> I feel like there might a tremendous amount of tension in the economy that isn't as visible as one might hope. Seattle, by any number of metrics, is one of

> I feel like there might a tremendous amount of tension in the economy that isn't as visible as one might hope. Seattle, by any number of metrics, is one of the Boomtowns in America today. But when you walk down almost all the major streets, there are usually at least one boarded up storefront. House prices are > 10x annual US median salary, and 5-7x the median Seattle salary. Homeless people are everywhere downtown. The "family size" apartments are nearly non-existent until you get a solid 30+ minutes away (everything is being aimed at rich people or young singles); single family houses are (comfortably) priced to people with a solid 200k+ combined salary (you CAN stretch it of course, but memories of prior bubbles suggest stretching it on living situations is a poor choice). This isn't making sense: it does not seem sustainable as a system. Haven't dug into the numbers for Seattle, but the blue collar factories in the US etc are being pinched by a lack of entrants: no one wants to work for $12/hr and be at the bottom of the totem pole, but the employers claim they can't pay more. I read newspaper stories about this periodically. Structurally, of course, there is significant financial inequality between municipalities/states/cities and more rural areas, and the concentration of wealth (jobs, culture, hope) in these metro areas is generating salt lake effects in many rural areas. I think there's a definite snapping point in the economy that the current direction doesn't seem to be changing. I think, frankly, the US economy has metaphorical 'toxic' areas that haven't been honestly addressed and it's generating a lot of resentment.