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Getbig Main Boards => General Topics => Topic started by: Wiggs on July 04, 2012, 05:22:50 PM
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Lets keep it civil assholes...
I've read about this "real" Crash for years...What if, it's true?
http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/economy-2008-crash-schiff/2012/06/15/id/442489?PROMO_CODE=F355-1
Investors need to prepare for an upcoming stock market crash that will be “worse than 2008.”
That’s according to a well-respected author and investor, making a recent appearance on Fox Business.
Peter Schiff, the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, says the stock market collapse we experienced in 2008 “wasn’t the real crash. The real crash is coming.”
He says that Federal stimulus, or quantitative easing, never works and that it just makes the economy sicker in the end. “The reason we are so screwed up is all this quantitative easing is toxic. I don’t doubt that we are going to pressure Germany into printing. We are like the kid who is trying to get a friend to ditch school with us to go to the beach. We are a bad influence on everybody.”
Schiff’s solution is to raise interest rates, but he acknowledges that it would bring a huge downside risk with it. “In America, the problem is that interest rates are too low. They have to go up. We can’t have an economy with interest rates at zero. If the Fed lets interest rates go up, we have to realize that we will have a deeper recession, we have to realize that banks are going to fail.”
He points out that today’s “safe haven” investments — the U.S. dollar and Treasurys — are anything but safe. “There are a lot of people who don’t understand what is going on. Look at how many people are buying the dollar. Look at people buying Treasurys. That makes no sense either. The risk lies in the dollar. The risk lies in Treasurys and other currencies being printed into oblivion.”
A noted economist agrees with Schiff that a much worse stock market crash is coming. And unlike Schiff, he has given very specific details about just how bad it will get.
“The data is clear, 50% unemployment, a 90% stock market drop, and 100% annual inflation . . . starting in 2012.”
That catastrophic outlook comes from Robert Wiedemer, economist and author of The New York Times best-seller Aftershock. Before you dismiss Wiedemer’s claims, consider this: In 2006 he accurately predicted the collapse of the U.S. housing market, equity markets, and consumer spending that almost sank the United States.
Read more: New Crash will be worse than 2008 says economist
In a recent interview, Wiedemer unapologetically displayed shocking charts backing up his allegations, and then ended his argument with, “You see, the medicine will become the poison.”
The interview has become a wake-up call for those unprepared (or unwilling) to acknowledge an ugly truth: The country’s financial “rescue” devised in Washington has failed miserably.
The blame lies squarely on those whose job it was to avoid the exact situation we find ourselves in, including current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Chairman Alan Greenspan, tasked with preventing financial meltdowns and keeping the nation’s economy strong through monetary and credit policies.
At one point, Wiedemer even calls out Bernanke, saying that his “money from heaven will be the path to hell.”
But it’s not just the grim predictions that are causing the sensation; rather, it’s the comprehensive blueprint for economic survival that’s really commanding global attention.
Read more: New Crash will be worse than 2008 says economist
The interview offers realistic, step-by-step solutions that the average hard-working American can easily follow.
The overwhelming amount of feedback to publicize the interview, initially screened for a private audience, came with consequences as various online networks repeatedly shut it down and affiliates refused to house the content.
Bernanke and Greenspan were not about to support Wiedemer publicly, nor were the mainstream media.
“People were sitting up and taking notice, and they begged us to make the interview public so they could easily share it,” said Newsmax Financial Publisher Aaron DeHoog, “but unfortunately, it kept getting pulled.”
“Our real concern,” DeHoog added, “is what if only half of Wiedemer’s predictions come true?
“That’s a scary thought for sure. But we want the average American to be prepared, and that is why we will continue to push this video to as many outlets as we can. We want the word to spread.”
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Interest rates will eventually rise. Only because they will be no other way to raise money without big inflation issues.
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Here is what to invest in
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Who cares? Dec 21, 2012 we're all being abducted by aliens. I saw it on Ancient Aliens.
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Capitalist pigs!!!
