The Top 100 Statistics About The Collapse Of The Economy That Every American Voter Should Know

I just came across this articl e while browsing the Daily Paul, and there are some disturbing things in it. It basically gives a big list of statistics about the economy. I'll post a few of the more shocking ones that I read:

#99 During the Obama administration, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.

#78 The total amount of student loan debt in the United States now exceeds the total amount of credit card debt in the United States.

#63 The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#45 Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week.

#36 According to a Harris Interactive survey taken near the end of last year, 77 percent of all Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck. In 2007, the same survey found that only 43 percent of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck.

#10 The wealthiest 1% of all Americans now own more than a third of all the wealth in the United States.

#9 The poorest 50% of all Americans collectively own just 2.5% of all the wealth in the United States.

This country is teetering over the edge, and after reading through that list it should be apparent why thousands are now protesting around the country.

Statistics like these make me wonder how the system keeps tumbling forward for yet another day, but I give big credit to cognitive dissonance. People don't want to see how bad it is getting, so they simply refuse to do so. Through a combination of credit and cutbacks, they just put off the inevitable for another day.

On the one hand, it's really sad. On the other hand, considering people would rather worry about their families and better things in life, I can see why so many Americans are intentionally apathetic, especially when getting involved is often more depressing than anything else.

Nice statistics but the link doesnt work.

Second line.

reply to post by cassandranova


I agree, but it's good that people are waking up. The number of people protesting the Fed around the country is only climbing, and will continue to climb in the upcoming weeks. Depending on who gets elected, there's a good chance that things will only get worse after the next election. We can't keep fighting the wars with our massive, increasing debt, but most of the Republican presidential candidates are oblivious and want to keep them going. Obama said he wanted to get our troops home, in fact he said that was the first thing he would do as president, but look how that worked out.

reply to post by Swizzy


Thanks for the heads up, I put the right link in and it should work now.

It would be an interesting statistic too, IMO, showing the average education requirements for a job in the US, and the average educational achievements of the population of the US.

I suspect there is a very, very, VERY large divide there.

(And I'm not sure how you could ever quantify it, but if people with advanced degrees got us into this mess, how well is the college education system really working for us anyway? At what point will the US realize that people can be educated beyond their level of competence, and often are?)

Honestly...if there isn't massive upheaval and civil unrest, nothing will change. You can no longer rely on "elections" to solve problems at this point when the government has clearly gone rogue.

Staggering statistics. The people do know what is happening, it's merely the fact that the government isn't listening, and hasn't for years. MSM covering these events is raising public awareness, and now it seems they have to listen.....and do something.

If the government listens, we'll see a change. Government will reform itself, and we'll have the Republic laid out in the Constitution.

That's not very likely.

The more obvious result I see is revolt.

OWS is just the tip of the iceberg. The elections are coming up, and TPTB know it. Things are at a simmering gridlock right now.

Not to let Obama off the hook by any means but the first statistic is a re-hash of what was being said about Bush during his administration. And it has alot to do with the debt bubble and some really stupid policy. As our debt rose to staggering levels over the last decade or so we have been forced to expend more to service that debt. Between the wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, on drugs, on terror, etc.) plus the enormous bank bailouts and subsequent 'economic stimuli' we created a massive amount of 'sovereign debt'. We have had to service that ever-increasing debt.

debt

So yea, that is true and will likely continue to be true for every subsequent president no matter who s/he is.

reply to post by hadriana

It would be an interesting statistic too, IMO, showing the average education requirements for a job in the US, and the average educational achievements of the population of the US.

Here are some stats from that list that sort of cover that:

#77 One-third of all college graduates end up taking jobs that don't even require college degrees.

#76 In the United States today, there are more than 100,000 janitors that have college degrees.

#75 In the United States today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees.

#74 In the United States today, approximately 365,000 cashiers have college degrees.

Originally posted by TupacShakur
reply to post by hadriana

 

It would be an interesting statistic too, IMO, showing the average education requirements for a job in the US, and the average educational achievements of the population of the US.

Here are some stats from that list that sort of cover that:

#77 One-third of all college graduates end up taking jobs that don't even require college degrees.

#76 In the United States today, there are more than 100,000 janitors that have college degrees.

#75 In the United States today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees.

#74 In the United States today, approximately 365,000 cashiers have college degrees.

Those are all service jobs that require no secondary ed. However, they are still in the sub half-million range. Are all the other workers in unions?

Here's an honest question: Do people go to work because they like their job, or because they have to?

QUESTION: Is the United States economy really in that bad shape now?

Sure the jobs numbers weren't great but they were an improvement.

There are apparent indicators that show GDP may exceed 2% in Q3.

I think the US economy can thrive with higher unemployment levels, granted ongoing low interest rates and other stimulus measures.

But at this stage I cannot see the US being an immediate threat to the global economy. Europe is another story though and I think the markets are reflecting some of this.