Next time you hear an economist or denizen of Wall Street talk about how the "American economy" is doing these days, watch your wallet.
There are two American economies. One is on the mend. The other is still coming apart.
The one that's mending is America's Big Money economy. It's comprised of Wall Street traders, big investors, and top professionals and corporate executives.
The Big Money economy is doing well these days. That's partly thanks to Ben Bernanke, whose Fed is keeping interest rates near zero by printing money as fast as it dare. It's essentially free money to America's Big Money economy.
Free money can almost always be put to uses that create more of it. Big corporations are buying back their shares of stock, thereby boosting corporate earnings. They're merging and acquiring other companies.
And they're going abroad in search of customers.
Thanks to fast-growing China, India, and Brazil, giant American corporations are racking up sales. They're selling Asian and Latin American consumers everything from cars and cell phones to fancy Internet software and iPads. Forty percent of the S&P 500 biggest corporations are now doing more than 60 percent of their business abroad. And America's biggest investors are also going abroad to get a nice return on their money.
So don't worry about America's Big Money economy. According to a Wall Street Journal survey released Thursday, overall compensation in financial services will rise 5 percent this year, and employees in some businesses like asset management will get increases of 15 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is back to where it was before the Lehman bankruptcy filing triggered the financial collapse. And profits at America's largest corporations are heading upward.
But there's another American economy, and it's not on the mend. Call it the Average Worker economy.
Last Friday's jobs report showed 159,000 new private-sector jobs in October. That's better than previous months. But 125,000 net new jobs are needed just to keep up with the growth of the American labor force. So another way of expressing what happened to jobs in October is to say 24,000 were added over what we need just to stay even.
Yet the American economy has lost 15 million jobs since the start of the Great Recession. And if you add in the growth of the labor force -- including everyone too discouraged to look for a job -- we're down about 22 million.
Or to put it another way, we're still getting nowhere on jobs.
One out of eight breadwinners is still out of work. Most families in the Average Worker economy rely on two breadwinners. So if one out of eight isn't working, chances are high that family incomes are down compared to what they were three years ago.
And that means the bills aren't getting paid.
According to a recent Washington Post poll, more than half of all Americans -- 53 percent -- are worried about making their mortgage payments. This is many more than were worried two years ago, when the Great Recession hit bottom. Then, 37 percent expressed worry.
Delinquency rates on home loans are rising. Distressed sales are up as a percent of total sales.
Most people in the Average Worker economy own few shares of stock, if any. Their equity is in their homes. But with all the delinquencies and distressed sales, the housing market has a glut of homes for sale. As a result, home prices are still dropping. So the net worth of most Americans is still dropping.
And even though interest rates are falling, most people in the Average Worker economy can't refinance their homes. They can't get home equity loans. Banks don't want to lend to the Average Worker economy because people in it are considered bad credit risks. They still owe lots of money, their family incomes are down, and their net worth has fallen.
And according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey of American consumers, expectations about personal finances are at an all time low.
Inhabitants of the Big Money economy are celebrating Republican wins last week. They figure financial regulations will be rolled back, environmental regulations will be canned, the Bush tax cut will be extended to the top 1 percent, and it will be harder for workers to form unions.
Inhabitants of the Average Worker economy aren't so sure. The economy has been so bad they're angry at politicians. They showed their anger at the ballot box. They took it out on incumbents.
But if nothing changes in the Average Worker economy, there will be hell to pay.
Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.
Yes folks, that sadly did happen
The image you see accompanying this article sparked a powder keg at about 4 a.m. Irish time Tuesday morning.
For those living under a rock the last few days, Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank opportunity on Randy Orton and won.
Thus begun civil war all over the Internet between Miz fans and those who dislike him.
In the case of the Miz, though, the word "fan" doesn't seem to apply. The fanbase seems entirely split between those who blindly defend Miz and ignore his shortcomings and those who despise his very existence within WWE.
Since he won the WWE title, the two factions have begun a war of words with each other on news sites and forums across the web.
However, this article will scrutinise the self-destructive logic of a Miz mark.
