AZspot AZspot

blue bits. red rocks.
Sunday 14 December 2008

The US system took tens of trillions out of the pockets of workers for decades (wage/salary increases historically tied to productivity improvements ended in 1974) and shunted them into investments in capital markets. That money is now gone (pixel money that has now gone dark). Fritted away on estates in “the Hamptons” rather than productive investments. Worse, not only has the system “lost” the entire savings of a generation, it has caused a financial and economic crisis that is crushing consumers that have already been stripped to the bone financially. Wealth destruction (stock market, falling home prices, etc.) and a squeeze on wealth creation (falling wages and salaries, unemployment, etc.), catalyzed by predatory lending (particularly in regards to credit cards that are now charging usurious rates with impunity) and bubble-like price inflation in health/education, have driven a large and rapidly growing number of consumers into insolvency. That number will continue to grow. John Robb

A GNT creation ©2007–2012