Is America In Decline? 24 Statistics About The United States Economy That Are Almost Too Embarrassin

Is America In Decline? 24 Statistics About The United States Economy That Are Almost Too Embarrassing To Admit

Does anyone really want to hear that America is in decline? For decades, most of us have been raised to believe that the United States is "number one" and that anyone who doubts that fact is a "gloom and doomer" that should just pack up and move to "Russia" or "Iraq" or some other country where things are not nearly as good. But does it do us or future generations any good to ignore the very serious signs of trouble that are erupting all around us? The truth is that it is about time to wake up and admit how much trouble we are actually in. The U.S. government is absolutely drowning in debt. The entire society is absolutely drowning in debt. We are being slaughtered in the arena of world trade, and every single month tens of billions of dollars (along with large numbers of factories and jobs) leave our shores for good. Our infrastructure is failing, our kids are less educated and our incomes are going down. We have serious, serious problems. At one time, the U.S. economy was so dominant that it was not even worth talking about who was in second place. That is no longer the case in 2010. Our forefathers handed us the greatest economic machine in history and we have allowed it to fall apart right in front of our eyes. A national economic crisis of historic proportions is getting worse with each passing month, and yet most of our leaders seem to be asleep at the switch.

I've taking pieces from the article since it's too long to post as a whole; see link at bottom for source to complete article.

The following are 24 statistics about the United States economy that are almost too embarrassing to admit....

#1 Ten years ago, the United States was ranked number one in average wealth per adult. In 2010, the United States has fallen to seventh.

#2 The United States once had the highest proportion of young adults with post-secondary degrees in the world. Today, the U.S. has fallen to 12th.

#3 In the 2009 "prosperity index" published by the Legatum Institute, the United States was ranked as just the ninth most prosperous country in the world. That was down five places from 2008.

#4 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.

#5 The economy of India is projected to become larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2050.

#6 One prominent economist now says that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.

#7 According to a new study conducted by Thompson Reuters, China could become the global leader in patent filings by next year.

#8 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. Approximately 75 percent of those factories employed at least 500 workers while they were still in operation.

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

#10 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.

#11 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of all U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented only 11.5 percent.

#12 The television manufacturing industry began in the United States. So how many televisions are manufactured in the United States today? According to Princeton University economist Alan S. Blinder, the grand total is zero.

#13 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time that less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#14 Back in 1980, the United States imported approximately 37 percent of the oil that we use. Now we import nearly 60 percent of the oil that we use.

#15 The U.S. trade deficit is running about 40 or 50 billion dollars a month in 2010. That means that by the end of the year approximately half a trillion dollars (or more) will have left the United States for good.

#16 Between 2000 and 2009, America's trade deficit with China increased nearly 300 percent.

#17 Today, the United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that China spends on goods from the United States.

#18 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

#19 American 15-year-olds do not even rank in the top half of all advanced nations when it comes to math or science literacy.

#20 Median household income in the U.S. declined from $51,726 in 2008 to $50,221 in 2009. That was the second yearly decline in a row.

#21 The United States has the third worst poverty rate among the advanced nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

#22 Since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, the U.S. dollar has lost over 95 percent of its purchasing power.

#23 U.S. government spending as a percentage of GDP is now up to approximately 36 percent.

#24 The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that U.S. government public debt will hit 716 percent of GDP by the year 2080.

Please share these statistics with as many family members and friends as you can. It is time to get real. It is time to admit that we have some really big problems.

America is in decline and the situation is getting worse by the day. If we are not willing to admit how bad things really are, then we are never even going to have a chance to find the solutions that we need.

Source

This article is so true; it ends with the perfect statement - "If we are not willing to admit how bad things really are, then we are never even going to have a chance to find the solutions that we need."

We need to open our eyes; these statistics show how much our economy has changed, and the economy effects everything within it - we see the people without jobs, and those losing their homes.... some are our neighbors, friends & loved ones, some are strangers that we feel bad for when we pass them by day to day.

Regardless of who is falling here in this economy (unless it's the elite) we need to step up and do our jobs as citizens of this country that has fallen to shambles. How can we sit here while this country has turned to s#it and pretend that everything is OK?

I can't take it anymore and haven't been able too for awhile. I admit I haven't done much to help everyone as a whole, but I would and will when I am able to organize. Organization is the key here, and once we all do so we will be a power strong enough to overcome anything.

I hope some of you who haven't had time or took the time too look at statistics such as the ones above have now been inspired to do something about what is happening to all of us.

The lies, the mysteries, the conspiracies, the elite; how much longer until critical mass? And yes I'm being very general here because critical mass will make the SHTF completely, sooner than later.

I realize this list is focusing on the United States but I can't help but wonder how far some other major nations have fallen in the various rankings during the global economic recession because if everyone is suffering similar drops then perhaps its not so much that America is in the toilet as everyone is swirling around the bowl together, which certainly casts a slightly less doom-tinted glow on the whole situation.

reply to post by Helig


True; but for example the US drops from ranked 1st to 7th in on statistic right, that means 6 others have raised. However, to see it clearly, we'd have to have see the beginning and ending stats for each country to tell how much each has fallen.

Even, for example, let's say that the US dropped down to 7th in some stat, well what was the number they started with, and what number is the country in 1st place now at? It could be the same as the US was in prior years, or much lower. That's the problem with statistics; however either way we see now the US specifically has fallen greatly - but it's not something we didn't already know.

