Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Everyone wants one. Too many people do not have one.
And the president wants to create them, help those without one find one and help those who cannot find one until they can.
History shows that if he does not, he might not have a job as president after the next election.
This interesting tidbit comes from The Christian Science Monitor: Since the 1940 election won by President Franklin D. Roosevelt — when the unemployment rate sat at 14.6 percent — four other people have run for president when unemployment was 7.2 percent or higher. Only one got elected — President Ronald Reagan in 1984 (7.2 percent).
Another matter with regard to jobs and the subject of much political rhetoric: manufacturing jobs.
This tidbit from the economics blog, Curios Cat: “The manufacturing share of the U.S. economy dropped from 21 percent in 1980 to 18 percent in 1990, to 16 percent in 2000 to 13 percent in 2008. Still as previous posts show, the U.S. manufacturing output has grown substantially: more than 300 percent since 1980 and 175 percent since 1990.”
So, as a percentage of the gross domestic product, manufacturing is less but the U.S. manufactures more. Where are the jobs that come with the output?
That’s hard to say, but part of the answer involves technology and replacing people with machines. No one would say, “Stop innovation.” But many are quick to say all the jobs went overseas or more likely say, “The jobs went to Mexico because of the North American Free Trade Agreement.”
Since the NAFTA agreement, manufacturing as part of GDP declined in Mexico.
And many would argue that the U.S. needs to develop an economy and jobs outside manufacturing because as hard as the country might try, it can never out-manufacture China or South Korea. Those countries are the only two in the world that have increased the percentage of GDP that comes from manufacturing.
More news: An important factor now contributing to the slow economic recovery is women and the Baby Boomers, an economist says.
The number of women with jobs is falling — and hence, they spend less — and the Baby Boomers are retiring — and hence, they spend less.
All that “tightwadness” slows the need for labor because it slows the need for goods and services, says economist James Paulsen. In fact, he thinks it is the biggest contributor to a slowdown.
What’s a president to do?
What’s Congress to do?
I think folks would like to see some ideas — beyond cutting taxes or spending money the government does not have.
Maybe you have some ideas?
Resources:
- http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/2010/06/28/…
- http://www.cato.org/research/articles/…
- http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010030902/…
- http://www.kiplinger.com/businessresource/…
- http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/…
the GOP will hold everyone hostage and obama won't be able to create more jobs. nothing will get passed this year until the republicans get their man in the white house.
Thanks for the post. You might be right. And this political chess playing could be very costly. It's a risky business for the lawmakers. Voters might get angry, again, and toss them out, regardless of party affiliation. Time will tell. And time is money. Best- Mac
Thanks for your thoughtful post. I think you have connected the dots in a way that moves the discussion beyond stats and economic theory. It is like pulling a loose string on delicate fabric — things can go wrong very quickly. And the staggering economy overseas does not help. The market dumped nearly 400 points yesterday. I wonder if years down the road when hopefully things are better we will have learned anything from the past six years. Best- Mac
My biggest concern for the U.S. is jobs. Here’s what’s happening-baby boomers are retiring but they’ve lost their savings because of the stock market. Their pensions are cut because once profitable businesses have gone bankrupt. Now baby boomers need to go back to work after so-called retiring but who will hire them as a “senior”? Being a WalMart greeter won’t pay the bills. The government is talking about cutting benefits for retired military. People who thought their houses would be their retirement nest eggs will now lose $30,000 to $100,000 in its value when they try to sell.
Just this week I read that fewer people are getting married because they can’t afford it. That means fewer babies are born because women delayed getting married and may face infertility later on. When couples delay getting married they often stay in apartments or continue to live with parents and that means fewer houses bought and sold. More households are relying on one car and are no longer two-car families.
Parents can’t afford to send their children to private schools and teachers lose their jobs there. That means more kids go to public schools that already have over-crowding and financial issues. The value of education drops. And few can afford top-rated college educations. No money, little education.
So if I become unemployed I don’t take clothes to the cleaners, my wife cuts my hair, we don’t go to the movies or dine out and we drop cable tv. We delay upgrading the kitchen and we wait another year or two on a new washer and dryer. And forget about replacing the hall carpet. It will stay thread bare. The businesses and contractors I would have hired don’t have my business now and they cut back. The trickle down recession is a killer.
I didn’t vote for Obama the first time around. If he did something about the economy I would vote for him in 2012. I’m not sure he can do anything because it goes far beyond the president’s office. Now it’s the Congress that can’t work together. It’s a sad, frightening state of affairs.
The unfortunate thing is that the people sent Washington a message by changing things out last election as Obama acknowledged. The message was lost though to congress. They think it is OK to just block everything and collect a paycheck instead of working for us. It is also unfortunate that the first black president will most likely be a 1 term due to the mess Bush left. I think it may be time to remove both parties and change the rules.We are now capable of polling the masses (thanks to the computer) and so why do we need the full large republic the forefathers created?
I cannot argue with much you say. There was an interesting op-ed in the Louisville Courier Journal this week about a possible third party effort, and i agree it ought to be easier to do and pull together with the available technology. Thanks for the great post. Mac
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