Talk about a downer. It's an editorial at Investors.com titled 11 Nasty Trends That Will Test America's Resilience. And here are those nasty trends right here:
Extremely Limited Prosperity "Yes, corporate profits have increased, but companies worried about what lies ahead under Obama are holding on to cash or buying back stock rather than hiring workers. "
A Wide Economic Growth Gap "The Obama recovery is the most feeble since the Great Depression. "
A Massive Ongoing Jobs Gap "By this time in past recoveries, the economy had churned out at least a 10% gain in net new jobs. This time, the hamstrung economy has managed just over 4%. "
Dependency Growing, Not Jobs "Today, 47 million people are on food stamps, up from about 28 million when Obama was sworn in. And disability rolls have swollen by 2 million. ... It has also led to a startling surge in Americans' dependence on government handouts — a radical altering of the country's traditional culture of self-reliance and hard work. "
America's Global Strength Wanes "For more than a decade, the IBD/TIPP Poll has asked Americans about the U.S. position in the world. Our final poll of 2013 is in, and opinions have never been lower. "
Workers Leave Labor Force "The number of people who tell the government they are not in the labor force has jumped by 10 million since Obama took office, and 91.5 million Americans are not working at all. "
America, The Biggest Debtor Ever "Today, our total debt is right at 100% [of GDP] — a level that many economists believe endangers future economic growth. The bad news is, it could rise to 150% or higher in coming decades. That's national insolvency. "
Real Jobless Rate? Double Digits "The government's U6 rate — which adds in those who are only marginally employed, or working part time but want full-time work — pegs the unemployment rate at a hefty 13.2%. "
Regulation Is Huge Hidden Tax "According to the respected Competitive Enterprise Institute, regulations are an annual tax on the U.S. economy equal to $1.5 trillion. "
What America Really Owes "They call this the long-term fiscal gap. Depending on how it's counted, over the next 75 years the U.S. must find $54 trillion to $200 trillion to pay for all our promises."
Long-Term Fiscal Outlook Is Ugly "The result: A massive deficit of nearly 20% of GDP. At that level, all capital available for spending or investment will go to finance the government's red ink."
Happy New Year!
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