Submitted by John House, Jan 23, 2008 20:30

-- the diminishing value of work in the United States
-- the diminishing return on savings in the United States

I am surprised that the entry level wages for many positions are stagnant or actually declining. This means that the ability for an income earner to consistently save is diminished. In this context, businesses are prudent to lay off existing workers and replace them with entry level workers, and they might do this consistently.

The stimulus packages and rate hikes reduce return on savings instruments, which can encourage borrowing in a matter that is not related to expected income streams to satisfy that debt.

We are losing important incentives for consumers to defer immediate gratification in expectation of a better situation. Because we are in a global economy, this sort of deficit is not a stimulus to our economy, it is simply mortgaging our economy to foreign investors and concurrently reducing our capacity to repay the mortgage.

The United States needs to protect the value of its own labor force. We need to begin yesterday.

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