Food-Stamp Nation

Mish Shedlock, as always, knows how to paint the picture accurately from both the macro to micro level. He understands that the economy is not about numbers, but about people, culture, behavior, ethics. Look to your right on this page, and allow him to enlighten you.

This post is especially telling.

Quoting below:

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Food stamp usage is up again except the program is now called SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Inquiring minds are looking at a SNAP Participation Table that shows a record 39,430,724 receive SNAP benefits, a 22.4% increase from a year ago.

Biggest State Increases

Arizona - 32.9%
Colorado - 32.9%
Florida - 38.6%
Idaho - 45.7%
Nevada - 46.9%
Rhode Island - 42.4%
South Dakota - 32.6%
Utah - 37.3%
Wisconsin - 38.9%
Wyoming - 40.0%

Those numbers are as of January 2010

Households

Household SNAP participants increased from 12,728,981 in Fiscal Year 2008 to 15,232,105 in fiscal year 2009, a 16.4% increase. For comparison purposes, watch the growth in household participation.

SNAP Household Participation

FY 2005 - 11,197,377
FY 2006 - 11,734,491
FY 2007 - 11,789,594
FY 2008 - 12,728,981
FY 2009 - 15,232,105

Cost of SNAP Program

FY 2005 - $31.07 Billion
FY 2006 - $32.91 Billion
FY 2007 - $33.19 Billion
FY 2008 - $37.66 Billion
FY 2009 - $53.63 Billion

Household and cost numbers are as of March 30, 2010.

Clearly the recession took its toll, and will continue to do so until there is a dramatic decrease in the unemployment rate.


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Since Uncle Sam spent far less in the aggregate of the years cited on keeping people fed than on keeping firms like Freddie, Fannie, AIG, GMAC, Chrysler and GM on life support in 2008 and 2009, (and let's not forget the banks), let's not quibble about numbers. People in large groups who don't have enough to eat or feed their children do desperate and unpleasant things, and listen to people who advocate desperate and unpleasant things.  Ask Marie Antoinette...

Still, we have constructed a culture that begins to look a bit like Louis XVI: Massive wealth and luxury flowing to fewer and fewer people connected to the court in Paris, small family business enterprise increasingly bled dry, a large proportion just barely hanging on beneath them (because small business can't expand and hire), and an intellectual/political elite out of touch with reality.

Stir gently, add a tablespoon of accelerant, heat slowly.

We don't want this to happen.

The glorious revolution of the 1790's was followed by the Napoleonic bloodbath, which was followed by...which was followed by...