DIDN’T SOLVE THE PROBLEM – 48.4% of home mortgages modified by lenders in the 1st quarter 2009 were 90 days or more delinquent just 1-year later (source: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency). 

 

 It would appear that there were bigger issues at play.  And as far as foreclosures go, in 2009 55% of the national total were in just 5 states; California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, and Illinois.

VERY HOMEY – Of the 51 million households that own a home and have a mortgage, the average outstanding debt is $200,000.  There are another 24 million households that own their home free-and-clear (source: Census Bureau). 

 

See, it’s not all bad news on the home front.

MORE THAN ONE-THIRD – 37% of the 6.8 billion people in the world live either in China or India (source: World Health Organization). 

 

A couple of weeks ago I attended the 15th annual Super Bowl of Indexing and the concluding presentation was about global aging.  India’s workforce is projected to be 40% larger than China’s by the year 2040.  By far the most interesting fact was the population decline in Japan.  Their birthrate is so far below replacement that unless things change, statistically it is projected that no one will be living in Japan by the year 2900.  Their young population is declining so fast that they are closing 300 schools each year because there are no children to attend.

NOTHING TO PAY – Americans filed 140 million tax returns for calendar year 2008 income.  Through the use of deductions, exemptions and credits, 52 million tax returns of the 140 million total returns (or 37% of all returns filed) paid zero federal income tax (source: Internal Revenue Service). 

 

So, when making tax policy, over one third of us are never impacted.  Perhaps we all need to have some skin in the game?

DEJA VU – An article in Fortune magazine written by reporter Shawn Tully began with the statement: “Growing deficits.  Out-of-control federal spending.  Rising debt.  With the budget suddenly an election issue, it’s time for some straight talk.”  The date of the article was 3/8/2004 or nearly 7 years ago (source: Fortune). 

 

I guess some things just never get better.  And maybe the next item is part of the problem.

WORKING FOR THE GOVERNMENT – 1 out of every 6 American workers is employed by the government, either at the federal, state or local level (source: Department of Labor). 

And governments at all levels only provide services.  They “produce” nothing much.  It’s always been my thought that the tension between capitalism built on the premise of profits is in conflict with government, which has no profit incentive.   This makes for an interesting dialog, and an issue that merits further understanding across the board, especially within the governments at all levels, as they now struggle with the costs of keeping the doors open for the services they provide.

HALF A MILLION – A child born in 2010 that begins kindergarten in the fall of 2015 would attend college between the years of 2028 and 2032.  If that child attended an average private 4-year college and if the annual price increases for private colleges experienced over the last 30 years continued into the future, the aggregate 4-year cost of the child’s college education (including tuition, fees, room & board) will total $506,423 or nearly $127,000 per year (source: College Board). 

 

Yikes!!  It’s inconceivable that the costs will inflate as much as they have, but even so, it’s a lot of money.

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