Why the unemployment? A poll

[lizzie]

Disproportionate compared to what?

To what is affordable and sustainable in a functioning economy.

 

[Mell]

I am no economics expert but my observations are, I noticed that here in Europe at least, the cost of living and the expectation people generally have about what they should have materially has caused a need for most to earn a certain amount of money, causing fewer jobs to be available due to the cost of employees wages and expensive work place standards every employee is entitled to. Even with the average income a person earns, many claim to be unable to earn enough for a family and home without a double income comming in, so there are a lot of people either actively employed or looking for jobs, which boosts up the unemployment percentages : jobs available ratio.

 

[Mell]

I would say it is our greed that is the problem, but is it really greed, or is the amount of over materialism something we subconsiously absorb in the littered with media advertising societies we live in.

As well as that, there is the social pressure to have what others have. I sometimes find us(me, my partner and my child) being labeled as poor, because we dont tend to buy what people around us typically spend their money on. We tend to focus more on quality of life, education, travel... If we were to give into the pressure that is very real, we would likely feel a need to not only have the education, travel, other stuff which is important to us, but also to have what is important to others, that would make us less ecentric. It would also make living twice as expensive or more, because not only would we then need for both of us to work full time, but we would also have the childcare and housekeeper expenses.

 

[samsmart]

Yes, but it's the small junky things at Walmart that are the huge bulk of our buying habits. I buy small junky things at least a couple of days per week, and a car once every 5-8 years. Labor unions here have sort of priced themselves out of the market, and now even they are being supported by government (ie us).

There are many states in the South where labor unions are weak, but the South isn't a big manufacturing area because of it. There are also other ways car manufacturers could cut costs. I think that the pay for management and labor should be tied together, and I think progressive pay cuts should be given for big corporations when a company tries to tighten it's belt.

Plus they are decreasing because lots of people just can't afford their products. Agreed on the regulation business (plus coming tax increases on small business). A close friend of mine has owned a local vacuum sales and repair store for about 25 years here. He's closing the doors after next year, specifically because of tax changes and increasing bureaucracy/paperwork.

What this means is that regulations on local and small businesses need to be reduced - however, I want to retain close regulations on larger businesses, as their business practices have greater effects.

Unfortunately that's true. Thirty years ago, you could go to a trade school (carpentry, plumbing, etc) and learn a skill that was decent paying enough to live on. Now, with illegal immigration, those jobs have disappeared.

I think very few of those jobs requiring trade schools have pressure put on them by illegal immigration. Most illegal immigrants are menial laborers, not tradesmen, and while both are blue collar jobs they have two different level of skills.

For example, while many illegal immigrants work in construction, I bet most of the jobs they do are of the basic variety than nearly anyone can be trained to do with a few hours of training. Carpenters, on the other hand, have more advanced skill sets and are capable of doing more involved work.

 

[Barbbtx]

Uncertainty about what's in the HC bill, the financial deform bill, (243 new regulations in a 2400 pg bill) the expiring of Bush tax cuts.
Moretoreum on oil drilling
The Unions
Fear of redistribution of wealth
Fear of cap and tax
Fear of new taxes starting in Jan
I heard there is something like 1.5 Trillion dollars that people are sitting on because they are afraid to spend in this unfriendly to business atmosphere.
I mean seriously, who wants to take a risk on a new business or expand one under all this uncertainty?

 

[Mell]

Also, it seems like a lot of German companies and probably those of other countries too are moving their bases to where they can run less expensively and leaving behind the staff they lay off, to go on the German unemployment register.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Yep - all that.

Every point I've read has been accurate - all mixed together in one disgusting cesspool of bull**** . . .and it stinks like my septic tank.

 

[ricksfolly]

I do agree with unions out pricing labor but it's just more efficient to have people overseas make this stuff.
We can build more technically superior, valuable things.
That's why I mentioned having an education because we need more engineers and technicians in complicated tech fields.

Plumping, electrical, HVAC are still viable.
Carpentry can be so-so depending on the specific field but you are right in many instances.
You also have to remember that people now spend more money on luxuries.
Subscription television services, internet and other things people 20-50 years ago didn't enjoy, adds to the total cost of living.
Not to mention the loads of debt people are putting themselves into.

