We're in a deep depression and help isn't coming. Unemployment rate is the same as it was in 1934

[Better Believe It]

For the Economy, Help Is Not on the Way
by Ted Rall
July 15, 2010


We are in a deep depression: calculated the same way as it was in the 1930s, the unemployment rate is the same as it was in 1934. Global credit markets have stalled. Investment has ceased.

And help isn't coming.

No one knows where the recovery will come from for a simple reason: It isn't coming. Not any time soon

Globalization is key. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, John H. Makin argues that the actions of individual G20 nations threaten to bring the whole system crashing down in a Keynesian "paradox of thrift."

Makin says: "Because all governments are simultaneously tightening fiscal policy, growth is cut so much that revenues collapse and budget deficits actually rise. The underlying hope or expectation that easier money, a weaker currency, and higher exports can somehow compensate for the negative impact on growth from rapid, global fiscal consolidation cannot be realized everywhere at once. The combination of tighter fiscal policy, easy money, and a weaker currency, which can work for a small open economy, cannot work for the global economy."

Adds Mike Whitney of Eurasia Review: "Obama intends to double exports within the next decade. Every other nation has the exact same plan. They'd rather weaken their own currencies and starve workers than raise salaries and fund government work programs. Class warfare takes precedent over productivity, a healthy economy or even national solvency. Contempt for workers is the religion of elites."

If the system cannot be saved by consumers, business or government, the system itself must be revamped and replaced. Late-period global capitalism's constant cycle of booms and busts is unsustainable and intolerable. States must regulate and equalize incomes, and control production.

Read the full article at:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/07/15-12

[inna]

1. KR, and I ***LOVE*** Ted Rall.

I think I want his babies.
(jk)

[PassingFair]

57. You'll have to fight me for him!

But he's roundly reviled around here these days....

Here's my all-time favorite:

[defendandprotect]

2. Keep in mind that while capitalists are fleeing America to "harvest slave labor" around . . .

the world -- they want access to American market --

WE have the power to stop this --

and there are many ways of doing it!

[villager]

5. We can boycott what the elites sell us, to the maximum extent possible

though oddly, many seem terrified of exercising even this simple shift...

[pscot]

15. It has to start with a boycott of the politiciians

who STILL haven't gotten the message.

[villager]

16. Well, by "boycott," you mean voting for opponents, or not voting at all?

n/t

[defendandprotect]

25. True . . . we are governed by hierarchies of power -- some of it invisible . . .

Look what Sen. Dodd just did in watering down the financial reform!

Not only critics looking on, but STAFF are letting word out that this

has happened because Dodd is retiring and wants to move into banking --

something easy, like getting on Board of a Bank -- $1 million a year!


Personally, I think that the best advice is to TARGET -- that is keep

moving progressives in and right wingers out. That's the reverse of what

the GOP did in BOTH parties. They didn't only attack moderates/liberals

in their own party -- they also targeted them in Democratic Party.

They've been at this a long time -- right wing/elites never give up --

we have to remember that!

[defendandprotect]

24. We can be creative . . .

if we get organized --

many ways to do this --

for instance, consumers buying the imported product and returning it two weeks later --

you keep doing it long enough and the product -- especially clothing -- is in a SALE

situation finally -- if not CLEARANCE.

That's just one observation --

[Radical Activist]

67. Yes, and buying from employee owned companies.

New Belgium Brewing Company is one of my favorites.

[pleah]

3. K&R

[defendandprotect]

4. Also agree that the nation is in a depression . . . purposefully put there by right wing --

[doc03]

6. We have had positive GDP growth since the 3rd quarter

2009. We are in a recovery from a recession, a week recovery but a recovery. A recession is when you have a decline in the GDP for two or more consecutive quarters the last decline was 2nd quarter of 2009. A depression is if you have a decline of more than 10% in GDP. The worst decline was about 6.5% the 1st quarter of 2009.

[Better Believe It]

8. And if you have a growing GDP with mass unemployment, foreclosures, wage and benefit cuts, etc.,

what do you call that?

An economic recovery and if so for whom?

[Hawkowl]

9. Recovery for the OWNERS

We the owned, can go fuck ourselves apparently.

