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Today’s news that U.S. economic growth may not exceed 2% this year had an immediate effect on the stock market.  But how long does it take a nation to recover its GDP in a slow growth period? The U.S. economy grew at a less-than-forecast 2.8% in the fourth quarter 2011.  For the full year 2011, the economy expanded 1.7% and consumer spending grew 2.2%, according to U.S. Commerce Department data….

Investment pundits have identified at least 15 distinct types of investment risks.  Now, we can add another: broker risk. After the Bernie Madoff scandal, investors again saw that sociopathic money managers could steal entire accounts.  Now, investors have seen that entire brokerage firms can similarly confiscate customer money, even though it is supposedly held in segregated accounts; which cannot be co-mingled with non-customer, corporate funds.

A new survey shows Americans are pessimistic and have very poor retirement plans and financial assets. Among the highlights of the Yahoo Finance poll are: – 41% of Americans say the “American Dream” has been lost. – 37% of adults have no retirement savings and 38% plan to live off Social Security. – 63% of Americans believe the economy is getting worse, including 72% of those over the age of 55. These…

One of the darker themes of the current recession and its erratic, mismanaged recovery, is that the U.S. is headed for a lower standard of living. That is not officially articulated, of course, but implied in the many reports about long-term unemployment, proposed cuts to retirement benefits, 401k contributions, unpaid internships, and the rise in long-term unemployment. But it is certainly an unarticulated theme among the majority of Americans. More…

When it comes to taking sides publicly on major social issues, corporations have not led the way.  Stating a position is not what corporations do.  Getting the needed corporate consensus is time-consuming, requires direct participation by top executives and the board of directors, and uses political capital to arrive at a consensus. Then, the risk exists that the deciision will offend some constituents. So it is not surprise that no financial…

The 2008 financial crisis has assumed its role in economic and social history, and continues to get ongoing momentum from the severe recession it created, as well as the ongoing social protests.  Yet while there has been extensive analysis of the misdirected and Frankenstein financial engineering which precipitated the recession, not much is known about the types of people who helped create the current economic crisis in the first place….

A new study examining the income sources for Americans over age 65 shows more people are relying on Social Security for their retirement income, while income from jobs has remained consistent since 1962, according to a new study by the Social Security Administration. The study found that 38% of Americans over age 65 in 2009 claimed Social Security as their largest income source.  This was an increase from 30% in…

The current long recession is changing American spending behavior. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2007 and 2010, Americans have reduced expenditures on luxury items (restaurants and clothes) and more on essentials (healthcare, fuel.)  The data shows that consumer spending by family unit declined by 3% to $48,109, while average prices over the same period rose 5.2%.  As a result, real incomes fell by about 8%.

Wage-based incomes continue to decline, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s April 2011 report.  Using data from February 2011, the report found that wages, benefits and salaries accounted for 75% of total personal income in 1970. This fell to 67% in 2005 and to 64% in 2010. At the same time, spending from the middle class has dropped from 85% in 1970 to 61% today, according to the Wall Street…

The current gatherings of anti-Wall Street protestors seem like amorphous groups, but the protests center around a variety of issues related to financial insecurity.  According to the protestors, every class strata, with the obvious exception, is financially stressed and their losses in home equity and market portfolios will take years to recover. Consider that the Republican Party is openly advancing the cause of the top 1% of the U.S. population…