So just how bad is the U.S. economy? Well, the truth is that sometimes it is hard to put into words. We have squandered the great wealth left to us by our forefathers, we have almost totally dismantled the world's greatest manufacturing base, we have shipped millions of good jobs overseas and we have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of mankind. We have taken the greatest free enterprise economy that was ever created and have turned it into a gigantic house of cards delicately balanced on a never-ending spiral of paper money and debt. For decades, all of this paper money and debt has enabled us to enjoy the greatest party in the history of the world, but now the bills are coming due and the party is nearly over.
In fact, things are already so bad that you can pick almost every number and find a corresponding statistic that shows just how bad the economy is getting.
You doubt it?
Well, check this out....
20 - Gallup's measure of underemployment hit 20.0% on March 15th. That was up from 19.7% two weeks earlier and 19.5% at the start of the year.
19 - According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in the month of March. This was an increase of almost 19 percent from February, and it was the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report back in January 2005.
18 - According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in March the national rate of unemployment in the United States was 9.7%, but for Americans younger than 25 it was well above 18 percent.
17 - The FDIC's list of problem banks recently hit a 17-year high.
16 - During the first quarter of 2010, the total number of loans that are at least three months past due in the United States increased for the 16th consecutive quarter.
15 - The Spanish government has just approved a 15 billion euro austerity plan.
14 - The U.S. Congress recently approved an increase in the debt cap of the U.S. government to over 14 trillion dollars.
13 - The FDIC is backing 8,000 banks that have a total of $13 trillion in assets with a deposit insurance fund that is basically flat broke. In fact, the FDIC's deposit insurance fund now has negative 20.7 billion dollars in it, which actually represents a slight improvement from the end of 2009.
12 - The U.S. national debt soared from the $12 trillion mark to the $13 trillion mark in a frighteningly short period of time.
11- It is being reported that a massive network of big banks and financial institutions have been involved in blatant bid-rigging fraud that cost taxpayers across the U.S. billions of dollars. The U.S. Justice Department is charging that financial advisers to municipalities colluded with Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia and 11 other banks in a conspiracy to rig bids on municipal financial instruments.
10 - The Mortgage Bankers Association recently announced that more than 10 percent of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one payment during the January-March time period. That was a record high and up from 9.1 percent a year ago.
9 - The official U.S. unemployment number is 9.9%, although the truth is that many economists consider the true unemployment rate to be much, much higher than that.
8 - The French government says that its deficit will increase to 8 percent of GDP in 2010, but by implementing substantial budget cuts they hope that they can get it to within the European Union's 3 percent limit by the year 2013.
7 - The biggest banks in the U.S. cut their collective small business lending balance by another $1 billion in November. That drop was the seventh monthly decline in a row.
6 - The six biggest banks in the United States now possess assets equivalent to 60 percent of America's gross national product.
5 - That is the number of U.S. banks that federal regulators closed on Friday. That brings that total number of banks that have been shut down this year in the United States to a total of 78.
4 - According to a study published by Texas A&M University Press, the four biggest industries in the Gulf of Mexico region are oil, tourism, fishing and shipping. Together, those four industries account for approximately $234 billion in economic activity each year. Now those four industries have been absolutely decimated by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and will probably not fully recover for years, if not decades.
3 - Decent three bedroom homes in the city of Detroit can be bought for $10,000, but no one wants to buy them.
2 - A massive "second wave" of adjustable rate mortgages is scheduled to reset over the next two to three years. If this second wave is anything like the first wave, the U.S. housing market is about to be absolutely crushed.
1 - The bottom 40 percent of all income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth. But of course many on Wall Street and in the government would argue that there is nothing wrong with an economy where nearly half the people are dividing up 1 percent of the benefits.
@ Bill, world war III cannot be done/won without money: the US will have to import petrol and other resources.
The innovative technology is not there either.
USA owes to much money to foreign creditors. What will they do when they will understand USA cannot reimburse?
Think of what the bank do when you cannot repays your mortgage: your house is repossessed. It is possible that China and other countries will look into seizing US assets, and they will do so when it will be clear USA can’t afford to defend itself anymore.
We will not have war, we will have colonization.
