In Austin, it is becoming more and more apparent just how bad the economy is becoming and how bad it has already gotten. Just outside of the city center live some of the homeless people in the city who stay and huddle together in an effort to help each other and to demonstrate just how bad it has become. Because they are not allowed to set up tents and in many cases are left wanting for food and shelter they stay as near to the city center as possible.

Why Did This Happen

As is the case in many of the larger metropolis’s around the country the major problem is the fact that there are just not a lot of different opportunities that are out there. The biggest reason that people feel the market is so bad for jobs. They need to have 3-4 jobs just to survive is the lack of manufacturing jobs that are currently available. The feeling is that there are just not a lot of opportunities for people to make enough money to survive at one job and that they are being paid such low wages compared to the cost of goods that they need to work multiple jobs.

Consider the fact that before World War II 30 percent of jobs in Austin was in manufacturing, today that number is at 9 percent. We are spending so much time offshore receiving goods and importing that we do not make anything for ourselves anymore. The only way to get better is to start being self-reliant.