One project that would put hundreds of scientists, electrical, chemical and mechanical engineers back to work is to make a concerted effort to find out how the human body really works. Throw out all the old theories, books, papers and start from scratch. Of course it could end up like the goose who laid golden eggs, or it may bring even more mysteries to light.

ricksfolly

 

[Cephus]

Yep. We are our own worst enemy in this regard. Unfortunately, I know of no way to fix the trend that wouldn't make things much worse.

It's not that difficult. We just have to pass a law that any American company must follow American labor laws no matter where in the world they have their manufacturing facilities. That means they have to follow the same wage, environmental and labor laws anywhere they are. They can't pay Chinese children a few pennies to make things, then spill toxic waste into the river. It'll make it unprofitable to go overseas and they'll bring their operations back home.

 

[TOJ]

It's not that difficult. just have to pass a law that any American company must follow American labor laws no matter where in the world they have their manufacturing facilities.at means they have to follow the same wage, environmental and labor laws anywhere they are. They can't pay Chinese children a few pennies to make things, then spill toxic waste into the river. It'll make it unprofitable to go overseas and they'll bring their operations back home.

That is a great idea. We compete with US companies all the time and anything the US does to increase their costs is great for us.

.

 

[earthworm]

It seems to me that the very reason our growth in wages has been poor is because of overseas competition. We have now become a part of the global economy, and our economic system in general can't compete. We import cheap Chinese (and other) good because the general population wants cheap stuff Actually, they want goods that are affrdable..f. American corporations and manufacturers can't compete with cheap wages overseas, so their only viable option is to ship the manufacturing overseas so that Americans will buy their goods. In going global, we have really screwed ourselves in a way. People can't find good jobs here, because they want cheap crap, but they don't want to pay fellow Americans to produce it.

And we cannot compete very well as our CEOs, executives, many others are overpaid. When the rest of the world catches up, then things will "balance" and "overpaid" will be a thing of the past.
This change will take time, and will be painful for some.

 

[jujuman13]

I voted for 1) Both, 2) Our greed, 3) Other.
By other I meant the complete indifference to work as a means of earning a living, as opposed to expectation that the Government will provide everything I will need to live and then pay for my Burial/Cremation expenses.

 

[BCR]

I really don't understand how Obama is getting blamed for the unemployment rates and bad economy, he inherited Bush's mess..the verdict is still out though on how well his plans will have worked.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

I really don't understand how Obama is getting blamed for the unemployment rates and bad economy, he inherited Bush's mess..the verdict is still out though on how well his plans will have worked.

No it's not Obama's fault that the economy tanked.
Not at all.

There are things he and congress can do to restore confidence in the market but they aren't doing it.
That's where his fault is.

 

[Kushinator]

It seems to me that the very reason our growth in wages has been poor is because of overseas competition. We have now become a part of the global economy, and our economic system in general can't compete. We import cheap Chinese (and other) good because the general population wants cheap stuff. American corporations and manufacturers can't compete with cheap wages overseas, so their only viable option is to ship the manufacturing overseas so that Americans will buy their goods. In going global, we have really screwed ourselves in a way. People can't find good jobs here, because they want cheap crap, but they don't want to pay fellow Americans to produce it.

Import comparative advantage has helped fuel an increase in real wages (although it has not occurred in an equitable fashion). Do you really believe happy meal toys being made in the US is a positive for current and future growth outlooks?

 

[apdst]

Obama has created too much uncertainty in the private sector. Businesses aren't going to spend money to expand what with regulation after regulation coming down the pipe from the government. First, we got the Obamacare bill, with no telling how many new tax laws hidden within it; now, we have the financial wrecking bill and only God knows what's in that piece-a-crap.

 

[The_Patriot]

In a nutshell, it's because of the federal minimum wage law, regulations on business, the fiat currency we use, the entire warfare/welfare state, and the over-taxation of the people from goods to owning property to working.

 

[phattonez]

Minimum wage, welfare (and other social spending), uncertainty coming from Washington (i.e. tax hikes, spending policies), unemployment benefits, etc.

