“We’ve lost almost $11 trillion of household wealth in the last 17 or 18 months,” lamented Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat, on last Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” urging Congress to proceed with speedy deliberations on a finance reform bill.
Eleven trillion dollars! That’s over three-quarters of our current gross domestic product.
Where did all this wealth go? Did other folks get it? Or did it just go up in smoke?
For that matter, what precisely is “wealth”? Is it something tangible we can see, or is it something intangible – something merely imagined?
In an illuminating paper on asset values and wealth, the economist Michael Reiter defined wealth in a way that makes sense to economists:
“Wealth” is the present value of the expected stream of future utility [human happiness] that an “infinitely lived individual or a dynasty” [or a nation] could hope to extract from the real resources available now and in the indefinite future, assuming these real resources are allocated and managed now, and over time, so as to maximize that present value of future utils (at the “proper” discount rate).
Two practical points can be extracted from this abstract definition.
First, economists think of wealth not just in monetary terms — as cash, stocks, bonds and real estate — but in terms of human well-being.
Second, and most importantly, the wealth a nation believes itself to possess is based strictly on the citizenry’s expectations about the future. It is in good part a figment of the citizens’ imagination.
sheeple
ReplyDeleteReal wealth=gold & silver, storable food, water filter, guns & ammo.
Better get your act together, the collapse is acoming, and there aint nutin you can do about it besides stock up!
Or go back to watching your tv's and SHUT-UP!
$11 trillions lost in wealth?
ReplyDeleteprint $11 trillions more to replace the lost wealth. LOL
Change you can believe in. LOL
ReplyDeleteOprah had her couch potato sheep followers vote for Odumbell. Now he wants to take Oprahs wealth and spread it around. You can't make this shit up. LOL
yes it is
ReplyDeleteMY
House value down 40% -Check
Value of my money down 10% - check
taxes and fees Up - Check
Pissed Off-O- Meter UP 40%
welcome to Taxifornia USA
quit bitchin!! if u dont want nice road and schools, police.. which most american seem to want.. thenPAY for it thru taxes. This is called the "american theatrics" u know the shit on the loudspeakers at the airport that sounds like god warning u. if u want to be apart of the american theatrics then quit bitching.. if u dont want to be apart of it, then move the fuck outta here quietly and let the rest of them be.. im with ya.. im leavin but im sick of people bitching about facts. and being so sour about everything not being what it used to be.. point beign, ur better off with people who have nothing and gain it, like 2nd wrld countrys becoming modern, well invested, healthcare. rather than be a 1st wrld nation going down hill. one will ppreciate new things and the other is goiong to be sour when they lose services
ReplyDelete"if u dont want nice road and schools"
ReplyDeleteThis is BS. The schools in Ca. are run down and over crowded. The heavy taxation in CA. is to support the ancor babys from Mexico. In 2007 my home town became a sanctuary city. That was the last straw. Good bye Mexifornia.
1012 If you want...?
ReplyDeleteA product of the CA. public school system.
this is change bush said you can believe in as he ruined everything in 8 years, things have been going down hill for a long time, obama has to clean up all the mess bush made, bush made change that ruined america forever, so choke on the truth!
ReplyDeleteHey Dumbo,
ReplyDeleteThe funds for roads, schools, etc in your community come from local and state tax, not federal income tax.
dodd you are not worthy to to live in my pooper.
ReplyDeletewee everyday the sheep
ReplyDeletethat grew off the delusion of wealth are loseing it
wait let me see
oh yes my gold went up again
its funny i use to get mad
and like the dummy said 1012
i was told i should quit bitchen and leave the country
i was told that
now that im getting rich off of gold
they still cant bear the truth
so let me say
you cant save a fool from himself
so buy gold and silver
and save yourself
and buy the idiot who said leave the countrys house for 2 gold coins
and say you ust be crazy
because not only am i rich bich
iown your house
Great blog!!
ReplyDeleteIf you like, come back and visit mine: http://albumdeestampillas.blogspot.com
Thanks,
Pablo from Argentina
11:18 Your one term president will be replaced with someone who doesn't make excuses.
ReplyDeleteYou have been watching Oprah too long.
215 one term is better than a loser no term like yourself
ReplyDeleteThe looting of America is proceeding well .
ReplyDeleteThe biggest legal money laundering machine for transferring money from one “American “ pocket of the elite to the other “Foreign” pocket perhaps in the Caribbean offshore bank is derivative bets.
The hedge Funds and banksters like G.S.
are so big that they can cooperate to manipulate the price of commodities like food and oil or currencies and derivitives bets might have a win or a loss. Either way those in the game that are in the know win.
The big guys “in the know” that want to move their wealth out of one country simply bet against a “separate” branch of their own business or with pals in another country.
When losses are made the government bails out the “loser” too.. As with AIG when billions of losing bets were paid out to GS and foreign gamblers and banks by The US government.
As they are "too big to fail".
Its all open and legal and not money laundering at all they say just "insurance" as the mafia used to say ,