Eurozone Crisis online

santosh10

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Eurozone crisis has pushed millions into poverty
10 DECEMBER 2012

Crushed by an austerity squeeze and towering unemployment, millions of Europeans joined the ranks of the newly poor in 2012 in a crisis that showed no mercy for the old, women or children.

An arc of misery spread pitilessly across southern Europe's middle classes, engulfing bailed-out nations Greece and Portugal and tottering heavyweights such as the eurozone's number four economy, Spain, and number three, Italy. :ranger:

"The black hole is getting bigger and bigger," fretted Mercedes Gonzalez, a 52-year-old Spaniard who has less than 800 euros ($1,000) a month to raise her unemployed family in the Madrid suburb of Fuenlabrada.

In July, she was still pocketing the monthly state aid of 426 euros for the long-term unemployed. But the benefit was slashed to 360 euros last month, she said, and in the meantime a September 1 rise in sales tax lifted the price of food and other regular bills.

"Things are really getting worse, we can't breathe already," said the energetic unemployed saleswoman whose voice betrayed weariness as she contemplated caring for herself, her carpenter husband and two of her three adult sons, all out of work.

Spain is displaying all the signs of a major social crisis, with one in four workers unemployed, an unprecedented austerity squeeze by the state, cuts to education and healthcare, and thousands of indebted families thrown out of their homes and into the streets.

In this country, where two home owners threatened with eviction recently committed suicide, as in other southern European nations such as Greece and Italy, the economic crisis is sowing implacable despair.

In Italy, the fate of an unemployed bricklayer who was being chased for unpaid taxes moved the entire country. :coffee:

Giuseppe Campaniello set himself ablaze outside a tax office at the end of March and died after nine days of agony.

"You can't expect a self-employed bricklayer to pay taxes even for the months when he is not working. The state beats you up and Giuseppe paid the consequences," his 48-year-old widow said Tiziana Marrone from Bologna in central Italy told AFP.

"Giuseppe was not helped out. He felt he had his back to the wall. That morning he had to go to a criminal hearing for his taxes. It should have never got to that. We all make mistakes but he never stole from anybody!" she said.

"His was also a protest. Our laws drove him to it. It wasn't a suicide linked to the crisis, it was state-sanctioned murder," she said.

Marrone herself is now in a desperate situation as she has inherited her husband's massive debts and lives on an allowance of 450 euros a month. She is forced to rely on handouts from her pensioner mother to survive. :facepalm:

In Greece, the crisis delivered another fatal blow.

In April, a 77-year-old chemist shot himself in the head leaving a note that accused the government of stripping him of the resources to live.

In Greece, where the unemployment rate is the highest among industrialised nations at 25.4 percent in August, the crisis has hit people harder than any other nation in southern Europe: 31 percent of its inhabitants were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2011 compared to a European Union average of 24.2 percent.

George Tsouvalakis, a 31-year-old jobless carpenter, and his 30-year-old wife, Lia, are among a "lost generation" of thirty-somethings sacrificed by the crisis.

With their two-year-old daughter, Angelina, they are trying to leave the country but cannot afford the plane ticket. Their income fell from 2,500 euros a month before the crisis to between zero and 400 euros.

"We should not remain in the country anymore, that is what I see. But we don't have the financial capability to leave this country. That is our problem or else we would have already left," Lia said. :toilet:

In Portugal, too, where 24.4 percent of the population is estimated to be at risk of poverty or exclusion, the crisis has mortgaged the futures of many young people.

After completing a master's degree in dramatic arts at the prestigious Coimbra University, 29-year-old Nilce Carvalho could not pick up her diploma because of the debts she had built up since the hard-up government slashed her grant from 400 euros to 98 euros.

To escape her debts, the young woman launched a public appeal on Facebook, overcoming "a kind of shame". :facepalm:

"There are lots of young qualified people in our country but there is just no work for us," Carvalho said.

Across southern Europe, humanitarian groups are confronting rampant poverty in all its guises.

"These are families in which every member of working age is out of work, people who lost their home because they were evicted, who are not used to turning to social protection networks," said Fernando Cuevas, spokesman for the Spanish Red Cross.

"Where is the middle class today in Spain?" asked David Polo, who looks after the homeless for Caritas in Burgos, a northern Spanish town. "It's breaking up. We are starting to see a polarisation of this class."

Humanitarian groups are especially worried about women and children.

The UN children's fund UNICEF estimated there were 2.2 million children living below the poverty line in Spain. In Portugal, the education ministry has sounded the alarm because in the space of just 20 days the number of pupils lacking food leapt from 10,000 to 13,000.

Even pensioners, some of them looking after entire families, are no longer safe: the right-leaning government in Spain has announced that the rise in retirement pensions will be less than had been expected in 2013, breaking an oft-repeated electoral promise.

And on Sunday, thousands of doctors and other health workers took to the streets of Madrid to decry government plans to privatise some health services.

Question Everything • Eurozone crisis has pushed millions into poverty - FRANCE 24
 

santosh10

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@Ray @jouni

Ray sir, im bringing some good articles, along with my own analysis in this thread of your forum, you neither pay me for my work nor make any statement here too???

how do you see my post#17, how would we see the world order if we see any new recession, similar to 2008 one? total Debt on UK type economies is well over 500%+ to GDP, most of the credit cards are broke if we have a look on their household debts..... i think we will then see more articles like that of 'France 24', as discussed in my last post#21 :ranger:
 
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santosh10

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Total US debt soars to nearly $60 trn, foreshadows new recession :facepalm:

America - its government, businesses, and people - are nearly $60 trillion in debt, according to the latest economic data from thethe St. Louis Federal Reserve. And private debt - not government borrowing - is the biggest reason for the huge deficit.

Total US debt at the end of the first quarter of 2014, on March 31 totaled almost $59.4 trillion - up nearly $500 billion from the end of the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the data. Total debt (the combination of government, business, mortgage, and consumer debt) was $2.2 trillion 40 years ago.

"In 50 short years, debt has gone from being a luxury for a few to a convenience for many to an addiction for most to a disease for all," James Butler wrote in an Independent Voters Network (IVN) op-ed. "It is a virus that has spread to every aspect of our economy, from a consumer using a credit card to buy a $0.75 candy bar in a vending machine to a government borrowing $17 trillion to keep the lights on.":toilet:



According to a 2012 study published in the Economist, rapid growth in private debt is a better predictor of recessions than increases in public debt, growth in money supply, or trade imbalances. Consumer credit in the US rose by 22 percent over the last three years, reaching a record-high $3.18 trillion in April, the Fed reported on Friday.

