Are You Better Off Than Four Years Ago?

Exactly four years ago this month, the bottom dropped out of the U.S. economy. 

Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008. The next day, the Federal Reserve announced a bailout of AIG. Bad news continued to pile up almost daily, with the stock market collapsing and millions of jobs vanishing.

No single factor will define such a complex process as selection of a president, but none might be greater than the simple question: Are you better off than four years ago?

In Rhode Island, the state unemployment rate in August was 10.7 percent, the second highest in the country only to Nevada's 12.1 percent. Nationwide, unemployment was at 8.1 percent in August 2012.

Sales of single family homes in Rhode Island in August 2012 saw a 22 percent increase from August 2011, according to RI Living.

"Overall, another favorable month for the Rhode Island real estate market," said Jamie Moore, 2012 President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.  "Sales are up, prices are rising, and despite a few ups and downs, the distressed market has become less significant throughout the year." 

Are you better off than you were four years ago? Or is your financial life the same or worse? Can you credit a presidential administration with business' success or failure or is the state of business left to business leaders? Let us know in the comments section.