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Restructuring the American Dream - 2008 article


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(The FSU article was also picked up on the Oil Drum blog):

 

Very nice summary of the situation we find ourselves in, which touches on many of the points frequently made here on the Oil Drum. I found it to be both broad in topics and concise in analysis. Might be a nice introductory article for some people.

 

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Excellent article--mucho thxs!

 

Quote from last paragraph: "What we need now is an army of vigorous truth tellers (Al Gore, Matt Simmons, Ron Paul, JH Kunstler, and Jim Puplava come to mind) and an uncorrupted mainstream media willing to report their views."

 

/see: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3479?page=1

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  • 9 months later...
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WHEN HOUSEHOLDS start reducing debt, the government picks up the pace...

 

Americans' debt shrinks - 1st time ever

Household debt falls by 0.8% as Americans' net worth falls by largest amount on record on declining home and stock prices

 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's a sign of the times: Americans are pulling back on the debt they use to spend and fuel the economy, while their net worth is declining.

 

chart_us_debt3.03.jpg.chart_us_net_worth.03.jpg

 

The government reported Thursday that household debt in the third quarter fell for the first time ever. Meanwhile, net worth dropped by the largest amount on record based on data going back to 1951.

 

Consumer debt fell an annualized $30 billion, or 0.8% in the third quarter to $13.91 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve's flow of funds report.

 

Americans holding less debt may sound like a positive, but it also means consumers are spending less, as debt has become more expensive and harder to come by.

. . .

As the credit crunch intensified in the third quarter - and exploded late in the period with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers - Americans were increasingly unable to finance big purchases like homes, cars and big-ticket goods.

 

Automobile purchases have been sinking all year, but began to fall sharply in the third quarter as the credit tightened. Auto dealers across the country have reported that many consumers are interested in buying cars but cannot acquire the financing to purchase them.

 

Debt also fell as more than a million Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure since the housing crisis hit in August 2007. When a home is foreclosed upon, the debt is transferred away from the homeowner to the bank.

 

Furthermore, the U.S. economy has shed 1.9 million jobs so far in 2008, with precipitous declines since September

 

 

/more: http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/11/news/econo...funds/index.htm

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  • 1 month later...

cant think of where else to put this

 

http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn1648...ref=online-news

 

What does the oil used in the US in two minutes actually look like? Or a million disposable plastic cups?

 

There are 28,000 42-gallon barrels in this image. This is roughly the amount the United States consumes every two minutes.

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