Credit card use (or revolving credit) rose by $8.8 billion, while non-revolving credit like auto loans and student loans made by the government surged up by $18 billion in April. Non-revolving credit jumped by 8.2 percent over the last year, while revolving credit only rose 2.2 percent over the same time period.

"For a while after the recession it was trendy to cut up your credit cards and get out of debt," Michael Snyder wrote in an InfoWars op-ed. "But that fad wore off rather quickly, didn't it?"

Snyder noted that 56 percent of all Americans have a subprime credit rating, and that the average monthly car payment in the US is $474. He added that 52 percent of homeowners are overextended on their mortgages and "cannot even afford the house that they are living in right now."

Debt is hurting young adults the most. Millennials say they are spending at least half their monthly paychecks on paying off debt, a recent Wells Fargo survey found. And two years out of college, half of all graduates are still relying on their parents or other family members for some sort of financial help, according to a University of Arizona study, which also found that only 49 percent of graduates are working full-time.

"Whether or not a weak labor market is increasing the need for intergenerational support -- a likely driver in today's economy -- our data clearly showed that many young adults today may not be earning enough to make it on their own, even when working full time," the report stated.

Most of the debt that young adults face is student loan debt, which totals more than $1.2 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. Of that debt, approximately $124 billion is more than 90 days delinquent. :coffee:

"What we have done to our young people is shameful. We have encouraged them to sign up for a lifetime of debt slavery before they even understand what life is all about," Snyder wrote.

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the economy will stall by 2017 because Americans will continue spending, but wages and wealth won't be going up - leading to increased income inequality in the country, the Guardian reported.

"That ever-increasing gap between income and consumption has been filled by borrowing," the Guardiansaid. "These were the debt dynamics in the lead-up to the recession. But they are also the dynamics leading out of the crisis, and continuing today with no end in sight."

Economists have not agreed on how to stave off the impending crisis. But Americans' addiction to spending on credit will not help.

"The problem is, the more debt we have, the more future income must be used to pay the debt and its interest, which reduces the money we have to spend on things. This works to slow the economy," Butler wrote. :facepalm:
:tsk:

"Eventually, the negative effect of the debt load becomes stronger than the positive effect of the added spending and a recession is triggered — or worse."

Total US debt soars to nearly $60 trn, foreshadows new recession — RT USA
 

santosh10

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@Ray

sir, do we have any US's online soldier who may discuss my post as below?

=>

Today's US's people borrowing Debt with a Single Hope that new people will have to pay it anyhow, no way to run from US...... :tsk:

the above single red highlighted line of last post#23 tells the whole story, "whatever money the today's Americans are borrowing, will have to be paid by the coming generation."

and if we have a look on the above curve of the news of post#23, showing Total Debt of US rising from around $12trillion in 1990 to over $60trillion+ last year, within just 20-22 years, it looks like today's US's people just want to borrow debt with a hope that the new born people/the upcoming migrants "have to" pay for their debt, "anyhow", with no option to run to Mexico too, as discussed in the curve as below, showing net fall in Mexican born people in US since 2008 recession......

and if we have a careful look on this curve, this is the first fall of Mexican born population since 1930-45 period, since WW2

:facepalm:


=> and why not, if we find a continued fall in Labor Force Employment Rate of USA from 66.2% in August/September 2008 to its lowest level at 62.8% last month. check the table as below, its the lowest level of "Employment Rate" of US since September 2008, which doesn't show it's better than any time since Lehman Brothers collapse in September 2008. and till then we find a parallel line at 66%+, showing no fall till August 2008 :ranger:


and hence a similar rise in people dependent on Food Stamp in US sine 2008 recession is also justified, as below......

Record 20% of Households on Food Stamps in 2013 | CNS News


=>
The labor force participation rate is the ratio between the labor force and the overall size of their cohort (national population of the same age range.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_force
Typically "working-age persons" is defined as people between the ages of 16-64. People in those age groups who are not counted as participating in the labor force are typically students, homemakers, and persons under the age of 64 who are retired.

What is the Labor Force Participation Rate?


=> and this is how US register drop in unemployment rate, as below.....

"Though the unemployment rate fell in March and April, both drops reflected fewer people looking for work, not more employment," :tsk:

Nearly half of US unemployed have given up looking for a job — RT USA
 
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jouni

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@journi



Any New 2008 type Recession would make a Difference in World

it was always good when we find one category of developed nations and one of 3rd world countries. things were easy to discuss, US/UK/Aus etc are always best places, and its your good luck if you may have even transit visa in Australia type developed countries. but now things changing and getting complex. for example, these so called Industrialized nations have already lost Industries to emerging markets to an extent and losing the remaining ones too with a constant pace. all the techs are getting common for emerging economies and they have at least 6.0%+ a year average growth even since 2008 recession.

while even if its rude to say, but this is how its going to be working. at 90%+ Debt to GDP level, UK and other EU's economies have to make many spending cuts., which would have undermined any further growth prospects. even at 200% Debt to GDP level, an emerging economy would have reduced debt on long run, as it does grow by at least 6%+, with high inflation too. while EU at hardly 1.0%+ growth a year, would hardly match its population growth, while its Per Capita Income adjusting inflation is still around 5% lower than early 2008.....

its really not about saying wrong about any country, but there is a point on what i say. and the worse we will see if we get any other recession like 2008, dont get surprise but the issues of 2008 recession is still present. China type emerging economies have hollowed out the industries of OECD economies, in fact, and there is no sign that China is stoppable...... and if we get any 2008 type recession again, then i dont think they may again borrow debt in the same way like how they did since 2008. for example of UK, its national debt raised from 55% by early 2008 to 95%+ to date, and one more recession like the same will simply make then unanswerable.......
even National Debt of US and many of EU's economies is just doubled since early 2008 itself..

only Australia, Canada type mineral rich low population countries would have strong economic future, along with Japan, France, Germany type highly advanced countries would also withstand any new recession, i think. as, even if US with 320million+ people has been doing so much oil/gas pumping since 2009 itself, its National Debt level is well over 105%+ to date.....

