{"id":75944,"date":"2022-12-03T01:15:56","date_gmt":"2022-12-03T09:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=75944"},"modified":"2022-12-06T10:00:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T18:00:06","slug":"black-coffee-3-dec-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id75944-black-coffee-3-dec-2022.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Banking On Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I’ve got another busy weekend ahead of me, so let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

The first duty of a man is to think for himself.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Jose Marti<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last duty of a … banker is to tell the public the truth.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Alan Blinder<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Since 2020, Americans’ personal savings have plunged<\/a> almost 90% from $4.85 trillion to just $626 billion. That is an astounding figure and one that dovetails with additional data that shows rising credit card debt over the same period. If these two data points are the result of Americans trying to maintain their standard of living in the current economic environment during the last two years – and it almost certainly is – then many households may be in for an extremely rough ride in 2023 … in more ways than one:<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Maybe the drawdown in personal savings explains why the rush for Black Friday deals and discounts was a complete failure<\/a> this year. And the number of holiday shoppers is noticeably less from previous years. In fact, shopping mall parking lots are nearly empty in most places. Then again, when you consider it costs twice as much to fill up your tank than it did two years ago, or that grocery bills are up 50% for many people, I guess the lack of holiday shoppers fighting to save a few hundred bucks on a big screen TV really shouldn’t be so surprising. And neither should this:<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of high grocery bills, California’s participation in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program hit an all-time high<\/a> in July at 4.9 million people as of July. Today, almost 1 in 6 Californians are still on the program. What is more confusing is that the last time food stamp participation was this high, the Golden State’s unemployment rate was over 16%. Currently, it’s at 3.8% – that’s the lowest level since at least 1976. Very strange. Then again, we don’t need this<\/strong><\/em> guy to tell us those numbers don’t add up:<\/p>\n