We are officially saving NOTHING in the US. Doesn't it feel good? Does it somehow feel like the Roaring Twenties before the Great Depression?
Economists, when surveyed accross large periods of time, have been shown to be overly pessimistic. Econo-Girl can concede her attraction to doomsday scenarios. After all, isn't it a good feeling to be superior in one's perspective relative to others? Isn't it fun to be saving up that "I told you so"?
So the mice of international balance are gnawing at heels of Americans. How long can we keep it up?
The big implication in the No Savings For Americans news is that a reversal in employment will really have severe impacts on people. They will lose their houses, cars, etc. Kids will be thrown into the streets. People will become Democrats overnight, suddenly seeing the benefits of a social safety net.
Econo-Girl believes that this news must shift the focus to employment figures as a bellweather for the economy, much more so than it has been in the past. It seems EVERYTHING is dependent on Americans keeping their jobs, what with no savings and all. And if we stop spending, then no one will be buying those goods from Asia.
The final question is: how far will self-interest and self-delusion go? There are a LOT of people who are needing the current balance to work.
3 comments:
I am saving. And spending. But mostly saving. I have evil plans for my savings!
I plan to use my savings to stage hostile takeovers of other people's stuff when they can no longer afford it.
I will be like a shark. Swimming silently, staying just out of sight. Waiting for the right moment. Then attacking.
Well, until the last several years I couldn't afford to save. It is very sad, living from paycheck to paycheck with no hope for the future. I wonder how many people continue to live in that quiet limbo of desperation, knowing that they are one paycheck away from ruin? It was always very stressful.
I've done that, too. Not being able to save and going from paycheck to paycheck. It is so scary. Even worse is when you have no health insurance either.
What is it going to take to get people to see that universal health care is needed?
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