=> and the main fun will be to see the circumstances when Industries back to many of today's OECD economies. very high debt they have put to date, and if the industries back, just one more recession is needed in this regard, then they will have very high inflation in beginning, which does mean for high interests payment on the debt they have borrowed to date........ we may see many funny things in coming years
things are so complex that, the interest payment would occur on the Total Debt, which may result in social unrest too in many of those countries
:ranger:
I dont believe that new 2008 is coming soon, Greece, Ireland, Iceland etc. are recovering. China an India needs west as a market for their products and are willing to finance it. Quite possibly it might be the opposite: West will rise. I see that in the near future a large part of manufacturing moves back to western world who is the best in R&D and has cheap energy and skilled workforce. The coming robotics revolution gives advance to the west: no need for cheap Asian labour.
 

santosh10

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.
and there is one more rise in US's data's since 2008 recession as below :ranger:



Hate groups, citizen militias surge in U.S. as race and economy fuel tensions

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina — The number of hate and anti-government groups in the United States continued to rise last year, fueled by racial tensions, conspiracy theories and anger over economic inequality, according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The most explosive growth came from the so-called Patriot movement, whose adherents view the federal government as their enemy. :ranger:

The Patriot movement reached a peak in 1996, a year after right-wing extremist Timothy McVeigh set off a truck bomb outside the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people. McVeigh and a co-conspirator were convicted, and McVeigh was executed.

The number of Patriot groups, a largely rural phenomenon sometimes referred to as the militia movement, increased to 1,274 groups in 2011 from 824 in 2010, the report released on Thursday said.

The number of those organizations has swelled in recent years since the economy slumped into recession and Democratic President Barack Obama, the country's first black president, was elected in 2008, said the law center, which has tracked extremist groups for three decades.

A backlash against federal bail outs of the bank and auto industries, and discredited allegations that Obama was not born in the United States and therefore disqualified to be president, provided believers with the rationale to join such groups, according to the report.

Heated political rhetoric from this year's presidential campaign could attract more adherents, said Mark Potok, senior fellow at the center and editor of the report.

"The campaign season has simply added fuel to the fire," Potok said. These groups vehemently oppose Obama and abhor the possibility that he could be re-elected to a second term in November. "To them, that's a horror show," Potok said. The center counted 1,018 hate groups in the United States last year, up from 1,002 in 2010. The number of groups have been increasing since 2000, when the center counted 602.

Potok said it was hard to gauge how many Americans are members of hate groups, but estimated the number was between 200,000 and 300,000 people.


The U.S. election campaign season has simply added fuel to the fire

The center also estimated that some 300,000 Americans were part of the so-called "sovereign citizens" movement who flout most laws, do not pay federal taxes and even refuse to obtain driver's licenses.

The report's findings echoed comments last month in Washington by the FBI about a growing threat of violence by members of these "sovereign citizen" groups.

Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI's counterterrorism division, told a news conference that routine encounters with police can turn violent "at the drop of a hat." He cited shootings of police officers after routine traffic stops in Arkansas and Texas the past two years.

Convictions of such extremists, mostly for white-collar crimes such as fraud, increased to 18 each in 2010 and 2011 from 10 in 2009, the FBI said.

Most members of hate groups and anti-government organizations have not committed crimes, Potok said. But the center's report highlighted recent examples where authorities accused militia members of plotting violence.

In one case, authorities accused four Georgia members of a militia group of plotting to obtain explosives and produce the deadly toxin ricin, with which they intended to attack government officials.

In Michigan, seven members of a Midwestern militia group called the Hutaree are standing trial on charges that they plotted to kill police to spark a wider insurrection.

The law center also found the number of groups specifically targeting gays and lesbians rose to 27 in 2011 from 17 in 2010, and the number of anti-Muslim groups jumped to 30 from 10.

But the number of so-called "nativist extremist" groups who harass people they suspect of being illegal immigrants appeared to be in decline. The number of those groups dropped to 184 in 2011 from 319 the year before.

The center attributed the decline in part to the push in some states for laws aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants, the report said. "Nativist groups have lost the wind in their sails as their issue has been co-opted by politicians," Potok said.

The Southern Poverty Law Center was formed in the early 1970s to defend the legal rights of African Americans following the civil rights reforms of the 1960s. It was instrumental in some convictions of members of white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan for civil rights abuses against blacks. It has broadened to other issues in recent years.

Hate groups, citizen militias surge in U.S. as race and economy fuel tensions | National Post

=>

and there is one more criterion, on which the US looks 'upbeat' in world. the Incarceration Rate, home of highest number of criminals :ranger:

A Crime mainly Means for its Seriousness

and i repeat, "Incarceration Rate is the best way to measure Crime Rate as we do know that long term imprisonment is applicable to serious crimes only. means, if there were few fighting on the streets then you would be released within days if no serious injuries. but if someone died, or someone was raped, then obviously you would go for a very long."

its so simple that, there might be so many driving offenses which can result is penalty only in most of cases, while a crime does means for its seriousness, like robberies/ murders/ serious assaults/ rape/ drugs smuggling etc....... even having small amount of drugs for personal use isn't a punishable offense in Australia, but smuggling drugs does means for 10years+ imprisonment, and here we mainly look on the Incarceration Rate comparison.

as we do know that even if many types of small crimes go unpunished in a developing country, like driving offenses etc, the major crimes like murders/rapes/robberies can't go unnoticed as we do have proper identities of civilians/IDs of people in developing countries like India/Indonesia/Philippines/Vietnam type countries, and here we again find "Incarceration Rate" comparison of our interests :ranger:
 
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santosh10

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Soaring UK personal debt wreaking havoc with mental health
20 November 2013

Centre for Social Justice says poorer people 'bearing brunt of storm' as debt hits £1.4tn – almost as high as economic output :ranger:


Credit card debt has trebled to £55.6bn since 1998 while overall personal debt including mortgages has reached £1.4tn. Photograph: Alan Schein Photography

Personal debt in Britain has reached £1.4tn – almost the same amount as Britain's national economic output – according to a report that warns debt is wreaking havoc on people's mental health and wellbeing.

Poorer people are "bearing the brunt of a storm" during which average household debt has risen to £54,000 – nearly double what it was a decade ago, the report by the Centre for Social Justice thinktank warns. :ranger:

The report, entitled Maxed Out, found that almost half of households in the lowest income decile spent more than a quarter of their income on debt repayments in 2011. More than 5,000 people are being made homeless every year as a result of mortgage or rent debts. :ranger:

Christian Guy, director of the thinktank established in opposition by the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, said: "Problem debt can have a corrosive impact on people and families. Our report shows how it can wreak havoc on mental health, relationships and wellbeing. Across the UK people are up until the early hours worrying about their finances and bills."

The report, written by the former Labour work and pensions minister Chris Pond, found that:

"¢ Personal debt in the UK, including mortgage lending, stands at £1.4tn – an average of £54,000 per household compared with £29,000 a decade ago.

