The Financial Meltdown of 2008: A Fundamentals Approach

Presents a fundamentals interpretation of the Financial Meltdown of 2008. Attributes it to two innovations, namely factory automation and outsourcing, both of which contributed to lowering the wage income to GDP ratio, thus resulting in underincome. Underincome describes a situation in which markets are unable to monetize output (profits being a residual form of income), leading to stagnation, recession and ultimately, depression. Financial innovation begun in earnest in the early 1980's attempted to correct the underlying weakness. Consumer credit would shore up product markets. This policy worked for a quarter century (1983-2008), but was cut short by (i) the over-endebtedness of consumers and (ii) the collapse of the housing market. Discusses the various options available to the Obama Administration.