Frontline - July 9th

[snafu]

What's Happened to Middle Class America

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/two-american-families/the-state-of-americas-middle-class-in-eight-charts/

I think we need to examine the incredible damage to families by this last recession. How have our values changed?
I'm guessing these problems are being felt in Greece, Spain, Iceland Ireland, Portugal, & Italy. The Europeans tended to immigrate to America, but there is no respite there either.

What do you think?

[disneysteve]

snafu - Your link only leads to an Outlook sign in page.

[disneysteve]

I think it is far too easy to pull out stats that support one view or another. Where are the stats showing why folks have all that debt? Where are the charts showing their consumer spending levels, how many big screen TVs they have, what their cable TV bill is or their cell phone bill?

Comparing life today to life in 1992 is very misleading. Very few of us are living the same way we lived in 1992. Maybe if people would stop buying into every new gadget and subscription service that come along, stop eating out 20 times a week, stop enrolling their kids in 30 different activities, etc., they wouldn't be struggling so much.

[JoeP]

Good points, Steve.

Also consider how easy it is to move money around today; it is very easy to do over the internet or via a smart phone, and debit cards and rfid chips make spending as simple as a swipe or wave. It could be said that the convenience and simplicity factor reduces the opportunity to consider the gravity of the transaction you're about to commit.

Things have really changed from 25 years ago when you could hit an ATM (provided you could find one), or go to the bank when you needed money. Moving funds in your retirement account or individual stocks usually involved a form to mail, or a phone call, and possibly a paper check.

[disneysteve]

spending as simple as a swipe or wave. It could be said that the convenience and simplicity factor reduces the opportunity to consider the gravity of the transaction you're about to commit.

Good point. As much as I love credit cards, I do realize that many people can't control themselves when using one. It is far easier to get in trouble with a credit card than with cash. Right now, I might have a couple hundred dollars in cash in my wallet but I've got credit cards with about $75,000 worth of available credit. If I went temporarily insane, I could go on a major spending spree with just a swipe of a card.