"¢ Consumer debt had trebled since 1993 and now stands at £158bn;

"¢ More than 8m households have no savings, including half of low-income households;

"¢ Outstanding debt on credit cards has almost trebled since 1998 to reach £55.6bn;

"¢ There were 300,000 arrears on mortgage in 2012 – with 34,000 homes repossessed. This is a reduction of 30% from the peak of the recession but a 60% overall increase since 2006.

Pond said: "With falling real incomes and increasing costs of basic essentials, many – especially the most vulnerable – are sliding further into problem debt. The costs to those affected, in stress and mental disorders, relationship breakdown and hardship is immense. But so too is the cost to the nation, measured in lost employment and productivity and in an increased burden on public services."

The report found that the decision of mainstream banks to refuse credit to the less well off has led to a dramatic increase in the demand for short-term credit – from payday lenders, pawnbrokers and doorstop lenders – which is now worth £4.8bn a year. More than 1.4 million people have no access to a bank account and "are effectively excluded from the entire financial sector". This contributes to the "poverty premium", a £1,280 annual surcharge on everyday goods and services faced by low-income households.

Payday lenders have increased their business from £900m in 2008-09 to more than £2bn – accounting for around 8m loans – in 2011-12. The number of people resorting to loan sharks has increased to 310,000 people.

The report says: "For the most financially excluded, there is often no option but to turn to illegal moneylenders. It is estimated that over 310,000 people borrow money from these criminals each year. Illegal moneylenders extort money from their victims, often arbitrarily raising interest rates, demanding payments or charging penalties. Their use of violence and intimidation terrorises people and communities, enforcing a 'veil of silence' that allows them to escape detection. This is an inexcusable crime in modern Britain.

Many of the side effects of problem debt can also work to drive people further into debt, creating a vicious cycle. While it is often hard to prove causation, there is a clear relationship between the following and problem debt: unemployment, family breakdown, addiction, and poor mental health. Similarly, many of these factors are interrelated, meaning problem debt can have diverse causes, requiring multidimensional support in order to fully resolve the underlying problems."

Soaring UK personal debt wreaking havoc with mental health, report warns | Money | The Guardian
 

santosh10

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IMF: Euro-zone companies face massive debt overhang
April 17

Euro-zone companies face a massive debt overhang that could prolong the regions downturn and risk a return to a more acute crisis, the International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday in a sobering report on risks that may be accumulating in the world financial system. :ranger:

The IMF estimated that as much as one-fifth of the corporate bonds and loans issued by major European corporations are unsustainable and will force the firms to default or scale back, cutting capital expenditures, eliminating shareholder dividends or taking other steps to conserve cash to make debt payments.

Either alternative could create problems with defaults damaging the banks or others who have lent money or bought corporate bonds, and capital investment cuts or other spending reductions affecting the ailing economy.

The data were released ahead of IMF spring meetings, where the fate of the euro zone remains a central issue. The information presents a quandary. Although some corporations in Europe have taken on too much debt, small- and medium-size businesses are finding it hard to borrow, further impeding any economic rebound.

The slump in Europe is worrisome, said IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard, who suggested that European banks be allowed to bundle loans to small businesses into marketable securities to encourage them to lend.

The region has been consumed for three years in a crisis revolving around debt, and it is reeling from the subsequent fiscal consolidation, as nations cut spending or raise taxes to stabilize finances.

The potential corporate debt crisis could unleash the same dynamic in the private sector, whose debts sometimes dwarf the size of the surrounding economy. The IMF, which studied a sample of Europe's largest firms, said the situation is probably worse than its survey indicated, because the companies were among the regions strongest.

Just like their government counterparts, euro-zone firms gorged on cheap money that the establishment of the currency union provided to countries such as Italy and Spain, and they are paying it back amid a recession.

Firms in the euro area periphery have built a sizeable debt overhang during the credit boom, on the back of high profit expectations and easy credit conditions, the IMF said in its latest Global Financial Stability Report. Larger firms may skirt the problem by selling unneeded assets, but further reductions in operating costs, dividends and capital expenditures may also be required, posing additional risks to growth.

The warning on corporate debt is only one of the problems the fund sees on the horizon for the world financial system, particularly Europe. Years into a crisis that early on identified the banking sector as a particular weakness, the euro zone has not adequately recapitalized its banks, forced them to restructure and shed weak loans, or finished work on what many consider a necessity: a banking union that would unify financial supervision and share the risks of bank failures.

In one startling statistic, the IMF said euro-zone banks were only about halfway through a process of deleveraging or bringing their obligations more closely in line with their assets. The fund estimated that euro-zone financial institutions still need to cut $1.5 trillion from their books, an amount that may increasingly crimp local lending because some of the easier steps, such as pulling out of overseas operations, have been done.

In many ways, worldwide financial conditions have improved in recent months. U.S. banks in particular, the fund said, have rebounded from the crisis, the euro zone has skirted the acute risk of breakup, and emerging markets have absorbed a large influx of capital without serious problems.

But the IMF, which was criticized for not saying more in advance about the circumstances that led to the U.S. financial crisis in 2008, is now using an abundance of caution. :coffee:

Pension funds in the United States are undertaking a gamble for resurrection by trying to overcome shortfalls with ever-riskier investments. Pension funds without enough to pay expected future benefits have placed as much as 25 percent of their money in alternative investments, such as hedge funds and other riskier but potentially higher-return vehicles, the IMF reported.

U.S. firms have issued record levels of bonds in the low-interest-rate environment, but the money raised is increasingly geared toward less productive use,†such as buying back company stock.

Central banks, looking at weak growth and high unemployment rates, may feel the need to keep interest rates low and money flowing. But the fund said financial regulators may have to be aggressive and perhaps start forcing financial institutions to set aside more money to cover potential losses.

Tension is building between the ongoing need for extraordinary monetary policy accommodation and credit markets that are maturing more quickly than in typical cycles, the IMF wrote. High unemployment and low inflation may justify an accommodative monetary policy stance. But other tools need to be employed to counteract undesirable excesses in credit.

In remarks on Wednesday at Johns Hopkins University, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew insisted that the world economy must do more to stimulate domestic spending and generate economic growth. And he said the United States cannot be the sole supporter of growth across the globe.

There is now broad agreement that we cannot return to a pattern of global growth that is built on the U.S. being the world's importer of first and last resort,†Lew said. Looking ahead, the United States must raise national savings, and emerging and more rapidly growing parts of the world, like Asia, must increasingly rely on domestic demand.

