Americans Getting Poorer

[boraf]

Getting poorer in the US is really nothing.

You guys really need to travel the world and see what "poverty" really mean.

[Nawaytes]

Getting poorer in the US is really nothing.

You guys really need to travel the world and see what "poverty" really mean.

"poverty" between developed countries.
The issue is poverty US among developed countries in the world,
not with all countries in the world. that's it

[Swordsoffreedom]

Getting poorer in the US is really nothing.

You guys really need to travel the world and see what "poverty" really mean.

"poverty" between developed countries.
The issue is poverty US among developed countries in the world,
not with all countries in the world. that's it

Well even in wealthy countries there are pockets of extreme poverty
Take an aboriginal reserve in Canada or Detroit in the USA with its water problems
Although the USA has more than its fair share of ghettos that one is a good example
http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/duggan-introduces-revamped-efforts-to-address-detroit-water-shut-offs/Content?oid=2231820

And at least in the poor countries if everyone is poor people are generally more happy
Strange equality.
http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/02-01-2013/123363-poor_happy-0/

[tee-rex]

Getting poorer in the US is really nothing.

You guys really need to travel the world and see what "poverty" really mean.

Los rigos tambien lloran ("the rich also cry").

[tinof]

Getting poorer in the US is really nothing.

You guys really need to travel the world and see what "poverty" really mean.

Los rigos tambien lloran ("the rich also cry").

Crying inside a Mercedes Benz is better than staving on the street.

[leex1528]

Even without minimum wage, can you really afford to pay the bill working below minimum wage?

Of course not....That was sort of my point.  You can't afford to pay the bill working at minimum wage, let alone below it...

[TaunSew]

Poverty in a developed country cannot be compared with being impoverished in a poor one.  

 Homeless people living on the streets is largely an American phenomenon as elsewhere in the world there is either an extended family support network or a lack of zoning enforcement.  How many people in Africa or the Middle East live under a highway underpass?  Very few as they'll just build anything they can.

Israel, for instance, is always bulldozing illegal home in the Gaza Strip.  Even Spain, which some would classify as being second world, has a lot of illegal homes (some of them being mansions) owned by the otherwise destitute on paper.


The problem the United States is that its' a very energy intensive society (need a car to do anything due to the low population density) and a very regulated environment.  That makes it being homeless very difficult as if you don't have money for a car or even for a bus pass, how do you get to a place like Costco to get cheaper bulk food?  Ditto.

[Ron~Popeil]

The US is kind of a bellwether for how the world economy is doing. We are somewhat insulated here but when we have issues the world is even worse off. We get mad when gas prices rise, in other places people die when gas prices rise.   

[kuroman]

America is bound to get poorer especially considering the scale of it manufacturing and how archaic it is in comparison to direct competitors.

What was once a strong economy relying on export when it comes on to the several sectors of the industry is now solely relying on internal market, such as Automobile sector, Energy sector, Bulding and construction system ...ect these sectors cannot match their European counterparts in terms of quality or the Chinese in terms of price, heck even the Koreans fill the gap between Eu and Chinese products, The only way to keep a lead is to with great added value product, and US manufacturing is not giving that except maybe in the defense sector (but I think this is also due to the limitations imposed on other nations and they are losing the edge here examples of recent failures : F22 /F35, LCS....ect ect)

No the US has a strong lead when it comes hightech, especially to the internet sector, this is also thanks to the monopoly they created in 90s, once all the IPs and Patents expires things might change even, here so what to do ? move on to the next big thing and always relay on products/sectors/jobs with huge added value as opposed to simple stuff because they'll never match the price of the Chinese, Indians, and even North African countries want a piece of the cake

[iluvpie60]

The Typical Household, Now Worth a Third Less

Economic inequality in the United States has been receiving a lot of attention. But it’s not merely an issue of the rich getting richer. The typical American household has been getting poorer, too.

The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation. Those are the figures for a household at the median point in the wealth distribution — the level at which there are an equal number of households whose worth is higher and lower. But during the same period, the net worth of wealthy households increased substantially.

