This Chart Shows The Bilderberg Group's Connection To Everything In The World U.S. Annual Income Fell More During Recovery Than Recession: Study [GRAPHS] We may technically be in a recovery, but it sure doesn't feel like it. Median annual income has declined 4.8 percent from $53,508 to $50,964 since the recovery technically began in June 2009 , according to a new study from Sentier Research. That's nearly double the 2.6 percent drop during the recession. One especially hard-hit group: Americans aged 55 to 64, who saw their annual income drop nearly 10 percent. But African-Americans have felt the pain the most during the recovery as their incomes declined 11 percent. “Based on our data, almost every group is worse off now than it was three years ago,” Gordon Green, co-author of the report, wrote in a press release. Household median income has fallen since the recovery: However, there are some groups that have actually been faring better since the beginning of the recovery; Americans over 65 saw their income levels rise. Still, another recent report has shown that America's middle class has been shrinking since 2008. Loading Slideshow 10.
Should the government intervene in the economy? One of the main issues in economics is the extent to which the government should intervene in the economy. Free market economists argue that government intervention should be strictly limited as government intervention tends to cause an inefficient allocation of resources. However, others argue there is a strong case for government intervention in different fields. Hoover Dam built in the 1930s with government funds Summary of whether should the government intervene in the economy. Arguments for Government Intervention Greater Equality – redistribute income and wealth to improve equality of opportunity and equality of outcomeMarket Failure – Markets fail to take into account externalities and are likely to under-produce public / merit goods. Arguments against Government Intervention Governments liable to make the wrong decisions – influence by political pressure groups, they spend on inefficient projects which lead to inefficient outcome.Personal Freedom. Fairness. Inherited wealth. 1. 2.
College Students Are Going Homeless and Hungry -- And Corporate America Is Trying to Exploit Them Photo Credit: Monkey Business Images via Shutterstock.com August 27, 2012 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. As the mainstream press frets that the much-touted "economic-recovery" appears to have lost steam, the economic crisis continues to escalate for ordinary people. With official unemployment holding steady at 9.5 percent (real unemployment is much higher), and with the state budget cuts producing yet more tuition increases, a growing phenomenon is sweeping the nation: homeless and hungry college students. National Public Radio (NPR) reported in late July: "For many college students and their families, rising tuition costs and a tough economy are presenting new challenges as college bills come in. While no exact figures are available, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth reports a large increase in homeless students.
Salaries of Government Officials – Current Annual Salaries of Top US Government Officials Shown below are the current annual salaries for the top elected and appointed US government officials, along with the annual salaries for these officials in 2000 or 2001. Executive Branch President of the United States 2014: $400,000 2000: $200,000Note: The president's salary was increased from $200,000 to $400,000 in 2001. The president's current salary of $400,000 includes a $50,000 expense allowance.Also See: Presidential Pay, Compensation and BenefitsVice President of the United States 2014: $230,700 2000: $181,400Legislative Branch - US Congress Rank-and-File Senators and Representatives 2014: $174,000 2000: $141,300Also See: The 10 Wealthiest Members of CongressSpeaker of the House 2014: $223,500 2000: $181,400House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders 2014: $193,400 2000: $156,900Note: Last salary increase for Members of Congress came in 2009.Also See: Salaries and Benefits of US Congress Members Judicial Branch
Fact Sheet: Paid Family and Medical Leave SOURCE: AP/ Louis Lanzano Rabita Sarkar and her husband Aditya Saurabh pose with their newborn baby boy at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York.The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee workers paid time off to provide care to a new child. By Sarah Jane Glynn | August 16, 2012 Fact Sheet: The Wage Gap for Women by Sarah Jane Glynn; Fact Sheet: Workplace Flexibility by Sarah Jane Glynn and Joanna Venator; Fact Sheet: Child Care by Sarah Jane Glynn; Fact Sheet: Paid Sick Days by Jane Farrell and Joanna Venator; Ask the Expert: The Need for Paid Sick Leave by Sarah Jane Glynn Download this fact sheet (pdf) Read this issue brief in your web browser (Scribd) Most Americans are working hard to pay their bills and to take care of their families, yet too many employers make it impossible to juggle those work and family obligations. About half of all workers on U.S. payrolls today are women. Fact Sheet: The Wage Gap for Women by Sarah Jane Glynn
Fortune 500 2013: Annual ranking of America's largest corporations from Fortune Magazine Companies are ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years. Included in the survey are companies that are incorporated in the U.S. and operate in the U.S. and file financial statements with a government agency. This includes private companies and cooperatives that file a 10-K or a comparable financial statement with a government agency, and mutual insurance companies that file with state regulators. It also includes companies that file with a government agency but are owned by private companies, domestic or foreign, that do not file such financial statements. Excluded are private companies not filing with a government agency; companies incorporated outside the U.S.; and U.S. companies consolidated by other companies, domestic or foreign, that file with a government agency. Revenues Revenues are as reported, including revenues from discontinued operations when published. Profits Balance Sheet Assets are the company’s year-end total. Employees Earnings Per Share Medians Credits
Goodbye, Liberty! 10 Ways Americans Are No Longer Free August 29, 2012 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. Our most fundamental rights, to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are under assault. Life? Liberty? The pursuit of happiness? These changes didn't just happen. Corey Robin notes in the Nation that this conservative appeal to “economic freedom” has been met by Democrats who present themselves as “new Victorians,” standing for “responsibilities over rights, safety over freedom, constraint rather than counterculture.” Not only is this politically and emotionally unappealing, it's demonstrably wrong. Is that how you feel when you're dealing with your bank? While the Right portrays popularly elected government as a faceless oppressor, large corporations and ultra-wealthy individuals – what we're calling “Big Wealth” -- are trampling on our individual rights and liberties every day. Here are 10 critical examples, drawn from the headlines and from our everyday lives. 1.
US Debt Ceiling Visualized: Stacked in $100 dollar bills @ $16.394 Trillion Dollars $122,100,000,000,000. - US unfunded liabilities by Dec 31, 2012. Abovet you can see the pillar of cold hard $100 bills that dwarfs the WTC & Empire State Building - both at one point world's tallest buildings. If you look carefully you can see the Statue of Liberty. The 122.1 Trillion dollar super-skyscraper wall is the amount of money the U.S. Government knows it does not have to fully fund the Medicare, Medicare Prescription Drug Program, Social Security, Military and civil servant pensions. It is the money USA knows it will not have to pay all its bills. The unfunded liability is calculated on current tax and funding inputs, and future demographic shifts in US Population. Note: On the above 122.1T image the size of the bases of the money stacks are $10 billion, and 400 stories @ $4 trillion "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. Everyone needs to see this.