IMF: Euro-zone companies face a massive 'debt overhang' - The Washington Post
 

jouni

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and there is one more rise in US's data's since 2008 recession as below :ranger:




=>

and there is one more criterion, on which the US looks 'upbeat' in world. the Incarceration Rate, home of highest number of criminals :ranger:
That US prisoner amount is unbelievable. In Scandinavia social security system does what penal system does in the US. What is the secret of India? Why so few prisoners?
 
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jouni

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while i personally find BRICS economies in Yellow colors in the above pictures of Credit Rating, BBB, mainly because of poor Infrastructures as compare to OECD economies. and here we have a reason to see China in Light Green, A+, as below :truestory:
This chart is good for everybody who is worried about debt in Western countries. In the west people also have assets, look at Germany and compare it to for example Brazil or India. In Finland nobody talks about debt, but the lack of growth is the problem.
 

Ray

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@Ray @jouni

Ray sir, im bringing some good articles, along with my own analysis in this thread of your forum, you neither pay me for my work nor make any statement here too???

how do you see my post#17, how would we see the world order if we find any new recession, similar to 2008 one? total Debt on UK type economies is well over 500%+ to GDP, most of the credit cards are broke if we have a look on their household debts..... i think we will then see more articles like that of 'France 24', as discussed in my last post#21 :ranger:
I am also not paid for my presence out here.

That is how the cookies crumble.

Money is not everything, unless you are a Mainland Chinese, if one goes by their posts how money means everything in life and happiness.
 
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santosh10

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This chart is good for everybody who is worried about debt in Western countries. In the west people also have assets, look at Germany and compare it to for example Brazil or India. In Finland nobody talks about debt, but the lack of growth is the problem.
thats the topic of discussion, if an Emerging economies like one of BRICS may have developed infrastructure, it would then move towards AAA Credit Rating. while we now find a new risk in world, Debt, which now pulling AAA holders down.....

and thats the reason why China has been raised to AA and US has been pulled down to AA+, after maintaining AAA for many decades, as discussed in the posts#19 and 20 :ranger:
 

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That US prisoner amount is unbelievable. In Scandinavia social security system does what penal system does in the US. What is the secret of India? Why so few prisoners?
@WGEwald.


Relationship of Drugs Consumption with US's Incarceration Rate


here we need someone from US to give the reasons. we have a credible US's online warrior, @WGEwald , he may help us here.....

while my own experience states, less money they have since 2008 Recession, then less drugs they consume since then this way, and then we find the curve as below on fall. check this curve declining since 2008 recession :tsk:



=> have a careful look on the curve as below and compare it with the above curve. the 2008 Recession, and then fall of Drugs consumption has a direct relation in fall of Incarceration Rate of US, as below. check the curve carefully :ranger:

=>

and this is how "Welfare Society" of US is compared with a "non-Welfare" Society of India. we have a good example of Buddhist background Japan as below too, the most advanced/rich nation of Asia with owing the best technologies of world, to have an example/role modal to build future of India :india:

United States incarceration rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


=>

A Crime mainly Means for its Seriousness

and i repeat, "Incarceration Rate is the best way to measure Crime Rate as we do know that long term imprisonment is applicable to serious crimes only. means, if there were few fighting on the streets then you would be released within days if no serious injuries. but if someone died, or someone was raped, then obviously you would go for a very long."

its so simple that, there might be so many driving offenses which can result is penalty only in most of cases, while a crime does means for its seriousness, like robberies/ murders/ serious assaults/ rape/ drugs smuggling etc....... even having small amount of drugs for personal use isn't a punishable offense in Australia, but smuggling drugs does means for 10years+ imprisonment, and here we mainly look on the Incarceration Rate comparison.

as we do know that even if many types of small crimes go unpunished in a developing country, like driving offenses etc, the major crimes like murders/rapes/robberies can't go unnoticed as we do have proper identities of civilians/IDs of people in developing countries like India/Indonesia/ Philippines/Vietnam type countries, and here we again find "Incarceration Rate" comparison of our interests
 
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santosh10

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Euro zone's debt rises in first quarter, set to peak this year
Jul 22, 2014

(Reuters) - Euro zone public debt rose to 93.9 percent of economic output in the first quarter of this year, approaching the peak it is expected to reach later in 2014, official data showed on Tuesday. :ranger:

Government debt of the 18 countries sharing the euro stood at 9.055 trillion euros ($12.21 trillion) in the first three months of this year, compared to 8.905 trillion euros in the last quarter of 2013, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said.

The EU's executive arm - the European Commission - expects the debt to peak at 96.0 percent of gross domestic product this year and then ease to 95.4 percent of GDP in 2015.

Nearly 80 percent of the bloc's debt is in bonds and treasury bills. Loans account for 17.9 percent of the debt.

Twice bailed-out Greece was the euro zone's most indebted country with sovereign debt of 174.1 percent of GDP, followed by the bloc's third-biggest economy Italy, with debt equivalent to 135.6 percent of GDP in the first quarter.

Only two countries - Germany and Luxembourg - saw their debt fall compared with the last quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2013.

($1 = 0.7415 Euros)

(Reporting by Martin Santa; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Euro zone's debt rises in first quarter, set to peak this year | Reuters
 

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Cameron leans on cliches to avert British decline
11 October, 2012

In an overtly patriotic speech filled with big conservative ideals, David Cameron called for Britain to sink or swim in a tough global world – but failed to say in any detail how it should be done. :ranger:

**Cameron urged Britain to "sink or swim," telling delegates that the UK faced an "hour of reckoning." He insisted that only "effort and aspiration" can stop the UK from becoming a second-tier economy, which, like many countries in Europe, would be tied down by "fat welfare systems" and "unreformed public services."

He hammered home his message that only the coalition policy of economic prudence could pull Britain out of recession, while Labour's increased borrowing would be nothing short of economic suicide.

The welfare system formed a key part of his speech. The UK spent £90 billion a year on welfare, and a key policy of Cameron's coalition government has been to reduce this bill come what may.

And he was blunt at first glance with the facts, telling the country that more British children live in households where no one works than almost any other nation in Europe.

But Cameron didn't mention that over one million people in Britain are unable to find work, the highest figure in almost a generation. :ranger:

On the economy, the prime minster was adamant that the austerity program his party has prescribed the UK is the right medicine. He insisted that Britain is "on the right track," but didn't mention that the UK is in a double-dip recession and has among the lowest growth rates of any developed country. Instead, he blamed the last Labour government, saying, "It's worse than we thought but we are making progress."

