1. THIS IS THE STORY OF THE GREAT RECESSION & THE NEXT BUBBLE THAT WILL LIKELY BURST

2. The wealthiest 10 percent of U. S
The wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households have captured a whopping 76 percent of all the wealth in America. And that number is considerably higher than in other rich nations, as the chart below shows:

3. SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
Let's imagine that there are just 100 people in the United States. The richest guy -- and, yes, he's probably a guy -- owns more than one-third of the total wealth in this country. He's got a third of all the property, a third of the stock market and a third of anything else that can be owned.
The next-richest four people together own 28 percent of all the stuff. Divvied up four ways that's still not too shabby. The next five people together own 14 percent of all the things, and the next 10 own another 12 percent.

4. The top 10 percent now takes half of the national income, up from a third in That’s a level of inequality on par with Jamaica and Argentina, and such concentrated wealth leads to more frequent recessions, higher household debt and growing cynicism and despondency.

5. For the bottom 90% of Americans, average incomes have grown by ONLY a factor of 3 since 1917 and have been in a state of decline since the start of the 21st century. Part of the problem is that educational achievement has stalled and more education no longer necessarily leads to higher income.

6. Elusive foreclosure fixes put homeowners on housing hold
Five years after the mortgage meltdown sparked a wave of home foreclosures, millions of Americans are still in housing limbo, battling to save their homes despite government programs meant to help them.

7. WHAT CAUSES RECESSIONS?
Economic recessions are caused by a decline in GDP growth, which is itself caused by a slowdown in manufacturing orders, falling housing prices and sales, and a drop-off in business investment.

8. SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The result of this slowdown is falling employment, and rising unemployment, which causes a slowdown in retail sales. This creates a downward spiral in manufacturing and increased layoffs.

9. WHAT CAUSED THE GREAT RECESSION?
The foreclosure crisis is the immediate crisis for triggering of a crisis of astronomical proportions that has come to be termed the “The Great Recession.” The sub-prime mortgages leading to tumbling foreclosures can be regarded as the immediate cause, but there are deeper underlying reasons.

10. CONSUMER DEBTS REACHED UNSUSTAINABLE LEVELS
This has caused the economy to downsize itself to the proper levels equal to the income of the consumers.

11. THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM WAS ABUSED BY THOSE IN POWER RESULTING IN HUGE LOSSES

12. THE GAP BETWEEN THE “HAVES” AND “HAVE NOTS” BECAME TOO LARGE

13. Top 1 percent took record share of US income in 2012
The pay gap between the richest 1 percent and the rest of America widened last year, making a record.
The top 1 percent of U.S. earners collected 19.3 percent of household income in 2012, their largest share in Internal Revenue Service figures going back a century.

14. 50% OF AMERICA CONTROLS LESS THAN 3% OF OUR NATIONAL WEALTH

15. A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244

16. HOW CAN WE PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN?

17. 1) FIX THE TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL RULE
The Volcker Rule, proposed by former Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker, would separate government-insured commercial lending from risky trading operations. We need firewalls and federally backed commercial lending. Banks need the markets to fund risky trading—not individual depositors. This would limit taxpayer liability, but is has yet to be done.

18. 2) LIMIT THE LEVERAGE
When banks do business with higher ratios of debt, it can multiply the negative effect on the economy when trades go bad. Regulators could require banks to use 20-30% of their own money to do their daily business. Banks should gamble with their own money rather than other peoples money.

19. 3) EXPOSE WEAPONS OF MASS FINANCIAL DESTRUCTION
Stricter regulation of derivatives, which would bring approximately half of interest-rate swaps under public scrutiny, via central clearinghouses, would reduce risk by making it more difficult for banks and hedge funds to continue high risk trades of complex securities, such as foreign exchange derivatives, in international markets. Bring these trades out of the darkness and into the light so people can better understand the risks involved.

20. 4) BRING SHADOW BANKING INTO THE LIGHT
Enact stricter rules for money-market fund trades to make them safer. “Shadow Banking,” The shadow banking system or the shadow financial system consists of non-bank financial institutions that play an increasingly critical role in lending businesses the money necessary to operate.

21. 5) REBOOT THE CULTURE OF FINANCE
The U.S. economy, through a process known as “financialization,” has become too embedded in and beholden to the Wall Street Culture. Banks role was originally intended to lend money to real people and businesses as opposed to engaging in exotic and highly speculative financial ventures. Credit Rating Agencies should be totally independent and their ratings ought to reflect the true level of risk involved in various types of investments.