No, to spend more time with my son. Takes a day to get up to the cabin, and a day back. A three day weekend wouldn't really help.
No, you don't, I grew up in the United States, went to university there, served in the US military, and was well into middle age before I moved to Canada.
If it is not because you live in Canada... how the hell else can you support this? You think wages have tracked with this? [/quote]
I'm not "supporting" it, I'm arguing that the situation is not so dire as you scream. Wages have indeed risen, at least, until the die off of unionism and the export of manufacturing. If wages had not risen, as well as that other, secret variable I riddled you to name, then your chart would imply we should be a LOT worse off materially today than we were a century ago.
that is ridiculous ... its relative. we should be a hell of a lot better off. We now need 2 incomes to equal a little bit more than one income.
Agree wholeheartedly. I'm not saying inflation isn't a big part of a drop in the standard of living, but all you have to do is look at a family's debt burden and budget to determine they are spending irresponsibly. But what do you expect in a culture and economy that rewards fiscal irresponsibility and punishes savers?
Very timely, considering the whole "live outside your means" commentary. The last chart is hilarious and tragic, both at the same time. Student And Car Loans Go Exponential, Courtesy Of Uncle Sam Another month, another $14.5 billion increase in student and car loans, offset by a measly $1.4 billion in credit card debt, following last month's upward revised $200 million drop in revolving debt. Total consumer debt in September increase by $15.9 billion, just below the $16.0 billion estimate, and the problem is that with the Fed's credit injection fading, someone has to step on the borrowing pedal. Alas, if one takes away student and car loans, the credit creation is not nearly enough to push US consumption higher. Revolving credit: the credit card buying spree from late spring is long gone. Compared the recent "recovery" period to the "healthy" credit card purchasing days of 2007 reveals that nothing is as it should be. So it's all up to non-revolving credit, which continues to increase between $10 and $15 billion each month. What's most troubling is that after several months of depository institutions funding the bulk of credit needs, the past two months have reverted to the old normal, where Uncle Sam is the sole provider of consumer credit. In any event, the most amusing chart is the following. It simply screams sustainable?
commie Credit and perpetual debt are this era's bread and circuses. Our only consolation is that there are actual workers producing stuff, from a still functioning natural environment, who could in theory continue to do so in a deep financial crisis, and so feed and clothe us. The parasites who live off of interest, however, may have a bit tougher go of it. All we need to do is fully realize the relationship. Yeah, it's class consciousness. /commie