Primitives Lament Their Net Worth

[landofconfusion80]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025305549

xchrom (104,852 posts)

What Recovery? You Probably Became Poorer In the Last 10 Years

http://www.alternet.org/economy/what-recovery-you-probably-became-poorer-last-10-years
 


You sense it when you look at your retirement account. You feel it when the bills come in. According to new research supported by the Russell Sage Foundation, your instinct is right: you are very likely getting poorer.
 
For the study, researchers gathered information on families in the middle of the wealth distribution continuum. What they found is that in 2003, the inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992. Fast-forward 10 years: that figure is down to a mere $56,335.
 
Ordinary Americans got 36 percent poorer in just a decade.

The Great Recession and the bursting of the housing bubble did their damage, but a long list of additional factors have helped funnel money out of the hands of regular Americans and into the pockets of the rich, including deregulation, high unemployment and job insecurity, the shareholder value trend in which corporations focus on manipulating stock prices while throwing workers under the bus, the reduced influence of unions, the shredding of the social safety net, privatization, and tax structures which favor the rich.
 
And once the inequality train leaves the station, it only gathers speed until something stops it. As Thomas Piketty has recently emphasized, the rich get richer faster than you and me because of the rate of return on their wealth.

Who was going to heal the world and pay for all those mortgages, cell phones, healthcare and generally make the world just a swell place? Somebody clearly isn't doing their job! Let's blame that guy! or not....

Laelth (20,137 posts)

1. k&r for the truth, however depressing it may be. n/t

-Laelth

yuiyoshida (4,054 posts)

4. Kami Sama knows....

I certainly have...

PeoViejo (624 posts)

5. Quantitative Easing

The Fed creating Money out of thin air dilutes the purchasing power of everyone's Money. That money you were saving for retirement is worth about a third of what it was prior to the Recession, based on projected M3 figures. (Money in circulation) M3 isn't published anymore because the Fed doesn't want you to see how we have all been screwed.
 
As far as Rate of Return goes: What Rate of Return?

Knocking on Keynesian economics? You aren't long for the island Peon.

Thespian2 (116 posts)

7. Retired workers

seem to be getting poorer faster than the speed of light. I have been retired for some time. When my wife died in 2010, I lost most of her Social Security. Over time, prices have continued to increase. Except for work I have to do, my income has been relatively stagnate. I am fortunately enough to be able to sink into poverty slowly, but the American administration has made sure that I will be below the poverty line very soon. USA, number one in not caring for its citizens.

Relying on social security for your retirement income probably wasn't the smartest idea, just saying...

hfojvt (34,691 posts)

12. Sorry, I KNOW that I did NOT

And it could just be me, the oddball exception to the trend.

Funny though, because I spent much of that decade in the bottom quintile for income. The last three years, I have perhaps risen to the 37th percentile for income, but that still leaves over 60% of households making more money than I do.
 
Let me look at two censuses of wealth that I have seen and saved to my computer, for 2002 and 2011. Not quite the same years, but things were better in 2011 than they were in 2009 on the job front and they have only gotten better since then.
 
So - 110 million households in 2002

16.9% with zero or negative net worth
9.3% with less than $5,000

11.1% with over $250,000 (not including the next group)
8.5% with over $500,000

118.7 million households in 2011

18.1% with zero or negative
9.1% with less than $5,000

so the bottom has increased by 1%

12.6% with over $250,000
13.5% with over $500,000

so the top has increased by 6.5%

some of that perhaps because of inflation as $250,000 in 2011 was only equivalent of $200,000 in 2002, or going the other way $250,000 in 2002 is equivalent to $312,000 in 2011.
 
Looking at the middle, in 2002 12.9% had over 50K but less than 100, and 20.3% had between $100,000 and $250,000
 
In 2011, 10.4% had over 50K and 17.9% had between 100 and 250.

So there's quite a bit of slippage there, especially if you take inflation into account. A loss of 4.9%. But that loss is stil less than the 6.5% who moved into the top two groups.
 
And for the lower middle groups
5-10 - 4.8% to 4.8%
10-25 - 7.6% to 6.6%
25-50 - 8.5% to 6.9%

So, except for the growth at the top (the top 26% though and not so much the top 0.01% some people like to talk about) I am seeing slippage from 2002 to 2011.
 
Mind-boggling to me, because since 2002, I have only worked full time 5 years out of the 12, and I have added about $70,000 to my net worth.
 
I must be one of the few who is not blowing all my money on tattoos

lol!! ....or DU scams, doritos, Guy Fawkes masks, hording cats, etc...

[DumbAss Tanker]

hfojvt (34,691 posts)
...
 
Mind-boggling to me, because since 2002, I have only worked full time 5 years out of the 12, and I have added about $70,000 to my net worth.
 
I must be one of the few who is not blowing all my money on tattoos

Then again, you're a DUmmie, and this involves math and economics, so the odds are you're just figuring it wrong.

[JohnnyReb]

The housing bubble was engineered by Democrats. Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Chris Dodd and Bonnie Fwank had banks making bad loans. They kept Bush from getting an accounting of the problem and then when they needed a down turn in the economy to win elections, they burst the bubble. Then they went wild with their social programs scaring business and the people to death.

You voted for it DUmmies, now suffer, damn you.

....and since when can a DUmmie afford a net to gather his net worth in?

[DefiantSix]

Cheer up, DUmbshits!  While all those 1%ers are losing net worth by the fist full under the tender ministrations of The Holy WON of Shitcago, your net worth has shot up 200%, 300%, 500% and even more.

Hell, the sky's the ****in' limit for you ass clowns under Dear Leader, simply because if you start out completely worthless, it doesn't matter what figure you use to multiply that original value by. 

[Dori]

I guess they didn't believe Obama and Michele.

Obama told us he was going to spread the wealth around.  Michelle said we would have to give up a piece of our pie so others could have more.

Obama said our electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.

Obama and his energy secretary said they wanted to see higher gasoline prices.


Hey DUmmies.  Believe what your leaders say before you elect them.

 

[Carl]

Seeing how the bill for Odiotcare is addressed to 25-55 year old males,expect to see the net worth numbers shrink even more.

[GOBUCKS]

Hell, the sky's the ****in' limit for you ass clowns under Dear Leader, simply because if you start out completely worthless, it doesn't matter what figure you use to multiply that original value by.

But their net worth will never be in positive territory.

Whenever unemployment, disability, food stamps, or other welfare payments increase, democrats simply use that as a license to run up more debt.

[USA4ME]

It would be nice if primitives didn't lie so we could get some accurate scenarios.  Given what I've seen from there since Dear Leader came on the scene, they've gotten poorer.

We all know if this were Bush they'd be yelling at the prez, but they won't say a word with Dear Leader in office. This is just how tight of a grip their ideology has on them, coupled with the rules of the island and their desire to stay there over being honest.

.