Whistling Past The Cemetery Or The Mall?

"The unprecedented split between growth and living standards is the defining economic agenda of the day," said Jared Bernstein, the senior economist of the Economic Policy Institute. The voice may be liberal, or "progressive," but the numbers are the government's own. And they do not include the losses caused by the widespread cancellation of health-care and pension benefits. It is hardly a secret that many skilled and professional Americans have been fired, as it were, then given back their old jobs at reduced salaries and no benefits.

(The greatest flaw in the sick American health-care system is that it is tied to employment and employers, rather than to the government, which is the rule in every other advanced country. But that is a subject for another column.)

"The End of the American Dream?" was the headline used by the British Broadcasting Corp. story on those economic numbers released over the past few days. That is an exaggeration, I hope. The BBC's key line was: "The puzzle of economic expansion without significant job or wage growth has been troubling United States economists and commentators of all political persuasions. ... That marks a notable contrast with the 1990s, when the economic boom boosted both jobs and incomes."

We may all be whistling past the cemetery -- or the mall. The average amount spent by shoppers, 140 million of them, in the weekend after Thanksgiving increased from $302 last year to $360 this year. Most of that, I'd bet, was plastic money, borrowed at interest rates from 10 percent to above 20 percent. The federal debt and the cost of the war in Iraq are being passed along to our grandchildren, but our personal bills will come due before the 2008 election. Then comes the debate about whom to blame for such things. Businessmen? The rich? Republicans? Democrats? Ourselves?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucrr/20061203/cm_ucrr/iraqisbrokemaybewewillbetoo

T'was the end of the month for all of us "poor" folk, so the budget allowed only for food purchases. Now that it is December, I have to pay the next round of bills and the first installment on the property tax. If I am feeling really flush, I might buy a box of chocolates for myself. All in all, it is helpful that the closest mall is 1-1/2 hours away. Not that we have the money to buy anything.