that's right 30 years ago credit was not so common. People saved. Th e only credit most people had was thier mortgage Nowdays all prosperity is based on credit If credit stops all prosperity will dissappear And it might happen quite soon if the world abolish dollar as its reserve currency
the shadow stats guy has an undergrad degree in economics. there are plenty of blogs run by ph d economists and if you spent a month looking at several each day you wouldn't find anyone discounting the methodology like this guy. the computer you posted and he runs his website on would have cost several hundred thousand dollars the year that 4-runners cost mere thousands. 4-runners didn't have plush leather seats, air bags or anti-lock brakes either. you had to get out to lock the hubs before shifting into 4 wheel drive on my '86. the gov't numbers adjust for quality as well. bottom line- there is no outcry among the phd's in the field about the numbers and if this guy new his statistics and economics well enough then he could get get his theory published in a reputable peer reviewed economics journal. so, if you are paying for his site then drop him a line and ask him when he'll revolutionize the field with a journal (not wsj) article.
the economy was stagnant during the biggest technologic revolution in seventy years. productivity exploded during the 90s apparently that didnt help the economy. at least according to you gold bugs
apparently something got into the water in the late 90's, because we've borrowed a lifestyle that savings used to provide....screw saving money, that's too much hard work......
The good ole USA. Look at the meat packing industry as just one example. In NW Iowa where I was born it used to be the staple of the economy, and it was a great job to work @ one of the packing houses. Paid $10-$15 per hour in the 70's. Today they start at at $7 or $8 and can make up to $11 or so. Its also gotten more dangerous. Construction, farming..etc etc. Real earnings have gone down if your not living in the Wall Street/Suburban bubble. Brandon
Well, we would all better get used to this trend, because low skill jobs are being taken over by machines. They're more economic than humans. Don't fight the trend!