Black Coffee: Can You Spare $175 Quadrillion for a Cup of Joe?

It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.

Let’s get right to it this week …

Credits and Debits

Credit: I see a new Washington Post poll reveals that support for Obamacare is at an all-time low; just 39% of Americans now think it is worth keeping. Who wants to bet that most of those supporters receive subsidized premiums?

Debit: Speaking of government fusterclucks, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Uncle Sam is now “improving” the hamburger business too; after all, beef prices are 30% higher than they were just two short years ago.

Debit: In case you’re wondering, ground beef prices have almost tripled since 2000 — which, believe it or not, has a lot to do with the Fed’s long-standing zero-interest rate policy and its effects on the cattle market.

Credit: That “positive” job report trumpeted by the mainstream media last week isn’t fooling everybody. As the Burning Platform blog found, those who bother to dissect the government data will quickly discover that, in reality, the job market, well … sucks. Their words, not mine.

Debit: Unfortunately, we’ve been stuck in an economic hall of mirrors for more than six years now. For example, 75% of all new jobs in the US since December 2007 have gone to foreign-born workers. How many were illegal immigrants, you ask? Well, the government isn’t sure.

Debit: One thing is certain: Illegals probably aren’t taking a lot of high-paying positions from unemployed native-born Americans. That’s because almost half of all net new jobs created in the US since 2008 have been waiters and bartenders. I know.

Credit: I guess being a waiter or bartender ain’t all bad — especially if you have a lot of customers like pro golfer Phil Mickelson; he recently stopped at a neighborhood lemonade stand, bought a $1 glass from the kids … and left a $99 tip.

Debit: Oh, sure; it would be nice to believe we have a healthy post-recession economy supported by lots of high-paying skilled jobs that develop products designed to improve living standards — but it’s actually built on low-wage services indirectly supported by trillions in faux-wealth from a printing press.

Credit: Charles Hugh Smith certainly isn’t fooled. As he astutely points out: “If your BS detector isn’t shrieking, it’s broken. Wishing it was true doesn’t make it true — it makes you a chump who fell for the con.” I ain’t no chump, Charles.

Debit: Then again, maybe I am a chump. Perhaps it is normal when shares of Jicheng Umbrella Holdings rise more than 2681% — in four short months. After all, that’s an annualized return of only 5,615,152%. Eat your heart out, Apple.

Credit: Naturally, that news got one commenter to rightly ask: “How many umbrellas does this company need to sell to justify its 5 million percent annualized return?” Answer: probably not enough.

Debit: And if you think faux-wealth only applies to overpriced Chinese stocks, think again. It also applies to a good chunk of US household “wealth” — now at an all-time high of $85 trillion. At least the stuff on paper.

Debit: This week, Bill Holter passed along the story of one retired couple from Zimbabwe — with roughly 500,000 Zimbabwe dollars in the bank — who went from being set for life to not being able to afford a loaf of bread in two days. And that, folks, is the cruel illusion of paper wealth.

Debit: The truth is, history proves that all fiat money — including the US dollar — will eventually meet the same fate as Zimbabwe’s debauched currency. Hey, don’t be a chump; the greenback is clearly heading there too.

Credit: In fact, now that Zimbabwe has stolen all of its citizens’ wealth via the printing press, they’re offering a final exchange rate of $1 for every 35 quadrillion local bucks — but only until September. So don’t wait.

By the Numbers

It’s no coincidence that America’s decline really accelerated after it began sending the bulk of its high-paying manufacturing jobs overseas:

20% US GDP that was attributable to its manufacturing sector in 1980.

12% US GDP that is attributable to its manufacturing sector today.

1994 Year that the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect.

2,000,000 US manufacturing jobs lost since 2007.

15,000 US manufacturing houses that have been closed over the past eight years.

12 Cents on the dollar that the average Chinese worker gets compared to his American counterpart.

67% Displaced manufacturing workers in 2012 who found a new job, but at a lower wage.

20% The typical wage reduction for displaced US manufacturing workers in 2012.

1975 The last year that the US registered a trade surplus with the rest of the world.

Sources: CNBC; Huffington Post

The Question of the Week

[poll id="65"]

Last Week’s Poll Result

How much cash do you have set aside for a financial emergency?

• More than $4000 (65%)
• Less than $100 (11%)
• $1000 to $1999 (10%)
• $2000 to $4000 (6%)
• $500 to $999 (5%)
• $100 to $499 (3%)

More than 400 people chimed in to answer last week’s question. While a recent Fed study found that 47% of Americans had less than $400 of emergency savings on hand, the results of my unscientific poll had happier results, with 2 in 3 respondents saying that have more than $4000 on hand to handle a financial emergency. Even so, I’m sorry to see that 11% said they have less than $100 available, and almost 1 in 5 overall have less than $1000. Very scary.

Other Useless News

Here are the top — and bottom — five states in terms of the average number of pages viewed per visit here at Len Penzo dot Com over the past 30 days:

1. New Hampshire (2.32 pages/visit)
2. Utah (2.22)
3. Indiana (2.21)
4. Alaska (2.20)
5. Idaho (2.11)

46. Rhode Island (1.59)
47. Wyoming (1.58)
48. Louisiana (1.52)
49. Iowa (1.50)
50. Montana (1.41)

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Letters, I Get Letters

Every week I feature the most interesting question or comment — assuming I get one, that is. And folks who are lucky enough to have the only question in the mailbag get their letter highlighted here whether it’s interesting or not! You can reach out to me at: Len@LenPenzo.com

After reading an article here explaining why people shouldn’t be embarrassed about being frugal, Les Conyers added this:

I’ve chosen to be frugal and I’m proud of it. The Joneses are broke, busted and disgusting!

And yet, Les, so many people insist on keeping up with them anyway.

I’m Len Penzo and I approved this message.

Photo Credits: brendan-c