Having grown up in a nation where the mantras were about the American Dream, economic growth and “new and improved” products, the news is weird these days.

Instead of:

• Ads urging us to buy this or that, six of nine of the full
  page ads in the main edition of the Sunday September 18 Los Angeles Times were
  devoted to solicitations to buy gold, silver, coins, jewelry.
• Banks urging us to deposit our money, banks are discouraging
  customers by slashing interest rates. As stated in the Los Angeles Times by E.
  Scott Reckard, “Banks don’t want your money.”
• American household income growing, the Census Bureau reports
  that household incomes have dropped over 10 percent since 2000. In 2000, after
  adjusting for inflation was $53,164. Last year’s census found it had fallen to $49,445.
• The suburbs and the middle class lifestyle being synonymous,
  the 2010 Census reveals that one-third of the nation’s poor live in suburbs. That’s
  more than live in the nation’s central cities.

The key to reversing these trends is finding our way to a sustainable economy where there is work and  jobs.

In future weeks, I will suggest some ideas for creating jobs fortoday and jobs for tomorrow.

Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.