The economic catastrophe is expected to change America profoundly. And it's likely to change US politics.
According to the Pew Research Centre , Americans now have gloomier expectations about their own future and that of their children. The big difference between this downturn and others has been the surge in long term unemployment and the destruction of household wealth. There is a growing lower class of people and most expect things will take three years to recover.
But even then, some seem to think there will be no recovery. Fewer than half (45%) believe their children will be better off and 26% now say their children's standard of living will be lower.
Writing in The Telegraph, Edmund Conway says middle class families will face a triple whammy from falling pensions and retirement savings, cuts in government spending and the banking crisis. And he warns that this is will create a political crisis.
Conway writes: "The austerity budgets being imposed across Europe will mean that families are taxed more and receive less in the way of welfare and public services. Police numbers will be cut; university fees are likely to rise further. In other words, the cost of trying to live a stable, contented middle-class life will balloon. So I have one simple question: when do the politicians intend to let the public know about the fate that awaits them? The longer they put it off, the nastier the reaction, the bigger the strikes and the greater the chance that governments will fall. Don't say you weren't warned."
That can only mean one thing: the riots and protest in Spain and Greece are a taste of things to come.
no comment untill now