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2012
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Very possible. When obama took office the shit was already a year old. All they could do was put a bandaid on it to stop the bleeding. That was done but some huge changes need to be made. One thing we dont need is to go back to what got us here in the first place. That is the further redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the 1% by tax subsidys to corporations that dont need them. (for instance the oil industry) and billionaires who take their profits to overseas accounts insyead of reinvesting it back into the economy.
This is WAY BEYOND THE ability of 33333 or coach to understand. :-[
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everything just keeps getting more expensive
people could band together but they dont they would rather follow dumb politicians like matt romney and barak
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Very possible. When obama took office the shit was already a year old. All they could do was put a bandaid on it to stop the bleeding. That was done but some huge changes need to be made. One thing we dont need is to go back to what got us here in the first place. That is the further redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the 1% by tax subsidys to corporations that dont need them. (for instance the oil industry) and billionaires who take their profits to overseas accounts insyead of reinvesting it back into the economy.
This is WAY BEYOND THE ability of 33333 or coach to understand. :-[
I believe in a flat tax. This goes for the unemployed and welfare mongers too.
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This guy again. Another fortune teller looking to sell a book or hawk his product.
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Schiff is a complete and total moron. ::)
Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Peter Orszag & Jeffrey Sachs Triple HAMMER Peter Schiff
Forget about universal healthcare, in Petey's world you would just be picking cotton on Koch farms until you die - and he would get a bag of peanuts from his masters per month for looking over you.
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This guy again. Another fortune teller looking to sell a book or hawk his product.
x2
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Schiff is a complete and total moron. ::)
Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Peter Orszag & Jeffrey Sachs Triple HAMMER Peter Schiff
Forget about universal healthcare, in Petey's world you would just be picking cotton on Koch farms until you die - and he would get a bag of peanuts from his masters per month for looking over you.
He is not a total moron nor is he correct all the time. He was very accurate in many instances and he was wrong on some calls. His track record is better then most but only worse than a few others. One thing that has gotten really annoying is his constant interuptions and he has gotten much too full of himself to take in anything then a short dose.
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Dennis Kneale Slaps Clown Peter Schiff For His Failed Doomsday Predictions - In 2009 & Again In 2012
Mega-classic clip!~~~~~
Awwww, poor Petey - featured in another classic show-up where he is laughed off the show like a clown.
"15% official unemployment by the time Obama's term has ended" - hahahaha, nice prediction Petey - you have 5 more months to make up that 7% lmao.
Why does the sun go on shining, why do T-Bills keep going up? Don't they know it's the end of the world? - cause you don't love the USA any more. Why do the birds keep on singing, why does the mighty dollar continue to shine? Don't they know it's the end of the world - it ended when you lost all your bucks.
I wake up in the morning and I wonder - why everything is the same as it was. I can't understand, oh I can't understand - why life goes on the way it does...
Why does my heart go on beating, why is inflation so low? Don't they know it's the end of the world, it ended when all your clients said goodbye.
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Stuart Varney Wishes Peter Schiff 'His Day In The Sun' After Lifetime Of Failed Predictions
Nice thought Stuart but it's not going to happen. If anything, save your wish for his clients whose money has never seen the light of day after they parked it with him.
http://www.cnbc.com//id/47997375
John Carney writes this excellent piece to highlight exactly why Treasury yields are falling due to buoyant relative demand and the shrinkage of the pool of safe assets around the world.
7% interest rates - hahahhaha (note: We don't expect any of the Petey Peasants reading this to get the joke as all of them are economic illiterates).
"HAHA. Gold, silver, and the miners took it on the chin the very next day after his interview. Can he get anything right, ever?"
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Stuart Varney Wishes Peter Schiff 'His Day In The Sun' After Lifetime Of Failed Predictions
Nice thought Stuart but it's not going to happen. If anything, save your wish for his clients whose money has never seen the light of day after they parked it with him.
http://www.cnbc.com//id/47997375
John Carney writes this excellent piece to highlight exactly why Treasury yields are falling due to buoyant relative demand and the shrinkage of the pool of safe assets around the world.