Cameron reiterated that the deficit had come down under his leadership, but he didn't explain why borrowing had gone up instead of down.

Nor did he mention the banks, which stood out against Ed Miliband's promise last week in his speech to the Labour Party, that if the banks don't regulate themselves, the government will step in and do it for them.

On taxes he went into attack mode. Rather than defend his government's policy of cutting taxes for 8,000 millionaires by 40,000 a year by next April – while forcing pensioners to pay more – he hit back at Labour's plans to spend more to create jobs, and in a quip at Miliband's rallying call that Labour is a party of "one nation," called them the party of "one notion – borrowing."

Cameron was clear about what he believes will get Britain out of the mess it's in: aspiration, entrepreneurial spirit and private enterprise. Here the PM had some cause for celebration, as last year more businesses were created than in any other year in Britain's history.

But he also skated over some of the more unpleasant facts about employment in the UK. His claim to have created up to one million jobs in the private sector is only true because of a change in how new jobs are classified.

He also claimed that the UK is first in the world in offshore wind power. Yet about 90% of the £1.5 billion spent building the massive London Array wind farm off the Kent coast went to foreign corporations.

Unsurprisingly, Cameron was big on the NHS. But a recent Tory-inspired shake-up of the health service has left critics arguing that GP's (family doctors in the UK) will be "suffocated, not liberated" by the changes.

Cameron praised the armed forces for their role in Afghanistan, asking everyone in the hall to stand to show their gratitude. But it is the armed forces that will bear the brunt of the government's spending cuts, while many senior figures in the military are warning that Britain will no longer be able to carry out such missions in the future.

On the police, in stark contrast to Miliband, Cameron didn't say a word. Twenty-four thousand police jobs have been written off because of austerity, including 6,800 front line officers. A poster outside the conference hall read "say hello to Dave, wave goodbye to your police service." :ranger:

The Libdems, a vital part of his coalition government, were left out altogether. Instead, the PM decided to pan Labour while talking up his aspirational version of conservatism.

Subjects causing any deep divisions in the Conservative Party were also omitted. There was no mention of an EU referendum, something that many in the party are calling for, and none either of the thorny issue of marriage equality.

Cameron, backed by the Libdems, has tried to push for gay marriage as consistent with his conservative values of fairness, commitment and the importance of the family. But it hasn't gone down well with the traditional grassroots Tory activists.

On Scotland, Cameron was also reticent. He talked a lot about the Olympics and the enormous pride he felt in our athletes, and that they draped themselves in the union flag, regardless of whether they were from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, saying that as one nation, Britain would rise together. His speech provoked outrage from the SNP (Scottish National Party), which labeled his backing to keep the union a "campaign that is all about what is best for Westminster."

On education, the PM was passionate. He cited plans for up to 79 new free schools – independent but funded by the state – and the 2,000 academies (schools responsible for their own management and budget) that have already been created while the collation government has been in power. Cameron himself went to Eton, one of the country's most expensive and prodigious fee-based boarding schools.

But his plans drew criticism from Christine Blower, the NUT (National Union of Teachers) general secretary. She commented in The Guardian that the academy program is developing a fragmented and unaccountable education system, and that secondary school places are being set up where primary places are needed most.

The PM was firmly businesslike, appealing to the "aspiration nation," and unlike Miliband – who last week memorized his speech to the Labour party – Cameron read from an autocue, saying that as prime minister he was too busy to memorize a speech.

He was defensive about comments that he was from the party of privilege and that he went to a 'posh school,' and fought back with: "I went to a great school and I want every child to have a great education. I'm not here to defend privilege; I'm here to spread it."

http://rt.com/news/cameron-cliches-british-decline-143/
 

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Almost 90% would 'consider moving abroad' for better financial prospects

Nearly nine in 10 Britons would consider leaving the UK for a better - and wealthier - life abroad within the next five years :facepalm:
:tsk:

The current recession combined with the perception that property is cheaper overseas and job prospects better collectively accounted for nearly a third of all reasons for emigrating, according to a survey by Skyscanner.

Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner's travel editor, said: "For many people the idea of 'living the dream' abroad is very alluring. The survey revealed that our perception of life abroad is very positive – perhaps overly so – and many people come back from a holiday enamoured with their destination. Interestingly, Spain and USA were two of the most popular places even though both countries are currently suffering from their own economic problems, which suggests that the dream of moving abroad to improve financial prospects may be just that - a dream.

The dream may be more realistic if, rather than moving abroad to look for new work, you are sent abroad as part of an existing job. Around 750,000 British workers are being posted abroad on assignments with their existing employer, and a massive 84 per cent believe this is helping them to climb the corporate ladder, according to the NatWest International Personal Banking (IPB) Quality of Life Index. :ranger:

They also feel they benefit from an improved lifestyle, backing up the Skyscanner research results, and the increasing use of temporary global workers means that the traditional definition of 'expat' is now being blurred, said Dave Isley, head of NatWest International Personal Banking.

He added: "The growth of the global worker has brought with it an opportunity to share knowledge and experience around the world. The great brain exchange is a fantastic concept of other economies temporarily sharing the strengths of British workers.

Almost 90% would 'consider moving abroad' for better financial prospects - Telegraph
 

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New data show 1 in 4 children on food stamps in FY 2011

One in four children in America participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, in fiscal year 2011, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture and U.S. Census Bureau.

The USDA's "Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2011" shows that in 2011, 19.9 million children, or people under 18, received food stamp benefits.

The Census estimates there were 73.9 million children living in the United States in 2011, meaning that 26.9 percent of children, or approximately one in four, were on food stamps in 2011.

The USDA notes that children constituted 45 percent of SNAP participants in 2011. Some philanthropists and policy experts believe efforts to reform SNAP because of high youth enrollment are misguided, arguing that the program ultimately helps the economy and improve kids' health.

But Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions — one of the most vocal critics of the recent skyrocketing SNAP enrollment numbers and USDA's promotion of the benefit — contends that something must be done about government policies and a USDA that he says is more interested in enrolling Americans in the program than finding real solutions.

"It has become sadly clear that Agriculture Secretary Vilsack wishes to make welfare part of the normal American experience, with no regard for social or economic consequences. How else can you explain why he gave an award to a recruitment worker for overcoming the 'mountain pride' of rural Americans?" Sessions told The Daily Caller, recalling one of the many outreach efforts the USDA has engaged in over the years to get more people on SNAP. (RELATED: USDA suggests people host food stamp parties to boost SNAP enrollment)

Indeed, the trajectory of the food stamp program has in recent years been up — with spending on the program doubling in the last four years and quadrupling since 2001. Approximately 15.5 million additional recipients have been added to the SNAP rolls since the beginning of 2009.