 

[Ahlevah]

I said "our greed." Corporations spent the last almost thirty years seeking "economies" and "synergies" through outsourcing and layoffs and by paying the workers who were left a small fraction of what they paid executive "talent." Collectively, the serfs (working stiffs) took on a consumerist mindset in which they never saved an acorn their lords (corporate masters) tossed them. For many of us among the more affluent, it was all about the here and the now: the bigger SUV; the house in the burbs with the hot tub and the wet bar that were the envy of Mom and Dad; the cruises to Mexico and the Caribbean--all paid for with borrowed money. But no problem--saving was for chumps; they'd make it all up in the stock market or by selling their homes to greater fools or, as a last resort, by taking out a HELOC against their home equity.

Investment banks weren't satisfied with the incomes they made helping companies raise capital by selling stocks and bonds. They set up M&A departments so they could advise the "talent" on the best way to achieve those "synergies" and "efficiencies," usually by advising the "talent" to borrow huge sums of money from the few chumps who actually dared to use banks as a place to save money. The "talent" would pay for the "deal" later by selling off pieces in fits and starts. If some people had to lose their jobs during the adjustment process, well, too bad; that's just the way the Darwinian cookie crumbled. The investment bankers decided they could make even more money by creating and selling esoteric derivatives--LEAPS and swaps and forwards and backwards and upside downs--that even they didn't properly understand. They set up proprietary trading departments to buy and sell securities at speeds and volumes that would make a craps player at Caesars wince. Then the commercial and retail banks saw the money being made and decided they wanted in on the action, so they lobbied Congress to get rid of Glass-Steagall.

Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out the way people expected. Home prices cratered, real incomes stagnated, and, while the executive "talent" took a bigger chunk of the pie, they couldn't make the S&P 500 budge in ten years. So much to adding to shareholder value. Meanwhile, the debt hangover has left us with 54 trillion reasons why demand will be flat and the word "stock" will be a dirty word for years to come.

This unemployment thing goes way beyond labels like "conservative" or "liberal." We're all to blame in one way or another.

 

[TurtleDude]

It seems to me that the very reason our growth in wages has been poor is because of overseas competition. We have now become a part of the global economy, and our economic system in general can't compete. We import cheap Chinese (and other) good because the general population wants cheap stuff. American corporations and manufacturers can't compete with cheap wages overseas, so their only viable option is to ship the manufacturing overseas so that Americans will buy their goods. In going global, we have really screwed ourselves in a way. People can't find good jobs here, because they want cheap crap, but they don't want to pay fellow Americans to produce it.

dems make america a rather inhospitable place to do business.

 

[The_Patriot]

dems make america a rather inhospitable place to do business.

Now, now it's not just the dems, but the repubs have a lot to do with it.

 

[TurtleDude]

It's not that difficult. We just have to pass a law that any American company must follow American labor laws no matter where in the world they have their manufacturing facilities. That means they have to follow the same wage, environmental and labor laws anywhere they are. They can't pay Chinese children a few pennies to make things, then spill toxic waste into the river. It'll make it unprofitable to go overseas and they'll bring their operations back home.

unconstitutional and unworkable

 

[Jucon]

I partially blame the unemployment on our insatiable appetite for cheap, ****ty goods from foreign countries.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

Americans have taken on too much debt ove the last 30 years, causing excess demand during those years. Now as Americans have to pay back that debt, it is leading to reduced demand, reduced demand means a lower requirement for people to supply good and services, meaning job loss's

 

[Scarecrow Akhbar]

I think our biggest problem is overseas competition and the fact that companies are not penalized for shipping jobs overseas. We are divulging between two economic classes, the very rich and everyone else, and our current recession is caused by the fact that the diverging economy cannot keep demand up. We have been trying to use credit since the 80s to make up for the lack of growth in our wages and we simply are to the point that we cannot borrow any more, which caused the economy to be unhealthy enough that this recession was worse than it could be.

Competition is NEVER a problem.

If companies can't compete and send goods to the market at a lower cost than their competitors, they rightly deserve to go out of that business.

What are we divulging between the classes? BTW, nice how you lumped the lower quintiles into one group, as if the middle class has the same economic standards and potentials as the illegal alien fruit pickers.

We've been watching our credit be abused to provide services the government is not supposed to be providing. If individuals are foolish enough to spend beyond their means, they eventually get what they deserve.

The same is true of governments that are similarly reckless.