[doc03]

12. Just like we did in the 2000's a jobless recovery. That really isn't

accurate lots of jobs we created in China.

[defendandprotect]

19. Sorry . . . but Obama himself called this a "Depression" about a month or so ago ...

immediately scrubbed from yahoo and word changed --

And many report that the figures are much worse on unemployment-underemployment and

overall unemployment percentage --

We've long known this --

GOP have also changed the reporting of unemployment -- ignoring those longer term unemployed --

and those who can't get full time jobs and have settled for part time employment --

[doc03]

20. I heard from my parents what it was like in the Great Depression

this is no Great Depression.

[AdHocSolver]

23. Be patient. This country is headed toward a "Great Depression".

Cutting entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare (to supposedly reduce government deficits) will push this country even faster into a Great Depression.

The only reason to reduce entitlements is to free up that money so it can be more easily stolen by the wealthy.

[defendandprotect]

26. I think most of the public sees that if Obama doesn't get busy . . .

For decades Democrats have been blaming not having the votes --

I think that's over given what we've just seen since 2008 election !!

And since 2006 election re Pelosi acknowledgment . . .

"Democrats were elected to end the war!"

Really . . . ??

I've watched the Democrats via C-span for decades -- in the 1980's George Mitchell

was turning the Democratic Senate over to Bob Dole!!

[liberation]

52. Psssst....

.... there was no social services or unemployment when the great depression started.

[jwirr]

71. This is not like that depression because there are still vestiges

of the safety net FDR put in place: welfare, Social Security, etc. If not for them there would be the same breadlines as the 1930s.

[Mimosa]

61. Did anybody get a screen capture?

I've witnessed a political scrub or 2 which happened too fast for anybody to grab it.

[Donnachaidh]

27. Great -- go down to your local labor board and tell that to people in line for benefits

I'm sure they will appreciate the numbers while they wait for the overworked intake people. They might even ask you for more information - like where the nearest foodbanks are.

:eyes:

[glitch]

30. That only serves to highlight the flaws in how GDP is calculated. nt

[Hannah Bell]

46. unemployment is irrelevant to gdp. it's not a flaw.

[glitch]

51. Explain? I did not say that. I said the way GDP was calculated was flawed

I could have expanded on how it was flawed I suppose, but that would take too long so here's a google: http://www.google.com/search?q=gdp+flawed+as+a+measure

[Mimosa]

59. High unemployment keeps the military filled with strong young men and women

And it seems all America is keen on manufacturing anymore are heavy arms.

[dkf]

7. Obama needs to make it easier to start your own business.

Forget about someone else hiring you. We've got to figure out how to make our talents available to make a living. You can't tell me there isn't a use for simple labor from day to day but it's impossible to find someone on this basis without getting into all the employment issues.

It would be really cool if someone could start a website that facilitated human resources and all the govt red tape. Why doesn't that exist?

[Cant trust em]

10. I remember a few months ago when Pelosi was talking about small business tax credits or something...

and I saw several DUers trashing the idea.

[dkf]

11. It's not the taxes that stop people. It's the minefield of regulations that you have no clue about.

But tax credits for small business along with access to loans sound great to me.

[doc03]

14. The last three posts echo Boner, McConnell and Faux

Extend Bush tax cuts so small entrepreneurs invest their money and make jobs. (Reaganomics) You can build all the small businesses you want but unless you have customers with money you won't make any jobs.

[Cant trust em]

41. I'd be in favor of eliminating Bush tax cuts on individuals...

and providing businesses with incentives to start up.

[postulater]

18. I just was penalized $600 for a five day lapse in my work comp policy for my one employee.

Crap like that hurts the small business more than the large ones.

[doc03]

21. Pay your bills on time. So you want to get the government out

of your business, EPA, OSHA, Compensation all those regulations.

[Cant trust em]

40. Ideology wins again!

Yeah. We want to make sure that all government regulatory agencies are up businesses asses. They always make sense.

[Better Believe It]

13. We could get into the apple selling business and make peanuts!

[dkf]

17. You do what you can.

My brother has had several contracted jobs paying a few thousand per piece. He did it in his spare time on top of his regular job. I don't see why you need to turn it into such a pathetic thing.

