>Joanna wrote:
>
>
>>10% loss in wages. I guess that's half the story. The other half would
>>be what things cost (in real dollars) that you spend those wages on.
>>Things like
>>
>> --housing
>> --health care
>> --food
>> --education
>> --transportation
>> --taxes (fed, state, ss, disablity)
>>
>>
>
>It is interesting that *not* on this list is--foreign tourism.
>Rightly so-- because for American workers, with at most two weeks
>vacation, international travel has always been an unattainable
>luxury, its ever increasing inaffordability has little impact on
>their standard of living. Meanwhile popular tourism has become an
>ever-increasing part of the
>living standard in every civilized industrial country.
>
Yes, I knew my life savings were doomed when I read Greenspan's easy
money justified in terms of how many people in the U.S. had mortgages vs
how many had passports.
My mother was shocked to learn that her French friends had a travel allowance as part of their retirement benefits. Far fucking out!
My solution is to travel like a student: Eat with the natives and sleep in hostels. Works pretty good.
Joanna