The Fading Of The 'Mirage Economy' : Washington Post

The Fading Of The 'Mirage Economy' : Washington Post

www.washingtonpost.com

Suddenly, it seems, we're getting hit from all directions.

Energy and food prices are soaring. The housing market continues to collapse. Government revenue is falling, and taxes are rising. Airlines are jacking up fares and fees while reducing service. Banks are pulling credit lines. Auto companies are cutting production once again. Even investment bankers are losing their jobs.

The tendency is to see these as separate developments, each with its own causes and dynamic. Fundamentally, however, they are all part of the same story -- the story of the global economy purging itself of large and unsustainable imbalances that for a time allowed many Americans to think they were richer than they really were.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 30-5-2008 by DimensionalDetective]

Boy does this article ever hit home for me and most of the folks I know.

It seems like the cost of EVERYTHING is outpacing our incomes and that the gap continues to increase from week to week, month to month...

The tanking dollar and simultanious inflation is absolutely DESTROYING the "little people"...

Gas, Energy, Food, and Housing costs are literally crippling the vast majority of us...And it looks like it is only going to get worse for quite some time...

The artificial "bubble economy" and "simulated" wealth is now gone, and the carnage left over is revealing itself and burrying a ton of people...

What I've described is a double whammy for American households: the slower growth that comes with downsizing a number of key industries that expanded as a result of the credit bubble, along with rising prices for a food, energy, health care and almost everything imported. And you can add a third blow, this one from government.

Across the country, state and local governments are already hip-deep into budget crises in response to declining revenue from property assessments and real estate transfers. Here in Washington, a dramatic drop off in revenue from business profits and capital gains has wiped out any hope of reducing federal operating deficits that, under the likeliest political and economic scenarios, will exceed $500 billion a year for as far as the eye can see.

www.washingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 30-5-2008 by DimensionalDetective]

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


The link does not seem to work. Please provide another link...looks interesting.

Bump!

Interesting topic but like the other poster said the link don't work.

Thanks for the heads up guys...Link is up and running now!

Yea and the DOW CEO comes out today and says "Government is underestimating inflation" www.cnbc.com... he is flat out saying the government is lying about the inflation numbers so he is raising his prices 20% to get the government to wake up. This is huge because they supply all the chemicals for shampoo, toothpaste, cleaners and crap like that that WE ALL buy. They have been eating the costs and he says enough is enough we are not going to eat costs to keep inflation low so the government can keep denying it. This administration WILL go down as the worst in history there is no doubt in my mind.