Median family income in MI from 2000 through 2009 dropped 21% ... 21 fucking %!

[Bozita]

I'm betting none of these numbers apply to the bankster business.


http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101128/BUSINESS06/11280514/1318/Michigan-families-learn-to-tough-it-out-on-lower-incomes&template=fullarticle

POSTED: NOV. 28, 2010

Michigan families learn to tough it out on lower incomes
BY GREG GARDNER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER


-snip-

Michigan families suffered a 21% drop -- from $57,499 to $45,255 -- in median family income from 2000 through 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Michigan's 6.2% decline from 2008 to 2009 was the most of any state and double the national decline.

Given such evidence as the UAW's new two-tier wage structure and the unresolved Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike, downward pressure on pay won't relent soon.

-snip-

Reach beyond the corporate financial statements into the lives turned upside down by the government-backed bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, and it's clear how fragile Michigan's economy remains.

This week, more than 142,000 Michigan residents will lose unemployment benefits if Congress does not extend them. The state's unemployment rate slipped to 12.8% in October, higher than the national rate of 9.6% but below the nation's highest at 14.2% in Nevada. It's reminding us all we're a long way from recovery.

Despite corporate profits reaching a record $1.66 trillion in the third quarter, many companies are still reluctant to hire, and many have pressed remaining employees for pay cuts.

In Michigan, where the median family income tumbled 21% from 2000 to 2009, even those fortunate enough to hold onto or find a job are looking for ways to cut discretionary spending such as dinners out, entertainment or recreation.

more...

[FreakinDJ]

1. Welcome to "Free Trade" my friend

Where the poor get poorer and rich make a killing

[Autumn]

2. I wonder how much over 21% the banksters and CEO's

incomes went up. I bet it was a lot.

[Bozita]

10. Bankster bonus figures from last year - NYT article from 1/10/2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/business/10pay.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

January 10, 2010
Banks Prepare for Big Bonuses, and Public Wrath
By LOUISE STORY and ERIC DASH


Everyone on Wall Street is fixated on The Number.

The bank bonus season, that annual rite of big money and bigger egos, begins in earnest this week, and it looks as if it will be one of the largest and most controversial blowouts the industry has ever seen.

Bank executives are grappling with a question that exasperates, even infuriates, many recession-weary Americans: Just how big should their paydays be? Despite calls for restraint from Washington and a chafed public, resurgent banks are preparing to pay out bonuses that rival those of the boom years. The haul, in cash and stock, will run into many billions of dollars.

Industry executives acknowledge that the numbers being tossed around — six-, seven- and even eight-figure sums for some chief executives and top producers — will probably stun the many Americans still hurting from the financial collapse and ensuing Great Recession.

Goldman Sachs is expected to pay its employees an average of about $595,000 apiece for 2009, one of the most profitable years in its 141-year history. Workers in the investment bank of JPMorgan Chase stand to collect about $463,000 on average.

more...

[Autumn]

12. What a damn disgrace, and our leaders

if they can be called that, want more cuts on the working class and poor.

[Mimosa]

3. The entire US median income has declined since the 1970s.

The more jobs offshored, the poorer everybody got.

[MadMaddie]

4. The years are from 2000 - 20009 but we will hear people

blame President Obama for this disaster.

I blame Clinton and I blame the Republicans. They will not be happy until they have outsourced all of our good jobs to foreign companies so companies can make even higher profits.

These companies are not about the U.S first if they were we would be seeing jobs coming back to this country. President Obama is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He will have to make it unappealing for companies to keep outsourcing jobs and if you think the Right is bitching and attacking now....just wait.

[blue_onyx]

6. Well...

Obama shouldn't get a pass on free trade. He may not be responsible for past agreements but he also wants to expand "free trade" to other countries like South Korea.

[MadMaddie]

9. I agree that the Free Trade is just a boondoggle for corporations

it should be eliminated or radically changed so American workers have the advantage.

[Hannah Bell]

5. kr

[bullimiami]

7. And inflation over the same period was 24.6%. Those people are living on half the income.

[MichiganVote]

8. Yes we sure are and that does not even include health insurance.

[Starry Messenger]

11. k & r

[mmonk]

13. When will people figure out a low wage nation is a third world nation?

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. wowl

[FrancisTreptoe]

15. Wow.

I don't see this changing anytime soon either. This is happening all over the Midwest.