[Better Believe It]

29. Your brother is one of the luckier ones. Good for him.

Meanwhile one million more families will be losing their homes to foreclosure this year.

[Donnachaidh]

28. have you SEEN the price of apples these days? n/t

[kenny blankenship]

33. Just make sure that you don't let your product designers overrule your engineers

or the antenna will wind up in the wrong place and it will drop calls.

[Knight Hawk]

65. Depression?

Truth be told I do not have a coat or pair of shoes as nice as that guy.

[AdHocSolver]

22. Increasing exports is not the answer. The solution is reducing imports.

The way to reduce imports is to restart manufacturing everyday goods in the U.S., such as clothes, shoes, electronics, appliances, tools, and hardware.

The U.S. has gone heavily into debt to finance imports. There is no way to increase exports under the current trade system because anything that we can manufacture here to sell in Asia, as an example, can be manufactured in Asia more cheaply. So why should any Asian country pay a higher price for American made goods, when Americans won't pay a little more to buy American made goods?

Anyone who talks about increasing exports to solve our economic problems, rather than limiting cheap imports, does not understand how an economy works.

[northernlights]

60. they also don't understand that a major cost in food "production" is

distribution. Buy locally grown food -- or grow your own. Help your farmer neighbor and reduce waste of oil.

[Knight Hawk]

68. The Answer

Different countries are better at producing different products based on a number of factors such as farmland,weather,skill of people etc.We actually export a lot of grains and food stuffs .I am no sure of items we export to china but they cannot make everything they need.About all Saudi Arabia has is oil but that is more than enough for thewm to be well off in todays world.

[mikekohr]

31. It Took FDR 7 years to End "The Great Depression," Obama Ended "The Great Recession" in 18 Months

Employment is now and has always been a lagging indicator in upturns from economic downs turns.



?

Payrolls May Have Climbed for Fifth Month


Employment probably grew in May for a fifth consecutive month, pointing to gains in wages that will help U.S. households ride out the turmoil in financial markets, economists said before reports this week. Payrolls may have climbed by 508,000 workers last month, the biggest increase since 1997, according to the median estimate of 64 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The gain reflected a surge in government hiring of temporary help to conduct the census and a 180,000 rise in private employment, according to the survey. Other reports may show the economic rebound is broadening beyond manufacturing as service providers, including retailers and construction firms, see a pickup in demand. General Electric Co. is among companies hiring, saying the European debt crisis is unlikely to derail the recovery from the worst global recession in the post-World War II era. “The labor market is clearly improving,” said James O’Sullivan, global chief economist at MF Global Ltd. in New York. “At this point, there’s enough momentum in the economy to outweigh the drag from the turmoil in Europe.” Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=alc ...

[Better Believe It]

32. The recession is over, the recession is over! Happy days are here again!

Thanks for the news alert.

Now sing along with the rest of us!



http://www.smart-central.com/happydays.htm

So long sad times, go 'long bad times,
We are rid of you at last!
Howdy gay times, cloudy gray times,
You are now a thing of the past!

Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again,
So let's sing a song of cheer again--
Happy days are here again!

Altogether shout it now,
There's no one who can doubt it now,
So let's tell the world about it now,
Happy days are here again!

Your cares and troubles are gone;
There'll be no more from now on.

Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again,
So let's sing a song of cheer again--
Happy days are here again!

Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again,
So let's sing a song of cheer again--
Happy days are here again!

Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again,
So let's sing a song of cheer again--
Happy days are here again!

Your cares and troubles are gone;
There'll be no more from now on.

Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again,
So let's sing a song of cheer again--
Happy days are here again!

[mikekohr]

85. Love that song

[Jackpine Radical]

35. "Employment" may be growing,

but it's at the expense of lower pay, rollbacks of benefits, and a general degradation of working conditions, all of which are likely to persist far beyond the crisis. The capitalists couldn't have planned a better way to move us back toward the working conditions of 1840.

[mikekohr]

84. Employment IS Growing

The trends you note have been in motion for 35 years and need to be stopped. We need to re-invent the manufactoring base in the country. Hi-tech and manufacturing in clean energy is one way back to a strong middle class. President Obama is moving us in that direction.

