COMMENTS:
It remains stagnat and feeble. I can't believe in 4Q04 we are *still* seeing headlines *Economist predict strong growth in jobs ahead.*
Have they cut and pasted this into a template, to drag out every 3 months or so?
We've seen this prediction every fiscal quarter since 2001.
I am beyond even being disgusted when I continue to see it dusted off and presented as if it is believable.
The country gained 1/3 of a million jobs in October. Numbers were released today.
WP: Which is better tghan the previous trend. But it is nowhere near good enough.
In addition, oen has to look at the jobs that *are* getting created. Too few are high-paying, good-quality.
It's not the government's direct responsibility to create jobs anyway, Cath. The government's responsibility is to set the stage for economic growth; i.e., through tax cuts, which ARE working. Simply put, the more money you have, the more moey you're going to spend, whether you're a business or a private individual. The country would have been hit a lot harder economically after 9/11 had tax cuts not been implemented.
Here's another interesting factoid for all of you: The top 20% of all income earners pay 80% of federal income taxes.
'When Bill Clinton ran for re-election in 1996, unemployment was at 5.2 percent, inflation 3 percent, and economic growth 2.2 percent. Today, as Bush stands for re-election, unemployment is at 5.4 percent, inflation 2.7 percent and economists consensus forecast for economic growth this quarter is 3.7 percent.'
WP: Agreed, it is not the government's direct responsibility to create jobs.
And I don't mean to imply that this is a sole-Bush problem. My ire, here, is that economists, politicans, and the media keep *lying* about it.
herz: Easy, there, big fella ... calm those knee-jerk defenses. I am not attacking Bush (in this ballot). ;-)
The numbers say things are improving.
herz: The numbers have been "improving" for four years. And guess what ... the economy still sucks. Jobs are incredibly scarce and good jobs are even more scarce.
It's time we stopped lying to ourselves and to the public.
Plus, I don't appreciate politicians an media twisting and lying about the numbers. Counting people who have just dropped out of the job market, the unemployment rate is around 9%.
But because the public is still too trusting, they get away with the distortions.
Glad you mentioned that cath. The rest of that paragraph, which I left off as it wasn't relevent to the topic, is:
Coverage of the Clinton economic data was overwhelmingly favorable (35 positive, 6 negative stories). Under Bush, its literally reversed to 6 positive, 38 negative. Numbers dont lie. Bias is the only explanation.
Economies that are pretty much the same, one reported as booming, the other as the greatest depression in 60 years.
The facts are most definately being distorted.
Again, we get into the real distortion in the use of the word Economies.
If one is in the Investment class, things have never been sweeter.
For those who have to depend upon a paycheck for a living, it is semi-suck stagnant.
Jobs, herzog. J-O-Bs. Don't try a switch-and-bait by going into economy.
The topic is Employment.
And it is not great, unless you *like* working at Wal-Mart.
You don't have a good job market with a terrible economy, and jobs are always the last thing to catch up when the economy moves out of a recession.
You are incorrect, it is possible to have a good economy, using technical definitions and averaging, with a lousy job market.
As for the last thing to recover ... agreed. But it is going on four YEARS.
Plus, they are eithe rlying to us each fiscal quarter with rosy projections or they believe their own pollyanna spin.
*either lying*
'You are incorrect, it is possible to have a good economy, using technical definitions and averaging, with a lousy job market.'
That's what I said. Reread my comment.
'
As for the last thing to recover ... agreed. But it is going on four YEARS.'
No, it hasn't. Not the recovery at least. The recession began immediately before bush took office, that was four years ago. It got worse for 2 years, then remained constant, and is only recently beginning to recover.
And I will repeat ... teh job situation continues to suck and has sucked for four years ... one of the longest periods in *my* lifetime.
And yet ... we are continually fed the line that improved jobs are "right around the corner."
It took time to repair the damage done by the clinton administration. Things ARE improving, it's not healthy to listen too closely to the mainstream media on this one, unless this actually is the worst depression in human history, in which case their reporting is accurate.
Oh COME on, man. Continuing to try to blame everything on Clinton, after he's been out a full term, does little but undermine whatever credibility you might have. Partisanship is fine, but have some dignity and respect for Truth/facts, man.
It is the SECOND worst economy. That isn't the media talking, that is history.
Plus, the damned media would have you believe everything is right on the doorstep of Peachy ... as they have for most of the past 4 years. I agree it isn't healthy to listen too much to them ... because they consistently make it out to be better than it is and about to improve even more ... which it hasn't.
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