Economic Problems

On The Edge Of Disaster: 59 Percent Of Americans Are Living Paycheck To Paycheck

Living on the edge, being dragged down by debt, and having little hope for the future is no way to live.  But that is precisely where most Americans find themselves in 2019.  Despite a supposedly “booming economy”, the middle class continues to shrink and most of the country is barely scraping by from month to month.  In fact, a brand new survey that was just released by Charles Schwab discovered that 59 percent of all Americans are currently living paycheck to paycheck… (Read More...)

The True Size Of The U.S. National Debt, Including Unfunded Liabilities, Is 222 Trillion Dollars

The United States is on a path to financial ruin, and everyone can see what is happening, but nobody can seem to come up with a way to stop it.  According to the U.S. Treasury, the federal government is currently 22 trillion dollars in debt, and that represents the single largest debt in the history of the planet.  Over the past decade, we have been adding to that debt at a rate of about 1.1 trillion dollars a year, and we will add more than a trillion dollars to that total once again this year.  But when you add in our unfunded liabilities, our long-term financial outlook as a nation looks downright apocalyptic.  According to Boston University economics professor Laurence Kotlikoff, the U.S. is currently facing 200 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities, and when you add that number to our 22 trillion dollar debt, you get a grand total of 222 trillion dollars. (Read More...)

America Has Millions Of Millennial Brats That Need To Move Away From Mommy And Daddy And Start Acting Like Adults

If young adults are America’s future, then they better get their act together. Today, over 30 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds live with their parents or other family members. Meanwhile, marriage rates and fertility rates in the United States have both hit record lows in recent years. Instead of coddling these self-absorbed Millennial narcissists well into their adult years, we need to be kicking them out of the nest and encouraging them to learn to fend for themselves. In many instances, if they do not learn how to act like adults by the time they are 35, they never will. It is time for parents all over America to exercise some tough love, because we are facing a major national crisis. (Read More...)

The Economic And Financial Problems In Europe Are Only Just Beginning…

Euro Gears - Public DomainRight now, the financial world is focused on the breathtaking stock market crash in China, but don’t forget to keep an eye on what is happening in Europe.  Collectively, the European Union has a larger population than the United States, a larger economy than either the U.S. or China, and the banking system in Europe is the biggest on the planet by far.  So what happens in Europe really matters, and at this point the European economy is absolutely primed for a meltdown.  European debt levels have never been higher, European banks are absolutely loaded with non-performing loans and high-risk derivatives, and the unemployment rate in the eurozone is currently more than double the unemployment rate in the United States.  In all the euphoria surrounding the “deal” that temporarily kept Greece in the eurozone, I think that people have forgotten that the economic and financial fundamentals in Europe have continued to deteriorate.  Whether Greece ultimately leaves the eurozone or not, a great financial crisis is inevitably coming to Europe.  It is just a matter of time. (Read More...)

Will Anything Really Change After The Midterm Elections?

Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Boehner, McConnell - Public Domain The more things change, the more things stay the same.  As I write this, it looks like the Republicans are going to take control of the U.S. Senate.  But will that actually alter the direction of the country?  Will that actually change anything?  There are many that hope that this could represent a “turning point” for America, but history tells us that almost certainly will not be the case.  Over the past 30 years, things have changed very little no matter which party has controlled the White House and no matter which party has controlled Congress.  During that time frame, the national debt has continued to explode, our long-term economic problems have continued to get even worse, our liberties and freedoms have continued to erode and our nation has increasingly become a moral cesspool.  And the truth is that at this point there is very little real difference between most Democrats and most Republicans.  The corruption in Washington D.C. runs extremely deep, and very few politicians are able to enter that environment without being fundamentally affected by it. (Read More...)

The Number One Thing That Women Are Looking For In A Husband

Bride And Groom - Public DomainIs it looks?  Is it a charming personality?  Is it compatibility?  No, it isn’t any of those things.  According to a Pew Research Center study that was just released on Wednesday, “a steady job” is the number one thing that women are looking for in a husband.  And considering the fact that the labor force participation rate for men has been falling for decades, it should be no surprise that the marriage rate has been declining as well.  In fact, as I wrote about the other day, the marriage rate in the U.S. is at a 93 year low and single Americans make up more than half the population for the first time ever.  This is a very disturbing trend, but it is not likely to change any time soon.  In fact, our economic problems are probably only going to get worse from here.  So as the pool of “eligible bachelors” continues to shrink, what are women going to do? (Read More...)

Even The CEOs On Obama’s Job Creation Panel Are Shipping Jobs Out Of The United States

There are 27 members on Barack Obama’s job creation panel, and most of them are corporate executives.  The formal name of the panel is the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which is kind of ironic considering the fact that many of the CEOs on the panel have been rapidly shipping jobs out of the United States.  So what hope is there that things are going to turn around if many of the folks that are supposed to be helping Barack Obama create U.S. jobs are actively destroying them instead?  And how is the American middle class ever supposed to recover if corporate executives keep taking their jobs away and sending them to the other side of the world where it is legal to pay slave labor wages?  These issues go to the very heart of America’s economic problems, and yet very few of our leaders are talking about them.  But they should be talking about these things, because the economy is the number one issue for most American voters right now. (Read More...)

Divide And Conquer: The Union Protests In Wisconsin And Ohio Are Increasing The Hate Between The Left And The Right

What is the perfect way to get the eyes of the American people off of the real economic problems that this country is facing?  Get them fighting with each other of course.  And what is one issue that is sure to get the left and the right screaming at each other like cats and dogs?  Unions.  The battle over collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin has been making headlines around the world for weeks and there are no signs that it is going to end any time soon.  In fact, Mordecai Lee, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, says that it is “a battle to the death“.  The Democrats that have gone AWOL appear to be absolutely determined to stay away.  The protesters seem equally determined to keep on fighting.  Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker does not look like he plans to back down either.  Meanwhile, both sides are calling each other the most horrible names.  “Hitler”, “Stalin”, “Nazi” and “fascist” are just a few of the terms that are being thrown around by both sides.  What has been going on in Wisconsin has captured the imagination of the entire nation and it is creating even more hate between the left and the right in this country.  Unfortunately, as the economic pie in this nation continues to shrink, economic battles such as the one in Wisconsin are going to become quite common. (Read More...)