Great discussion here as to why the U.S. economy is tanking:

(Hint for Nic and Cigar--bloating the stockmarket with printed money and enriching the one percent isn't taking care of the other 99--it is taking from them.)

No matter how hard the Washington crowd tries to sell an economic recovery, inconvenient and contrary facts keep rearing up to shatter their mythmaking. Few people any longer believe the claims of declining unemployment or low inflation at least based on purchases they make.The fable of a housing recovery is now crumbling: New Home Sales Plunge 13.4% in July, June Revised Lower; Blame Rising Mortgage Rates; Starts 896,000 – Sales 394,000. Two weeks ago, the same author (Mish) provided this article: Mortgage Applications Decline 13th Time in 15 Weeks; Are Mortgage Rates Cheap? What’s Next For Housing?


The reason why the economy is not recovering and will not recover can be explained in five simple points:
  1. Wealth and standard of living increases can only be achieved by producing more, not less.
  2. Capital increases are required to produce more. Wage gains are directly tied to productivity gains and more capital enables productivity to rise. US workers earn more because they are more productive as a result of having more capital (tools and equipment) to work with.
  3. The private sector uses and expands capital. Firms cannot achieve this result, go out of business. The remaining capital is taken over by better stewards. Successful firms grow, creating value, jobs, incomes, wealth and more capital.
  4. Government destroys capital. It confiscates it from the private sector and uses it for consumption, effectively reducing the supply. Jobs, income and growth that otherwise would have developed do not. The rare exception is if government “invests” in capital projects like roads, infrastructure or meaningful education. If properly chosen, this government spending can assist in the production of capital.
  5. The proportion of assets and capital confiscated has increased greatly over the last century. At some point, the capital and wealth left behind in the private sector is inadequate to reproduce itself. That is when economic growth turns negative and standards of living decline. Long before that point growth rates diminish.
It is this simple process which has crippled the US economy. Pointing to rising interest rates, declining innovations or a host of other variables as the cause of the problem is to miss the root cause of the problem.


http://www.economicnoise.com/2013/08...rnment-stupid/

And the best was saved for last: