After reading this news story that half of Americans are skipping meals because of affordability and a bad economy, I have to ask how are you all doing out there?
I heard from a real estate agent friend of mine that REOs, i.e. bank foreclosures on home mortgages, are going up like crazy, which is a sign of bad times, like the recession of 2007-08.
I have heard from others about rents not being paid, lack of jobs, etc.
Every day, there’s more news of corporate layoffs, moreso than usual.
I live in the economic bubble of the SF Bay Area, where tech wealth more-or-less insulates me and mine from the most serious consequences of a bad economy, but how are things elsewhere?
What’s weird to me is that economist are observing the official numbers and concluding that things aren’t that bad and the public is suffering some kind of mass psychosis, when the reality is just worse than reflected in their numbers completely escapes them.
That’s because they aren’t looking at numbers or statistics that are directly relevant to typical citizens. GDP isn’t the same thing as average wages or cost of living.
The economy is great if you’re disgustingly wealthy.
Yes, but they do look at stuff like the unemployment rate, wages, etc… But I don’t think it captures the lived experience of stagnation we’ve been having for the past several years, and even if there’s “job growth” it might not be good jobs and people might know that they’re chances of getting a good job are slim to none, etc… lots of little things that wouldn’t necessarily be reflected in these incredibly broad statistics.
But economics, as a practiced science, is about boosting GDP, not making the lives of individuals better, so I think it indicates that the entire field is deeply flawed.
But economics, as a practiced science
“Economics” and “science” don’t belong in a sentence together
Never forget that the capitalist economy thrives off of the exploitation of the working class.
UR is bs?
It kind of it is, because it doesn’t capture people who have given up on looking for work, either because they don’t think they can get a job, or think the jobs they can get are emotionally/physically worse than living off whatever systems they have access to.
The one you want to look at it if you want to understand society better is NEET–people Not in Education, Employment or Training…
Pay attention to the news reports talking about ‘K’ shaped economy, which is exactly what you’re talking about
I see economic indicators that I’ve never heard commented on.
We’ve been building storage places around here non-stop for several years. This is clear evidence that people are downgrading their living arrangements.
There are fewer flea market vendors and they’ll selling cheaper and cheaper. This leads me to believe the lower end of the income spectrum can no longer afford what was already stupid cheap. This is kinda true of garage sales, but those have always been the cheapest end of the used market.
People are leaving far less free shit on the curb. Either that or people are snatching it up faster. Not a good sign in either case.
That’s been a phenomenon for awhile now, there used to be more of a correlation between the economic data and the public perception of the economy. Things like low unemployment and wages outpacing inflation don’t necessarily result in improved consumer confidence like they used to.
Yes, but the academic question to ask if if people know something the numbers don’t.
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I live in rural northern Japan so… not great? Everything keeps concentrating to Tokyo. We were promised “work from anywhere in Japan” and “remote-first”, but the company tried to revoke that. A couple of us joined a union and are fighting it, but most people just rolled over and took it. Still don’t know what things will look like come next year.
There are very few remote backend software engineering jobs in Japan now. The situation is pretty dire. No US or Canadian company wants me in this time zone (even if it allowed them to have people available around the clock). No one wants to sponsor a visa in another country.
I have a small farm, but it’s not profitable. Most of the other jobs around here are forestry, fishery, and factory and pay less than half of what I make now which my family cannot survive on. Things are rusty and falling apart all over in the countryside.
Here in Tokyo, I feel things are pretty rough financially too. I cannot imagine how hard it is in inaka. It’s quite sad that everything seems to be pulled towards a few cities. This feels different than America where the draw is to bigger local cities whereas here it’s mostly to only the biggest cities.
I really wish I could go back to my northern (urban) Japan cost of living, though. Not sure how things are now over a decade later, but I was paying 700円 per month for cellular + data, 2000円 per month on gigabit internet, and 33000円 per month for a 1LDK apartment…
Excluding food and utilities, that was just a hair over 200 Euro per month for expenses in today’s currency (but conversion rate may also be more favorable to Euro today than back then).
I have a cell provider with a pretty small data limit, but I almost never use it. They no longer even take new customers. ~2400/mo. My internet is with NTT and fiber to the home at 5500 a month + servicer fee -> about 6500 a month after price increases in 2027 they announced.
