<story><title>Americans are 40% poorer than before the recession</title><url>http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-are-40-poorer-than-before-the-recession-2014-12-12</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>hawkice</author><text>Calculating how poor people are based on comparing against a time known to have unrealistically high and unsustainable housing prices, which made up a very large portion of net worth, seems like clickbait. We haven&amp;#x27;t re-entered a housing bubble massive enough to make every a paper millionaire. We shouldn&amp;#x27;t sulk about that.</text></comment>
<story><title>Americans are 40% poorer than before the recession</title><url>http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-are-40-poorer-than-before-the-recession-2014-12-12</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>pvnick</author><text>&amp;quot;The recession is over&amp;quot; has always struck me a political double-speak. We never left the recession; mainstream America just collectively forgot how it felt to have enough money. We have become accustomed to the 60 hour work weeks for folks fortunate enough to have jobs, chronic unemployment for those unfortunate enough to work outside of tech, the cheaper processed food, the increasing debt, and the lower standard of living. Being poor is the new norm, and &amp;quot;the recession is over&amp;quot; translates to &amp;quot;get used to it buddy, it&amp;#x27;s not getting any better.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;Given that&amp;#x27;s the case, I wonder what the phrase &amp;quot;double dip recession&amp;quot; we hear thrown around referring to impending repeat economic troubles actually translates into?</text></comment>