It Isn't Just Lost Jobs--It's the Lost Jobs Machine

[Maroon and Gray]

Two basic facts will tell you most of what you need to know about the political picture today.

Fact One: The unemployment rate is the most important of all leading political indicators.

Fact Two: The August unemployment  number topped 9%, meaning the jobless rate has been above that level for 16  straight months. The U.S. is mired in the longest such stretch of 9%—plus joblessness in more than a quarter of a century.

There is little mystery, then, about why Democrats are in trouble. The party in power is inevitably blamed for so much bad news on the one economic subject that most concerns average Americans.

Yet the political debate on this point, which focuses on what can be done to get Americans back to work right now, is missing a deeper and more troubling reality: The American economy hasn't been a very robust jobs-producer for quite a while. That's the broader question that needs to be discussed, even as we work on the immediate problem.

THE FULL STORY

[Ken]

Good Post M&G

Our troubles did not start in 2008.

"Now we're left to deal with the underlying problem that we've avoided for decades. Even if nearly EVERYONE was employed, the vast middle class still wouldn't have enough money to buy what the economy is capable of producing.  Where have all the economic gains gone? Mostly to the top. The economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty examined tax returns from 1913 to 2008. They discovered an interesting pattern.  In the late 1970's the richest 1% of American families took in about 9% of the nation's total income: by 2007, the top 1% took in 23,5% of total income.

Robert B. Reich

[CIAA-FAN]

Good Post M&G

Our troubles did not start in 2008.

"Now we're left to deal with the underlying problem that we've avoided for decades. Even if nearly EVERYONE was employed, the vast middle class still wouldn't have enough money to buy what the economy is capable of producing.  Where have all the economic gains gone? Mostly to the top. The economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty examined tax returns from 1913 to 2008. They discovered an interesting pattern.  In the late 1970's the richest 1% of American families took in about 9% of the nation's total income: by 2007, the top 1% took in 23,5% of total income.

Robert B. Reich

INTERESTING ANALYSIS.  THE SAD THING IS THAT MOST AMERICANS WILL NOT LOOK BACK PAST 2008.  I AM STILL WAITING FOR THE REPUBLICANS TO OFFER SOME NEW ALTERNATIVES FOR CONSIDERATION AND NOT JUST  REGANOMICS, AGAIN.

[Bison 4 Life]

The media, is propaganda now. Anything to get the Repubs back in power, even if they have to lie to the people. It is a crying shame when the US media has stooped to working on the side of big business.
Ever wonder why the media is not telling the truth about the progress the Obama Adm has gotten done?

There is no Edward R. Murrows in the media. Not even close

[soflorattler]

The last "Edward R. Murrow"  type died recently, and his voice was relegated to the too often little listened to NPR...

[Black Panther40]

This is a good article . . . reasonable minds would agree.