Comments on: 12 reasons unemployment is going to (at least) 12 percent

By: Matthias Wayland

Matthias Wayland — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:14:06 +0000

According to the latest U6 measure of unemployment, the number already stands at 17.3% and passed the 12% a long time ago.

By: neolengob

neolengob — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:48:52 +0000

Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from… ?

By: Tod

Tod — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:32:44 +0000

I don’t know how you see a bright side to more life under the U.S. nation as is. The good days are gone for this nation unless masses of people begin to force changes in laws and policies. how many of you accept the notion that we’re in a globalized economy and there’s no good reason to move our society against that, toward local energy and food independence?

By: scheng1

scheng1 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:42:52 +0000

This is definitely more than cyclical unemployment. I think there’s structural unemployment at play there. With so many jobs outsourced to developing economies, the structural unemployment only adds to the problems of current cyclical unemployment.

By: John Tedder

John Tedder — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:09:13 +0000

I went to see Paul Krugman speak in Manchester, Vermont in October. After speaking for an hour, he started taking questions from the audience. A man a few feet away from me stood up and asked him where the jobs were going to come from for his children and grandchildren.

Paul answered that he didn’t know, but green jobs might be an answer. He also said that something might come along that we haven’t invented yet, that will revolutionize things similar to computing and the internet. But, in the end, he just didn’t know from where the jobs were going to come.

I don’t think we can sit around and wait for something to be invented that doesn’t exist yet and green jobs could put people to work now. Why, as far as I can see, is nothing being done to create green jobs? What about all of the crumbling infrastructure in this country? Roads, bridges, water pipes that are 100 years old and leaking? We spent billions of dollars to save the casinos on wall street. Can’t we spend a few billion to put some people back to work?

I am extremely disappointed that President Obama is not addressing the unemployment problem.

As Paul Krugman said, “We need a better government than we’ve got.”

By: Peter777

Peter777 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:59:44 +0000

Since bit business is not spending the money they have and banks will not loan money, the economy is contracting, as it often does in a recession because of fear of investing. What Obama should do is spend more to spend American out of the economic crisis. Give the money to retirees, the unemployed, to businesses that want to expand, to whomever will spend the money. That is the way the U.S. got out of the last severe recession (depression)– spending in WWII got us out of it, and nothing else worked.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:14:56 +0000

I’ve read some of the comments from some of these people on here. Some of them said that companies outsource jobs because of high taxes or some say that it is due to lack of health care. Words of advice…STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR CORPORATE AMERICA! While some of you CARE so much about US companies, US companies do not care about you! Sure lower the taxes or improve the health care, does that really matter to a short-sighted, greedy business man? Really? Does that really matter to him? He wants cheap labor so he can have MORE money in his pocket! Do you people understand? Corporate America does not care about you! When the system tells you all that you have to have an education to get a good job, you know what they really mean? Let me tell you. It means you only can be educated enough to do the paper work, run a machine, or get your boss’s coffee, BUT Corporate scums are not interested in you being well educated and have critical thinking at the same time! They rather want you to have slave mentality and not question them as they make bad decisions!

By: Peter Buxton

Peter Buxton — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:56:45 +0000

scarpy: yes, the “little guy” pays no Federal income tax, but he or she pays through the nose for FICA. And don’t whine that State and local taxes “are a different kettle of fish.” These states are meeting Federal spending standards. They are paying into state employee pensions at rates that will destroy the communities that once hired them. This, too, is part of our inability to reform Social Security. (note: giving SS cancer is NOT reform.)

A 40% tax on medical procedures and equipment is in the healthcare plan. That *is* a future tax on “the little guy.” The spendulus (stimulus) contained even more spending requirements, never mind the deficit (and the future taxes) it has incurred. Everyone is preparing for capital gains and income taxes to go up.

We were not living in a magical land of free money. Monetary policy did not cause the mortgage bubble. We were living in a land of magical rates on securitized mortgages.

The law stated: if you have 10,000 mortgages, you must have x% of their value in reserve. Unless you have 10,000 mortgage shares, in which case you can squeak by with only 40% of x.

And then Barney Frank took the fake profits from Fannie and Freddie (now bailed out to a greater amount than all the private banks and AIGs combined: don’t forget the Federal Reserve bought trillions in Fannie bonds) and gave it as a bonus to renters… to subsidize them… to make up for the subsidies of our govt. guarantees to Fannie and Freddie…

Didn’t work, did it?

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:50:04 +0000

You want significant and immediate employment numbers, allow drilling for oil and building refineries, nuclear plants. Now that global warming has been exposed as a hoax beyond all shadow of a doubt (Google Lord Moncton) we need to get back to energy independence. Good jobs too.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:41:49 +0000

Missed two big reasons. Politicians don’t seem to realize:
1.) Capital is global now. It will go somewhere else where the ROI, regulation and taxes are better. That will slow down re-investment here.
2.) Work is global now. Doesn’t anyone realize how easy it is to outsource jobs? A percentage of those jobs are never coming back; They’ll add the work on the purchasing end from a foreign country. Forget about cheaper; it’s easier that way. You don’t have to manage them, or pay their health care.