Elizabeth Warren gave this riveting lecture about what has happened to the American Middle Class from the 1970s to the early 2000s. What is a family of four spending money on? What are they spending more on? Less? What risks do these families face in the 2000s? If you like economics or data analysis, you’ll love this lecture.
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Today is Blog Action Day. This year’s topic is Poverty.
So what can I write about poverty? We immigrated from India in 1980. I grew up in a middle-class suburb of Chicago. Both of my parents worked. We didn’t have all the nice things other families had, but we had more than others. My parents owned their house, 2 cars, and were able to raise 3 kids and support immigrating family members.
But we also had help. We relied on other family members. We had rough times. And yes, we got help from the government at times.
Now, my two sisters and I earn more and live comfortable lives. We are all pretty liberal in our views and believe in helping others, because we realize we did not get to where we are on our own. So I’ve been using Kiva to loan money to entrepreneurs in developing countries. My wife and I also donate to Unicef to help children around the world.
What are you doing?
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Found this today from Iwillteachyoutoberich. It is a presentation from a Bay-area VC to startup CEOs about the economic situation, outlook, and how to cope. Good to follow if you have any interest in financials (and you should), even if you are not a CEO – it is applicable to your personal budget as well.
Sequoia Venture Capital Warning to CEOs – Get more Business Plans
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I found this Boston Globe op-ed piece on the financial bailout
It is amazing that the bailout bill has managed to pick up earmarks. This supposedly critical spending bill in a time of financial crisis has acquired the smell of bacon! As the piece’s authors state, what we – the US government and the American People – need is to return to sound financial practices. The bailout may free up some more capital and get our credit markets moving again, but without some serious changes, we’ll just find ourselves facing a bigger problem a few months from now.
Where is the US government going to find 700 billion dollars? Tax cuts are not going to dig us out of this hole. Our national debt is as big as it has ever been, and the federal budget is in deficit. Our country needs to balance its books and pay its bills the same way we learned in school.
Politicians too often delay doing the hard things because they are up for re-election. Yes, I pay a lot on taxes. Of course I could use a tax cut, and I’d be silly not to accept one. But cutting revenue without cutting costs is ludicrous! Our children will have to shoulder the burden of the increasing debt!
Does this mean we should get rid of Social Security, Medicare, and other government programs? Should we drop plans to ensure everyone has access to affordable health insurance? No. What we need to do is trim the fat. Make the government programs efficient. Close loopholes. Stop wasting money. We cannot continue to spend more than we earn.
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