Is it all relative?
How bad is the economy? Real bad:
The actual decline in the gross domestic product — at a 3.8 percent annual rate — fell short of the 5 to 6 percent that most economists had expected for the fourth quarter. But that was because consumption collapsed so quickly that goods piled up in inventory, unsold but counted as part of the nation’s output.
So things are so bad that factories can’t stop making things fast enough? On the other hand:
Exxon earned $45.2 billion in 2008, beating the record it set in 2007 for most profitable corporation, at $40.6 billion. That came despite a fourth quarter in which income fell 33 percent, owing to the steepest drop ever in oil prices, as the economy went into a tailspin.
Now, to be fair to Exxon, oil prices are falling. 2009 is not going to be a record-breaking year (maybe).
Now, on the other hand:
The newest members of Congress are on average much wealthier than those they are joining on Capitol Hill, according to a newly released report from the Center for Responsive Politics.The study by the nonpartisan group found that this year’s freshmen reported a median net worth of around $1.8 million, while those already in Congress were worth a median of around $815,000.
However, it’s tough to say how accurate those figures are today, given the downward spiral of the stock market.
The Center found new members had substantial investments in the battered finance, insurance and real estate sectors, which they said raises questions not only about how hard those members were hit by the economic downturn, but also about their even-handedness as Congress struggles to stimulate the economy.
Well, it kind of explains why Congress can bail out Wall Street, but didn’t even seem to know that Main Street was dying. Or does it?
In any economy, there are winners and there are losers. That’s just life. What has happened, however, is that the winners are winning so much that there is nothing left to feed the remainder – which is, in fact, the vast majority of us.
George W. Bush used to claim that it was okay to make the wealthy richer because “a rising tide lifts all boats.” Turns out, we aren’t even in the same body of water.
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