?

Payrolls May Have Climbed for Fifth Month


Employment probably grew in May for a fifth consecutive month, pointing to gains in wages that will help U.S. households ride out the turmoil in financial markets, economists said before reports this week. Payrolls may have climbed by 508,000 workers last month, the biggest increase since 1997, according to the median estimate of 64 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The gain reflected a surge in government hiring of temporary help to conduct the census and a 180,000 rise in private employment, according to the survey. Other reports may show the economic rebound is broadening beyond manufacturing as service providers, including retailers and construction firms, see a pickup in demand. General Electric Co. is among companies hiring, saying the European debt crisis is unlikely to derail the recovery from the worst global recession in the post-World War II era. “The labor market is clearly improving,” said James O’Sullivan, global chief economist at MF Global Ltd. in New York. “At this point, there’s enough momentum in the economy to outweigh the drag from the turmoil in Europe.” Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=alc...


see economic record of Democrat versus Republican at: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com

mike kohr

[Hannah Bell]

45. wrong. fdr elected 1932. gdp growth resumed the next year.

unfortunately, high unemployment continued until the war
spending started.

when you say "obama ended the recession," all it
means is gdp growth turned positive again.  gdp growth can be
positive with most of the country out of work.




Year   Receipts  Spending   Growth    Rate
-------------------------------------------
1929      --       --         --      3.2%  
1930     4.2%     3.4%     - 9.4%     8.7
1931     3.7      4.3      - 8.5     15.9
1932     2.9      7.0      -13.4     23.6
1933     3.5      8.1      - 2.1     24.9   
< FDR, New Deal begins; contraction ends March
1934     4.9     10.8      + 7.7     21.7
1935     5.3      9.3      + 8.1     20.1
1936     5.1     10.6      +14.1     16.9
1937     6.2      8.7      + 5.0     14.3   
1938     7.7      7.8      - 4.5     19.0 
1939     7.2     10.4      + 7.9     17.2
1940     6.9      9.9  

[mikekohr]

83. Most Economists State "The Great Depression" lasted until 1939

That is 7 years. My mother and father lived through "The Great Depression," and its crippling effects lasted that long or longer.

Employment is ALWAYS one of the lagging indicators to bounce back after an economic downturn. Working people are the first to feel the pain and the last to get relief. A Democrat in the White House will not change that truism.

The way to avoid unemployment is to keep Democratic "Bubble Up" policy in place. 9 of the last 10 recessions have occurred when a Republican is in the White House. http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html

Republicans crater monthly job growth http://journals.democraticunderground.com/mikekohr

Only two things grow when a Republican is in charge: unemployment and the National Debt.
http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html

mike kohr

[Jackpine Radical]

34. What's the difference between 1934 and now?

In 1934 they KNEW they were in a depression and didn't let the corporate propaganda ministry bullshit them into thinking they were in a recovery.

A paradox in the economic world is that in order to save the world FOR capitalism, you have first to save it FROM capitalism.

FDR knew that. I'm sure Obama knows it. FDR acted on his knowledge; Obama still wants his lollipops.

[blindpig]

42. The big difference....

is that masses were in the streets, strikes were rife, the people were restive and there was danger that they would become much more so. Today there is nothing of the sort...yet. Then there was radical leadership, socialists, anarchists, communists, those people were hounded from the public stage by the Red Scare.

Who is gonna step up?

[asdjrocky]

36. No way.

I heard them say on MSM yesterday that we are in recovery and the markets are doing great.

Why would they lie?:crazy:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

37. Thank you for the post.

Key information.

[Subdivisions]

38. And yet more confirmation of what I (and others) have been saying here and

getting ridiculed for for three years.

Economic growth cannot occur in an era of declining oil production.

[dem mba]

39. ok, now this is actually socialism

Rall wants the states to control production? oy, what a horrible, horrible idea. that's a surefire recipe for disaster.

[blindpig]

44. Yeah, as events in the Gulf have shown....

capitalists know best what is good for the species and our planet.