7% interest rates - hahahhaha (note: We don't expect any of the Petey Peasants reading this to get the joke as all of them are economic illiterates).
"HAHA. Gold, silver, and the miners took it on the chin the very next day after his interview. Can he get anything right, ever?"
::)
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Don't worry, be happy.....we will live. :D
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Oh god. I can't afford my 3 vacations a year and new plasma screen anymore. Brutal primary necessities to life. Western world = generation nothingness.
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It should almost be common sense 2013 will be a disaster. The 2008 bailouts were a temporary fix just to get the ball rolling, they did nothing, now were gonna start feelings the true effects of america's new position.
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Hah! If Americans think they have it bad, wait til you see what Canada has coming its way.
Not only is our number one export partner about to go tits up with ridiculous interest rates and currency deflation. But we're going to be hit with the most significant housing crisis not seen since the US had its own crisis.
Canadians are more in-debt to their homes than Americans were before the bubble burst in 2008? How did friendly canada get so stupid? Same reason America did; cheap lending rates and over-mortgaging of future.
It's coming, and it will not be pretty.
Thankfully I own my home and am poised to invest some heavy dollars into the market when it crashes. Not everyone emerged from the depression in a state of destitution. Plenty can get rich, if they're ready and diversified.
Edit: if pushed to put money on an economist, I put my money on Schiff. He gets a lot of stuff right. Plus, there's a great book on demographics and how they belie trends in economics. God I can't remember the title right now. But isn't it coincidental that the greatest economic driving generation in recorded history is now retiring and hoarding its spending capacity? Boomers are just as much to blame for the recession as is the low interest rate. Not that boomers could have done anything to prevent it. That's what happens when a pig goes through a python.
This is gonna hit toronto, and vancouver, the rest of canada is rich with commodities. Granted both places should of fell off the face of the earth back in 2008. The same is gonna happen in austrailia, both of it largest metro's are gonna have property bubble burst with the rest of the country holding together by commidities.
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Every Empire Falls
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The dark side of the issue. Some people take advantage of the situation.
http://www.examiner.com/article/actor-tommy-lister-aka-tiny-and-zeus-charged-with-mortgage-fraud?cid=db_articles&goback=%2Egde_865117_member_158082504
“Tiny” Lister, a character actor who has appeared in nearly 100 movies including “Jackie Brown” and “Beverly Hills Cop II,” has agreed to plead guilty to a mortgage fraud scheme that cost banks $3.8 million.
Actor Tommy Lister a San Fernando Valley accountant were charged Friday in federal court with conspiring to commit mortgage fraud in a scheme that led to $3.8 million in losses.
Lister, who is also known as “Tiny” and “Zeus,” a 54-year-old Chatsworth resident, was charged this afternoon in a criminal information with one count of conspiracy.
A second person involved in the scheme—Arcelia Chavez, 48, of Northridge, who is a self-employed certified tax preparer—was also charged with conspiracy.
In plea agreements that were also filed this afternoon in United States District Court, both Lister and Chavez agreed to plead guilty to the conspiracy charges.
The court documents filed today outline a scheme that ran from November 2005 through June 2007 and involved Lister, Chavez, and several other individuals, including: Sami Sager Sweiss, formerly a mortgage loan officer based in Woodland Hills; Jason Patterson, a real estate agent in Long Beach; J.R., formerly a manager of a Washington Mutual Bank branch in Woodland Hills; and Wanda Tenney, formerly an escrow officer based in the San Fernando Valley.
Lister conspired with these individuals to fraudulently acquire title to four residential properties he could not afford. With the help of these individuals and others, Lister obtained mortgages for the four properties through fraudulent means, including submitting mortgage applications that included inflated income and asset amounts; fabricating bank statements and falsifying other documents to substantiate the fraudulent statements in the loan applications; and falsifying escrow records to deceive lenders into believing Lister had made required down payments.
