We’ve been drinking a lot of Kool-Aid here lately, trying to cope with everything that’s going on in the financial and real-estate world. Whether you’re a regular reader here or not, you’re probably aware by now that there’s talk in the White House about freezing adjustable interest rates to help save the ailing subprime borrowers who are stuck with ever-rising mortgage payments. We don’t know where to begin on that one, but fortunately there are a lot of other websites that go into great detail dissecting those plans (see the links at the bottom right of this site).

We’re going to do the unthinkable today and have our main post reference another blog. Perhaps we’re just lazy or just too exhausted from watching the financial mess unravel, but either way this post hits home. Over at “The Big Picture” there’s a great summary of a New York Magazine article about high end inflation.

KILOWATT HOUR OF ELECTRICITY
2003: $0.136
Percent increase: 28%
Today: $0.175

TAXI FARE FROM JFK TO MANHATTAN
2003: $35
Percent increase: 29%
Today: $45

We don’t want to spoil it and take credit for someone else’s post, but jump on over and see the whole thing for yourself. Everything has gotten more expensive in the past FOUR YEARS. Wall Street wages have significantly outpaced inflation, but what about the wages of regular working people? Not just minimum wage or blue-collar workers, but working professionals (who aren’t in the financial services industry).

We didn’t know how much the average Wall Street worker earned, but now that we do, that answers many questions about life in Manhattan. One thing we’ve noticed is that most people we’ve spoken to who work in the finance industry work well in excess of 80 hours a week and don’t have a whole lot of free time to enjoy their money. However, if you make $800,000 a year you can easily retire by the time you hit 40, assuming you don’t get wrapped up in a lifestyle that involves spending $800,000 per year.

What’s going to happen now that people are starting to make calls on all the bad debt that created the real estate bubble? Will it be enough to unravel the schemes on Wall Street and send everything back into harmony and balance?

Note: working in financial industry or real estate during a hyperinflating bubble may lead to profit! Remember this during the next round, if we can ever recover from this in our lifetime and can get to the next round

Posted by KoolAidMan on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 4:57 pm.