[dem mba]

49. environmental regulation and state control over the means of production

are apples and oranges. if you can't comprehend that, then there is very little for us to discuss.

effective and logical regulation of business = ok
state control of production = bad

[blindpig]

50. Why should there be a difference?

Both the environment and the means of production are vital to the commonweal, why should either be entrusted to private interests whose goals are in conflict with the commonweal?

MBA huh?

[StreetKnowledge]

80. Because any nation that tries to control all of its economy from the top invariably fails at it.

Ask most of Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and China about that. Or for that matter, people who lived in Britain in the 1970s. Effective regulations would set the rules, the playing field in which we all play. Those who work harder should be rewarded for their work, no?

[Radical Activist]

64. No countries have had worst environmental records than the USSR and China under communism.

Dictatorial control over the economy doesn't typically end well.

[liberation]

76. LOL... as always never you never disappoint

[Radical Activist]

77. Yes, I always bring the facts and logic, don't I?

Thanks.

And no, Che wasn't a big Stalinist either, in case you want to get stupid about the avatar again.

[Better Believe It]

78. When did they achieve "communism" and when did that system end in the USSR and China?

[Radical Activist]

90. You're right that real communism as theorized has yet to have a living example

in any country on earth. The trouble with China and USSR is that authoritarian governments rarely give up power willingly, whether communist or not. The environment is better protected in countries where the public have an empowered role in the economic system, rather than leaving decisions solely in the hands of a dictatorial CEO or government official. What little protections we have in the U.S. are most often safeguarded by laws that ensure a role for public review and legal action.
So, as I stated earlier, I have little interest in authoritarian state-socialism.

[Better Believe It]

91. These "communist" officials didn't have any problem giving up power to capitalists!

In fact, most "communist" government bureaucrats in the old Soviet Union and China have embraced capitalism discovering they could enrich themselves beyond their wildest imaginations!

That hasn't happened in Cuba. In fact, government and party leaders don't even claim they have even achieved socialism yet.
They are still working on that and flat out reject the opportunity to enrich themselves by supporting a change to a capitalist economic system.

[Radical Activist]

92. And so....?

That has what to do with the topic we're discussing or the point I made? I'm discussing the real world of actual communist, or authoritarian state-socialist governments. Their environment record for decades (not just the last one or two decades) is atrocious. Are you claiming that Stalin and Khrushchev were really capitalists? I'm not interested in an academic exercise of debating what imaginary governments might be like if they existed.

[Better Believe It]

93. Would you like to get back on topic?

"That has what to do with the topic we're discussing or the point I made?"

Your last three posts had nothing to do with the opening subject matter and article and my responses to your off topic posts were of course off topic otherwise they would not be responses!

"I'm discussing the real world of actual communist, or authoritarian state-socialist governments. Their environment record for decades (not just the last one or two decades) is atrocious."

If the governments in Russia and China are promoting capitalist development how are they "communist" or "socialist"? They can't have both a capitalist and communist government and economy at the same time! To hold such an opinion would represent a total escape from political reality, a wonderful journey into sectarian fantasy land!

"Are you claiming that Stalin and Khrushchev were really capitalists?"

No. I didn't even mention them or their regimes! However, what do you think has happened since the dissolution of the old Soviet Union and in China over the past two decades? By all objective criteria it's obvious we have witnessed a resurgence of capitalism in Russia and mainland China. If you doubt that, just check out what's being sold in your local department store and find out where these goods are made.

It's true that a few sectarian super duper left groups have blinders on and deny this historical reality. Perhaps they just haven't followed events in those nations or they are shaping and bending facts to fit their political view rather than have their political view shaped by real events and facts.

"I'm not interested in an academic exercise of debating what imaginary governments might be like if they existed."

That would be your imaginary "state-socialist" governments in Russia and China that hardly anyone else can see, on the left or the right or anywhere in between!

[Radical Activist]

94. It's true that China and Russia are no longer communist.

That's why it should be obvious that my comment wasn't about current-day China and Russia. As bad as they both are today, China is finally improving in terms of environmental action. The Chinese government is starting to respond to people who are tired of getting sick and dying from industrial pollution.

I don't know if you're trying to make a rebuttal. It seems like you're not interested in responding to what I wrote, so I can't figure out why you keep writing. Are you just trying to defend communism as a system?

