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Read other letters about this article
Why doesn't anybody challenge these guys who write this stuff?
He writes "A record number of Americans receiving food stamps. "
Great. There are a record number of Americans. The article he cites also points out that the percentage was higher in the early nineties. No depression then.
He writes " Americans filing for unemployment benefits reached its highest level in two years last week"
The number, in the article he cites, is BETTER THAN EXPECTED. What's more, this snip is a quote:
"'While this reflects a meaningful deterioration of the job market, the pace of layoffs is considerably lower than is typical of previous economic slumps,' said economists from Nomura Economics Research. "
Later, he quotes an economist I've heard little about, so I looked into his past. Mr. Roubini, among other things, has posted in favor of a single world currency. You read that correctly. Is that a good idea??
In another, Mr. Leonard notes:
"Last October, citing Internal Revenue Service data, the Wall Street Journal reported that the top 1 percent of Americans earned 21.2 percent of all income in 2005. That's the highest measure of income inequality since, you guessed it, before the Great Depression."
Yes *IF* stock sales are considered as "income". If you sold the family home for $500,000 netting $400,000, would you consider that as "income"? No. In Mr. Leonard's world, income includes the sale of assets. That's code for returning to the old days of high taxation.
So while he wrings his hands over whether this is another Great Depression, be aware that the rest of us, who keep our credit clean and prime, and don't borrow money needlessly, will go about living our lives.
One last thing: there are plenty of good paying jobs - they just aren't factory jobs. If you want to return to the days where a high school diploma was a ticket to an upper middle class factory life for the average Joe and Jane: those days are gone. Get over it.
