Hullabaloo

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

 
Someone is going to take the blame for this

by David Atkins

You think voters are angry? I do, and here's why:

The recent economic crisis left the median American family in 2010 with no more wealth than in the early 1990s, erasing almost two decades of accumulated prosperity, the Federal Reserve said Monday.

A hypothetical family richer than half the nation’s families and poorer than the other half had a net worth of $77,300 in 2010, compared with $126,400 in 2007, the Fed said. The crash of housing prices directly accounted for three-quarters of the loss.

Families’ income also continued to decline, a trend that predated the crisis but accelerated over the same period. Median family income fell to $45,800 in 2010 from $49,600 in 2007. All figures were adjusted for inflation.

The new data comes from the Fed’s much-anticipated release on Monday of its Survey of Consumer Finances, a report issued every three years that is one of the broadest and deepest sources of information about the financial health of American families.

While the numbers are already 18 months old, the survey illuminates problems that continue to slow the pace of the economic recovery. The Fed found that middle-class families had sustained the largest percentage losses in both wealth and income during the crisis, limiting their ability and willingness to spend.

Surprise, surprise, that's what happens when you trade real wage growth for illusory asset growth. Bubbles burst, and then all of that "wealth" disappears.

Beyond that, this sort of thing can't happen without major voter outrage. They're going to take it out on someone. Someone will be to blame.

And if it's not going to be where it belongs on the top 1%, it'll be on other people. Like people who have the audacity to receive a decent pension.

There's an myth in American politics that all a president needs to win is optimism. Reagan is often cited as a prime example. But Reagan didn't just win with optimism. He also won with a big dose of racism, lies about Jimmy Carter, and a radical ideology blaming government for everything wrong with the country. When times are tough, people will seek out a villain. If they're not pointed in the right direction, they'll find one in the wrong direction.

I suppose I should stop writing now before I confirm Godwin's Law.


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thereisnospoon 6/12/2012 07:30:00 AM