Where have all the jobs gone?

This is quite the tricky subject. Employment is a lagging indicator of the health of the economy. Most all other economic indicators return to normal before the employment statistics do. It’s pretty simple, employers do not invest in hiring until they are sure that their investment will pay off.

Further, it has been my experience, that some employers find that they can make do with smaller staffs, even after the economy recovers.

So, more than two full years after the Great Recession began, millions of American workers are still actively looking for work. Many more, especially older workers, have simply given up. Charitable organizations  around the country have seen their resources go beyond the breaking point.

In the past month, Senate Republicans have blocked efforts to extend unemployment benefits once again. Personally, that is the ultimate act of hypocrisy. And this is why……………

On one hand, there are those on the Right that say “there are jobs out there” and extending unemployment benefits is a deincentification for the unemployed to look for work. Yet, those same people on the Right also blame President Obama for not creating jobs!

Which is it?

Are there jobs out there? Very few, and most are quite low paying jobs. Did President Obama do enough to create jobs? Probably not. This Great Recession is unprecedented, far deeper than most could have imagined. The answers to all the questions do not come easily.

You know that times are bad when illegal immigrants are going back to Mexico to find work. Maybe NAFTA is finally working.

While there are some signs, however weak, that the economy is improving, there are also signs of a “double-dip” recession. Nationwide, housing prices have increased for the first time in forever, but the Consumer Confidence index has dropped dramatically.

I would like to think that I am intelligent enough to know some answers, but realistically, there are no answers.

Time will heal this wound, but time has a way of taking it’s sweet time.

Your take?

William Stephenson Clark

The party of , “I don’t know?”

The Rachel Maddow show last night ran clips from  Boehner interview.  In it, Boehner was asked about the gulf oil spill, and the moratorium on deep water drilling.  He stated he was against it, then stated we should stop deep water drilling until we find out what happened. He also stated there was no reason for the moratorium to include shallow water drilling. The moratorium doesn’t include shallow water drilling. So what we’re left with is the leader of the republicans in the house who is for the moratorium, but against it at the same time, and the leader of the house Republicans failing to understand what the moratorium encompasses. This is the leader of the House Republicans, folks. Brilliant! The show.

And how about Kagan?  Did she take both Sessions and Coburn to task or what? Her answer to Sessions, when he tried to get a rise out of her over the Christmas bomber with, “Where were you on Christmas day”, was classic: “Like most Jews, I was probably in a Chinese Restaurant.”  A brilliant woman for sure.

Wednesday, 6/30/10, Public Square