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New Normal # 5 Poverty Stuck at 15%

Some believe the 15.5% poverty rate should be lowered. After "...correcting the 2013 poverty rate for noncash food and housing benefits, refundable tax credits, and the upward bias in the CPI-U ..."the rate drops from 14.5% to 4.8%. War on Poverty-Was It Lost Others believe it should be raised as it doesn't account for geographic and demographics differences. See Poverty Rates How Flawed Measure Drives Policy Other Data 1 Data 2 Think many use true but not necessarily appropriate data to foster their POLITICAL beliefs. Example: With our obesity problem how could anyone have believed that many went to bed hungry during the Great Recession. Calculation ignored food stamps and subsidized school lunches.

New Normal # 6 Profit Beating Labor

Twenty-first century war expenditures helped profit recover after a dot-com bubble recession, then crash with The Great Recession and then grow to new heights. US Companies have competed very well in a flat world using technology, outsourcing to Asia, Mexico...and by keeping wage increases low. Source Total compensation has done better although Obama Care gave companies an opportunity to again lower compensation. Source
More Data 1 Data 2 Think Rust Belt then NAFTA and soon TPP?

New Normal #7
Wellbeing Increased Continually

1. Society's continued stability has resulted in tremendous economic growth which is the key determinate of well-being. Public safety net, child safety, and adjusted poverty rate have all improved dramatically since the Gilded Age. Think economic continued economic distress in Russia, Europe, Japan and China.
2) Scientific achievements have continuously added to citizen well-being. Think cured diseases, smart phones, streaming audio-video, Gillette Stadium ... See Health Problems Solved.
3) Personal Income increased continuously if not always rapidly because nature and nurture improved the personal characteristics needed to enhance wellbeing. Think Russia, China, and Europe's really slow recovery from the Great Recession. Source Is The Country In Trouble, Will Stagnate Income Hurt Our Children and Recent Decades Ranked By Problems. see Crisis of Capitalism 11:10 video is an interesting Marxian view i.e. Bernie Sanders Return to page 1 Send thoughts to antonw@ix.netcom.com

New Normal # 8
Asian Competition

New Normal #9
Economic and Financial Crisis

1. 2007-8 Financial Crisis was tamed by the Federal Reserve.

2. 2008-9 Recession was tamed by monetary and fiscal policy

3. European financial instability and world-wide austerity slowed economic recovery and
income growth for all but the very, very, very wealthy. Think top 1/10th of one-percent.

4. Great Recession Recovery Has Varied Around the World

Understanding Balance Sheet Recessions They are infrequent, severe, and long-lasting. Understanding them is necessary when judging society's efforts to manage The Great Recession. It is like understanding a doctor's attempt to relieve a headache requires knowing the level of difficulty. Was it a Migraine Headache? A balance sheet is caused by high levels of private sector debt. Assets must equal liabilities plus equity. If assets values like housing collateral fall below their associated debt, equity must make up the difference or insolvency results and debt must be repaid. Think 1837, 1873, 1890 & 1929 See Most Severe US Recessions.	Was Our Great Recession a Balance Sheet Recession? Economist Paul Krugman feels the financial crisis ..."was one manifestation of a broader problem... associated with a "balance sheet recession." Economist Richard Koo wrote Japan's 1990- ? "Great Recession "was a "balance sheet recession."	What Led To The Great Recession? 1. Free Market Capitalism Lowered Regulation. 2. Innovative Expanded Investment Banking. 3. Global Trade Imbalances
		China 2012 Germany 2012 Saudi Arabia 2009 Japan 2011 Russia 2012 4.Finance/Housing Easy Money Bubbles	$214B 208B 150B 119B 81B

Great Recession Stages from The Shifts and the Shocks by Martin Wolf
1. A more complex unstable financial/credits system resulted in extreme optimism in good times and panic in bad times. Think derivatives, securitization, credit default swaps all managed by hedge funds.
2. Savings glut created as emerging countries lowered borrowing and increased trade surpluses after the 1997 Asian Debt Crisis made their foreign dollar dominate debt unsustainable. They expanded trade and kept personal consumption below economic growth. Less consumption and borrowing plus a trade surplus increased Dollar, Euro, and Yen reserves. Think China and Russia.
3. Aggregate demand stagnated as trade surplus countries didn't spend. Germany's 2005 economic renewal was saved and Japan's private sector saved much more after their 1990's credit bubble exploded. Adding to the demand shortage were companies who maintained profit by decreasing capital investment spending despite historically low interest rates. Globalization and technology also helped them maintain profit as wage increases were limited to most valuable employees. State and local governments, especially those with underfunded pension systems, also cut expenditures. Think Mercantilism.

4. Increased current account deficits by wealthy nations balanced world trade. Higher demand for foreign goods was made possible by massive central bank supported low interest loans. The FED's historic monetary expansion was made possible by continued low inflation caused by expanded Flat World competition and low oil prices. Innovative financing and lax financial regulation also fostered expanded financial asset demand. Think excess OPEC savings financed the 1970's Latin American Debt Crisis leading to Savings and Loan Crisis.
5. Real Estate and Stock bubbles came as expected from low long-term real interest rates. New home buyers borrowed surplus savings and investors devoured growing unique debt securities created by an expanding finance industry promising insured difficult to understand almost guaranteed financial instruments. Leverage rose dramatically. Fraud, near fraud and data manipulation exploded. See Brief History of Financial Bubbles.
6. Poor Crisis Management by politicians as their economic advisors believed market capitalism would prevent serious recessions. The Great Moderation solidified this view. Possibility of new financial instrument contagion were not understood. When panic started, political, intellectual and bureaucratic leaders resisted quick action in areas that required cooperation. A US depression was avoided by FED, Treasury and Congressional efforts that were slowed by austerity. Iceland, Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal experienced economic depression.
See The Great Recession. Financial Bailout, Economic Recovery, Poverty Stuck at 15%, Income Stagnates and Wellbeing Grows 12/18/15