What does it take to be middle class in America today? Living on $50,000 per year in America.
Is it possible to live a middle class lifestyle in America with a household income of $50,000? The recent Census survey puts the median household income at $50,000 for American households. So technically speaking, this is the middle class. Yet what we think of a middle class lifestyle including affordable public colleges, accessible healthcare, and […]
34 states saw tax collections decline in the first quarter of 2010. State budget deficits projected well into 2010 – Plunging tax revenues reflect a weaker economy dragged down by pervasive unemployment and underemployment. $112 billion in state budget gaps for fiscal 2011.
Big states with dismal budget short falls like California and New York have been making the news for the last couple of years. Yet the problems with state budget deficits go beyond the big and mighty. The banking system has been stabilized at a very high cost to average Americans but state budget deficits reflect […]
California state budget and fiscal year problems assure a weak housing market and poor employment conditions for another fiscal year. $3 billion miss in April tax revenues, selling electronic freeway ad space, and 80 percent of income from volatile sources.
The state of California is entering the new fiscal year budget wrangling period. What the legislature in Sacramento was hoping for in April with generous tax revenues actually turned out to be an absolute bust. The California housing bubble bursting is still having deep ramifications for the future of the state. Unfortunately what we are […]
How much do average Americans make after the Great Recession? Examining the income of U.S. households. 65 percent of U.S. households live on $65,000 or less.
In order to understand the middle class, we first have to draw a line in the economic sand. Many in our society would like to believe that we live in a classless system but this isn’t true especially when we look at the financial data. This classless belief has been shattered with the current structure […]