The Russell Sage study also examined net worth at the 95th percentile. (For households at that level, 94 percent of the population had less wealth and 4 percent had more.) It found that for this well-do-do slice of the population, household net worth increased 14 percent over the same 10 years. Other research, by economists like Edward Wolff at New York University, has shown even greater gains in wealth for the richest 1 percent of households.

More...http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/business/the-typical-household-now-worth-a-third-less.html
Typical class warfare lingo but yeah, things are trending down here in the home of the brave. Anecdotally, I know plenty of people living paycheck to paycheck while I stack coins for the future.

I can personally vouch that a lot of my friends are poor and that the city I live in has huge problems with very low wage jobs. Luckily most apartments are really cheap where I live, apartments for 1 bedroom only cost 500 bucks a month in a really good neighborhood, shady neighborhoods are like 300 a month so the people can still survive. Our minimum wage here is 7.25 USD/hour? I think that is what it is now. But the issue is that people don't go to college anymore and a lot of manufacturing jobs are going away because of government policies and the EPA.

[kuusj98]

The Typical Household, Now Worth a Third Less

Economic inequality in the United States has been receiving a lot of attention. But it’s not merely an issue of the rich getting richer. The typical American household has been getting poorer, too.

The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation. Those are the figures for a household at the median point in the wealth distribution — the level at which there are an equal number of households whose worth is higher and lower. But during the same period, the net worth of wealthy households increased substantially.

The Russell Sage study also examined net worth at the 95th percentile. (For households at that level, 94 percent of the population had less wealth and 4 percent had more.) It found that for this well-do-do slice of the population, household net worth increased 14 percent over the same 10 years. Other research, by economists like Edward Wolff at New York University, has shown even greater gains in wealth for the richest 1 percent of households.

More...http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/business/the-typical-household-now-worth-a-third-less.html
Typical class warfare lingo but yeah, things are trending down here in the home of the brave. Anecdotally, I know plenty of people living paycheck to paycheck while I stack coins for the future.

I can personally vouch that a lot of my friends are poor and that the city I live in has huge problems with very low wage jobs. Luckily most apartments are really cheap where I live, apartments for 1 bedroom only cost 500 bucks a month in a really good neighborhood, shady neighborhoods are like 300 a month so the people can still survive. Our minimum wage here is 7.25 USD/hour? I think that is what it is now. But the issue is that people don't go to college anymore and a lot of manufacturing jobs are going away because of government policies and the EPA.

Now why are people not going to colege? Is it too expensive for them? Government should start a funding program for such cases..

[tinof]

The Typical Household, Now Worth a Third Less

Economic inequality in the United States has been receiving a lot of attention. But it’s not merely an issue of the rich getting richer. The typical American household has been getting poorer, too.

The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation. Those are the figures for a household at the median point in the wealth distribution — the level at which there are an equal number of households whose worth is higher and lower. But during the same period, the net worth of wealthy households increased substantially.

The Russell Sage study also examined net worth at the 95th percentile. (For households at that level, 94 percent of the population had less wealth and 4 percent had more.) It found that for this well-do-do slice of the population, household net worth increased 14 percent over the same 10 years. Other research, by economists like Edward Wolff at New York University, has shown even greater gains in wealth for the richest 1 percent of households.

More...http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/business/the-typical-household-now-worth-a-third-less.html
Typical class warfare lingo but yeah, things are trending down here in the home of the brave. Anecdotally, I know plenty of people living paycheck to paycheck while I stack coins for the future.

I can personally vouch that a lot of my friends are poor and that the city I live in has huge problems with very low wage jobs. Luckily most apartments are really cheap where I live, apartments for 1 bedroom only cost 500 bucks a month in a really good neighborhood, shady neighborhoods are like 300 a month so the people can still survive. Our minimum wage here is 7.25 USD/hour? I think that is what it is now. But the issue is that people don't go to college anymore and a lot of manufacturing jobs are going away because of government policies and the EPA.

