in the US, at least, it's worth mentioning the widening gap between rich and poor, the death of the middle class, and stagnation or outright losses in wages in real dollars.
my girlfriend was listening to NPR last week and apparently the biggest segment of people with major credit card debts are apparently lower-middle-class families with children, who have been economically slaughtered over the past few decades, and basically need credit just to close the gap at the end of the month and pay the bills. essentially, for a whole group of the working poor, credit cards are all that get them from Week Three to the first of the next month.
(1 week's shortfall in expenses) X (12 months per year) X (interest rate) = indentured servitude
my girlfriend is convinced that within a decade or so, the Wal-Marts and the like of this country will be paying their employees in company scrip. |
