Now, with an older US workforce, more global labor to compete with , skyrocketing government debt, etc., I feel the prospect for getting whole again will be much tougher than in the 80s.

it is of paramount importance to cut expenses and minimize debt as much as possible. Servicing debt will be an ongoing challenge and increasingly problematic. Be proactive at this point in time in adjusting your finances to this reality.

We are doing these things now, but I wish we had started several years ago. Keep up the good work, LD. You are appreciated!

I also believe, with the person above, that things could be reorganized in a productive manner with the right leadership. I just think that the majority of people do not react to things until it is too late, and until they are personally suffering.

In the eighties I lived in California. The state still had money to help people. Not now. I have pretty much always lived within my means, which at times seemed almost silly, but not anymore.

Right now it is two different worlds, depending on whether one has a job or not.

This is a thoughtful piece and I have no doubt that the folks who are making these predictions are basing them on the best knowledge base they have.
However…

1) I think this is limited viewpoint based on assumptions about the current state of political stability, as per the early 80s. At that point in time there were very strong political/military machines engaged in a low resolution conflict that functioned as a giant flywheel for the economy. In contrast, today we have one military machine and an inchoate mass of theocratic nihilists whose only purpose is destruction. Not much grist for the flywheel there.

2) Even more important, this viewpoint is based on a status quo ante assumption, that is, an assumption that the status of the world economy as it was say, five years ago, is the desired condition. This is understandable given the flaccid actions of the Obama administration thus far in response to the continuing financial debacle.

And that is the problem in a nutshell: those who see the present condition only through the lens of the past will, of course, come to the conclusions set forth. What will actually happen is unlikely to follow that script. Arguably, it will get worse, much worse with riots in the streets and fights for ever scarcer resources around the globe. Indeed, given the facts as presented above, I would expect the worst.
There is another course, however, one that involves a new way of thinking about global resources and a willingness to apply technologies we already have at hand. We have the tools to make the necessary changes, the only thing that stands in our way are the vested interests of the men and the companies they control (and their puppets in office) who do not want change and will do absolutely anything to prevent change from happening. These are, of course, the same people who make predicitons for the future based on their status quo ante dreams of days gone bye.

Like it or not we live in ‘interesting’ times, who will win, I wonder.

1. reduced employment (GM, housing)
2. higher default rates (due to increasing unemployment)> more forclosed homes > banks going under
3. an unwillingness of banks (the ones that are left)to make risky loans
4. more bankruptcies for state and local governments due to decreased tax revenues & baloon pension contracts
5. higher taxes for the rich who in turn give up or leave “Atlas Shrugged”.

The US government is not having any trouble selling their T-bills at near 0% interest rates because the stock market has proven be a way to throw away 1/2 of your life savings.

Our friends here at NQ and I have coordinated so you can easily go back and forth between our sites as we each have links for the respective sites on our home page. Look in the upper right hand part of the NQ home page and click on the Sense on Cents icon. The same can be done from SoC to come back to NQ.

Sense on Cents can also be accessed at http://www.senseoncents.com