Now why are people not going to colege? Is it too expensive for them? Government should start a funding program for such cases..

College education has little value compare to the cost. If an Ivy League graduate is getting paid on penny and dime after the students spending hundred of thousand dollars and time to go through the system, imagine what non-ivy league student is doing now.

[leex1528]

Now why are people not going to colege? Is it too expensive for them? Government should start a funding program for such cases..

Because College is insanely expensive and with the unemployment rates a lot of people are stuck working them after college, which if you work 40 hours a week is barely enough to pay for your student loans that you have to take out, let alone eat, play for a place to live...etc


The US government does fund programs, unfortunately only if you don't live in the US, they get to come here and live, go to school for free....Then we wonder why US is going broke...

[picolo]

Now why are people not going to colege? Is it too expensive for them? Government should start a funding program for such cases..

Because College is insanely expensive and with the unemployment rates a lot of people are stuck working them after college, which if you work 40 hours a week is barely enough to pay for your student loans that you have to take out, let alone eat, play for a place to live...etc


The US government does fund programs, unfortunately only if you don't live in the US, they get to come here and live, go to school for free....Then we wonder why US is going broke...

When the US government or any government starts a "funding program" it takes 100 to give back 20-60 so it is less effiscient than not to start the program plus it increases the demand of the product so the price increases for everyone

Markets are more efficient when they are not manipulated

[arbitrage001]

America is bound to get poorer especially considering the scale of it manufacturing and how archaic it is in comparison to direct competitors.

What was once a strong economy relying on export when it comes on to the several sectors of the industry is now solely relying on internal market, such as Automobile sector, Energy sector, Bulding and construction system ...ect these sectors cannot match their European counterparts in terms of quality or the Chinese in terms of price, heck even the Koreans fill the gap between Eu and Chinese products, The only way to keep a lead is to with great added value product, and US manufacturing is not giving that except maybe in the defense sector (but I think this is also due to the limitations imposed on other nations and they are losing the edge here examples of recent failures : F22 /F35, LCS....ect ect)

No the US has a strong lead when it comes hightech, especially to the internet sector, this is also thanks to the monopoly they created in 90s, once all the IPs and Patents expires things might change even, here so what to do ? move on to the next big thing and always relay on products/sectors/jobs with huge added value as opposed to simple stuff because they'll never match the price of the Chinese, Indians, and even North African countries want a piece of the cake

The defense industry and other high tech sectors have high dependency on other traditional manufacturing industry. When the quality of the foundation is gone, all the high level components will of course have high failure rate.

Off shoring and using cheap components from another country comes at high cost which can't be measured on a balance sheet.

[Full Spectrum]

Now why are people not going to colege? Is it too expensive for them? Government should start a funding program for such cases..

Because College is insanely expensive and with the unemployment rates a lot of people are stuck working them after college, which if you work 40 hours a week is barely enough to pay for your student loans that you have to take out, let alone eat, play for a place to live...etc


The US government does fund programs, unfortunately only if you don't live in the US, they get to come here and live, go to school for free....Then we wonder why US is going broke...

When the US government or any government starts a "funding program" it takes 100 to give back 20-60 so it is less effiscient than not to start the program plus it increases the demand of the product so the price increases for everyone

Markets are more efficient when they are not manipulated

I will call myself a freemarketeer, I praise and hold dear the free, voluntary, non-coercive exchange of goods. But Markets can be efficient when manipulated, but not how the Anglo-Saxon world manipulates it, the French Dirigisme is a great example of state owned companies being competitive. The French key to Dirigisme's success is that high level bureaucrats are only selected from the cream of the crop who enroll at the "Grande Ecoles". But I will agree markets can be cheaper to create the same effect.

[Possum577]

America is bound to get poorer especially considering the scale of it manufacturing and how archaic it is in comparison to direct competitors.

