The Bush Jobs Chasm-- James K. Galbraith

[carolinayellowdog]

Hey--

Another fine article from Salon. Really brings home the point of media hype for * and historical amnesia re Clinton/Gore.


http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/04/06/march/index.html

excerpt:

Assume population growth at its average rate since 1976. Set a target baseline payroll -- an employment-to-population ratio of 62 percent, the prosperous level that was exceeded almost continuously from June 1999 to August 2000. If we average 308,000 new payroll jobs every month from now on, how long will it take to break that June 1999 threshold once again?

Answer: Four more years. It wouldn't happen until March 2008.

And the first time payroll growth falls below 308,000 per month, then either some other month will have to make up the shortfall, or else the date will slip.

Not that 308,000 is such a large number. Want to know how many times monthly payroll employment gains hit the 300,000 mark under Clinton and Gore? Twenty-four. That's one month in every four. Numbers like that didn't make the front pages under Clinton.

[opihimoimoi]

1. John Kenneth Galbraith ROCKS

Noted author and economist

Read his books THE GOOD SOCIETY, ANATOMY OF LEADERSHIP.

Bush fails to comprehend the big picture, he is myopic and selfcentered.

[carolinayellowdog]

2. James is his son IIRC n/t

[opihimoimoi]

4. OOps, my bad.

But if the son is like the father, cut from the same mold, he rocks too.

[OneBlueSky]

3. "The fit of ejaculatio praecox to which the commentariat abandoned itself"

love it . . . :)

[teryang]

5. 300,000 part time jobs

...confirming the structural melt down of labor conditions in America. Not full time jobs. No benefit, low paying part time jobs which merely postpone insolvency a few months.

This is the "blockbluster" jobs report that everyone raves about. Not a good report when viewed in context as Galbraith points out, but not a good report period, its a terrible report because it confirms everything that's wrong with American labor markets.