By Michael Snyder
If the U.S. economy is doing just fine, why have we already shattered the all-time record for retail store closings in a single year? Whenever I write about our “retail apocalypse”, many try to counter my arguments by pointing out the growing dominance of Amazon. And I certainly can’t deny that online shopping is on the rise, but it still accounts for less than 10 percent of total U.S. retail sales. No, something bigger is happening in our economy, and it isn’t receiving nearly enough attention from the mainstream media.
Back in 2008, a plummeting economy absolutely devastated retailers and it resulted in an all-time record of 6,163 retail stores being closed that year.
So far in 2017, over 6,700 stores have been shut down and we still have nearly two months to go! The following comes from CNN…
More store closings have been announced in 2017 than any other year on record.
Since January 1, retailers have announced plans to shutter more than 6,700 stores in the U.S., according to Fung Global Retail & Technology, a retail think tank.
That beats the previous all-time high of 6,163 store closings, which hit in 2008 amid the financial meltdown, according to Credit Suisse (CS).
Just within the last week, we have learned that Sears is closing down another 60 stores, and Walgreens announced that it intends to close approximately 600 locations.
Overall, about 300 retailers have declared bankruptcy so far in 2017, and we are on pace to lose over 147 million square feet of retail space by the end of the year.
Oh, but it is all Amazon’s fault, right?
Meanwhile, mainstream news outlets are reporting that homelessness is “exploding” out on the west coast.
For instance, we are being told that there are “400 unauthorized tent camps” in the city of Seattle alone…
Housing prices are soaring here thanks to the tech industry, but the boom comes with a consequence: A surge in homelessness marked by 400 unauthorized tent camps in parks, under bridges, on freeway medians and along busy sidewalks. The liberal city is trying to figure out what to do.
But I thought that the Seattle economy was doing so well.
I guess not.
Down in San Diego, they are actually scrubbing the sidewalks with bleachbecause the growing homeless population is spreading hepatitis A everywhere…
San Diego now scrubs its sidewalks with bleach to counter a deadly hepatitis A outbreak. In Anaheim, 400 people sleep along a bike path in the shadow of Angel Stadium. Organizers in Portland lit incense at an outdoor food festival to cover up the stench of urine in a parking lot where vendors set up shop.
Over the past two years, “at least 10 cities or municipal regions in California, Oregon and Washington” have declared a state of emergency because homelessness has gotten so far out of control.
Does that sound like a healthy economy to you?
The truth is that the financial markets have been doing great since the last financial crisis, but the real economy has never really recovered in any sort of meaningful way.
With each passing day, more Americans fall out of the middle class, and the homeless populations in major cities all over the nation continue to grow.
We truly are in the midst of a long-term economic collapse, and if we don’t find a way to fix things our problems will just continue to accelerate.
So don’t be fooled by the mainstream media. They may be trying to convince you that everything is just wonderful, but that is not the reality that most people are facing at all.
Would it be Un-PC of me to ask what percentage of the homeless are Illegal ……..
Doubtful. I’ve never seen it, and every Mexican I know is a hard worker. In fact, EVERY house being built in the communities here are nearly 100% Latino crews. Just my observation.
The growing ‘homeless’ are those that could no longer afford the exploding rents. My place got turned over to a well-known ripoff prop’ mgnt’ company. While he drives an Escalade, a Z8 James Bond BMW, and just bought a $250,000 race car, the rest of us spend our time working to make the 55%+ rent increases.
I know more and more people who have no idea what to do or where to go. Move to another state? Got $5000+ ready to go and get started. New job? Where? Doing what? Not much out there to be had in this 4.1% unemployment ‘recovery’ – with nearly 100 million out of work.
360 million people. 100 million out of work. 4.1% unemployment? New Math?
Same here, although the immigration problem is not as bad, housing is becoming and issue as the only people buying houses are investors, or those with good paying jobs.
People need their parents to take out equity in their paid off house to help their kids get one, and now they have home share programs where you and the government hold hands and buy a house together. You pay the down payment and all these fees and charges, and the government will give up to $59,000 for the house, but they own that equity, so if you sell, you must pay them back the PERCENTAGE of the value, so if house prices go up, so does the amount you pay them back…..you also must pay them back the percentage of the value within 30 years, or they will sell it and take their cut.
The key is it must be a brand new house being built, and you have never been a home owner before. Basically the government is being like a parasite and trying to leech off the price rise. They have now said we “need more people” on my Island, because “Growth is good”…..all this will do is raise rents and house prices more! The constant need for growth due to banker debts is killing countries and forcing people onto the streets.
Pretty soon they will just start taking people “away” from the streets never to be heard of again, in fact it’s probably happening already.
They usually have a plethora of relatives to live at so they are not homeless. It’s the hard working WHITE folks that go homeless when rents are jacked up and they have a small financial emergency to take care of and end up on the street for want of a kind relative to live with.
Seeing that more and more.
This what happens when the whole economy is sent off shore to prevent paying a decent wage. Very few have the money to buy their cheap crap made with third world slaves.
Why is it when a 1998 and 2000 Honda Civic with over 180K miles is advertised on Craigslist it has a hoard of callers to buy it at $1,500? A 18 and 20 year old car? Could it be that folks just don’t have any money anymore for brand new or newer cars?