In addition to fraudulently obtaining the mortgages, Lister and his co-conspirators concealed from lenders the fact that he would receive kickbacks from sellers after the real estate deals closed.
Relying on the fraudulent applications and documents, lenders issued mortgages totaling $5.7 million. Lister subsequently defaulted on the four mortgages, causing those lenders and their successors to lose approximately $2.6 million.
After acquiring title to the four residential properties, Lister obtained fraudulent home equity lines of credit on each of the four properties. Lister drew down a total of $1,146,000 in cash from the four HELOCs but did not pay back any of the principal.
Lister also admitted in his plea agreement that Chavez aided and abetted him in obtaining one of the fraudulent mortgages and a fraudulent HELOC by preparing a false CPA letter, as well as fabricating W-2s and a pay stub. The false CPA letter stated that Chavez had prepared Lister’s tax returns. Chavez separately admitted in her plea agreement that she prepared the false and fictitious documents, actions that caused lenders to lose approximately $1.1 million.
Lister and Chavez will be summoned to appear in federal court in Los Angeles in September.The charge of conspiracy carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
On July 30, 2012, Sweiss pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count before United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer. As part of his guilty plea, Sweiss admitted that he conspired with Lister, Patterson, Tenney, and Chavez to commit mortgage fraud. Sweiss is scheduled to be sentenced on March 18, 2013.
The charges in this case are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Please remember fraud is not just a white-collar crime; it’s a people crime. People commit it, people suffer in its wake, people’s lives are ruined, people enforce it, and it’s people like you and I who can prevent it.
Mortgage Fraud is insidious; it creeps up on you. Mortgage Fraud exists because it’s able to exist. It isn’t just the industry that’s ripe for manipulation. We can’t point to any one individual and say, “Look, over there, he’s the guy we’ve been looking for. He’s the guy who made it possible for fraud to exist…”
Instead, we must look to ourselves; not as the cause, but the solution. To fight fraud, though, we must first understand it. We must stop seeing fraudsters as criminals and look at them instead for what they really are: colleagues, neighbors, cubicle mates, sometimes even our “friends.”
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hmm......he never seemed shady
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Deebo expanding into white collar crimes.
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Dennis Kneale Slaps Clown Peter Schiff For His Failed Doomsday Predictions - In 2009 & Again In 2012
Mega-classic clip!~~~~~
Awwww, poor Petey - featured in another classic show-up where he is laughed off the show like a clown.
"15% official unemployment by the time Obama's term has ended" - hahahaha, nice prediction Petey - you have 5 more months to make up that 7% lmao.
Why does the sun go on shining, why do T-Bills keep going up? Don't they know it's the end of the world? - cause you don't love the USA any more. Why do the birds keep on singing, why does the mighty dollar continue to shine? Don't they know it's the end of the world - it ended when you lost all your bucks.
I wake up in the morning and I wonder - why everything is the same as it was. I can't understand, oh I can't understand - why life goes on the way it does...
Why does my heart go on beating, why is inflation so low? Don't they know it's the end of the world, it ended when all your clients said goodbye.
::) Unemplyment was just released at 12% +/- 3% so I guess he actually nailed it
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while economics is a legitemate science, the production and consumption in the markets is entirely dependant on individual choices.
thats important to remember when facing an economic problem.
however, the massive debt accumulated by world governments isnt an issue that cant be resolved slowly over time with gradual growth and repayment. we are currently on that track, although we still need the euro zone to agree to some kind of deal before we can say for sure just how long it might take for the global economy to be back up and running at full steam.
up untill recent months we were seeing very promising growth. the upcoming election has put a damper on that. but its a stall temporary in nature.
there was alot of suburban development around the world that was artificially produced through bad loans. the government absorbed that debt. and added it on top of the debt of entitlement expenditures it had already accumulated. these things will need to be paid back in time. and it will take a considerable amount of time. but so long as we as individuals, and as a society, continue to look ahead and produce goods and services without despair we will eventually pay back all that debt.
but the debt itself isnt the rate limiting factor to economic growth. thats the availability of resources. and thats pretty much unlimited. if the owners of the means of production wanted to and the people were willing to then we as a people could start a revolution of prosperity. but that would take the wealthy to risk losing their wealth by putting into the hands of the workers and it would take alot of hard work by the people.. neither of those things are very likely.
