealth per adult. By 2010, the United States had fallen to seventh.
#7 The U.S. tax code is now more than 50,000 pages longer than it used to be. Continue Reading
