“Their savings are smaller and their investments have devalued by 50%. Not only are they paying attention... they are not happy about anything.”
In general, there’s a lot of fear out there about the sad state of the economy and its effect on personal finances. No question about it. But July and August are big vacation months. The two beach towns we’ve driven to this summer (not the Hamptons or Kiawah) were packed with average folks spending like there was no tomorrow. Maybe there is no tomorrow, but at least for now they’re setting their cares aside and living it up while they can. Come September it will be back to reality for most people. And they will be increasingly unhappy (about the very issues you cite) as the election rapidly approaches.
IMHO there’s a good chance that oil prices will spike — shortly before the election — due to increasing tensions/conflicts in the middle east. This will be a dagger into the heart of our fragile economy. Echoes of Jimmy Carter...
It is a perfect storm... as you say... and add in the EU and the 8 trillion dollars that burnandynankme gave the EU banks in grants and 0% loans... over the past three years (verified in the first ever audit of the Federal Reserve)... and Spain or Italy or the EU itself on the brink... and any one event can spell the end for banking and Wall Street and the complete crash of our economy and possibly our government. Things can get much worse than most think and it can get there in a hurry.
LLS