Today’s Lousy Jobs Report and the Scourge of Inequality

[Crewleader]

Friday, January 10, 2014

by Robert Reich

The U.S. economy created a measly 74,000 new jobs in December, and a smaller percentage of working-age Americans is now employed than at any time in the last three decades (before women surged into the workforce).

What does this have to do with the fact that median household incomes continue to drop (adjusted for inflation) and that 95 percent of all the economic gains since the recovery started have gone to the top 1 percent?

Plenty. Businesses won’t create new jobs without enough customers. But most Americans no longer have enough purchasing power to fuel that job growth.

http://robertreich.org/post/72880787202

[Theodis]

1. I'm confused

Is the economy improving or not?
I see a report of 200k jobs added and now this report of a paltry increase.

[Crewleader]

2. Economy added 74,000 jobs in December

This was the weakest month for job growth since January 2011 and came as a huge surprise to economists, who were expecting an addition of 193,000 jobs.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/money/Unemployment-rate-falls-to-6-7/-/11787962/23863706/-/xpn9h5/-/index.html#ixzz2q3zArWbe

[Vic Vinegar]

3. Raise Minimum wage to $15

A lot of people don't understand that raising the minimum wage will create more customers with only a nominal price increase for products. I try to explain this to family checkbook economists and they don't get it.

Another thing people don't understand is that Wall Street has been on a capital strike since Obama has been in office and generally does not want to lend cheap credit to industry. However, Obama is responsible for not acting and not attempting any serious New Deal program and I really wish I could get Dems to realize that every single one of us has to threaten to Dump Obama if he doesn't listen to our demands. It's one thing to support a fellow Democrat but then again it is a another thing to be completely delusional to support a Democrat who isn't supporting us (or himself.)

The last thing is, if you want jobs you need that recovery program and it must come from a Hamiltonian Credit System through the Federal Reserve--imagine near 0% century bonds for industry to take and create near 30 Million new jobs! FDR did something of the sort and so did Kennedy. If the banks get their bailout why doesn't industry who the banks have been attacking with huge influence to industrialize America since LBJ and also with the Toxic Asset known as Collateralized Debt Obligations which essentially bet against business.

We can't just stand to blame business anymore, businesses are stingy and that may derive from the fact that they aren't taught real economics. However, it is really the banks that have businesses by the balls, so to speak, with high interest rates.

[Theodis]

4. I get the concept of

Raising minimum wage to make it a livable wage.
The drawbacks could include those making minimum wage being pushed into unemployment as those who are better workers replace them.
What are family checkbook economists?
Thx,
T

[Vic Vinegar]

5. well yes livable

Livable is about $11 but whatever labor wants wage-wise, that's what you give them which is $15. It's the one part of socialism/socialist realism which is acceptable as strategy. If workers are being pushed out, create more jobs--you need more job openings than there are workers at all times in general so that you have a healthy influx of foreign workers--look at Germany's Wirtschaftswunder or Italy's il miracolo economico in the post-war period, you always had influx of workers at a healthy level to fill demographic gaps.

A Family checkbook economist is the guy who tries to consider the entire economy as existing solely in the realm of the physical-economy and believes that you can never spend more money than you make. So like Reaganomics. It's people who don't understand a creative credit system.

[Theodis]

6. There are already large

Amounts of people earning under min wage, probably paid under the table.
Do you suppose an increase to min wage would increase the " black market" labor pool?

Check book economics by eliminating credit would help many who do not understand credit, which is probably a larger pool of the population than we realize.

From a bankruptcy pov, most bankruptcies are caused by medical disasters, then from loss of a job next. Personally, I do everything cash.

[Vic Vinegar]

7. if there is a real jobs program no

If there is a real jobs program, then there shouldn't be a huge issue with people getting paid under the table or if someone does it's going to be college students, non-english speaking people. Unfortunate, but not in epidemic size.

What I mean by credit, is a Hamiltonian credit system for industry that the First National and Second National banks provided. Now we have the Federal Reserve which only supplies a line of credit to banks. Generally for the person at home, it is good to not spend more money than you make but a government that tries to be just as debt-free is one based on contraction and austerity. So for the average Joe I would say avoid credit like the devil but for governments you've got to invest in industry to get returns and since we are in deep debt, credit from the Federal Reserve is the best solution for a production-based economic recovery.