financial collapse – Page 12 – Desdemona Despair

U.S. federal budget deficits and discretionary spending, 2009-2019. Data: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget / U.S. OMB / CBO. Graphic: CNN

September 13, 2019

U.S. deficit tops $1 trillion in 11 months, highest in 7 years – “Absent more responsible budgets, the deficit and interest costs will continue to grow rapidly, diminishing America’s future”

By Niv Elis 12 September 2019 (The Hill) – The U.S. government deficit surpassed $1 trillion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, over $100 billion more than the same period last year, according to official Treasury figures released Thursday. Last week, data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the […]

U.S. debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 1940-2019 and projected to 2029. Federal debt held by the public is projected to rise steadily over the coming decade, from 79 percent of GDP in 2019 to 95 percent of GDP in 2029. It would continue to grow after 2029. Relative to the size of the economy, federal debt in 2019 is projected to be nearly twice its average over the past 50 years. At the end of 2029, debt is projected to reach a higher level than it has at any point since just after World War II. Graphic: CBO

September 10, 2019

Real U.S. debt levels could be a shocking 2,000 percent of GDP – “We are quickly approaching a situation where we have dug ourselves a debt hole which is going to have profoundly negative effects on the economy for probably decades”

By Jeff Cox 9 September 2019 (CNBC) – Total potential debt for the U.S. by one all-encompassing measure is running close to 2,000% of GDP, according to an analysis that suggests danger but also cautions against reading too much into the level. AB Bernstein came up with the calculation — 1,832 percent, to be exact […]

Feasibility and evolvability of cooperation in public good games among unequals. Graphic: Hauser, et al., 2019 / Nature

August 27, 2019

Too much inequality impedes support for public goods

14 August 2019 (University of Exeter) – Too much inequality in society can result in a damaging lack of support for public goods and services, which could disadvantage the rich as well as the poor, according to new research from the University of Exeter Business School, the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) […]

An oven at Buffalo Engine Components. Aluminum melts at a temperature of roughly 1,220 degrees. Photo: Gregory Halpern / Magnum / The New York Times

August 25, 2019

The big business of scavenging in postindustrial America – “The city has survived, in part, by devouring itself”

By Jake Halpern 21 August 2019 (The New York Times Magazine) – Adrian Paisley spends his days hunting for scrap metal: aluminum, brass and (holy of holies) copper. At 42, Paisley, who weighs just 135 pounds, is wiry and muscular. I once saw him move an old refrigerator by himself, hurling it onto his pickup […]

Share of U.S. households with cost burdens (percent) by county in 2017. Data: Source: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies tabulations of US Census Bureau, 2006–2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates using the Missouri Data Center. Graphic: Joint Center for Housing Studies / Harvard University

August 2, 2019

U.S. families go deep into debt to stay in the middle class – “What we may have to prepare for in the future is that buying a home may become a luxury”

By AnnaMaria Andriotis, Ken Brown, and Shane Shifflett 2 August 2019 (The Wall Street Journal) – The American middle class is falling deeper into debt to maintain a middle-class lifestyle. Cars, college, houses and medical care have become steadily more costly, but incomes have been largely stagnant for two decades, despite a recent uptick. Filling […]

An artist, moved by what was left behind of his friend's home after a wild fire, used the site as a canvas. Shane Grammer said he was devastated to find out how many people he knows were left homeless by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. His friend, Shane Edwards, agreed to let him create a mural on what remained of his burned-down home. After three hours, Grammer had created a striking image of a beautiful woman that is giving people hope on 4 January 2019. Photo: Inside Edition

August 1, 2019

“Sticker shock” for California wildfire areas as insurance rates double, and policies are dropped – “It’s time to address the impact that more severe weather is having on Americans instead of fighting about climate change”

By Dale Kasler, Ryan Sabalow, and Phillip Reese 18 July 2019 (The Sacramento Bee) – Jennifer Burt knows she lives in a fire-prone community. That’s why she’s done everything she can to fire-proof her home in Meadow Vista, in the bushy, densely wooded Placer County foothills, even installing a sprinkler system on the roof. Yet […]

Number of undernourished people and prevalence of undernourishment globally, 2005-2018. The number of undernourished people in the world has been on the rise since 2015 and is back to levels seen in 2010–2011. Graphic: FAO

July 15, 2019

Over 820 million people suffer from hunger, with number increasing for third straight year – Overweight and obesity rising in almost all countries

15 July 2019 (UN News) – After nearly a decade of progress, the number of people who suffer from hunger has slowly increased over the past three years, with about one in every nine people globally suffering from hunger today, the United Nations said in a new report released on Monday. This fact underscores “the […]

U.S. federal deficit projected to 2049. If current laws generally remained unchanged, large budget deficits would boost federal debt to unprecedented levels over the next 30 years. Graphic: CBO

June 30, 2019

U.S. federal debt on track to reach unsustainable level in 30 years, CBO reports

By Jennifer Haberkorn 25 June 2019 (Los Angeles Times) – The nation’s federal debt by the end of the year will reach the highest level since shortly after World War II and is on pace to reach historic and unsustainable levels within 30 years, according to a government report released Tuesday. The federal debt already […]

Rise in U.S. suicide rates between 1999 and 2016, by state. Data: CDC National Vital Statistics System / CDC Vital Signs, June 2018. Graphic: CDC

June 30, 2019

All-American Despair: For the past two decades, a suicide epidemic fueled by guns, poverty, and isolation has swept across the U.S. West, with middle-aged men dying in record numbers

By Stephen Rodrick 30 May 2019 (Rolling Stone) – Toby Lingle was cremated in a 49ers cap, a Star Wars T-shirt and sunglasses shortly after his funeral at Highland Park Community Church in Casper, Wyoming. He was 43. The outfit was the daily wear for an aggressively coarse and casual man. Lingle was that guy, […]

Total U.S. consumer debt, 2003-2019. Data are through the first quarter of 2019. Data: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax. Graphic: MarketWatch

June 22, 2019

U.S. consumer debt is now above levels hit during the 2008 financial crisis

By Mark DeCambre 21 June 2019 (MarketWatch) – Consumer debt is growing to worrisome levels. Ben Mohr, senior research analyst of fixed income at investment consultant Marquette Associates, calculated that total U.S. consumer debt hit $14 trillion in the first quarter of 2019, surpassing the roughly $13 trillion of leverage accumulated in credit cards, auto […]