I wrote: "The environment is better protected in countries where the public have an empowered role in the economic system, rather than leaving decisions solely in the hands of a dictatorial CEO or government official."

Do you disagree?

[blindpig]

82. Dunno about that

This little 'event' in the Gulf might put the lie to that. One must also take into account that the capitalists power export much of their environmental destruction, if you took the environmental misdeeds of American oil corporations, mining, timber, agrobusiness,etc, and put it in one place it would not be pretty and will likely exceed all of the mistakes of the former socialist states. But like they say, out of sight, out of mind.

[Radical Activist]

89. Chernobyl

Three Gorges Damn
Vanished Aral Sea
China is going through another period of efficiency and new clean energy efforts, but the power of a centrally planned state economy to pollute massively and quickly is unmatched by any capitalist economy.

But then, Russia and China are out of sight, out of mind too, aren't they?

[Radical Activist]

63. Yes, it's authoritarian state socialism.

I appreciate that Rall is out there representing a socialist viewpoint, but his cartoons are better than his columns. State control of all wages and production doesn't have a history of working well very often. I think Rall is letting himself be set up as a straw-man when we could be talking about an alternative economic system that might gain a little support within America's anti-authoritarian tradition.

[Better Believe It]

86. So the current economic system is anti-authoritarian and democratic?

I don't think so. And we don't know how a democratic planned economy based on socialism would actually work in an advanced nation such as the United States. It hasn't been tried yet!

All of the "socialist" revolutions have happened in underdeveloped nations from China to Cuba facing the worst possible conditions for establishing a prosperous and democratic socialist country. And the old "communist" regimes in eastern Europe were imposed by Stalinist Russia, they did not have popular revolutions to end capitalist property relations.

[Radical Activist]

88. The failure of the current system

does not mean that every possible alternative system is better. We have enough examples to know that you don't get a democratic, decentralized, equitable economy by centralizing power through state control. Power once centralized is never given away freely.

This is the direction we need to go for direct worker control of the economy without a dictatorial government.
http://www.indypendent.org/2009/08/13/worker-run-businesses/

Obama included more shareholder power over corporate operations in the reform bill. It's a very small step in that direction but it establishes an element of more democratic control over the economy.

[spanone]

43. it's gonna take a long time to recover from 8 years of bu$hit

don't forget the surplus Clinton left the criminals

[femrap]

47. What are we going to

export besides grains/soybeans, liquor, and p(orn)? What do we make...tangibles, not derivatives which are not tangible.

Shit, we don't even make toothpicks or straws in this country anymore. Think of that....they are shipped all the way from China now. And hell, the processes to make these must have been close to 90% automated.

Furniture, a staple of N. Carolina, is now made in China.

What can we export? And how can we double it? Will the dollar be worth nothing at that point?

WASF.

[NJmaverick]

48. A depression is defined as a reduction in GDP not an increase

this writer doesn't appear to understand even the basics of econoomics

[gauguin57]

53. I don't care how you figure it ... unemployment now is about 9.5 percent. In 1934, it was 21.7 %

That's a big difference.
Not saying it won't get worse, but right now, we are not in a 1934 situation. My parents told me all about what it was like back then ... this isn't that.

[Better Believe It]

54. How was the unemployment rate calculated in 1934?

Today millions of unemployed are not counted if they have exhausted their unemployment benefits or aren't entitled to benefits and
have joined the growing army of unemployed as so-called "discourage workers" who have given up looking for jobs that aren't there.

[Selatius]

81. Technically speaking, if we look at U-6 unemployment, it shows a stunning 17%.

It's very bad out there. The only difference between now and then is that back then there were few social programs if any, few safety nets to prevent people from starving to death.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

55. Folks, start building your Transitional Communities NOW!

Communities all over the world are preparing for Peak Oil and Environmental Crisis.
Our Government is not going to feed us or provide housing if you're homeless. Our
water rights and other resources are being sold right out from under us.
Design the world you want to live in and start locally.


http://www.transitionnetwork.org/

[northernlights]

66. aha! there is a group mulling it over

from several next door neighbor towns! thank you for this :)

[Stinky The Clown]

56. "Depression" is a technical term. Spinners will tell you we're not in one. But if it FEELS like one

.... then it IS one.

