Pat C

Employment Outlook Isn't as Bright as Slate's Daniel Gross Thinks

I am an unemployed professional and let me give you an analogy of what I am experiencing at the street level.
It is like your standing at a crowded train station with all the other unemployed. The train is slowly moving into the station with all the employed folks inside. The employed are playing musical chairs in each of the train cars to see who is the next unemployed. When the train pulls into the station the doors slide open quickly and the new unemployed get off. The doors close quickly but one of of the unemployed at the station finds a way to squeeze thru one of the doors.

Roubini on Unemployment: 'The Worst Is Yet to Come'

This is a great post and links were the same. Direct job creation and thinking out of the box. We have a short term problem and a much bigger long term structural problem.

Time for the U.S. Economy to Reindustrialize

Great article and comments. Please keep it up and spread the word.

Despite What You May Have Heard, There's Hiring Going On

Dr. Bill, you don't have a clue. Get out on the street yourself, maybe apply for some on line - you can even use your impressive PHD. Let us know what you find.

The Real Reasons Behind Our 'Stupidity Economy'

Good rant and good rant by User 353732! We must vote no incumbents back into political office and be sure the national political parties know it. Sure wish we had an organized national effort to make this clear.

Unemployment by the Numbers: Layoffs Since November 1

This is a classic description of deflation. This is what we are headed into, no matter what Bernanke and friends have to say or do. We're going down into the forge, and it won't be easy. We have to be re-made, we have to have our weak metal reforged into a new and better sword.
Well spoken Mr. Clark, you get it, now for the rest of us.

Parsing Today's Jobless Report: Initial Claims Remain Elevated, Continuing Claims Slowly Descend

Does anyone track "new business formation"? That would be an interesting statistic and would provide a comparison for the birth/death unemployment adjustments.

The Global Oil Scam: 50 Times Bigger than Madoff

Isn't GS simply an auctioneer or a bookie? The name of their game is to keep the game going so they can get their fee (vigorish). The vig needs to be paid by somebody and since supply out trumps demand we the people pick up the tab.

David Rosenberg - Unemployment Rate Headed Higher than Anticipated

"Moreover, a recent poll released by Gallup today says that Republicans have now edged ahead of Democrats for 2010."


I hope this is more of an anti-incumbent message than a pro-republican. Bloomberg has good article about a Pew study. I wish we had more independents running for office. National parties and Washington in general is just not getting it.

What if U.S. Social Fabric Tears?

JeffDB, Sorry for not getting back sooner. We need to replace "Capitalist Democracy" with "Social Democracy". Pure capitalism ("free markets") will never be achieved because it is inherently unstable because capital begets more capital ultimately creating anarchy and thus requiring revolutionary change.

Capitalism works great in a small business environment full of innovation and competition. When industries, companies or governments become too big and/or privileged "free markets" break down. Moreover, global commerce operating in nation states create instability within the individual states.

We should formally recognize these limitations and conflicts and adjust our democracy accordingly. This was already done in the 1930's. We should bring back Glass-Stegall and re-establish the original goals of the Federal Trade Commission. Finally, full labor utilization is what drives consumption, taxes and commerce generally. It should be what we "solve for" not just another input to a return on capital calculation.

I have no ideological bias other than that we are a nation of equality in principal.

U.S. Wages Are Out of Balance, As We Well Know

I really don't believe that minimum wage laws are the problem unless one makes the argument that this base rate pushes other higher rates higher. The minimum wage is really poverty right now unless we have some serious deflation. We really need to look at this from a new perspective. For example, what would the results be if we solved for stable employment rather than return on invested capital? I am not suggesting any ideology (socialism) but economic stability depends on flow of money rather than the return on money. I would like to see some plain english comparisons.

What if U.S. Social Fabric Tears?

JeffDB, the "free market" mantra is getting stale and stinky. They aren't effecient and they certainly aren't "free".

What if U.S. Social Fabric Tears?

This a brave and thoughtful article, thank you we need more of them. Like Hurricane Katrina, this "Great Recession" is exposing an under belly of America that many of us would prefer not to see. It certainly has made me look hard and long and I don't like what I see. Greed and its complement; Moral Hazard has infected our society and it is working it's way from the top down to the all important middle. All societies have the elite and the poor. What has distinguishes us here in America is our middle class and it has been a beacon for other societies around the world.

What is unique about today compared to previous economic downturns is communication capability. Up to now Americans' have respected our rule of law and, quite frankly, I am astounded that there has not been much, much more social disorder. I am personally ready for a revolution, but, like others, I am not going to start one. It will be interesting to see if or when we hit a tipping point.

Why Won't Obama Just Create the Jobs?

What the government can do is designate jobs and industries that cannot be outsourced. Everyone should be either working or training for the next job. For training to be successful individuals need to be sure they are not wasting their time. We need to get our heads out of the sand on this issue. Individuals feel powerless after a period of time and they begin to feel hopeless. Nationally we need to determine what we want for our Country for the future (ie. alternative energy) and encourage businesses to make the investments in the people to do it and our education system needs to get on-board. Unemployment compensation is a nice thing but people want jobs.

What if World Governments Had Washed Their Hands of the Financial Crisis?

Bondholder's of the banks should have taken losses before general taxpayers. Much of the problem is due to the expanded debt market. If all banks, and other businesses for that matter, would have used equity financing this would not have happened. Our obsession with return on equity, economic value added etc. etc. allowed number crunching to take precedence over sound business practices.