Hollow Demographics

The Economist Magazine ran an article on the hollowing out of the USA job force. They indicated that the new jobs becoming available are at the top end or the bottom end of the pay scale. People at the upper end will save their money and invest it. It is possible that their investments will be made abroad. People at the lower end have to constantly trim their budgets and decrease their style of living.

This will cause regular drops in consumer spending. More and more people will join the underground economy to stay afloat. This will impair the government’s ability to provide basic services. Cuts in education are exacerbating the situation. Military spending puts some money into the economy, but it does not improve infrastructure or educational levels. In many cases the spending is for weapons systems that will never be used. In other instances the materials just get blown up.

A serious investment in education and infrastructure could be made with the money that is currently going for defense. This is not a new idea. The interstate highway system was build as the Nation Defense Transportation system. More spending on education would reduce the spending on prisons. The Republicans do not want an educated population, because they would not be quite as susceptible to Fox news and Rush Limbaugh.

David Segrest, CCIM, CIPS, CEA, TRC, is a REALTOR in Charlotte NC. His web page is http://www.segrestrealty.com. His email address is david@segrestrealty.com.