In his latest column Paul Krugman reiterates the point I’ve been making for more than a year now:
Friday’s employment report wasn’t bad. But given how depressed our economy remains, we really should be adding more than 300,000 jobs a month, not fewer than 200,000.
and generally get dinged for.
I know that some people believe that our “new normal” is completely due to technological obsolescence but I just don’t see it. I tend to look at phenomena in terms of changes, I don’t see changes over the last six years that can explain what we’re experiencing.
I can see declines in economic activity over that period so that’s where I tend to look for solutions. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration certainly appears to be much more interested in controlling economic activity than in promoting it. I’m not sure what the Republican opposition is interested in other than defeating Obama. The track record of the late Bush Administration doesn’t to any great interest in goosing economic activity, at least not to my eye.
Something like 326,000 full time jobs were LOST last month. The overall gain was because of part-time employment growth (in numbers) outpacing full-time employment losses. Anyone really believe this is good for the economy long term? I mean, other than Obama and his legions of voters? (Including Krugman, who called last month a good report.)
Overall, we’re down over five million full-time jobs since June 2007, according to Mish’s site. Outstanding work, everyone. Or not, as the case may be….
@Icepick
Fewer, lower paying full-time jobs is the goal. Surely that’s obvious to everyone at this point.
Fewer, lower paying full-time jobs is the goal. Surely that’s obvious to everyone at this point.
It’s clear that they want fewer, lower paying PART-TIME jobs. And fuck-all more foreigners to make certain it stays that way.
I’ll go back to lurker-mode now, so as not to offend anyone’s delicate sensibilities by pointing out that they are on the side of devils.
Just remember, you bastards, that you voted for fewer and fewer full-time jobs, and that you want everyone else to be sniveling peasants. Fuck you all with chainsaws.
Conservatives are right in the wrong way. There is a goal of making people more dependent on government, by reducing their wages to an unsustainable level. The irony is conservatives champion low-wage policies, thereby advancing the very thing they claim to oppose.
Corporatists benefit because every less dollar paid to a worker is another dollar to line the pockets of the extremely wealthy. A worker in a deflationary environment is also more likely to keep their “place” and not get uppity as their bosses abuse them. After all, they have nowhere else to go.