I would say that I have generally agreed with the majority of your posts except this one. So much so that it has actually caused me to reply to it, which I wouldn’t ordinarily do.
You mentioned that the government doesn’t count investment as savings. In response, I would venture to say that a good portion of middle-class, working Americans do have a certain amount of investing, but it is tied up in IRAs, 401ks, SEP-IRAs, or the like. These are investment vehicles that can’t be withdrawn from until they reach the age of 59.5…unless they want to incur penalties that are basically structured to keep them from withdrawing in the first place.
I also disagree with your statement that the credit situation in this country is not that bad. The majority of wealth for the majority of homeowners in this country exists on paper in the form of the value of their home or other properties they may own. This is the single biggest value that has allowed many a home owner to refinance into a lower-interest, adjustable mortgage vehicle in an effort to increase short-term cash reserves. Moreover, as the market continued to sky rocket, many homeowners used the leverage in the equity of their homes to upgrade it and further inflate it’s market price. This had, IMHO, the effect of over-inflating the already over-inflated home prices.
I am sure that there are copious other statistics out there to back up my claim, but I am too tired to hunt for them. :-). Making the statement that “The credit situation of this country is not that bad,” to me, is as bad as the real estate hacks saying that real estate prices are always going to go up.