In the last four days, the Miz has been compared to The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, Randy Orton and now, astonishingly, "Nature Boy" Ric freakin' Flair.
Now look, I know Miz has improved, but any wrestling fan who in their right mind compares Miz to the above names needs their head examined. Miz's ring skills are far inferior to Cena and Orton's, as is his ability to carry a match. To put his subpar mic skills alongside the genii of Austin, Rock and Flair is madness.
Miz fans talk about Miz as if he is Rocky Balboa—a guy who fought his way up to the top with constant struggle. Miz walked into OVW after appearing on The Real World and for some reason got the call-up one year later. Fast-forward four years (you may as well), and this reality show reject is WWE champion?!?!
That's no Rocky story. That is a silver-spoon story.
They also talk about his build-up. Let's examine previous Money in the Bank winners' run-up to cashing in:
Edge: Had great rivalries with Matt Hardy and Ric Flair, the latter of which solidified the Rated R superstar as a Main Event player.
Rob Van Dam: Series with Shelton Benjamin, rivalry with Cena headed into ONS.
Mr. Kennedy/Edge: Kennedy had named a date and was getting more and more heat, week by week. By this point, Edge had become an opportunist and pounced on both Kennedy and a beaten Taker.
CM Punk: His first cash-in had no build-up, and his reign was a flop. His second was built up through a feud with Umaga and created the super-heel Punk. Punk also beat Chris Jericho and Edge among others in the run-up to his second cash-in.
Jack Swagger: No build-up, flop reign.
Kane: 12 YEARS of build-up to a title reign, which has been magnificent.
Miz: No build-up. Follow the pattern.
Miz has had no rivalry with a top star. He has to compete in multi-man matches to hide his weaknesses.
It amazes me that some people have the levels of stupidity to say Miz is the best WWE has. Miz is far from that; Miz is not even the top heel on RAW, in practice. That would be the man who has done everything Miz hasn't: Wade Barrett.
Vince McMahon is reportedly a fan of Miz. I don't normally have to criticise Vince for making a TNA-like decision. But that is exactly what making Miz champion was.
Even a blind mark can see that.
Guys, I just have to request something. I'm not interested in the comment section turning into a flame war. So constructive comments only. Thanks.
bench craft company management
Fox <b>News</b> Watch - Twitter - Daily Beast | Mediaite
The evolution of news media in light of personalized, instant-gratification social networking sites like Twitter has the landscape evolving at a rapidfire pace. For some in the media, this is a reason to mourn the passing of a more ...
Xtina's New Man Is Bad <b>News</b> | PerezHilton.com
Although she´s only been separated from hubby Jordan Bratman for three months, Christina Aguilera is head over heels for her new man Matthew Ruther - and she may be in for a while ride! ...
<b>News</b> - Jennifer Aniston, Chelsea Handler Flaunt Bikini Bods in <b>...</b>
The new BFFs show off their curves while celebrating Thanksgiving abroad.
bench craft company team
Fox <b>News</b> Watch - Twitter - Daily Beast | Mediaite
The evolution of news media in light of personalized, instant-gratification social networking sites like Twitter has the landscape evolving at a rapidfire pace. For some in the media, this is a reason to mourn the passing of a more ...
Xtina's New Man Is Bad <b>News</b> | PerezHilton.com
Although she´s only been separated from hubby Jordan Bratman for three months, Christina Aguilera is head over heels for her new man Matthew Ruther - and she may be in for a while ride! ...
<b>News</b> - Jennifer Aniston, Chelsea Handler Flaunt Bikini Bods in <b>...</b>
The new BFFs show off their curves while celebrating Thanksgiving abroad.
bench craft company ad space
Next time you hear an economist or denizen of Wall Street talk about how the "American economy" is doing these days, watch your wallet.
There are two American economies. One is on the mend. The other is still coming apart.
The one that's mending is America's Big Money economy. It's comprised of Wall Street traders, big investors, and top professionals and corporate executives.
