The misery economy

[Donnachaidh]

http://socialistworker.org/2011/05/18/the-misery-economy


CALL IT the "new normal."

The Obama administration is celebrating the government's report on jobs in April, which showed the largest monthly increase in U.S. employment in five years. This, we're told, proves the economy is finally starting to turn around for everybody.

But look below the surface, and the picture looks grim for millions and millions of those "everybodys."

Like the 6 million people who have been out of work for at least six months, according to official figures. Like all of the jobless, 14 million of them, searching for work in an economy where there's only one job opening for every four of them. Like the high school and college seniors graduating this spring who will face what the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) called "the worst job market for young workers on record."

More at the link --

[murphyj87]

1. Maybe...

Maybe you should slash the size of government as Stephen Harper did. He went from 38 cabinet ministers before to swear in 39 today.

[Donnachaidh]

3. canadian math, eh?

:rofl:

[TimLighter]

2. Ahha, the return of the Misery Index

During the Presidential campaign of 1976, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter made frequent references to the Misery Index, which by the summer of 1976 was at 13.57%. Carter stated that no man responsible for giving a country a misery index that high had a right to even ask to be President. Carter won the 1976 election. However, by 1980, when President Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan, the Misery Index had reached an all-time high of 21.98%. Carter lost the election to Reagan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_index_(economics)

Ooops, Backfire.

[murphyj87]

5. Comparison

In April, Canada had an unemployment rate of 7.6% and the US had an unemployment rate of 9.0%

In April, the US created 658 jobs per million of population­, and Canada created 1791 jobs per million of population­.

Canada has a universal single payer health care system with 4% overhead which keeps health costs low and Canadian businesses have virtually no health costs, while allowing Canadians to live 4 year longer than Americans.

The United States has an insurance run and insurance rationed health care system with 41% overhead which explodes costs and cripples American businesses with massive health costs, which kills Americans 4 years before they would die if they were Canadians.

1+1=?

[LiberalLoner]

6. I had a Canadian boyfriend when I was in high school. Shoulda married him. n/t

[LiberalLoner]

4. We are going to have to learn, as a society, to work together and help one another. We have

to care about our families, our neighborhoods, our coworkers, our cities, our states, our nation.

The corporations aren't going to help those who are hurting. What little we could depend on from the government, like social security and medicare, are going away. I don't have any hope that those programs will be there to help any of us who are under 55. Either we learn to help one another or people are going to end up dying, more than they already are I mean.

I still remember a story a friend of mine told me. She lived in a place that was nothing more than a shack, and wasn't living at all high on the hog on a secretary's salary. In the shack next door was an old man, maybe in his late 80's, who was all alone in the world. She brought him some of the stew she made, one day. She made a whole bunch of it and figured she'd see if he'd like some. When she brought it to him he cried and thanked her profusely. His cupboards were bare and he was trying to hang on until his next SS check. That bowl of stew meant the world to him. He was too proud to go to anyone to ask for help, he was just going to go hungry and that's how it was. From that day on, even though my friend didn't have much extra money herself, she was sure to pick up a couple of things for her neighbor at the grocery store and frequently cooked meals large enough to share with him.

Things are going to go from bad to worse, I'm convinced. I don't know if we are ever going to win the victories we wish we could. But there's no law that I know of against helping one another, however we can. And maybe that's the way we will say "no" to the "greed" culture.

[Bake]

7. The numbers don't count the UNDER-employed.

Suppose you were a middle manager or executive ... and now you're working in a call center. You're not UN-employed, but you're sure as hell UNDER-employed.

But they don't count you.

Bake