When I lived in a sharehouse in 2013, it was over double what you were paying and about 12 minutes from a station in suburban tokyo. My first apartment about 8 minutes away was 115,000 ish plus all utils just inside the 23ku and was 33sqm IIRC.
Cost of living including groceries and such have gone up like crazy since corona. Everything is undergoing shrinkflation and raises aren’t keeping up unless you’re at a really good company.
Even living in the countryside now, costs are still way over what they were for Tohoku. My prices here are more than even Tokyo when I moved here for a lot of groceries and such.
My mortgage on its own is over 85,000 in the deep countryside almost an hour walk to a station. I’m sure apartments are cheaper, but this is on a used house built in '96 IIRC (though with some rennovation and a new roof not long before I bought it).
Scotland. Fucked. The terrifying thing I realised recently is how I can see the sharp decline in living standards pre-and-post covid. If we dont get a grip of it we’re backsliding toward Dickensian levels of poverty and deprivation.
Other thing I noticed recently - how most of our short-term problems can be linked to that cunt Trump. Iran war, tariffs, Ukraine etc. I say this to highlight to the Americans in the room that your political choices have implications far beyond your own borders. Theres fuck all I can do about him, but plenty you can do.
Hey the American progressives are trying but we’re not even our own party because of our two party system. Not to be a dick but I think other countries hold more power than Americans at keeping a senile dementia riddled Cheeto fuck in check. His congress and court aren’t.
Booming in Taiwan. GDP growth over 10%, construction cranes everywhere you look, shops and restaurants going gangbusters. And it’s all because of the world’s insatiable appetite for AI chips. So, yah. What could go wrong?
I grew up somewhat privileged. We weren’t rich, but my family never really wanted for anything growing up. And then I was able to live at home until 25 and pay off my student loans and get a good career with no debt. So the economy doesn’t really affect me. I don’t live paycheck to paycheck but I’m extremely frugal and I do notice grocery prices increases. That being said I’m 100% progressive and do have sympathy for others and we need to fix this system.
What does fixing the system look like though? Far too many people seem to just want to consume unsustainably and would do so even more if they could.
How much does someone need?
Yes, some at the bottom really should have more. But there are many in the middle who should consume less and will justify it by comparing to those at the top who are even worse.
Unfortunately I don’t know how to stop the spending habits of others. Me personally I only buy what I need, not because I can. No fancy car. Once in a while I might splurge but usually on a birthday or Christmas. Part of my frugal is because I don’t know the future of the economy. If the market tanks that will affect my 401k too.
Taxing the rich could be a start. Universal healthcare. I’d be fine paying more taxes if it meant everyone was covered. Putting the right people in charge to make these changes. Get rid of the two parties, the electoral college, and use ranked voting. We’re close to getting rid of the popular vote, just need some more states to sign on.
Honestly its not their problem to create a new system that magically works. Its OK to just say the system sucks and we need to replace it. Americans are so caught up in perfection that we can’t see the good that a few actions can take to make the world more habitable.
The rent is too damn high guy has a point. Lower housing costs and even if you change nothing else, cost of living becomes far easier to manage.
Feel like donating to the cause? (The cause is that I would like a computer)
Good news! The Wall Street types have started using this brand new, never-been-used-before thing called a credit default swap to hedge their bets against AI companies. Good thing none of those words have ever been used before in the financial industry or associated with any financial collapses.
Researcher here who taught graduate level research skills: I’m walking dogs.
Because of the belief that the economy is bad, employers are taking advantage of working class people by removing their niceties like remote work and easy work days. We’re being told to work harder and produce +50% to make up for a 10% shortfall which feels like a fucking scam.
I guess we’re doing OK in Sweden. We’re used to high grocery and fuel prices. I’m driving a diesel and filling up at almost $10 per gallon.
Energy prices are hurting. Mostly because we’re on the same shared market as Germany… and Germany has dismantled their nuclear energy. Wind and solar is great when it’s windy or sunny. But it leaves us wanting on cold still nights.
The state has been subsidizing both fuel and electricity, but it’s not really going to the right pockets.
Why not switch to an EV? I’ve heard the Scandinavian countries all have great charging infrastructure.
