Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
The national debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product
The national debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product
US Total Government Debt Since 1900
At the beginning of the 20th century debt was equally divided between federal and state and local debt, totaling less than 20 percent of GDP. After World War I, the total debt surged to 45% of GDP. But by the mid 1920s debt had declined to below 35 percent of GDP. Then came the Great Depression, boosting total public debt to 70 percent of GDP. World War II boosted federal debt to almost 122 percent of GDP in 1946, with state and local debt adding another 7 percent. For the next 35 years successive governments brought the debt below 50 percent of GDP, but President Reagan increased the federal debt up over 50 perent of GDP, and total debt towards 70 perent to win the Cold War. President Bush increased the debt to fight a war on terror and bail out the banks in the crisis of 2008.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Economic Data Web Sites
Jobs | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | January 2012 | April/May 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 5% | 7.8% | 9.7% | 9.1% | 8.3% | 8.2% |
| Broader unemployment rate "U-6" | 9.2% | 14.2% | 16.7% | 16.1% | 15.1% | 14.8% |
| White unemployment rate | 4.4% | 7.1% | 8.7% | 8.1% | 7.4% | 7.4% |
| Black unemployment rate | 9.1% | 12.7% | 16.5% | 15.7% | 13.6% | 13.6% |
| Hispanic unemployment rate | 6.5% | 10% | 12.6% | 12% | 10.5% | 11% |
| Total private-sector jobs | 115.6 M | 111 M | 106.8 M | 108.2 M | 110.5 M | 111 M |
| Total government jobs | 22.4 M | 22.6 M | 22.5 M | 22.2 M | 22 M | 22 M |
| Median weeks unemployed | 9 | 10.7 | 20.1 | 21.7 | 21.1 | 20.1 |
Income | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | January 2012 | April/May 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly GDP | $13.2 T | $12.7 T | $13.1 T | $13.3 T | -- | $13.5 T |
| Disposable personal income per capita | $33,229 | $32,166 | $32,481 | $32,667 | -- | $32,677 |
| Personal bankruptcies | 1,074,225 | 1,412,838 | 1,536,799 | 1,362,847 | -- | -- |
| Poverty rate | 12.5% | 13.2% | 14.3% | 15.1% | -- | -- |
| People receiving food stamps | -- | 32 M | 39 M | 44 M | 46 M | 46 M |
Prices | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | January 2012 | April/May 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall inflation | 4.3% | 0% | 2.6% | 1.6% | 2.9% | 2.3% |
| Food and beverage inflation | 4.8% | 5.2% | -0.4% | 1.8% | 4.4% | 3.1% |
| Loaf of white bread | $1.32 | $1.40 | $1.36 | $1.40 | $1.42 | -- |
| Pound of ground chuck | $2.78 | $2.99 | $2.84 | $3.07 | $3.32 | -- |
| Gallon of milk | $3.84 | $3.34 | $3.21 | $3.39 | $3.53 | -- |
| Pound of apples | $1.28 | $1.11 | $1.07 | $1.13 | $1.18 | -- |
| Pound of sugar | $0.51 | $0.57 | $0.63 | $0.66 | $0.71 | -- |
| Gasoline prices | $3.16 | $1.74 | $2.72 | $3.12 | $3.36 | $3.73 |
| Residential natural gas per unit | $12.24 | $12.49 | $10.56 | $9.79 | $9.55 | $9.40 |
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/jun/01/scorecard-economy-obama/
http://www.politifact.com/
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Social Security for Low Income Propels the Economy through Dollar Multiplier
Yes. President Bush has repeatedly said that those who put their money in private accounts are "guaranteed" a better return than they'll receive from the current Social Security system. But every sale of stock on the stock market includes the disclaimer: "the return on this investment is not guaranteed and may be negative"--for good reason. During the 20th century, there were several periods lasting more than 10 years where the return on stocks was negative. After the Dow Jones stock index went down by over 75% between 1929 and 1933, the Dow did not return to its 1929 level until 1953. In claiming that the rate of return on a stock investment is guaranteed to be greater than the return on any other asset, Bush is lying. If an investment-firm broker made this claim to his clients, he would be arrested and charged with stock fraud. Michael Milken went to jail for several years for making just this type of promise about financial investments.
In fact, under the most likely version of the Bush privatization proposal, a 20-year old worker joining the labor force today would see her guaranteed Social Security benefits reduced by 46%. Bush's own Social Security commission admitted that private accounts are unlikely to make up for this drop in guaranteed benefits. The brokerage firm Goldman Sachs estimates that even with private accounts, retirement income of younger workers would be reduced by 42% compared to what they would receive if no changes are made to Social Security.
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2005/0505orr.html
In fact, under the most likely version of the Bush privatization proposal, a 20-year old worker joining the labor force today would see her guaranteed Social Security benefits reduced by 46%. Bush's own Social Security commission admitted that private accounts are unlikely to make up for this drop in guaranteed benefits. The brokerage firm Goldman Sachs estimates that even with private accounts, retirement income of younger workers would be reduced by 42% compared to what they would receive if no changes are made to Social Security.
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2005/0505orr.html
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