Your Household's Share Of The September 2008 Economic Collapse: $104,350

Here's some cheery news from "The Consumerist". Follow link to original



Your Household's Share Of The September 2008 Economic Collapse: $104,350
By Meg Marco on May 25, 2010 12:39 AM 0 views


A recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts tallies up each US household's share in the economic collapse. Your household's share? $104,350. That includes lost income, government bailouts, and both reduced home values and reduced stock values.

Pew says:

" * Income - The financial crisis cost the U.S. an estimated $648 billion due to slower economic growth, as measured by the difference between the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) economic forecast made in September 2008 and the actual performance of the economy from September 2008 through the end of 2009. That equates to an average of approximately $5,800 in lost income for each U.S. household.

* Government Response - Federal government spending to mitigate the financial crisis through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) will result in a net cost to taxpayers of $73 billion according to the CBO. This is approximately $2,050 per U.S. household on average.

* Home Values - The U.S. lost $3.4 trillion in real estate wealth from July 2008 to March 2009 according to the Federal Reserve. This is roughly $30,300 per U.S. household. Further, 500,000 additional foreclosures began during the acute phase of the financial crisis than were expected, based on the September 2008 CBO forecast.

* Stock Values - The U.S. lost $7.4 trillion in stock wealth from July 2008 to March 2009, according to the Federal Reserve. This is roughly $66,200 on average per U.S. household.

* Jobs - 5.5 million more American jobs were lost due to slower economic growth during the financial crisis than what was predicted by the September 2008 CBO forecast."