The most recent national SNAP participation numbers were released Friday for the month of October, coming in at 47.5 million participants, or about 1 in 6.5 Americans. In the 1970s, 1 out of every 50 Americans participated in the program.

The new October numbers show a slight decrease from the record 47.7 million reported for the month of September. Republican staffers on the Senate budget committee noted, however, that the September numbers were somewhat inflated due to the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits offered to victims of Hurricane Isaac in Louisiana and Mississippi, which appeared in the national totals.

Neither the August nor October totals include SNAP disaster assistance, meaning that the trend was still upward from August to October, when individual participation increased by 422,564.

"Welfare spending has jumped thirty percent in three years, and the result has been more poverty, not less. It is time to return to the moral principles of the 1996 reform: strengthening family, building community and helping more Americans find good jobs and brighter futures." (RELATED: Welfare spending tops budget in 2011)

However, a study by the National Poverty Center found that SNAP helped reduce the number of "extremely poor" children and households by 50 percent in 2011, when counting the programs' benefits as income. The study broadly defined "extremely poor" households as those earning $2 or less in income per person, per day.

In 2011, welfare spending was the single largest budget item, with federal and state government spending more than a trillion dollars on federal means-tested assistance programs, including SNAP.

New data show 1 in 4 children on food stamps in FY 2011 | The Daily Caller
 

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Rogoff and Reinhart defend their numbers

Harvard economists admit to a coding error but stand by their central finding: when government debt is above 90%, growth is sent into reverse :ranger:

Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart, the economists accused of getting their sums wrong in an influential study of the impact of high government debt, have hit back at their critics and defended their central claim.

The Harvard economists claimed that accusations of sloppy statistical analysis were misplaced and their central finding still stood that when government debt is above 90% growth is sent into reverse. Their argument has been quoted by politicians in defence of austerity measures.

The pair admit that researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, were right to point out a coding error that omitted several countries from an Excel spreadsheet of historical data used to make the calculations.

"It is sobering that such an error slipped into one of our papers despite our best efforts to be consistently careful," Rogoff and Reinhart said.

But after burning the midnight oil to check their calculations, Rogoff and Reinhart said they still found countries with debts that amount to more than 90% of GDP experienced much slower growth – the same conclusion reached in their original study.

Economist Dean Baker, at odds with academic economists who argue that high debt ratios harm growth, has labelled the R&R analysis bankrupt.

Baker and other Keynesians leapt on the Massachusetts study because the R&R hypothesis has been used repeatedly by right-wing politicians to justify their austerity policies.

Massachusetts professors Thomas Herndon, Michael Ash and Robert Pollin said in their critical report that when they repeated the R&R analysis over a longer timescale, which they argued made it more robust, they got a growth figure of 2.2%. Strikingly, they used data going back before the second world war, which they argued gave a longer perspective.

Pollin said R&R also distorted the results with weightings on countries that made little sense. He pointed to the inclusion of New Zealand's 1951 figures. In that year New Zealand's debts breached the 90% of GDP barrier and growth was minus 7.6%, weighing heavily on the overall result.:coffee: Other years that distorted the data were included, he said.

"People make errors but when you combine the errors with the weighting that's where you get this result," said Pollin.

The scope of the study and the weighting applied to some countries in the study is key to the dispute.

R&R "objected in the strongest terms" to the criticism that they missed several years of data and supported their previous decision to apply controversial weightings.

"The 'gaps' are explained by the fact there were still gaps in our public debt data set at the time of this paper," they said. "Our approach has been followed in many other settings where one does not want to overly weight a small number of countries that may have their own peculiarities."

They also deflect criticism by arguing that they produced averages based on mean and median calculations. Rightwingers emphasised the mean figure, which showed growth of minus 0.1% in countries with more than 90% debt to GDP ratios, whereas they always preferred the median. :ranger:

Is that the end of the matter? No. Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize winning Princeton economist, is incensed at the median/mean debate, saying R&R never disputed politicians who used the mean figure, especially Republican Paul Ryan, who cited it as the main reason to impose steep public spending cuts.

Like Dean, Krugman has never bought the line that high debts cause low growth. Instead he sees a negative causation: that low growth causes high debts. In his latest blog, he makes this point again.

And R&R, who were criticised for not releasing the coding and data sets for their study when it was first released, have similarly failed to provide a transparent view of their workings this time around. And until they do critics will continue to argue that their findings are based on selective data and unjustified weightings and poor analysis.

Rogoff and Reinhart defend their numbers | Business | theguardian.com
 

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America is on a dangerous budget path. Current spending and debt are dangerously high, and future spending and debt are on track to rise even higher in large part due to increasing entitlement spending. Academic research shows that advanced economies like the United States are at risk of significant and prolonged reductions in economic growth when public debt reaches levels of 90 percent of GDP. High public debt threatens to drive interest rates up, to crowd out private investment, and to raise price inflation. The implications would be severe and pronounced for all Americans, but most especially for the poor, the elderly, and the middle class. U.S. policymakers should learn from Greece and Japan and avoid a fiscal crisis and economic stagnation brought about by public debt overhang.

Growing federal debt also would increase the probability of a sudden fiscal crisis, during which investors would lose confidence in the government's ability to manage the budget and the government would thereby lose its ability to borrow at affordable rates. Such a crisis would"¦probably have a very significant negative impact on the country."‹ -Congressional Budget Office, 2012 Long-Term Budget Outlook"‹

U.S. federal spending in 2013, combined with depressed receipts from a weak economy, is on track to result in a deficit of $850 billion. Publicly held debt in the United States will exceed 76 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, and chronic deficits are projected to push U.S. debt to 87 percent of the economy in 10 years.[1] Debt is projected to grow even more rapidly after 2023. Recent economic research, especially the work of Carmen Reinhart, Vincent Reinhart, and Kenneth Rogoff, confirms that federal debt at such high levels puts the United States at risk for a number of harmful economic consequences, including slower economic growth, a weakened ability to respond to unexpected challenges, and quite possibly a debt-driven financial crisis.[2]





The economists follow a descriptive approach, comparing economic variables for different countries as averages for debt-to-GDP ratios below and above 90 percent of GDP. Measures of comparison include averages for real GDP growth, real (inflation-adjusted) short-term interest rates, and real long-term interest rates. Public debt overhang episodes are analyzed for the causes of the debt, whether from specific wars, financial crises and economic depression, domestic turmoil, or other factors. The researchers refer to sustained periods of gross country debt persisting above 90 percent of GDP for five years or more as "public debt overhang episodes." Identifying 26 such episodes, of which 20 lasted for more than a decade, the research shows that even if such episodes begin with short-lived dramatic events, such as war or a financial crisis, the negative impact from high debt on growth lasts far beyond such events.