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Every Empire Falls
in this case it's occident that's falling. First europe, then the USA, then china. Lot of people will die from famine, then from wars, again. It's cyclical.
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Why dont you be an overachiever and get a headstart.
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:o Federal Reserve is a highly organised Criminal organisation designed to fuck the common man over - this has been known for a long time.
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Thanks for cheering me up, wiggs. >:(
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Anyone know about short selling stocks?
Could you make money, or in a "crash" are you screwed either way?
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What does Peter Schiff bench?
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::) Unemplyment was just released at 12% +/- 3% so I guess he actually nailed it
Exactly - in fact, REAL employment numbers are closer to about 17%. It's always cooked, under-reported numbers in the MSM.
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Very possible. When obama took office the shit was already a year old. All they could do was put a bandaid on it to stop the bleeding. That was done but some huge changes need to be made. One thing we dont need is to go back to what got us here in the first place. That is the further redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the 1% by tax subsidys to corporations that dont need them. (for instance the oil industry) and billionaires who take their profits to overseas accounts insyead of reinvesting it back into the economy.
This is WAY BEYOND THE ability of 33333 or coach to understand. :-[
LOL oh boy. stop the bleeding? more like they took a small cut and took a battle axe to it. what was done? doubling the national debt? records numbers of unemployment? or 40% welfare? This administration did nothing but add to the problem.
Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democrat Party. Obama was the one who voted for that deficit spending. He inherited a problem he voted for. Fannie and Freddy mac took the house financial committee. Then they gave them a trillion dollar bailout. LOL.
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LOL oh boy. stop the bleeding? more like they took a small cut and took a battle axe to it. what was done? doubling the national debt? records numbers of unemployment? or 40% welfare? This administration did nothing but add to the problem.
Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democrat Party. Obama was the one who voted for that deficit spending. He inherited a problem he voted for. Fannie and Freddy mac took the house financial committee. Then they gave them a trillion dollar bailout. LOL.
You stop with your logic and reasoning.
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i hope you gullible shitstains know that most MSM/state produced numbers are here to reassure the average joe, but that in reality you often have to double or triple them to get closer of what s really going on. In the meanwhile journalists, industrials and politics at the top of the pyramid who all know each others and who know what's really going to happen quietly remove their money and prepare their offsprings future in calm places.
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Anyone know about short selling stocks?
Could you make money, or in a "crash" are you screwed either way?
If you think the markets going down "short" the stocks
The more it goes down the more you win, opposite of going long
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Who cares? Dec 21, 2012 we're all being abducted by aliens. I saw it on Ancient Aliens.
lets just throw blows and let all the homies see before god comes back? :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X
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The only straws holding up the house of cards in Toronto/Vancouver right now are foreign direct investment in real estate. Namely, wealthy chinese and russian citizens bidding up housing prices as they invest in foreign real estate. It drives up home prices and keeps them artificially inflated, forcing citizens here to accept higher prices than they could normally afford under the dream of "owning a home".
Once the FDI tires and slows here, it'll crash. There's too much housing, and too much of it is cheap. Too many condos going up...it puts too much downward pressure on prices and it's not sustainable.
The scariest part for us is how much money the Canadian gov't has invested in mortgages by backing them through CMHC. When folks walk on their homes, and they will, who will pay back the gov't? How will the gov't bail itself out? Will it tax the citizens who have walked on their mortgages? Will it tax the rich and cripple investment (foreign and domestic)?
Or, as has always been the way, will it tax the middle class working slob who bears the brunt of it all and slops through it.
Like my rather crass buddy's t-shirt said at a baseball game the other day: "I work very hard. Millions of people on welfare depend on me."
Now we can change the word "people" on that t-shirt to read "scumbags who walked on the mortgage they couldn't afford".
Yeah harper has really fucked us hard on this one, the ignorant shit saw exactly what happened in the south, and now hes letting the same happen here. Worst part is hes fucking up alberta bad, and the hit wont be felt for another 10 years. I fucking hate the left in this country, but there gonna take over in the after math and fuck us real hard. Im just hoping there somewhere in this globe to move to when it all goes down, if shit tanks and we go left wing again Im gone.
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Dec. 21, 2012 its over.
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http://www.shortlist.com/cool-stuff/design/developer-builds-25-villas-on-shopping-mall-roof
Developer builds 25 Villas on shopping mall roof
06 Aug 2013
Sticking it to the man is all well and good, but it can backfire. Spare a thought for a developer who built 25 villas on the roof of a shopping mall in Hunan province without government approval. Because who needs government approval when you're a maverick housing developer?
Turns out, he does. He will not be allowed to sell any of the properties.
The villas, which cover approximately 20,000 square meters of Wings Housing Plaza in Hengyang, have been under threat of demolition. The city government has since ruled that the villas can remain but must not be sold.
The villas were built in 2009 atop the four-story construction materials and furniture mall, according to blog posts last week by Chinese netizens on China's version of Twitter.
Each villa has a blue roof and yellow exterior paint. Most have large porches and cement yards divided by white picket fences dotted with bushes. Even after construction was completed, the developer did not apply for a construction project planning license and a sales permit from the local government.
"The houses are now dormitories for our employees. Some migrant workers who took part in the villas construction are also living in them," Wang Jianxin, the developers general manager, told the Morning Herald.
"A construction expert said that if there is any structural change to a large building, the developer must have architects survey the structure and calculate the load that could be supported by the building. If the plazas structure is proved strong enough to hold the villas, then they will not have to be demolished."
(http://cdn.shortlist.com/resource/binary/34461c9f09a1a125fcc1a85df7dcf0ef/vialls-main.png)
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If people had to pay 50% of the property's cost up front in the USA no one would buy much. The balance is due within 3 years.
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http://www.startribune.com/business/223867621.html
Gap in employment rates between rich, poor at widest levels in records dating back a decade
WASHINGTON — The gap in employment rates between America's highest- and lowest-income families has stretched to its widest levels since officials began tracking the data a decade ago, according to an analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press.
Rates of unemployment for the lowest-income families — those earning less than $20,000 — have topped 21 percent, nearly matching the rate for all workers during the 1930s Great Depression.
U.S. households with income of more than $150,000 a year have an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, a level traditionally defined as full employment. At the same time, middle-income workers are increasingly pushed into lower-wage jobs. Many of them in turn are displacing lower-skilled, low-income workers, who become unemployed or are forced to work fewer hours, the analysis shows.
"This was no 'equal opportunity' recession or an 'equal opportunity' recovery," said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. "One part of America is in depression, while another part is in full employment."
The findings follow the government's tepid jobs report this month that showed a steep decline in the share of Americans working or looking for work. On Monday, President Barack Obama stressed the need to address widening inequality after decades of a "winner-take-all economy, where a few do better and better and better, while everybody else just treads water or loses ground."
"We have to make the investments necessary to attract good jobs that pay good wages and offer high standards of living," he said.
While the link between income and joblessness may seem apparent, the data are the first to establish how this factor has contributed to the erosion of the middle class, a traditional strength of the U.S. economy.
Based on employment-to-population ratios, which are seen as a reliable gauge of the labor market, the employment disparity between rich and poor households remains at the highest levels in more than a decade, the period for which comparable data are available.
In the first seven months of 2013, the employment rate was 73.5 percent for households with income of more than $150,000 a year, compared with 33.8 percent for households making less than $20,000 — a gap of 39.7 percentage points, similar to the ratio in the most recent years after the recession. In contrast, the employment gap was 36.4 percentage points in 2005, at the height of the housing bubble.
