6 ms·

for those of us in the bottom 95% of incomes the downturn has been going on 30 years.

icantdrive55 9y ago
Yea, the amount of poor people in the US seems higher than I ever remember. I knew it was bad years before the Internet, but people didn't talk about it. So much success (financial) has been due to daddy's money. I saw it in college, and it's been so apparant for as long as I remember. If you came from a wealthy family, you needed to proactively blow it. I grew up with some absolute idiots, who's family picked up the pieces after every bad move. Gavin Nuesome was one of those guys. If not for that family, he would be homeless by now. Along with the guy who's father invented the plastic dental pick. When this bubble bursts, it will be ugly. There are too many laws, and there will be a whole generation of people very vulnerable. I wish were could be more proactive. In a year, or so, certain enclaves of California will have thousands of new homeless individuals, and it's basically illegial to not have a shelter in the USA. Besides making homeless illegial, I would like to increase the homestead exemption to what Texas has, basically no one can touch your home in a bankruptcy. Counties shouldn't be able to lien properties for back taxes as quickly as they can now. I could go on forever, but stuff like taking a nap in the park should be questioned--ever. Police/local municipalities have been given too many laws to harass us with. Guys should be on prison for fishing without a license. Yea, I'm as liberal as they come, and love animals, but oppression is wrong. Fines/fees need to be tied to income----period. As to these market downturns, I have noticed the downturn rears its head Only after the middle income retail investor has put their money in. It should be a Economic law. It might be the only trend I can count on? There's almost a psychology to it. The talking heads talk about how much they made on whatever stock. Investors, even investors whom have been burned, think about getting back in. They wait for years. They finally jump in in times like this, and only when the market has all the the retail investors does it blow. The real old money guys seem to know when to pull out, or short the market. The amout of Insider Trading has always been astoundingly high. Every wealthy person I have know took that advice, and made money. And yes, every wealthy person I have known has been a hypocrite. Real growth has been stagnant for years. The unemployment rate doesn't feel right. That "Able Bodied, but can't find work" number just gets higher. Tech is eliminating so many jobs. Local governments have ticketed/fined/fee'd us blindly. Insurance lobbies have raped us for the last twenty years. It's all kinda depressing. It's all great if you're in the Party, but I have a feeling we are all about to be hobbled/humbled very soon. I hope we don't turn into Mexico, where you can't take a walk without worrying.
djrogers 9y ago
Citation? Most IS data shows flat to moderate increases for all quintiles. Top 5% has had greater % increases than any other cohort but that doesn’t mean that the other 95% are experiencing negative growth in income.
- metalliqaz 9y ago
  You are completely correct of course, but I think he meant that the economy felt like downturn, rather than that actual wages were down. In that respect he's right, because as so many wages have stagnated, buying power has dropped due to inflation.

Yea, the amount of poor people in the US seems higher than I ever remember. I knew it was bad years before the Internet, but people didn't talk about it. So much success (financial) has been due to daddy's money. I saw it in college, and it's been so apparant for as long as I remember. If you came from a wealthy family, you needed to proactively blow it. I grew up with some absolute idiots, who's family picked up the pieces after every bad move. Gavin Nuesome was one of those guys. If not for that family, he would be homeless by now. Along with the guy who's father invented the plastic dental pick. When this bubble bursts, it will be ugly. There are too many laws, and there will be a whole generation of people very vulnerable. I wish were could be more proactive. In a year, or so, certain enclaves of California will have thousands of new homeless individuals, and it's basically illegial to not have a shelter in the USA. Besides making homeless illegial, I would like to increase the homestead exemption to what Texas has, basically no one can touch your home in a bankruptcy. Counties shouldn't be able to lien properties for back taxes as quickly as they can now. I could go on forever, but stuff like taking a nap in the park should be questioned--ever. Police/local municipalities have been given too many laws to harass us with. Guys should be on prison for fishing without a license. Yea, I'm as liberal as they come, and love animals, but oppression is wrong. Fines/fees need to be tied to income----period. As to these market downturns, I have noticed the downturn rears its head Only after the middle income retail investor has put their money in. It should be a Economic law. It might be the only trend I can count on? There's almost a psychology to it. The talking heads talk about how much they made on whatever stock. Investors, even investors whom have been burned, think about getting back in. They wait for years. They finally jump in in times like this, and only when the market has all the the retail investors does it blow. The real old money guys seem to know when to pull out, or short the market. The amout of Insider Trading has always been astoundingly high. Every wealthy person I have know took that advice, and made money. And yes, every wealthy person I have known has been a hypocrite. Real growth has been stagnant for years. The unemployment rate doesn't feel right. That "Able Bodied, but can't find work" number just gets higher. Tech is eliminating so many jobs. Local governments have ticketed/fined/fee'd us blindly. Insurance lobbies have raped us for the last twenty years. It's all kinda depressing. It's all great if you're in the Party, but I have a feeling we are all about to be hobbled/humbled very soon. I hope we don't turn into Mexico, where you can't take a walk without worrying.

djrogers 9y ago

Citation? Most IS data shows flat to moderate increases for all quintiles. Top 5% has had greater % increases than any other cohort but that doesn’t mean that the other 95% are experiencing negative growth in income.

metalliqaz 9y ago
You are completely correct of course, but I think he meant that the economy felt like downturn, rather than that actual wages were down. In that respect he's right, because as so many wages have stagnated, buying power has dropped due to inflation.