So What is the Message?

In a conversation, a middle management executive spoke of making over $75,000 a year-and yet his wife had to work to make ends meet. He was up to the hilt in credit card debt and wondered whether the next round of lay-offs at his company might include him.

Americans have gone deeper in debt-from 65 percent to over 95 percent of disposable income. Today, 96 percent of the average American's disposable monthly income has already been spent before he receives his paycheck.

In 1929 there was about 50 cents of debt-total debt for every dollar of Gross National Product (GNP). Today there is about $6 of debt for every dollar of GNP. A twelve-fold increase. This is a good measurement of debt because it is tied to economic production which, of course, generates the money to payoff debt.

1929 is significant because that was the year the U.S. stock market collapsed and the Great Depression began. A couple of years ago Don McAlvaney described the current stock market as being overpriced. The price compared to the earnings was too high; or, in other words, the dividend income that stocks earn in relation to their selling price was too low. In 1929 the stock prices had been driven to high levels by a speculating frenzy with the result that dividends or earning power was comparatively very low.

So what is the message? Try to keep your personal debt low in relation to your income and job stability. Also vote for those who are really serious about bringing government expenditures under control. Let them know!

To learn more about Abundant Living, please visit our website at http://www.abundantlivinginfo.com/ or http://www.alinfo.org/

Government Crisis/Economic Turndown

Some students of economic conditions feel the deterioration in government finances at the federal, state, and local level is frightening. Tax revenues have fallen and government expenditures continue to rise. Now, throw in the possibility, in some economic downturn, of the Federal Government being forced to pay on multiple financial guarantees, such as insurance claims for busted pensions and bank failures.

Add to that the rising costs for unemployment, welfare and early retirements. Some feel hard times are coming, not just for the people and for business, but also for the government. For you as an individual, it is time for wise debt management.

"Expansion of Credit does lead to a boom at first, it is true, but sooner or later this boom is bound to crash and bring about a new depression." (Ludwig von Mises) This is because booms create excesses that eventually are corrected by economic reality, i.e. adjustments in debt, building, and employment contractions, etc.