Spoiled

Out standard of living is so much higher than most of the rest of the world. I'm as guilty of excess as anyone, but would it really kill us to back down a little? Talking to our Filipino boarders is just one more reminder of how many luxuries even our middle class has. We are spoiled.

We're sliding into recession, or worse, and Washington is turning to the normal remedies for economic downturns. But the normal remedies are not likely to work this time, because this isn’t a normal downturn.

The problem lies deeper. It is the culmination of three decades during which American consumers have spent beyond their means. That era is now coming to an end. Consumers have run out of ways to keep the spending binge going.

The only lasting remedy, other than for Americans to accept a lower standard of living and for businesses to adjust to a smaller economy, is to give middle- and lower-income Americans more buying power — and not just temporarily. . . .

The underlying problem has been building for decades. . . .

The problem has been masked for years as middle- and lower-income Americans found ways to live beyond their paychecks. But now they have run out of ways.

The first way was to send more women into paid work. . . .

So Americans turned to a second way of spending beyond their hourly wages. They worked more hours. . . .

Americans turned to a third way of spending beyond their wages. They began to borrow. . . .

The binge seems to be over. We’re finally reaping the whirlwind of widening inequality and ever more concentrated wealth. . . .

Totally Spent