". . . . three straight quarters with no framis of the ramicand in a time when the digifrick rises while the hulacyclic riterdius falls . . . . blah blah, fucking blah."



Shaddap, Egghead. It FEELS like a Depression, you moron, therefore, like it or not, spin it or not, technical or not, it IS a DEPRESSION.

[LaPera]

58. We desperately need unemployment insurance extensions - Fucking republicans!

[thereismore]

62. Ted Rall is not an economist and he has been a disappointment to me in the past. nt

[OhioChick]

69. K&R n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

70. Obama needs to start a Works Progress Administration.

A bunch of agencies like FDR started that put the country back to work.

And re-read the warnings of Eisenhower about the Military-Industrial Complex (Also now the prison-industrial complex) and SLASH the military budget to pay for it.

And nationalize oil and energy because it's too critical to leave to the unregulated oil companies.

I can dream, can't I?

I can start a bunch of businesses, but if nobody buys my products, for whatever reason, so I can make a profit, then it won't do a damn bit of good.


And I'm an artist.

:shrug:

[Better Believe It]

75. Here's some of FDR's bold actions taken within a year of becoming President

He certainly didn't diddle daddle.

Congress authorizes creation of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the National Recovery Administration, the Public Works Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Congress passes the Emergency Banking Bill, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, the Farm Credit Act, the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Truth-in-Securities Act.

Congress authorizes creation of the Federal Communications Commission, the National Mediation Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

[Curtis]

72. I agree

I applied for a court clerk job that paid $13.47 an hour to start recently. I have a BA from UC, Davis and am working on my MA right now (will be done in the spring). Anyway, the ONLY job requirement was a high school graduation. Well, over 100 people applied for the job. Some of them had worked as legal aides and court clerks before. Human resources said the most qualified person had been a court clerk with the California Supreme Court and had worked as a legal aide more recently making well over $60 a hour. The least qualified person they will interview worked as a court clerk for 10 years, has an MA, worked in a law office most recently and earned over $20 an hour before being let go.

Here I was over qualified as it was, but am under qualified now just because of the hiring pool they put together. All thanks to this damned DEPRESSION.

[Dinger]

73. K & R

[SILVER__FOX52]

74. PRECISELY CORRECT.

[DCBob]

79. Unemployment was much worse during the GD.. in fact there is no comparison..

from The Economic Populist...

N. Andrews compared historical versions of unemployment statistics with the modern U3 and U6 versions, published as "Historical Unemployment in Relationship to Today" , has an answer. He writes:

For the period of 1900 - 1947 we have two unemployment statistics available, Unemployed Non-Farm employees and Unemployed Civilian Workforce. These two data sets pose a challenge as they were developed during a period of ever-changing data collection methodologies. The data in the sets has been adjusted by the sources listed in Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970 in an attempt to sync the data sets with the methodology that was put in place as of 1940 and was the basis for methodologies since. We can compare the two available data sets ... and we see that the Unemployed Non-Farm employees and Unemployed Civilian Workforce measures of unemployment appear to be a close analogue of modern U3 (Unemployed Civilian Workforce) and U6 (Non-Farm employees).

Based on that research, he was able to generate a mathematical formula to calculate U3 and U6 unemployment for the entire period since 1900. He found that at the peak of the Great Depression, U3 was 25.2%. U6 was 37.6%.



http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/u3-and-u6-unemployment-during-great-depression

[mikekohr]

87. Unemployment was 21.7% in 1934, It is now 9.5%

Unemployment during the Reagan Recession of 1982 was 10.8% with interest rates that hovered around 21.5%-22.5%.

We have seen worse than what we had foisted upon us by 8 years of fubar, failure and "F" up of the GWB administration. We've stopped the uncontrolable bleeding, and stabilized the economy. We lost 14 million jobs under Bush's recession. The real recovery, employment and incresed real GDP, will take time.

see economic comparison of Democrat versus Republican economic accomplishment @ http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/economic-record.html

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mike kohr
Bureau County Democrats