I'd love to compare it all on a graph but to be honest it would probably be very hard to get every statistical number for every year for each stat, for each country.

If anyone comes across something like that though, please feel free to add it to this thread.

I remember a time when we used to buy American. Made in USA was a sought after label. Now we buy cadmium and lead tainted toys and antifreeze sweetened mouth wash from China. I bet the whole worlds doing it. But there is one good point:: look at how cheap these things have become.

Once America falls what would happened to the nation and the whole world? I mean There will be a large power vaccuum

noone will argue with those statistics we all know the writings on the wall

the problem is big government they are intentionally destroying this country thats what they do.......

i can make this a partisan issue but whats the point noone will see the truth of it all.............

they dont want to be number one in anything we do now they all just want everything handed to them

they dont want to be a citizen of this once great country they want to be "global citizens"

the current state of this country is infuriating and we will decline further cause like i said we all know what the problem is but noone will see it..........

if people want this country to survive and flourish its time to become selfless and not selfish...

Originally posted by neo96

noone will argue with those statistics we all know the writings on the wall

the problem is big government they are intentionally destroying this country thats what they do.......

i can make this a partisan issue but whats the point noone will see the truth of it all.............

they dont want to be number one in anything we do now they all just want everything handed to them

they dont want to be a citizen of this once great country they want to be "global citizens"

the current state of this country is infuriating and we will decline further cause like i said we all know what the problem is but noone will see it..........

if people want this country to survive and flourish its time to become selfless and not selfish...

edit on 13-10-2010 by neo96 because: (no reason given)

Well said, and I completely agree.

The power hungry elitists who believe the world revolves around their lives need to take a step to the side and see that all they're doing is ruining everything they think they have created. They want power, well they are getting it, but at a cost that will eventually ruin them as well as all of us. They are greedy, but eventually there will be no one to steal from anymore. I could go on, but as you said what is the point when people will not listen and open their eyes?

I want to believe... that people will turn their lives around and by doing so turn this country back to how it should be.

I found this article on the same website; it goes hand in hand with the original article in the OP.

More Bad News: 10 Things You Should Know About The Latest Economic Numbers

The truth is that more bad news for the U.S. economy comes out almost daily now. The following are 10 things that you need to know about the latest econ0mic numbers....

1 - Gallup's measure of unemployment, which is not adjusted for "seasonal factors", showed a sharp increase in September. According to Gallup, unemployment has increased from 8.9% in July to 9.3% in August and to 10.1% in September.

2 - The seasonally-adjusted Alternate Unemployment Rate compiled by Shadow Government Statistics shows that the real unemployment rate in the United States is worse than it has been ever since the economic downturn began. The Alternate Unemployment Rate calculated by SGS reflects estimated "long-term discouraged workers", which the U.S. government stopped keeping track of back in 1994....

3 - The number of Americans working part-time jobs "for economic reasons" is now the highest it has been in at least five decades.

4 - 15.8% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 were unemployed during the month of September.

5 - Agricultural commodities continued to move higher on Friday. Wheat, corn and soybeans all saw their prices soar. Unfortunately for American consumers, this is part of a broader trend of rising agricultural commodity prices. As this continues, it is inevitable that we will all be seeing much higher food prices at our local grocery stores.

6 - It is being reported that PNC Financial Services Group has suspended the sale of foreclosed homes for the next thirty days. This is the fourth major lender to take dramatic action recently. Will nearly all U.S. mortgage lenders eventually be caught up in this crisis before it is over?

7 - Bank of America announced on Friday that it is now going to suspend sales of foreclosed homes in all 50 U.S. states as it continues to evaluate internal foreclosure procedures. This "foreclosure crisis" threatens to decimate the entire U.S. real estate industry. What has happened is that millions of U.S. mortgages were sold and resold around the globe at lightning speed and the chain of ownership for many of these mortgages become muddied. In addition, it is starting to emerge that many of these lenders used fraudulent loan documents during foreclosure proceedings and company officials often used "robo-signers" to sign important foreclosure documents. So now mortgage lenders, title insurers and those buying or selling foreclosed homes will be facing years of gridlock and chaos as foreclosure-related lawsuits multiply exponentially. All of this is going to have a dramatic effect on the U.S. real estate market. In fact, it is being reported that U.S. home sales are already starting to be affected by this crisis.

8 - The U.S. National debt just keep growing. If you took the national debt and divided it up among all Americans, each American (including children) would owe approximately $42,000. So, for an average family of four, their share of the national debt would be $168,000.

9 - Interest payments on the U.S. national debt increased 13% in the fiscal year that ended September 30th. If interest payments continue to increase that rapidly each year they will bankrupt the U.S. government very quickly.

10 - It appears that some weird games are being played with the national debt numbers. Back on September 29th, the U.S. national debt was 13.466 trillion dollars. On September 30th, the U.S. national debt soared to 13.561 trillion dollars. Then on October 1st, the beginning of the new fiscal year for the federal government, the U.S. national debt jumped up to 13.610 trillion dollars. So how in the world does the U.S. national debt jump by a whopping 144 billion dollars in just two days? Somebody has some explaining to do for this kind of accounting.

The United States was once the wealthiest nation by far on the entire planet.

But now we are in such a rapid decline that it is hard for most Americans to even comprehend it.

Source

That last one about the 144 billion dollars being spent in 2 days is very, very odd. I want to do some more research and see exactly how accurate that information is. If it is what it is then we do have a major problem with our debt; well more so than we knew.