Price is one factor. I’ve never bought a new car. I’ve also never had a car loan.
Privacy is one factor. My 2016 is just about the newest you can get without being connected to the interwebs. I prefer my car to be finished as it rolls out of the factory without requiring updates like it was a modern game.
Caravan is one factor. I did 5000km towing a tonne this summer. Any range is cut in half when towing that. Most charging stations don’t really make space for a trailer.
I’d consider a small cheap EV for local trips like grocery shopping or taking the kids to kindergarten. The diesel particle filter isn’t too happy about short trips. We have electric bikes and trailers for that, so… maybe if it’s a gnarly winter.
Northeastern US. Things are okay. Worse than I would have predicted 5 years ago but not terrible.
We pay our bills, contribute to the 401k and HSA, and have still been saving every month. Our electric + natural gas bills fluctuate as we switch from electric cooling to gas heating, but their combined monthly average has doubled in less than 5 years. I’m eyeing up solar systems for some relief. We don’t drive much so the direct price of gas hasn’t been huge. Groceries are a bit more expensive, but usually not as crazy as I see on the news. Clothing has gotten wildly expensive, with thrift and outlet stores selling stuff for prices I would have paid at regular retail 5 years ago.
We’re holding on. I wish we ate out, and especially drank out, less. I was always a homebody, but nowadays its $15-$20 for a cocktail, $10 for a domestic draft, plus tip.
well to put it nicely in egypt we are doing bad and probably failing because the
PresidentDictator is just not wanting democracy and is just bad at his jobRural north-eastern Brazil.
I’m unemployed, living with my mom and sibling and we’re neck-deep in debts while living on less than $400 a month. I can’t afford to go to university and there are little to no jobs that I can do nearby (I’m autistic and have a shitload of sensitivities). I’ve a couple more places to apply to, and my dad is studying the possibility of bringing me to live with him somewhere else.
U.S. There’s no jobs. I’m willing to bet it’s 95% ghost listings that keep getting reposted until covid loans get waived.
My spouse’s health insurance plan is actually pretty good with coverage and relatively lower in cost, but it’s still way too expensive and gets more expensive and worse every year. If it wasn’t for the (decreasingly) decent coverage, we’d be rationing meds and care, let alone meals.
But yeah, every single paycheck completely evaporates. There’s nothing left to cut back on. There’s nothing left to save. It’s a fucking delight.
I’m willing to bet it’s 95% ghost listings that keep getting reposted until covid loans get waived.
Either that or just straight-up data farming. How do you collect the identities of thousands of IT workers? Put up a bogus remote job listing for a too-good-to-be-true IT position on Indeed and let them send it to you voluntarily.
Subsequent marketing calls and scam emails unrelated.
I am in Melbourne, Australia, things are still ticking along fine enough BUT we can see the wave coming.
There was a book from 1957 called ‘On the beach’, it was about Melbourne being last city on Earth that has survived a nuclear war and how we would surcumb to the same fate as everyone else. It is starting to feel like that but in economic terms.
On The Beach was adapted into a good movie in 1959
I’m on the look out for jobs for 4 people right now but not seeing anything good so far despite their talents.
Everyone is stuck housing wise where prices are so high plus inflation most I know can’t get into buying a house and those that want to sell are holding off.
Every retired person I know is on active look out to reduce expenses drastically because the fixed income just enough.
I’m in Canada but the situation isn’t much different. We are still feeling the effects of the pandemic economic bubble bursting as the cost of essentials were steadily raised through early COVID and have not dropped, still dealing with the homelessness issue, I’m not being political but Trump has caused a lot of economic strain on the entire world, people who got low interest mortgages during COVID aren’t willing to let go of their house which causes further housing scarcity, there’s so many factors. At least weed is legal though.
I hate what trump has done to our brothers and sisters to the north. Our household is a moderate visitor to Canada and bring our money there to spend to help the local economy. This year it was BC and Ontario. Last year it was big spending in Quebec and Alberta. I’m sorry for what our idiot president is doing to your country, and I’m using my vote to combat his actions.
Most people understand most Americans don’t want this as much if not more than we do. We’re just disappointed. Not in individuals but more the system that allows this to happen.
