Americans Living in Their Vans in California

America is getting poorer. The U.S. government has just released a bunch of new statistics about poverty in America, and once again this year the news is not good. According to a special report from the U.S. Census Bureau, 46.2 million Americans are now living in poverty. The number of those living in poverty in America has grown by 2.6 million in just the last 12 months, and that is the largest increase that we have ever seen since the U.S. government began calculating poverty figures back in 1959. Not only that, median household income has also fallen once again. In case you are keeping track, that makes three years in a row. Read more.....

Nearly one in six in poverty in the U.S.; children hit hard, Census says

Nearly one in six Americans was living in poverty last year, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, a development that is ensnaring growing numbers of children and offering vivid proof of the recession’s devastating impact.

The report portrays a nation where many people are slipping backward in the wake of a downturn that left 14 million people out of work and pushed unemployment rates to levels not seen in decades.

As poverty surged last year to its highest level since 1993, median household income declined, leaving the typical American household earning less in inflation-adjusted dollars than it did in 1997. Read more....

The Biggest Risk to the Economy in 2012, and What’s the Economy For Anyway?

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos a few days ago, said the “critical risks” facing the American economy this year were a worsening of Europe’s chronic sovereign debt crisis and a rise in tensions with Iran that could stoke global oil prices.

What about jobs and wages here at home?
As the Commerce Department reported Friday, the U.S. economy grew 2.8 percent between October and December – the fastest pace in 18 months and the first time growth exceeded 2 percent all year. Many bigger American companies have been reporting strong profits in recent months. GE and Lockheed Martin closed the year with record order backlogs. Read more....

Obama’s debt-chopping plan – Is it fully equipped for a debt free 2012?

After the scuffles over the raising of the debt ceiling ended with a final rise of the most awaited debt limit and after S&P cut off a notch from the pristine credit rating of the US (AAA), President Barack Obama has finally rolled off his plan to help the US get back on track. Unless the Obama administration slashes off the national debt, nothing positive can ever happen to the economy. Though a number of groups have published their own debt reduction plan, nothing has ever been effective in curbing the spiraling debt level of this economic superpower.

Just as the consumers are running to the professional debt help companies to control their personal finances, the government is also continuously borrowing money from other nations in order to cope up with the rising expenses of the nation. As Obama has rolled out the new plan to decrease the increasing debt level in the US, the most common question by the financial analysts is whether or not this plan is equipped enough to make the difference. Read on to educate yourself on this. Read more....

What If The Economy Crashes? - The First 12 Hours after the US Dollar Collapse

The first 12 hours after the U.S. dollar collapse
With the ongoing economic turmoil that is taking place world wide [although mainstream media would like you to believe the issue is only in Greece], there is much worry among those seeing the writing in the world. Many have even gone on record stating that the dollar's collapse is a mathematical certainty, and it is.

On a long enough time-line, EVER single fiat currency that has ever existed has failed. The dollar will be no different. When that day comes, will you be prepared? Do your own due diligence.

We cannot afford to lack preparation when the signs are so obvious. Read more.....

MATTERS OF FAITH

I spend my days at work looking through vast quantities of public opinion data. Nothing I see is surprising anymore, and most of it is, if not predictable, easily explainable. A throwaway poll from the South Carolina primary, however, left me scratching my head. Among voters who stated that religion matters "a great deal", 46% voted for thrice-married serial adulterer and pretend Catholic Newt Gingrich compared to only 10% for Mitt the Mormon.

Not being a practitioner of any organized religion, I understand the factionalism and various interdenominational rivalries adequately but not completely. I get it that evangelical Christians (let's safely assume they made up the vast majority of religiously inclined South Carolina GOP primary voters) have extremely negative views of Mormonism. It was clear that this would be an issue with his candidacy from the outset, but I never really processed it or attempted to understand it. Read more....

Fairness, the Buffet Rule and Capital Gains Taxation

Eliot Spitzer has a post on fairness and the capital gains tax code at Slate: “So is the call for a ‘Romney rule’ mandating that capital gains be treated as ordinary income, and so be subject to the same top marginal rate of 35 percent that applies to ordinary income, rather than the current top rate of 15 percent. But we shouldn’t raise the capital gains tax just because it’s a popular idea. The rate should rise for philosophical, economic, and political reasons.”

There’s one way of approaching fairness in the tax rate that involves two dimensions, and capital gains violates both of them. That approach has a vertical and horizontal approach to fairness. There’s vertical equity – where those with more pay more – and there’s horizontal equity, where people who are the same should be taxed the same. (Whether these are necessarily two principles of equity or one is a debate for another day.) That capital gains are taxed less than income violates both. Read more....

The Truth About the Economy

Robert Reich describes what’s wrong with the economy in 2 minutes. His bullet points (thanks to Stephanie Kelton):

• The economy doubles since 1980, but wages flat. 
• Where did the money go… 
• All (or most) of the gains went to the super rich. And… 
• With money comes political power. Taxes on super rich slashed, revenues evaporate. This leads to… 
• Huge budget deficits. Middle class agitated, fights for scraps… 
• Middle class divided. Buying and borrowing slow. Resulting in: 
• Anemic recovery/economy. Read more...