Krugman: Falling Wages

[ProSense]

Falling Wages

Ugh. That was a seriously ugly jobs report (pdf). Almost no job creation, with slow private-sector growth offset by falling public-sector employment; a falling employment-population ratio; and (I don’t know how many people have picked this up), an actual decline in wages, albeit a small one.

<...>

It’s important to realize, by the way, that stagnant wages are NOT good for recovery; all they do is ensure that the burden of debt relative to income remains high, keeping demand and employment down.

The situation cries out for aggressively expansionary monetary and fiscal policy. Instead, however, all the political push is in the opposite direction.

This is working out just the way corporate America and the GOP want it to.

[ShockediSay]

1. See all the job creation you get with tax cuts for Top Two%? nt

[Cali_Democrat]

6. Remarkable, isn't it?

[PATRICK]

2. This is as surprising

as the quicker signs of global warming.

The phony bubble created by permitting the housing crisis crimes bursts. Immediately people are thrown out of jobs and consequently homes that have lost all equity.

Congress finally swings into action and after long bloviating bail out...the crooks held to no account, no penalties, and as it turns out, only a moratorium on top bonuses while their stocks soar. The largesse to them flows overseas for slave labor making goods maybe just cheap enough to keep Americans spending. Those who can.

The stimulus for those consumers takes enough time to meet conveniently rising prices that swallow up that pittance even as wages go down, more jobs and homes lost(gee, the housing help to consumers is unspent because the banks won't cooperate because the consumers are a bad risk in the spiraling toilet flush economy the corporations have "invigorated". Stocks bobble back up to par(pre-crash numbers backed by phonier paper) with the same results named above.

Even so, the meager Keynesian token, even up against stagnant and falling wages, fewer jobs, at least get the real blood flowing as it exits the two puncture wounds in the neck. The nation, in its MSM trance-like discussions zombie-like begins to have its brain and soul suffused with the commanding power of the undead masters. It transforms to feed on each other with the same imitative nature, fighting to retain life even so.

The eventual problem is not enough blood and money, so far as the overlords and government stooges are concerned. Unnaturally, of course, these must be created and redirected to keep the Undead alive. So naturally a people's stimulus is needed. By the time that giveaway arrives- taken from the retirement fund so said fund is only a burden on later insufficient people taxation the same way that emergency care catches the castoffs of health insurance vampires- the prices are adjusted to suck it up up and away into corporate profits- as wages go down, jobs lost.

When the blood finally can't be profitably sucked up and the planet itself is becoming overpopulated with the little guy undead, the major vampires organize intramural wars and feasting to keep them away from themselves. They pay a small herd of servants, Blackwater guards, to feed upon and guard their hidden coffins from the really feckless disunited Hunters whose stakes are prohibited by the Vampire Judges, whose crosses are in the care of false Christian friends and whose holy water is bought up under the control of corporations. Eventually they will all die, but the Hunger rules all until death is the only dogma.

The analogy went on way too long, but then so has the clear nature of this rape. In fact there are no hunters, just your all too typical vampire victims that we, ironically, have no sympathy for because of their fear, stupidity and inability to reason or learn. But everyone enjoys the movie, "Capitalism", and no one takes it too seriously because it always seems to be happening to someone other than us. That it is happening to us reveals the strength of denial when the predator's teeth first touch our own throat.

Such are the things discussed on DU and as with our insights on the oil wars, we are still the victims with a little bit of fight and too much knowledge to surrender to the hypnotism all at once.

[Hand_With_Eyes]

3. Wages = demand

This is what supply side economics does. It isn't capitalism, there is no demand and the difference between the supply and wages is represented by borrowing, hence the automatic deficits.

Economists have always predicted that supply side economics would cause wages to drop. We saw it under Bush and we see it now that Bush has been extended.

[pscot]

4. At least food prices

are rising rapidly.

[high density]

5. Where do we go from here?

Wages low
Taxes low
Interest rates practically zero

If Corporate America won't hire under these conditions, they will never hire.

I don't understand what else the government is realistically supposed to do to encourage hiring.

[Telly Savalas]

7. Here's an article that has some pretty harsh implicit criticisms of Obama

that are based in fact.

But it sinks because of all the "Obama intends to kill SS" bullshit.

Due to the complete lack of focus it's fostering, it's becoming really hard not to question either the motives or intelligence of the people pushing this bullshit.

[ProSense]

8. Delete n/t