The Case that We're Headed for Economic Collapse

The scariest case I've yet read for why we're headed for economic collapse.

U.S. Middle Class Shrinks

In an attempt to create positive perceptions, President Obama is proclaiming that "we're turning it around."

But using data from such sources as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Insider reports 22 statistics that indicate that the decline and fall of the American Empire is accelerating, with the middle class being the canary in the coal mine:

• 61 percent of Americans now "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck. That's up from 43 percent in 2007 and 49% in 2008.
• More than 40 percent of employed Americans now work in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
• The average time to find a job has risen to 35.2 weeks.
• For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Dept of Agriculture projects it to rise to 43 million in 2011.
• 21 percent of all U.S. children now live below the poverty line, the highest rate in 20 years.
• 43 percent of Americans now have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.
• 24 percent of American workers now say they have postponed their planned retirement age.
• The average federal worker now earns 20 to 60 percent more (different studies report different findings) than the average private sector worker. That is the most recent evidence of my assertion that now, because the federal government doesn't balance its budget and can--for the short-term at least--keep printing money, the federal government and federal contractors are, for all but star employees, the best source of employment.

As shocking and dispiriting as those statistics are, I was shaken even more when I read that when the Tacoma, Washington Utilities District posted a job opening for a single $17.76/hour meter reader job, 1,600 people applied.

These statistics provide yet more evidence that America is in a long-term jobless non-recovery.

Perhaps the U.S. Isn't Doing as Badly as the Media Would Have Us Believe

New York Times syndicate columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote this today