Another View: Why the U.S. economy can't get out of first gear

[hvactec]

Rarely in history has the cause of a major economic problem been so clear yet have so few been willing to see it.

The major reason this recovery has been so anemic is not Europe’s debt crisis. It’s not, as right-wing economists tell us, because taxes are too high on corporations and the rich, safety nets are too generous to the needy, and regulations on business are too onerous. It’s not even, as some liberals contend, because the Obama administration hasn’t spent enough on a temporary Keynesian stimulus.

The answer is in front of our faces. It’s because American consumers, whose spending is 70 percent of economic activity, don’t have the dough to buy enough to boost the economy — and they can no longer borrow like they could before the crash of 2008.

If you have any doubt, just take a look at the Survey of Consumer Finances, released last week by the Federal Reserve. Median family income was $49,600 in 2007. By 2010 it was $45,800 — a drop of 7.7 percent.
All of the gains from economic growth have been going to the richest 1 percent —

read more http://www.desmoinesregister.com/ar...S-economy-can-t-get-out-of-first-gear?Opinion

 

[uscitizen]

And most of what we do buy is made in China.
So no jobs here to make most of the stuff we buy.
A downward spiral with no end in sight yet.

 

[hvactec]

Yes We no longer have Ford's out there who want their employees to be able to afford their own product.