by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
If it seems to you that the economic headlines that we are being fed by the mainstream media are completely and utterly disconnected from reality, you are definitely not alone. They tell us that inflation is under control, but I was just at the grocery store today and I could hardly believe the prices. They tell us that unemployment is “low”, but large companies are laying off workers in droves. And they tell us that things are getting better for the middle class, but the truth is that by mid-2024 the vast majority of Americans will have less money than they did in 2019…
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
The majority of Americans have burned through their excess savings piled up during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the coming months, JPMorgan says it is likely that almost everyone will be worse off financially than they were in 2019.
In a Thursday note, the bank’s top stock strategist Marko Kolanovic said 80% of consumers, a group that accounts for nearly two-thirds of consumption, has already depleted any savings cushion they may have built during lockdowns.
“It is likely that only the top 1% of consumers by income will be better off than before the pandemic,” Kolanovic wrote, pointing to the growing signs of credit card and auto loan delinquencies, as well as Chapter 11 filings.
If almost all of us are getting poorer, how is that good news?
Of course the money that we still have in our bank accounts continues to lose even more value with each passing day.
An absolutely outstanding article that was just posted on Schiff Gold analyzes how much a basket of groceries that Kevin bought in the 1990 movie “Home Alone” would cost today…
Kevin bought a basket full of groceries including a half-gallon of milk, orange juice, Wonder Bread, a Stouffer’s frozen turkey dinner, toilet paper, Snuggle dryer sheets, Tide liquid laundry detergent, plastic wrap, Kraft macaroni and cheese, and a bag of army men. He paid a grand total of $19.83 with a $1 off coupon for the orange juice.
In 2022, that same basket of groceries would have cost around $44.40 based on a shopping trip by a West Virginia mother. That’s a 123.9% increase. (Keep in mind prices vary somewhat depending on the store and location.)
This year, Kevin would have to fork out a whopping $72.28 for his provisions at a Chicago store. That’s another 62.8% increase in just one year. Since 1990, the price of Kevin’s groceries has gone up over 264%.
So how in the world can they possibly claim that inflation is “low”?
It is almost as if we are living in Bizarro World.
At this point, it would cost the typical U.S. household 3.4 million dollars to live the American Dream over the course of a lifetime…
The “American Dream” costs about $3.4 million to achieve over the course of a lifetime, from getting married to saving for retirement, according to a recent analysis from financial site Investopedia.
Meanwhile, median lifetime earnings for the typical U.S. worker stand at $1.7 million, earlier research from the Georgetown University has found.
Such figures underline the financial pressures that many families face trying to afford a middle-class life as expenses like child care, college tuition and buying a home continue to climb. The Investopedia analysis tallies the average cost of achieving other aspects traditionally associated with the American Dream, such as owning a house and raising two children to age 18.
If you are like most Americans, you are never even going to come close to earning enough money to live a middle class lifestyle.
That is why so many people out there have given up.
In this economic environment, just hanging on to a decent job is an accomplishment.
Read More @ TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
