LinkedIn Group Chatter 4

Mark O – MD from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and a BS from the University of Alberta

I'm not American except North American i.e. a Cannuck and have for 30+ years followed American domestic and foreign policy and recently the economic decline (actually median wages have stagnated since the 1970s) and am happily surprised to see people waking up and starting to ask this question about the American Dream. Wisconsin is interesting and what about Ohio and the Californian debt?

The only thing I see missing is a statement blaming business for off-shoring and Wall Street for blowing up bubbles like the housing and tech bubble beforehand. All the big economists at the Fed, Academia, writing for newspapers etc. missed it. I didn't because I was reading non-mainstream economist (lefties!). Easy to blame government and it's correct to do so as they are in bed with big business but why no statement saying I blame Big Business? Strange!

As I read about retirees who lost all their pensions (401k's?) and those who lost so much equity in their houses if not outright foreclosed, I feel great pity. Proximity and similar lifestyle (Canada) and desires breeds a certain sense of empathy. Also US consumption if perhaps overdone is a big driving force in much of the world's (export) economies. I suppose there is a lot of hidden shame as people don't like to admit unemployment, foreclosure etc. seeing it as personal failings rather than of the system. That was part of the 'dream': if you worked hard you could make it and if you didn't make it you were lazy or personally deficient