What was once a strong economy relying on export when it comes on to the several sectors of the industry is now solely relying on internal market, such as Automobile sector, Energy sector, Bulding and construction system ...ect these sectors cannot match their European counterparts in terms of quality or the Chinese in terms of price, heck even the Koreans fill the gap between Eu and Chinese products, The only way to keep a lead is to with great added value product, and US manufacturing is not giving that except maybe in the defense sector (but I think this is also due to the limitations imposed on other nations and they are losing the edge here examples of recent failures : F22 /F35, LCS....ect ect)

No the US has a strong lead when it comes hightech, especially to the internet sector, this is also thanks to the monopoly they created in 90s, once all the IPs and Patents expires things might change even, here so what to do ? move on to the next big thing and always relay on products/sectors/jobs with huge added value as opposed to simple stuff because they'll never match the price of the Chinese, Indians, and even North African countries want a piece of the cake

America's economy and innovation is still strong. A combination of improved technology and other countries being able to manufacture products better as caused the auto and manufacturing sectors to shift out of the country and be replaced by service, information, and tech sector growth.

The "American's getting poorer" issue mostly comes from the increased access to credit, which enables someone who lives on a low middle class salary to live like someone with an upper middle class salary by buying things on debt that grows and grows.

When people shun credit except for education, homes, and starting business - all endeavors that result in improving/increasing income - their wealth will improve as well. The problem is getting everyone to reset to their proper level of consumption/living. It will result in people buying fewer things, which will hurt the economy a bit, for a little while. If we could endure that reset period we could be well on our way to more prosperous course for personal finance.

Btw, going into debt for a degree that DOESN'T result in income to pay for that debt plus some isn't going to help...another plague currently...

[counter]

Getting poorer in the US is really nothing.

You guys really need to travel the world and see what "poverty" really mean.

Los rigos tambien lloran ("the rich also cry").

Crying inside a Mercedes Benz is better than staving on the street.

Poverty is poverty simple as that.  No shelter and little to no options is the name of the game not where your located.  US has some very poor areas that are extremely dangerous to live in.  Does that mean all of a sudden it is not so bad because they don't have to forage for food, or have lower chance of receiving medical attention? 

[zedicus]

The Typical Household, Now Worth a Third Less

Economic inequality in the United States has been receiving a lot of attention. But it’s not merely an issue of the rich getting richer. The typical American household has been getting poorer, too.

The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36 percent decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation. Those are the figures for a household at the median point in the wealth distribution — the level at which there are an equal number of households whose worth is higher and lower. But during the same period, the net worth of wealthy households increased substantially.

The Russell Sage study also examined net worth at the 95th percentile. (For households at that level, 94 percent of the population had less wealth and 4 percent had more.) It found that for this well-do-do slice of the population, household net worth increased 14 percent over the same 10 years. Other research, by economists like Edward Wolff at New York University, has shown even greater gains in wealth for the richest 1 percent of households.

More...http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/business/the-typical-household-now-worth-a-third-less.html
Typical class warfare lingo but yeah, things are trending down here in the home of the brave. Anecdotally, I know plenty of people living paycheck to paycheck while I stack coins for the future.

I can personally vouch that a lot of my friends are poor and that the city I live in has huge problems with very low wage jobs. Luckily most apartments are really cheap where I live, apartments for 1 bedroom only cost 500 bucks a month in a really good neighborhood, shady neighborhoods are like 300 a month so the people can still survive. Our minimum wage here is 7.25 USD/hour? I think that is what it is now. But the issue is that people don't go to college anymore and a lot of manufacturing jobs are going away because of government policies and the EPA.

Now why are people not going to colege? Is it too expensive for them? Government should start a funding program for such cases..

The government does subsidize going to college and this is why it is so expensive to go to college. Colleges have no incentive to keep costs in line because they receive federal subsidies and because people can borrow money with few limits from the government for college and the amounts that can be borrowed have nothing to do with the earnings potential of a particular degree.

[johny08]

income is proportional to education. yeah, i guess you are right. but there are exceptions, i know people who dont watch youtube for education :-)