Well, this is what we get when we get the government involved. I wish someone could tell me one social program that the govt. has done that was successful.
You think as a typical american.
The USA, the SHERIFF of the world can fix it starting a new war.
Israel as the 51 th state of america, for shure will follow it.
And the british, american poodle, too
But believe me, america is crashing. Things are changing. A lot faster than you can imagine.
Just a note about another World War. We are in this mess while at the same time engaging in two prolonged and expensive wars. These expensive wars did not prevent our financial crisis.
The present administration has done everything in its power to push this nation into a second recession. Business leaders have one thought on their mind, how to maintain profitability while reducing cost and doing more with less. Not only do we have a deer in the headlights syndrome, with business leaders, but a nation that is dependent on consumer spending for a recovery. The vast wealth lost in housing, job losses, and the stock market; have most Americans asking themselves we too need to do with less not more.
With IRS tax collections down almost 20 this year vs last year, the amount of money that will be borrowed will pass 2 trillion dollars this year alone. What we face is a nation that is on the ropes, with a marginal hope of a turnaround. I believe a second half downturn is in the cards, and the effect will not be welcomed on Wall Street.
We have an administration that is hell bent on destroying this nation and the effect may come true by 2012. The ability to turn our economic conditions is totally dependent on major tax and spending changes from this administration, that happening is unlikely. As I tell many just look at Michigan, to see the future of this nation. Michigan economic conditions started to erode in 2005 and have been ahead of the country by two years since 2005.
well lot of readers wont like or understand what is going on with America an the Economic trouble. The world is going through a change to a one world goverment. This is what Jesus Christ has shown in the Bible starting in revolation. Looking at this in a world event the U.S.A must collapse along with other goverments what going on now in the goverment of America and economy is part of the process. If one look at what the head goverment leaders of America are doing is nothing just spend increase taxes. in the history of the U.S. it took 200 years reach 1 trillion dollars and now just recently went to 13 trillion dollars. I dont think any person can stop Gods judgement to us an the world. if the leaders of the U.S. would or desire to make this country strong agian they need to make major changes in they way they run this country quit dragging us down by serving their own selfish gready desires. ( republicans and democrats). Jesus Is about to come very soon just like in Noahs days. in short to all the major details of the problems in the world today this is whats happening. ps seek the truth it comes by Jesus and the Bible.
Funny. Keep in mind people this ALL revolves around oil. We hit “peak oil” sometime in the mid 70s, which means we are now running out. We are losing oil production at a rate of 9% every year. And when EVERYTHING you use depends on oil, you get a global collapse.
If you look at human population numbers, the global population sky rocketed with the turn of the 20th century, which yet again, means that oil is the reason for our current numbers. Soon things will return to a more, “balanced” state. A sustainable human population.
YAAAAY fun.. -_-’
this culture cannot progress & successful in the modern world
1-they dont know how to save & invest
2-laid back & lazy(not hard working)
3-too many laws to destroy small & large businesses cant compete with other third world countries
4-every where is lawsuits,every one is try to rip other person to get free money
5-lawyers are biggest conspirators,encouraging to sue innocent people
6-too much freedom,drugs,tv’s internet for abuse
7-don’t believe in religion & principals
8-allowed nudity,short clothes,expose breast, what you expect to corrupt human mind in a name of fashion
9-people are eating too much junk food ,pizza & poisonous sodas do you know what it does to you
10-doctors are writing unnecessary tablets to earn cruises as bonus
11-no justice in legal system 95% percent forced in to pleas
its lot more may be some other time i will write
I’m sure alot of people saw this all coming true a long time ago. I did in the 1970s. The companies followed the baby boomers from the day we were born until old age. They made alot of money off of us and when we became adults we were very hard working. They continued making money off us until we got old. Now we are a burden. They desided to just ship when we might need help in our later years. They had this planned along time ago. I see the relaxed foresight of our government such as over population, cutting down forest and tearing and destroying out environment,for housing, etc. What for? PROFIT, that’s all they care about, control and money. Politicans have created a monster that no one can stop. One world government is the agenda. That is why the top 1% does not want to be taxed because they will be ruling the world soon. I just fell very sorry for the children, let’s all pray for them.