The US reminds me of the Monty Python sketch where they invent a new type of building that only stays up if everyone believes in it.

The US reminds me of Disney...very superficial...nothing is what is seems to be on the surface.

I think it's detached from reality. For example the pension and healthcare obligations of state and local governments are out of control in their underfunding. But most people seem completely oblivious to it even after cities like Stockton and Detroit went bankrupt. I like the "can do" attitude here as well - especially in contrast to the UK - but it has its downsides.

So the USA in itself is a kind of 'aspirational' pyramid/ponzi scheme, just like AMWAY?

Pretty much.

Unfortunately, social mobility in the US is now actually less than in many western European countries (the UK also fares badly on this score) so the "aspirational" bit is under strain too.

They certainly need to pull more and more suckers in at the bottom.

When the gas gets cut off I can cut some trees down, you are stuck with me

Unsustainable debt, and it is in the USA, can end in only three ways:
1. Default (also called freezing the assets of nations newly discovered to be rogue nations)
2. Hyperinflation
3. Isolationism (also called self-sufficiency).
I expect we will see all three in large measure.

The UK is different in that self-sufficiency is not really an option when all industries except so-called "financial services" have been decimated and there are no huge natural resources.

The one thing Britain does have that other nations do not is that it is surrounded exceptionally valuable seas and sea level is rising faster than any of the experts predict. Let's just hope we don't them screw up on a Fukushima scale.

Interesting stats breaking down inflation into categories especially with regard to wages not keeping up with the inflation of consumer essentials, and not just keeping up, but lagging far behind. That's got to hurt many people long term.

Not as heavy a read as it first appears......

http://www.tullettprebon.com/announc...IN20130220.pdf

Indeed, there is a cost of living crisis brewing in the UK which is currently getting worse.

This is not just in the UK though, it's definitely here in the US too.

When you live beyond your means, it catches up with you eventually. And that is exactly what almost all western countries have been doing. The real question is not whether there's a cost of living "crisis", but what is being done to make a country more competitive in the face of this situation?

Maybe, but looking at the title of this thread we're talking about the UK

The point in using comparison with other countries is to demonstrate that it may be bad but its not really worse than many other countries!!!!!!!

But that doesn't help a person in one country being squeezed with the cost of living increasing to a crisis level. It's not like they would say "look at those people in that country, they're having a tough time too - that makes me feel better about it".