America slides deeper into depression as Wall Street revels

[futurebeachbum]

Interesting article from the Telegraph from the UK.

The title "America slides deeper into depression as Wall Street revels" tells it all.

December was the worst month for US unemployment since the Great Recession began.

History repeating itself? President Obama has been accused by some economists of making the same mistakes policymakers in the US made in the Great Depression, which followed the Wall Street crash of 1929, pictured

The labour force contracted by 661,000. This did not show up in the headline jobless rate because so many Americans dropped out of the system. The broad U6 category of unemployment rose to 17.3pc. That is the one that matters.

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I guess this is change we can believe in....

 

[30ashopper]

I'd blame congress more than Obama, although he fails on leadership. A stimulus that injected more into long term pet projects than the economy, the constant propping up of existing bubbles, side tracked on healthcare, dysfunctional FED and Treasury run by the same people who got us into this mess... the list of mistakes and bad policy decisions runs long.

I am however pretty happy with Obama's handling of terrorism, except of course this whole crazy thing where we are trying prisoners of war as criminals in civil court.

Generally he had a tough job ahead of him, he did his best, but his experience and knowledge of economic theory were lacking. Honestly, none of the contenders probably would have done much better. McCain would have made similar mistakes.

 

[30ashopper]

IMO, we should have elected Ron Paul. He was the only candidate qualified for the job at hand.

 

[gmarc]

I smell a huge market crash coming in 2010 as the disconnect between mainsteet and wall street is the widest ever. stocks like cat tractor and deere are up 300% in 10 months not real far from 2007 highs and there business is down 80%. all obama's stimulus has gone to greedy bankers and brokers who have jammed them ins tocks instead of loaning them out. i forsee a huge social backlash against the banks and wall street as the haves and have nots have never been greater

 

[scooterbug44]

You are already starting to see it w/ the "put your money in a community bank" and "pay with cash" movements.

 

[Daugette_Matt]

Our problems startred about 8 years ago. I don't believe it is Obama's fault.
Yes we got some hard times coming, the worst ain't here yet. The problems come from a wealthy upper class that no longer see the benefit of investing in america. The policies of the bush/chenney years made it much more profitable to take their money out of the US.
We import way too many goods we could make here.

 

[Mango]

Our problems startred about 8 years ago. I don't believe it is Obama's fault.
Yes we got some hard times coming, the worst ain't here yet. The problems come from a wealthy upper class that no longer see the benefit of investing in america. The policies of the bush/chenney years made it much more profitable to take their money out of the US.
We import way too many goods we could make here.

You're an intelligent young man, but I beg to differ. Greed and a sense of entitlement was what got us here. Goods are manufactured cheaper outside the US. They do not have the unions like we have here to contend with. I'd be interested in hearing from you what goods we could manufacture here that are less expensive than abroad.

I say this from experience. Just this weekend we had an old grammar school friend over for dinner who has been with his union for 20+ years earning 6 figures for a job that really warranted half his pay for the experience and schooling required. I know this because my sister owned a manufacturing head hunting firm and engineers in high demand earned the same as him. he was laid off and it took him almost a year to accept a position paying half what he earned before. Now he is drowning in his own drool from drinking too much homemade wine because he is bitter. This is one of many stories happening right now in addition to people realizing they assumed too much debt load.

 

[scooterbug44]

Our problems didn't start a few years ago and they cannot be blamed on one political party.

Greed, a sense of entitlement, a lack of personal responsibility, and no long term planning are what got us here.

Common sense, cowboying up, making unpopular changes, and hard work can still get us out.

 

[poppy]

You're an intelligent young man, but I beg to differ. Greed and a sense of entitlement was what got us here. Goods are manufactured cheaper outside the US. They do not have the unions like we have here to contend with. I'd be interested in hearing from you what goods we could manufacture here that are less expensive than abroad.

I say this from experience. Just this weekend we had an old grammar school friend over for dinner who has been with his union for 20+ years earning 6 figures for a job that really warranted half his pay for the experience and schooling required. I know this because my sister owned a manufacturing head hunting firm and engineers in high demand earned the same as him. he was laid off and it took him almost a year to accept a position paying half what he earned before. Now he is drowning in his own drool from drinking too much homemade wine because he is bitter. This is one of many stories happening right now in addition to people realizing they assumed too much debt load.

Mango I beg to differ with you. It isn't the fault of the unions that manufacturing jobs went overseas, it's the fault of manufacturers. If you got rid of every union in the country you still won't find anyone willing to work for the wages paid to most foreign workers. There are some jobs lost that will never come back because of the cheap labor without benefits or protection offered in the US. It would be unfair to ask any American worker to compete with the low standard of living many workers overseas must endure.

I'm sorry about your friends suffering but it was probably the union that helped him stay on the job for 20+years. Had he not been a member he could have been let go on a whim to hire some youngster for half his pay years ago. Merchants, lawyers, doctors, manufacturers and others form trade organizations to promote and protect their business interests why shouldn't workers? I have no data on the subject but I would imagine that engineers belonging to a union are paid more than non union engineers. One can always find someone to work for less, this doesn't mean the higher paid person isn't worth the money.

Remember, when someone offers to pay you minimum wage what they are really saying is "I would love to pay you less but it is against state and federal law."

 

[Mango]

Mango I beg to differ with you. It isn't the fault of the unions that manufacturing jobs went overseas, it's the fault of manufacturers. If you got rid of every union in the country you still won't find anyone willing to work for the wages paid to most foreign workers. There are some jobs lost that will never come back because of the cheap labor without benefits or protection offered in the US. It would be unfair to ask any American worker to compete with the low standard of living many workers overseas must endure.

I'm sorry about your friends suffering but it was probably the union that helped him stay on the job for 20+years. Had he not been a member he could have been let go on a whim to hire some youngster for half his pay years ago. Merchants, lawyers, doctors, manufacturers and others form trade organizations to promote and protect their business interests why shouldn't workers? I have no data on the subject but I would imagine that engineers belonging to a union are paid more than non union engineers. One can always find someone to work for less, this doesn't mean the higher paid person isn't worth the money.

Remember, when someone offers to pay you minimum wage what they are really saying is "I would love to pay you less but it is against state and federal law."

No, my friend kept his position for 20 years simply because his father was a important man in the construction industry. Plain and simple. He's still in the union, just decided that any job was better than none after one year. Non- Union Employers wouldn't consider him, even though he interviewed with full knowledge of the salary level as less. This is because of the inherent attitude prevalent amongst union workers.

Unions initially were successful in controlling the exploitation of labor workers, but it seems over time that the reverse has happened. They made expenses so much higher than non union workers, so yes, goods were eventually sourced out abroad to lower paying workers. A mentality developed to try to give as little work as possible. Things may have been very different had union workers been given stock shares and incenticized to produce a superior product over foreign manufacturers.