Americans have depleted their excess savings and are now depleting their credit lines as well. The percentage with delinquent credit card debt is approaching the peak at the end of the dotcom bubble.
All of this talk is already 1 or even 2 years obsolete. While people were arguing about soft vs hard landing shit the stock market rallied to all time highs, they created an entirely new AI/Tech bubble and everything now hinges on whether or not that bubble will crash.
Bad data about the real economy, if and when it comes at all will be completely irrelevant to the mainstream economic analysis going forward.
I find it challenging to envision how the tech bubble could sustain the economy. Essential needs must be met, and people must be able to afford basic necessities such as housing and food. The US economy is moving towards a state where these necessities are no longer accessible for the majority of individuals. As Lenin once noted, every society is three meals away from chaos.
We just subtly redefined the economy. It no longer involves provision of essential goods and services to actual people. It's all a scoreboard of stock prices and interest rates.
Cults never change: we're all going to transcend and become beings of pure energy Nevada Limited Liability Corporations that no longer need food or housing because we can subsist on Lord Kalutika's Golden Light eternal 9% annualized paper growth.
Yea except if you look at the price of actually needed stuff it’s been skyrocketing constantly so the tech bubble has only delayed the inevitable for finance bros and no one else
I inherited 20,000 bucks a year ago and it's pretty much all gone down, between car payments and medical expenses and two vacations and a dental emergency and food and gas going up. Reading this makes me feel not as bad, but I also didn't have to pay rent and could easily have spent less by budgeting better and such...
I did spend a fair amount on weed but funnily enough that's like the one thing that has stayed stable in price.
"On the horn" meaning "call on the phone" is in my head because the other day I watched Buckaroo Banzai (a 1984 movie) and the Secretary of State uses it to dress down security guards who won't let him pass in a "Don't you know who I am?" moment.
I haven't gotten a raise in two years (despite getting a promotion) and my rent has gone up 70% in the past 4 years. I've been effectively priced out of ever owning a home where I live. All this to say my partner's chud dad is old and my partner has to manage some of his finances occasionally. Just one of his accounts made $500K so far this year. Our only chance at owning a home is to bank on a generational wealth transfer that could take a decade or more. It's a fucking joke.
this was always so weird to me. My parents at least have an excuse that they're as broke as I am so I don't expect it from them lol but I have a friend whose parents are retired and have like, literally millions spread across different accounts and they refuse to help him out with anything. it's not like they have a bad relationship either, it's just a "pull yourself up by the bootstraps, kiddo" kinda thing.
personally I don't hink there was ever any recovery after the 07-08 collapse and the feds have been at best shuffling numbers around to make it look like things aren't going to hell
Over on facebook I'm being served lots of discussions about why Furiosa is doing poorly in the box office "It's because racist antisemite grandpa isn't in it!" "It's because woke!" "It's because people are sick of girl power!" but in between the mewling chuds is a simple, common thread; Folks can't afford to go to the movies.
personally I don't hink there was ever any recovery after the 07-08 collapse
Folks can't afford to go to the movies.
YES! Just really glad to see someone say these things. They're my first thought whenever i see anything articles about the "economy" or why movies (that they spend 2x to 3x more money making) aren't making enough money.
The 08 crisis truly never went away. You can't just wipe out that much equity accumulated over decades and expect it to bounce back by 2019 enough for you to say "this is all covid's fault now." It has had ups and downs but the overall trend since the subprime collapse has been decline.
I totally agree. Even the more privileged folks in my sphere are avoiding going out, a complete failure of the bourgeoisie to uphold the social contract of what they call "the middle class." It'll be interesting how that continues to evolve
You're generally correct, but to be fair I think "going to the movies" is also dying because theatres suck and you can just watch everything at home like a week later.
It costs way too much money to go to the movies! For two people, with small popcorn and a small drink (20oz soda or bottle of water) came out to $60... it's not worth it at all