John Hope Bryant on financial dignity
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When the world's top economic leaders gathered last month in Davos, Switzerland, the crisis they were most worried about wasn't Greek debt, the price of oil or global trade imbalances. It was something they call a "social and economic time bomb": youth unemployment.
And if you think it's a problem that only countries like Egypt or Great Britain have to confront, you haven't seen the numbers in the U.S. lately.
The percentage of young people who have jobs in this country is near the lowest it's been since 1950. And of the young people who are working full time? They've experienced a greater drop in income over the last four years than any other group.
Kerri Miller spoke with social entrepreneur and financial literacy advocate John Hope Bryant about youth unemployment and why he believes financial dignity is the new civil rights issue.
"There's little doubt that there is a financial literacy crisis in America, with an entire economy brought to its knees by a massive case of consumer 'payment-itus,' or the most powerful economic driver (US consumers), powering the most powerful economy in the world today (still the US economy), by purchasing a home and God knows what else by asking 'what's the payment?'" Bryant wrote for the Huffington Post. "We are not talking about poor people here either -- we are talking about middle class America. Poor folks do not have $20 trillion in asset value to lose. An entire generation, who effectively aided and abetted their own economic crime, against themselves."
Video: John Hope Bryant at Global Dignity Day 2011
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