During a particularly painful episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, John Fund of the Wall Street Journal repeated the infuriating claim that the economy is performing very well. Mr. Fund, really, if you're going to go on TV and say crap like this, your newspaper may as well sell out to Rupert Murdoch after all.Fund expects that perception of the economy driven by Wall Street's record breaking numbers, misleading unemployment numbers, and the country's consistent economic growth numbers will allow that kind of a claim to go unchallenged. I'm sure the Bush economic team had similar expectations when they decided that less reported indicators--ones related to the well being of a great majority of Americans--could circle the bowl for all they care.
Here are some real economic indicators that Fund didn't bother mentioning.
- Mortgage defaults are up 62% in April.
- Minimum wage still has not moved.
- The value of the dollar is tanking.
- The median wage lags far behind overall growth.
- Pensions are going the way of the dodo bird.
- Health care costs for the elderly are burying the middle class.
- Average student loan debt is up to nearly $20,000.
- Zooming gas prices continue to break records.
- For the fifth straight year, the trade defecit broke the record.
- The national debt is aproaching $9 trillion dollars, nearly $30,000 per American.
VIDEO: I don't agree with the way Ron Paul might pay the bills, but he sure knows a economic mess when he sees one.
TAGS: Bill Maher, John Fund, Economy, Debt
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