The Big Money economy is doing well these days. That's partly thanks to Ben Bernanke, whose Fed is keeping interest rates near zero by printing money as fast as it dare. It's essentially free money to America's Big Money economy.
Free money can almost always be put to uses that create more of it. Big corporations are buying back their shares of stock, thereby boosting corporate earnings. They're merging and acquiring other companies.
And they're going abroad in search of customers.
Thanks to fast-growing China, India, and Brazil, giant American corporations are racking up sales. They're selling Asian and Latin American consumers everything from cars and cell phones to fancy Internet software and iPads. Forty percent of the S&P 500 biggest corporations are now doing more than 60 percent of their business abroad. And America's biggest investors are also going abroad to get a nice return on their money.
So don't worry about America's Big Money economy. According to a Wall Street Journal survey released Thursday, overall compensation in financial services will rise 5 percent this year, and employees in some businesses like asset management will get increases of 15 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is back to where it was before the Lehman bankruptcy filing triggered the financial collapse. And profits at America's largest corporations are heading upward.
But there's another American economy, and it's not on the mend. Call it the Average Worker economy.
Last Friday's jobs report showed 159,000 new private-sector jobs in October. That's better than previous months. But 125,000 net new jobs are needed just to keep up with the growth of the American labor force. So another way of expressing what happened to jobs in October is to say 24,000 were added over what we need just to stay even.
Yet the American economy has lost 15 million jobs since the start of the Great Recession. And if you add in the growth of the labor force -- including everyone too discouraged to look for a job -- we're down about 22 million.
Or to put it another way, we're still getting nowhere on jobs.
One out of eight breadwinners is still out of work. Most families in the Average Worker economy rely on two breadwinners. So if one out of eight isn't working, chances are high that family incomes are down compared to what they were three years ago.
And that means the bills aren't getting paid.
According to a recent Washington Post poll, more than half of all Americans -- 53 percent -- are worried about making their mortgage payments. This is many more than were worried two years ago, when the Great Recession hit bottom. Then, 37 percent expressed worry.
Delinquency rates on home loans are rising. Distressed sales are up as a percent of total sales.
Most people in the Average Worker economy own few shares of stock, if any. Their equity is in their homes. But with all the delinquencies and distressed sales, the housing market has a glut of homes for sale. As a result, home prices are still dropping. So the net worth of most Americans is still dropping.
And even though interest rates are falling, most people in the Average Worker economy can't refinance their homes. They can't get home equity loans. Banks don't want to lend to the Average Worker economy because people in it are considered bad credit risks. They still owe lots of money, their family incomes are down, and their net worth has fallen.
And according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey of American consumers, expectations about personal finances are at an all time low.
Inhabitants of the Big Money economy are celebrating Republican wins last week. They figure financial regulations will be rolled back, environmental regulations will be canned, the Bush tax cut will be extended to the top 1 percent, and it will be harder for workers to form unions.
Inhabitants of the Average Worker economy aren't so sure. The economy has been so bad they're angry at politicians. They showed their anger at the ballot box. They took it out on incumbents.
But if nothing changes in the Average Worker economy, there will be hell to pay.
Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.
Yes folks, that sadly did happen
The image you see accompanying this article sparked a powder keg at about 4 a.m. Irish time Tuesday morning.
For those living under a rock the last few days, Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank opportunity on Randy Orton and won.
Thus begun civil war all over the Internet between Miz fans and those who dislike him.
In the case of the Miz, though, the word "fan" doesn't seem to apply. The fanbase seems entirely split between those who blindly defend Miz and ignore his shortcomings and those who despise his very existence within WWE.
Since he won the WWE title, the two factions have begun a war of words with each other on news sites and forums across the web.
However, this article will scrutinise the self-destructive logic of a Miz mark.
In the last four days, the Miz has been compared to The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, Randy Orton and now, astonishingly, "Nature Boy" Ric freakin' Flair.
Now look, I know Miz has improved, but any wrestling fan who in their right mind compares Miz to the above names needs their head examined. Miz's ring skills are far inferior to Cena and Orton's, as is his ability to carry a match. To put his subpar mic skills alongside the genii of Austin, Rock and Flair is madness.
Miz fans talk about Miz as if he is Rocky Balboa—a guy who fought his way up to the top with constant struggle. Miz walked into OVW after appearing on The Real World and for some reason got the call-up one year later. Fast-forward four years (you may as well), and this reality show reject is WWE champion?!?!
That's no Rocky story. That is a silver-spoon story.
They also talk about his build-up. Let's examine previous Money in the Bank winners' run-up to cashing in:
Edge: Had great rivalries with Matt Hardy and Ric Flair, the latter of which solidified the Rated R superstar as a Main Event player.
Rob Van Dam: Series with Shelton Benjamin, rivalry with Cena headed into ONS.
Mr. Kennedy/Edge: Kennedy had named a date and was getting more and more heat, week by week. By this point, Edge had become an opportunist and pounced on both Kennedy and a beaten Taker.
CM Punk: His first cash-in had no build-up, and his reign was a flop. His second was built up through a feud with Umaga and created the super-heel Punk. Punk also beat Chris Jericho and Edge among others in the run-up to his second cash-in.
Jack Swagger: No build-up, flop reign.
Kane: 12 YEARS of build-up to a title reign, which has been magnificent.
Miz: No build-up. Follow the pattern.
Miz has had no rivalry with a top star. He has to compete in multi-man matches to hide his weaknesses.
It amazes me that some people have the levels of stupidity to say Miz is the best WWE has. Miz is far from that; Miz is not even the top heel on RAW, in practice. That would be the man who has done everything Miz hasn't: Wade Barrett.
Vince McMahon is reportedly a fan of Miz. I don't normally have to criticise Vince for making a TNA-like decision. But that is exactly what making Miz champion was.
Even a blind mark can see that.
Guys, I just have to request something. I'm not interested in the comment section turning into a flame war. So constructive comments only. Thanks.
bench craft company spread covers
Fox <b>News</b> Watch - Twitter - Daily Beast | Mediaite
The evolution of news media in light of personalized, instant-gratification social networking sites like Twitter has the landscape evolving at a rapidfire pace. For some in the media, this is a reason to mourn the passing of a more ...
Xtina's New Man Is Bad <b>News</b> | PerezHilton.com
Although she´s only been separated from hubby Jordan Bratman for three months, Christina Aguilera is head over heels for her new man Matthew Ruther - and she may be in for a while ride! ...
<b>News</b> - Jennifer Aniston, Chelsea Handler Flaunt Bikini Bods in <b>...</b>
The new BFFs show off their curves while celebrating Thanksgiving abroad.
bench craft company account excutives are standing by
Fox <b>News</b> Watch - Twitter - Daily Beast | Mediaite
The evolution of news media in light of personalized, instant-gratification social networking sites like Twitter has the landscape evolving at a rapidfire pace. For some in the media, this is a reason to mourn the passing of a more ...
Xtina's New Man Is Bad <b>News</b> | PerezHilton.com
Although she´s only been separated from hubby Jordan Bratman for three months, Christina Aguilera is head over heels for her new man Matthew Ruther - and she may be in for a while ride! ...
<b>News</b> - Jennifer Aniston, Chelsea Handler Flaunt Bikini Bods in <b>...</b>
The new BFFs show off their curves while celebrating Thanksgiving abroad.
bench craft company finances
Fox <b>News</b> Watch - Twitter - Daily Beast | Mediaite
The evolution of news media in light of personalized, instant-gratification social networking sites like Twitter has the landscape evolving at a rapidfire pace. For some in the media, this is a reason to mourn the passing of a more ...
Xtina's New Man Is Bad <b>News</b> | PerezHilton.com
Although she´s only been separated from hubby Jordan Bratman for three months, Christina Aguilera is head over heels for her new man Matthew Ruther - and she may be in for a while ride! ...
<b>News</b> - Jennifer Aniston, Chelsea Handler Flaunt Bikini Bods in <b>...</b>
The new BFFs show off their curves while celebrating Thanksgiving abroad.
bench craft company spacers
