Such a great revelation! Could income inequality possibly have something to do with the 21st Century Economic Crisis? Hmmm! I wonder? Could it be that 85% of U.S. families are now classified as "Low-Income" families have anything to do with consumer spending falling off an economic cliff?

Maybe the 2.5% drop in population growth and 3.5% fall in marriages is just an economic fluke.
With half of all U.S. families touched by unemployment there is bound to be a loss of hope and drop in consumer confidence.

We seem to be bouncing from one economic crisis to the next. Thanks to irresponsible rogue corporations and the billionaires that run them, we are stuck in “Crises Economy” mode. The cost is born by low-income-families. Blaming Washington or families for falling income and falling consumer demand is a 21st Century “red-herring.”

Why are 85% of U.S. Families now classified as “Low-Income-Families,” when a decade ago most of these same families were firmly middle class? What caused this fall from economic grace? Better to ask, how do we fix our broken economy? Since this crisis centers on job loss, falling income and falling consumption, a reasonable starting point is to fix the problem of falling income, fast.

An obvious fix is a "Low-Income-Family-Supplement" program that would provide as much as 1,600 dollars per month for all tax-filing families in the lowest of the “Low-Income” range. Families on public assistance should also be included in this program even if they don't file taxes. This would see consumer spending rise like a 4th of July rocket. To fill the increased consumer demand, job growth would also rise rapidly. And think of the "multiplier effect;" for every 1 dollar spent it could generate up to 10 dollars more for the economy.

If the problem is lack of consumer spending, give consumers something to spend instead of constantly reducing consumer income. It IS feasible for a private (non-government) agency to sell interest-bearing investment bonds that would generate $600 Billion a year to support a "Low-Income-Family-Supplement" program.

Such a "Victory Bond" program could save this nation, as did a similar program during World War II (1940's). Make no mistake...we are in the midst of an economic war. For a more detailed fix for our broken economy see the book: "Cinderella's Housework: Families in Crisis, Households at the Edge of Chaos!" By Paul Meinhardt, available soon on-line. pmeinhardt@optonline.net

I think everyone is beating around the bush. There are times when the powerbrokers are at their wits end as to what to do with their money or how to make more money and the schemes they come up with are utter failures. That is what caused the failure in 2007-08. A very different situation than in 1929. The other difference is those same powerbrokers still hold power and refuse to revitalize the economy until they make all their own money back. Prediction: until the Dow stabilizes above 12,000 there will be no real recovery.