Category Archives: Business & Economy
Millennial Net Wealth Collapses, Study Finds
The net worth of millennials (18- to 35-year-old) has collapsed 34% since 1996, according to a new, shocking report from Deloitte. Millennials are financially worse off than any other generation before them. With student loans, auto and credit card debts, rising rents, and out of control, health-care costs have pushed their average net worth below $8,000.
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New Rule Could Allow Debt Collectors To Spam 49 Million Americans With Emails And Texts
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under the Trump administration, has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The CFPB’s proposal would change Regulation F to direct Federal rules overseeing the activities of debt collectors. The new proposal would allow debt collectors to call consumers as frequently as seven times per week and be permitted to start sending emails and texts.
Read moreThe Glut Cometh
All the economic shell-gaming that has been happening since the 2008 crash may finally be coming to a head for the American Auto Industry. Interest rates can’t be kept low to no anymore and car loans can’t be extended much more, either. More than 4.2 million new cars are stacked up unsold as of this month – which is an alarming half-million more cars than were stacked up before. Why? Because people can’t afford to buy new cars. For many, the difference between a $399 per month payment and a $475 per month payment (or whatever the amount depending on the buyer/car) is causing people to hesitate where they previously would have signed the paperwork.
Read moreTrade Deal Dead: Trump Says 10% China Tariff Rising To 25% On Friday, Another $325BN In Goods To Be Taxed
So much for months and months of constant leaks, headlines, tweets, and press reports that US-China trade talks are going great. Just after noon on Sunday, President Trump tweeted that 10% tariffs paid by China on $200 billion in goods will rise to 25% on Friday.
Read moreAmericans Can’t Afford To Buy A Home In 70% Of The Country
Even at a time of low interest rates and rising wages, Americans simply can’t afford a home in more than 70% of the country. Out of 473 US counties that were analyzed in a recent report, 335 listed median home prices were more than what average wage earners could afford.
Read moreOnline Retail War Turns Ugly: Wal-Mart Responds To Amazon With Free 1-Day Shipping
Walmart teased that it is soon going to be taking on Amazon with one day free shipping – without a membership fee.
Read moreNearly Half Of Millennials Wouldn’t Invest In Stocks Even If They Had The Money
While most would probably chalk millennials’ aversion to investing up to the fact that they don’t have any savings or income to spare, one recent study suggested that even if they had the money, they wouldn’t put it in stocks.
Read more“It’s A Wake Up Call”: 7 Charts That Clearly Show The Middle Class Is Being Left Behind
New data from the Federal Reserve detailing citizens’ net worth shows that the issue of being “left behind” has now spread to all Americans aside from the top 10%, according to Bloomberg. This means that even the upper middle class is starting to feel the pain of income stagnation.
Read moreRecord Ship-Breaking Suggests World Economy Slowing
As world trade volume rolled over in late 2018 and into the new year, a sharp decline in shipping rates across all vessel types forced some operators to scrap their ships in Southeast Asia in the first three months of the year, reported The Wall Street Journal. In all regions of the world, warning signs are flashing red about the health of developed and emerging economies.
Read moreHow The Fed’s Six Years Of QE Transformed Young Americans Into Socialists
The Fed’s quantitative easing (QE), also known as large-scale asset purchases, inflated asset prices and bailed out baby boomers at the political cost of pricing out millennials from many asset markets, including homes and the stock market. That has since driven wealth inequality across the country to levels never seen before. When expansionary monetary policy drives asset prices higher than wage growth, the average person, or the entire bottom 90% of Americans, fall behind the curve.
Read moreConsumer Credit Storms Above $4 Trillion, As Credit Card Debt Hits Record High
The continued increase in borrowings saw total credit storm above $4 trillion, and hitting a new all time high of $4.034 trillion on the back of a America’s ongoing love affair with auto and student loans, and of course credit cards.
Read more$100 Bills See Mysterious Surge In Circulation
The number of outstanding U.S. $100 bills has doubled since the financial crisis, with more than 12 billion of them across the world, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. C-notes have passed $1 bills in circulation. Generally, economists believe the surge is related to people around the world wanting to hoard cash but, multiple factors could explain the increase in C-notes.
Read moreHow Government-Guaranteed Student Loans Killed the American Dream for Millions
When government-guaranteed checks keep rolling in, there’s no incentive for colleges and universities to lower their prices. In fact, they do the opposite.
Read moreDebt Among Millennials Rockets Past $1 Trillion
Debt held by Americans aged 19 to 29-years-old exceeded $1 trillion at the end of last year, according to Bloomberg, citing the New York Federal Reserve Consumer Credit Panel.
Read moreLiving Paycheck-To-Paycheck: The New Crisis And Normal For The American Middle Class
According to recent studies, the vast majority of the American middle class is only one missed paycheck away from poverty. About 78% of workers in the United States are living paycheck to paycheck, and the statistics don’t improve from there.
Read moreOPEC Proposes Formal Oil-Production Alliance With Russia
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies in OPEC have proposed a formal alliance with a 10-nation group of petroleum producers led by Russia – an alliance that would “transform the cartel”.
Read moreAmerica’s Apocalyptic Debt Crisis? 63 Of America’s Largest 75 Cities Are Completely Broke
The debt crisis in the United States of America has reached apocalyptic proportions. A new and horrifying report out details the reason.
Read moreRising Credit-Card Use Shows Consumers Are Strapped
Americans are increasingly reaching for the plastic in their wallets to cover what their paychecks won’t.
Read moreAmerica’s Middle Class is Vanishing. Nearly Half Of US Workers Earn Less Than $30,000
Republicans think President Trump deserves much of the credit for cutting business and individual tax rates combined with a deregulation agenda. And Democrats believe former President Obama deserves ownership for America’s recovery. Regardless of who gets credit, HowMuch.net’s newest visualization of net compensation levels for American workers demonstrates that the economy is indeed delivering, but not for as many people as the headlines would have you believe…
Read moreAmericans Just Blew $850 Billion On Christmas But Here’s Why That’s Not A Good Sign
The latest raft of spending data revealed, spending outpaced incomes once again in November, sending the savings rate lower, suggesting that this latest consumption binge was largely fueled by debt.
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