We’re in an era of unlimited prosperity and wealth creation for some, but to millions of Americans it still feels like a recession. America’s dominance as a global economic superpower has only been solidified since 2008. The post-America era that the left predicted never came. As more evidence of America’s exceptionalism, as of 2009, U.S. industrial production has exceeded the E.U. by 20%:
The economy has been in recovery mode since 2009, but to certain factions of the media, they want to spread lies that we’re still in a crisis for ratings, misleading the public into believing the economy is weak when it isn’t.
People, especially smart people, are getting richer than ever. Being smart is the most important thing in the world. Treasury yields keep going down and gas prices keep going up. Since 2009, never before has so much wealth been created.
Sill no bubble in the Bay Area real estate as prices keep going up. For example, the 94705 zip code is 20% above the August 2007 highs:
Real estate is about location, not price. The most expensive regions before the crash were also the quickest to recover, with many such regions now above the old highs. Smart people are being rewarded for their economic contributions with rising stocks and real estate and the left hates this.
As much as the left wanted America fall off the cliff in 2008, to their disappointment, it didn’t happen. Thank globalization for the recovery, thank the fortune 500 CEOs that made the painful decision to layoff the the redundant and or overpaid workforce, thank the Bush tax cuts, thank Wall St. that withstood withering criticism from the left with indomitable resolve, thank the speculators for buying the dips in 2009 when everyone else was running to the hills, thank STEM majors for being smart, thank Bay Area real estate, thank the fed for doing a good job, thank Bush, Bernanke and Paulson, thank Web 2.0. They (we) built this – this great American economy – not Obama.
Much more is expected of people than, say, just six years ago before the 2009 bull market. Individuals that fail to meet the high, yet somewhat ambiguous standards set forth by the intelligentsia and the makers of economic progress, are typically met with scorn and eventual exile. There is little patience or forgiveness for being wrong. To misspeak is punishable by being banished to the lowest rung of the social ladder in a permanent state purgatory. Poseurs – individuals who exhibit the Dunning Kruger Effect of being too stupid to know how stupid they are – tend to get the most grief of all. The economic, stock market, and real estate boom combined with the fed never raising rates again, the celebration of science and reason in popular culture and society, and the triumph of the immovable meritocracy has had the effect of inflating the confidence of its beneficiaries. Those with a high IQ also are used to having their egos stoked and their skills valued. This has the side effect of occasionally making such individuals less humble and more prone to pomp and brusqueness.
Among the neckbeard generation – a subset of the smartest generation – the list of cognitive fallacies/biases has become like an atheist’s version of the Ten Commandments. On sites frequented by smart people such as Reddit or 4chan, to cite the logical fallacy of your opponent’s argument is tantamount to winning the argument, but on the other hand, the NYT, whose readership consists primarily of dull welfare liberals of an earlier generation, won’t care if you point out logical fallacies of their arguments.
Fed policy is making people rich. The difference between 2 and 4 percent GDP growth is not a big deal. Rising taxes is not possible because it’s politically unpopular , so the debt will keep going up However, treasury yields will keep falling. The debt binge, like it or not, is here to stay. As quoted by Aaron Clarey, the U.S. is less sucky than every other country, and globalization allows the government to run-up debt with impunity. The economic models created smart people, that the US will not default, are correct. Interest rates will remain low, even as stocks, oil, gas prices, healthcare and pretty much every essential service keep going up.