Following up on the previous blog, I thought I would post a couple of more links to related stories
(http://finance.yahoo.com/news/middle-class-expenses-grow-faster-111900178.html, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/09/dow-jones-record-high_n_2839862.html).
The US economic policies as they relate to trade, fiscal, monetary, and immigration, have been a tremendous ‘success’ story for large US corporations. On the cost side, ‘globalization’ has allowed them to freely move their production sites to China and other cheap locales — which reduces their costs and increase their profit margins. On the demand side, massive deficit spending by the federal and state governments has offset the negative consequences of their ‘off-shoring’ practices, thus keeping the economy and demand healthy — i.e. keeping their sales and thus profits steady. On top of all this, monetary policy of the Federal Reserve is further seeking to increase debt, so both the government and people can keep buying things (on credit). Saving the best for last, the Federal Reserve is seeking to create financial bubbles intentionally, which drives up stock prices and creating a class of mega-rich (i.e. stock market bubbles mean that the owners of large corporations see highly inflated prices for the shares they own).
In the mean time, the constant inflation created by the policies of the Federal Reserve result in an erosion in the living standards for the vast majority of the people. The rising costs of the basics like food and fuel (which are driven higher by the excess liquidity created by the Fed) reduces people’s standard of living. When we look at the cost of health care or college, we truly see the extent of the decline in the standard of living for most Americans. Compared to the average net earnings (after taxes are paid), the costs of a major illness or 4 years in college, can result in a life time spent in debt.
Both Republicans and Democrats must share the blame for the current state of the American worker. The question is, who will move to fix the root causes? Again, failure to act will eventually result in the greatest tragedy of the End of Days — falling under the dominion of the Beast.