A Credible Strategy

Federal budget deficits and debt are massive today—and future spending and debt projections are far worse if Congress and the President fail to act. Federal spending was about 23 percent of GDP in 2012—far above the historical average of 20.2 percent. It is projected to surge to nearly 36 percent in less than one generation. This spending is the cause of the chronic deficits that are driving the debt higher yet. Public debt is projected to reach 87 percent of GDP by 2023 and rise sharply in later years.

Two programs in particular—Social Security and Medicare—are taking over a quickly expanding share of federal spending. In addition, they suffer from programmatic weaknesses. Social Security and Medicare provide an important safety net for seniors, but in their current form the programs are unsustainable over the medium term and long term. These programs take up 39 percent of the budget today and are projected to grow to 44 percent of federal spending in just 10 years. At $48 trillion in net-present value, their unfunded obligations are triple the size of the entire gross U.S. national debt.

How the United States' High Debt Will Weaken the Economy and Hurt Americans


=>

=>
40 'Frightening' Facts On The Fall Of The US Economy
05/27/2013

If you know someone that actually believes that the U.S. economy is in good shape, just show them the statistics in this article. When you step back and look at the long-term trends, it is undeniable what is happening to us. We are in the midst of a horrifying economic decline that is the result of decades of very bad decisions. 30 years ago, the U.S. national debt was about one trillion dollars. Today, it is almost 17 trillion dollars. 40 years ago, the total amount of debt in the United States was about 2 trillion dollars. Today, it is more than 56 trillion dollars. At the same time that we have been running up all of this debt, our economic infrastructure and our ability to produce wealth has been absolutely gutted. Since 2001, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities and millions of good jobs have been shipped overseas. Our share of global GDP declined from 31.8 percent in 2001 to 21.6 percent in 2011. The percentage of Americans that are self-employed is at a record low, and the percentage of Americans that are dependent on the government is at a record high. The U.S. economy is a complete and total mess, and it is time that we faced the truth.

The following are 40 statistics about the fall of the U.S. economy that are almost too crazy to believe...

#1, Back in 1980, the U.S. national debt was less than one trillion dollars. Today, it is rapidly approaching 17 trillion dollars...


#2, During Obama's first term, the federal government accumulated more debt than it did under the first 42 U.S presidents combined.

#3, The U.S. national debt is now more than 23 times larger than it was when Jimmy Carter became president.

#4, If you started paying off just the new debt that the U.S. has accumulated during the Obama administration at the rate of one dollar per second, it would take more than 184,000 years to pay it off.

#5, The federal government is stealing more than 100 million dollars from our children and our grandchildren every single hour of every single day.

#6, Back in 1970, the total amount of debt in the United States (government debt + business debt + consumer debt, etc.) was less than 2 trillion dollars. Today it is over 56 trillion dollars.....

#7, According to the World Bank, U.S. GDP accounted for 31.8 percent of all global economic activity in 2001. That number dropped to 21.6 percent in 2011.

#8, The United States has fallen in the global economic competitiveness rankings compiled by the World Economic Forum for four years in a row.

#9, According to The Economist, the United States was the best place in the world to be born into back in 1988. Today, the United States is only tied for 16th place.

#10, Incredibly, more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States have been permanently shut down since 2001. :facepalm:

#11, There are less Americans working in manufacturing today than there was in 1950 even though the population of the country has more than doubled since then.

#12, According to the New York Times, there are now approximately 70,000 abandoned buildings in Detroit.

#13, When NAFTA was pushed through Congress in 1993, the United States had a trade surplus with Mexico of 1.6 billion dollars. By 2010, we had a trade deficit with Mexico of 61.6 billion dollars.

#14, Back in 1985, our trade deficit with China was approximately 6 million dollars (million with a little "m") for the entire year. In 2012, our trade deficit with China was 315 billion dollars. That was the largest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world.

#15, Overall, the United States has run a trade deficit of more than 8 trillion dollars with the rest of the world since 1975.

#16, According to the Economic Policy Institute, the United States is losing half a million jobs to China every single year.

#17, Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#18, At this point, an astounding 53 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year. :ranger:

#19, Small business is rapidly dying in America. At this point, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed. That is an all-time record low.

#20, Back in 1983, the bottom 95 percent of all income earners in the United States had 62 cents of debt for every dollar that they earned. By 2007, that figure had soared to $1.48.

#21, In the United States today, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans have a greater net worth than the bottom 90 percent combined. :tsk:

#22, According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.

#23, The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.

#24, According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either "poor" or "low income".

#25, According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives direct monetary benefits from the federal government. Back in 1983, less than a third of all Americans lived in a home that received direct monetary benefits from the federal government.

#26, Overall, the federal government runs nearly 80 different "means-tested welfare programs", and at this point more than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one of them.

#27, Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.

#28, As I wrote recently, it is being projected that the number of Americans on Medicare will grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.

#29, At this point, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That comes to approximately $328,404 for every single household in the United States.

#30, Right now, there are approximately 56 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits. By 2035, that number is projected to soar to an astounding 91 million.

#31, Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.

#32, Today, the number of Americans on Social Security Disability now exceeds the entire population of Greece, and the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the entire population of Spain.

#33, According to a report recently issued by the Pew Research Center, on average Americans over the age of 65 have 47 times as much wealth as Americans under the age of 35.

#34, U.S. families that have a head of household that is under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.

#35, As I mentioned recently, the homeownership rate in America is now at its lowest level in nearly 18 years.

#36, There are now 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing. That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.

#37, 45 percent of all children are living in poverty in Miami, more than 50 percent of all children are living in poverty in Cleveland, and about 60 percent of all children are living in poverty in Detroit.

#38, Today, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless. This is the first time that has ever happened in our history.

#39, When Barack Obama first entered the White House, about 32 million Americans were on food stamps. Now, more than 47 million Americans are on food stamps.

#40, According to one calculation, the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of "Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming."

40 'Frightening' Facts On The Fall Of The US Economy | Zero Hedge
 
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