Monday, May 23, 2011

Nearly Half of Americans Financially Fragile

Using data from a 2009 TNS Global Economic Crisis survey, the data indicates that approximately one quarter of Americans report that they would certainly not be able to come up with an emergency $2,000 within 30 days, and an additional 19% would do so by relying at least in part on pawning or selling possessions or taking payday loans, reports the NBER.
That's pretty close to half of America. These people, for the most part, are also likely to be the last to see Bernanke newly printed money work its way into their pockets. When we are talking CPI versus "core" inflation, which removes food and energy from the index, it is these people that are most impacted by full CPI inflation, since a larger portion of their budget likely goes to food and energy.

(ViaKellyEvans)

4 comments:

  1. "and an additional 19% would do so by relying at least in part on pawning or selling possessions or taking payday loans"

    Umm...how else does one raise cash except by selling assets or taking out a loan? That's exactly what big corporations, governments, etc do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hahaha, the first comment is exactly what's wrong with America. Savings don't even register as an option to most Americans because they've never saved anything in their lives.

    ReplyDelete
  3. and meanwhile i'm sittin on a cool half-mil in the bank

    while i continue to rent a modest apartment and live below my means

    gotta go, gotta go make lunch for tomorrow. never eat out!

    ReplyDelete