"It's pretty frustrating," says Annette Guerra, 33, of San Antonio, who has been looking for a full-time job since she finished nursing school more than a year ago. During her search, she found that employers had become increasingly picky about an applicant's qualifications in the tight job market, often turning her away because she lacked previous nursing experience or because she wasn't certified in more areas.
Guerra says she now gets by doing "odds and ends" jobs such as a pastry chef, bringing in $500 to $1,000 a month, but she says daily living can be challenging as she cares for her mother, who has end-stage kidney disease.
"For those trying to get ahead, there should be some help from government or companies to boost the economy and provide people with the necessary job training," says Guerra, who hasn't ruled out returning to college to get a business degree once her financial situation is more stable. "I'm optimistic that things will start to look up, but it's hard."
Last year the average length of unemployment for U.S. workers reached 39.5 weeks, the highest level since World War II. The duration of unemployment has since edged lower to 36.5 weeks based on data from January to July, still relatively high historically.
Economists call this a "bumping down" or "crowding out" in the labor market, a domino effect that pushes out lower-income workers, pushes median income downward and contributes to income inequality. Because many mid-skill jobs are being lost to globalization and automation, recent U.S. growth in low-wage jobs has not come fast enough to absorb displaced workers at the bottom.
Low-wage workers are now older and better educated than ever, with especially large jumps in those with at least some college-level training.
"The people at the bottom are going to be continually squeezed, and I don't see this ending anytime soon," said Harvard economist Richard Freeman. "If the economy were growing enough or unions were stronger, it would be possible for the less educated to do better and for the lower income to improve. But in our current world, where we are still adjusting to globalization, that is not very likely to happen."
The figures are based on an analysis of the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey by Sum and Northeastern University economist Ishwar Khatiwada. They are supplemented with material from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's David Autor, an economics professor known for his research on the disappearance of mid-skill positions, as well as John Schmitt, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington think tank. Mark Rank, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, analyzed data on poverty.
The overall rise in both the unemployment rate and low-wage jobs due to the recent recession accounts for the record number of people who were stuck in poverty in 2011: 46.2 million, or 15 percent of the population. When the Census Bureau releases new 2012 poverty figures on Tuesday, most experts believe the numbers will show only slight improvement, if any, due to the slow pace of the recovery.
Overall, more than 16 percent of adults ages 16 and older are now "underutilized" in the labor market — that is, they are unemployed, "underemployed" in part-time jobs when full-time work is desired or among the "hidden unemployed" who are not actively job hunting but express a desire for immediate work.
Among households making less than $20,000 a year, the share of underutilized workers jumps to about 40 percent. For those in the $20,000-to-$39,999 category, it's just over 21 percent and about 15 percent for those earning $40,000 to $59,999. At the top of the scale, underutilization affects just 7.2 percent of those in households earning more than $150,000.
By race and ethnicity, black workers in households earning less than $20,000 were the most likely to be underutilized, at 48.4 percent. Low-income Hispanics and whites were almost equally as likely to be underutilized, at 38 percent and 36.8 percent, respectively, compared to 31.8 percent for low-income Asian-Americans.
Loss of jobs in the recent recession has hit younger, less-educated workers especially hard. Fewer teenagers are taking on low-wage jobs as older adults pushed out of disappearing mid-skill jobs, such as bank teller or administrative assistant, move down the ladder.
Recent analysis by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that whites and older workers are more pessimistic about their opportunities to advance compared to other groups in the lower-wage workforce.
Eric Reichert, 45, of West Milford, N.J. Reichert, who holds a master's degree in library science, is among the longer-term job seekers. He had hoped to find work as a legal librarian or in a similar research position after he was laid off from a title insurance company in 2008. Reichert now works in a lower-wage administrative records position, also helping to care for his 8-year-old son while his wife works full-time at a pharmaceutical company.
"I'm still looking, and I wish I could say that I will find a better job, but I can no longer say that with confidence," he said. "At this point, I'm reconsidering what I'm going do, but it's not like I'm 24 years old anymore."