Census Bureau says 43 million Americans are below poverty line - Historum

corrocamino · September 16th, 2010, 01:11 PM

That's the equivalent of 50 impoverished Albuquerques -- one for every state.

**Cicero** · September 16th, 2010, 01:17 PM

Brother C I hope you dn't mind if I put this here but it is related I think:

The 10 American Industries That May Never Recover
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-bud...-never-recover

1. State and Local Government Jobs.
2. Construction.
3. Installation, Maintenance and Repair.
4. Automotive Manufacturing.
5. Pharmaceuticals.
6. Big Telecom.
7. Newspapers.
8. Airlines.
9. Realtors.
10. Bank Tellers.

corrocamino · September 17th, 2010, 03:03 AM

I don't mind at all, Brother C. See any reason for optimism?

It appears that banks (sans tellers) will become a world unto themselves. Good luck eating $100 bills, then.

**Lawnmowerman** · September 17th, 2010, 03:15 AM

Well thats roughly 1 in 4 americans, given that the population is around 200 million. I seem to remember a similar figure being touted 10 years ago that there were around 20 million homless american which is 1 in 8 which is just rediculous (this figure was proven to be wrong and proof that 98% of statistics are made up oin the spot)

So i am very sceptical of any stat which states that 1 in 4 Americans lives below the poverty line. Maybe we should ask our US posters if thats true.

**Cicero** · September 17th, 2010, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corrocamino

See any reason for optimism?

I myself have a job.... that's about it, optimism-wise.

corrocamino · September 17th, 2010, 04:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawnmowerman

Well thats roughly 1 in 4 americans, given that the population is around 200 million....So i am very sceptical of any stat which states that 1 in 4 Americans lives below the poverty line. Maybe we should ask our US posters if thats true.

Throw away that 1968 almanac and get yourself a new one, MowMan. The US population is around 300 million.

I'm an American poster, by the way. If American posters look around their own neighborhoods, they'll report poverty rates of 0% (my neighborhood) to 100%. Maybe it takes a census to obtain the big picture.

Greyter · September 17th, 2010, 04:11 AM

"Overall, the poverty rate has plunged by more than eight percentage points since 1959"

http://www.smartmoney.com/investing/...s-so-they-say/

corrocamino · September 17th, 2010, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greyter

"Overall, the poverty rate has plunged by more than eight percentage points since 1959"

As shown by the attached graph, the "plunge" essentially occurred from '61 to '69, when the curve flattens, then jumps under Reaganomics, declining steadily under Clinton, rising again under Dubya.

We could say that the poverty rate, which has always to be arbitrarily defined, has plunged from 100% since the Paleolithic. And we could rightly say that American poverty is much to be preferred to, say, poverty in Niger. But the question that properly concerns Americans is, what are the social consequences and costs of poverty, how much relative poverty is "acceptable", and how can we minimize poverty for the greater good?

corrocamino · September 17th, 2010, 05:20 AM

Of course, Wars on Poverty are socialist endeavors, and therefore intrinsically evil, as opposed to poverty, which is merely a matter of statistics. I mean, if you don't go slumming, it's like poverty doesn't exist! I mean, why should President George HW Bush know what a loaf of bread costs? (He had no clue -- not even a wild guess.)

corrocamino · September 17th, 2010, 05:53 AM

Waiting for Bob to tell us that he already has explained all of this...and for his echo to tell us how refreshing that was...