During the early days of the pandemic, Americans were receiving stimulus checks from the government, and as a result were able to save quite a bit of money. However, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the personal savings of Americans is only $520 billion as of November 2022, marking a substantial drop from the $4.85 trillion in 2020. Savings are now below even pre-pandemic levels and with the national stockpile shrinking by $100 billion since October. Thanks to persistent inflation, sluggish economic growth and major layoffs, living paycheck to paycheck has become the norm.

In this episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied examine this worrying trend and what it means for the economy as we move into 2023.

They discuss comments from Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, in his traditional end-of-year message to staff, that layoffs will happen in the first half of January.

Chris and Saied look at a Washington Examiner article stating that recently unearthed emails show that disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried attempted to 'wine and dine' someone who, at the time, was a commissioner for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, one of several agencies that regulate cryptocurrency.

They also offer some thoughts on what might happen if the Federal Reserve hadn't pursued a policy of quantitative tightening.

Join Chris and Saied for this fascinating and informative conversation.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Learn in this Show:

• Why consumer credit card debt is up by nearly $40 billion.
• Why MarketWatch claims there's a better recession indicator than the yield curve... and why that's nonsense.
• Why Grant Cardone is a syndicator, not a 'crowdfunding maestro' (and why he's now in hot water.)
• How Sam Bankman-Fried was able to get access to a commissioner for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
• And so much more...

Resources:

"Americans' personal savings have plunged to a staggering $520 billion — from $4.85 trillion in 2020. Here are 3 easy ways to buck that dangerous downtrend" (article from Moneywise)

"Goldman Sachs will lay off staff in a matter of weeks, says CEO David Solomon" (Bloomberg via Instagram)

"Consumer Spending Is About to Get Slammed. Here’s How to Prepare." (article from Barron's)

"Home Prices Fell in October for Fourth Straight Month" (article from Wall Street Journal)

"There’s a better recession indicator than the yield curve and it is not flashing danger (yet)" (article from MarketWatch)

"This crypto engineer bought an NFT for $2.9 million, expected to sell for $48 million, and was only offered a few dollars" (Entrepreneur via Instagram)

"Man who paid $2.9m for NFT of Jack Dorsey’s first tweet set to lose almost $2.9m" (article from the Guardian)

"Sam Bankman-Fried told crypto regulator FTX was 'natural choice' to be 'umpires' of industry, emails show" (article from the Washington Examiner)

"Grant Cardone is back on the hook in a class action suit" (TheRealDeal via Instagram)

"401(k) ‘hardship’ withdrawals hit record high, Vanguard says — another sign households feel the pinch of inflation" (article from CNBC)

"Jobless benefits rolls grow but U.S. labor market remains resilient" (article from Reuters)

"Defense Spending Reaches Record High as Pentagon Fails Its Audit – For Fifth Time" (article from The Equation)