American Today

American in the last three Years

   
                January 2009        TODAY    % chg        Source
   
Avg. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S.    $1.83        $3.85        84%        1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)    $43..48    $99..02    127.7%    2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)    $38..74    $91..38    135.9%    2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL    $3.56        $6.33        78.1%        2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL        $9.66        $13..75    42.3%        2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. Fob    $13..37    $35..39    164.7%    2
Unemployment rate, non-farm,     7.6%        9.4%        23.7%        3
Unemployment rate, blacks        12.6%        15.8%        25.4%        3
Number of unemployed        11,616,000    14,485,000    24.7%        3
Number of fed. Employees        2,779,000    2,840,000    2.2%        3
Real median household income    $50,112    $49,777    -0.7%        4
Number of food stamp recipients    31,983,716    43,200,878    35.1%        5
unemployment benefit recipients    7,526,598    9,193,838    22.2%        6
Number of long-term unemployed    2,600,000    6,400,000    146.2%    3
Poverty rate, individuals        13.2%        14.3%        8.3%        4
People in poverty in U.S.        39,800,000    43,600,000    9.5%        4
U.S. Rank Economic Freedom World Rankings  5    9        n/a        10
Present Situation Index        29.9        23.5        -21.4%    11
Failed banks                140        164        17.1%        12
U.S. Dollar vs Japanese yen         89.76        82.03        -8.6%        2
U.S. Money supply, M1, in billions    1,575.1    1,865.7    18.4%        13
U.S. Money supply, M2, in billions    8,310.9    8,852.3    6.5%        13
National debt, in trillions        $10..627    $14..052    32.2%        14

Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate
more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history.
Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking,
if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH
and a car rockets past you in the left lane.
27 times faster, it would be doing 7,555 MPH!
Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration        (2) Wall Street Journal
(3) Bureau of Labor Statistics            (4) Census Bureau
(5) USDA                        (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor
(7) FHFA                        (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller
(9) RealtyTrac                    (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ   
(11) The Conference Board
(12) FDIC
(13) Federal Reserve
(14) U.S. Treasury