Unemployment at 6.1%

[1X83Z]

...that makes it the highest unemployment since the last time a Republican was in office.

I was going to vote for Bush in seventeen months, but, to me, the economy is showing no signs of true recovery. He's lost my vote due to his inability to deal with the failing economy.

Opinions? Your views on our economy?

 

[milefile]

What is this? Germany?!

 

[1X83Z]

Yeah, really.

 

[Joey D]

6.1% thats not bad. That means 93.9% is working. And a lot of those people are lazy and don't look for a job.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by BlazinXtreme
6.1% thats not bad. That means 93.9% is working. And a lot of those people are lazy and don't look for a job.

During most of the Clinton years, it hovered around four percent unemployed. 6.1% is bad for the US.

 

[DGB454]

It was heading that way before Bush. It's a cycle.I'm not saying Bush or the current congress couldn't have done a little more to curb it but it was bound to happen.

 

[Danoff]

people put too much stock in how much a president alone is capable of.

They also assume that when something goes wrong with the economy the economic policies passed by an administration will take affect in months.

Think of the country as a really big boat that takes a long time to steer. By the time the next president takes office, the boat will finally be on a different path, only to receive yet another direction.

Also, the economic problems that we're dealing with now are actually the fault of business people who have managed to get themselves scared. It's more mental than anything.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by danoff
people put too much stock in how much a president alone is capable of.

They also assume that when something goes wrong with the economy the economic policies passed by an administration will take affect in months.

Think of the country as a really big boat that takes a long time to steer. By the time the next president takes office, the boat will finally be on a different path, only to receive yet another direction.

Also, the economic problems that we're dealing with now are actually the fault of business people who have managed to get themselves scared. It's more mental than anything.

Seems to me since Carter, the economy has sucked everytime a Republican's in office, and prospered everytime a Democrat's in office.

 

[Duke]

Which, if anything, would be an argument for keeping Republicans in office, since the delays in seeing policy affect the economy makes it most likely that the Republicans are the reason for those booms.

Except in the 70s, when nobody good do anything right for the economy.

 

[rjensen11]

Perhaps we could solve this problem by going back to the old ways of men at work, women at home...?

On a serious note:
Our problem isn't too severe right now, think of the Baby Boomers, they'll all be retiring sometime soon, leaving more than enough job openings, and that's when we'll have to relax our immigration laws.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by neon_duke
Which, if anything, would be an argument for keeping Republicans in office, since the delays in seeing policy affect the economy makes it most likely that the Republicans are the reason for those booms.

Totally true. And the Democrats would argue it the opposite way. Totally true also.

Except in the 70s, when nobody good do anything right for the economy.

Not true - in the 1970's, when inflation was rising, Jimmy Carter debuted buttons saying "W.I.N." for "Whip Inflation Now." That had to have an effect.

 

[TurboSmoke]

Originally posted by rjensen11
Perhaps we could solve this problem by going back to the old ways of men at work, women at home...?

that would bring unemployment to 47% assuming that no women worked and half of the original 6.1% you quoted were men..

i know you were joking...

the president alone cant affect the ecomony in such a way...american actions in Iraq will have an effect...people boycoting american goods therefore the tech markets and manufacturing will be down, and exports of raw materials and foods etc...the american economy is like every other country on a grander scale...we all reply in investment, exports and growth...

the US president barely what colour his socks are let alone how to influence the ecomomy..

 

[Danoff]

agreed.

the president is largely a figurehead, which means he's important for foreign policy, but not so much so for domestic policy.

The president also makes a really good fall guy for whatever happens domestically - which is usually the result of the congress of a few years back.

 

[Danoff]

few years meaning 5-10

 

[Timmotheus]

Originally posted by M5Power
Not true - in the 1970's, when inflation was rising, Jimmy Carter debuted buttons saying "W.I.N." for "Whip Inflation Now." That had to have an effect.

Ugh. Do you know how inflation is mainly kept in check? The national interest rates are raised, and the people spend less money because of the larger amount of money they would have to pay. So, if you want to buy a house, You end up apyingmore money in the long run. Ugly, but it has to be done.

 

[vat_man]

Originally posted by rjensen11
Perhaps we could solve this problem by going back to the old ways of men at work, women at home...?

Uhh - my partner earns about double what I do, so that would, uh, suck. A lot.

Anyhoo - that is very high for the US. With US interest rates effectively at zero, the only real attack we've seen from Bush that didn't involve another country was those tax cuts - and weren't those well aimed....

Also - BlazinXtreme - you would do well to find out the actual definition of unemployment. It varies from country to country - but it's usually a percent of the actual workforce rather than the population. How you define 'employed' and 'workforce' can have significant effects on the number.

Not true - in the 1970's, when inflation was rising, Jimmy Carter debuted buttons saying "W.I.N." for "Whip Inflation Now." That had to have an effect.

Heh - that's fantastic. Abstractly, I wonder how one would actually flog a economic condition.

Of course, how we beat inflation in the '90s was to move all those manufacturing jobs to China and Taiwan with workers earning about $2 an hour so manufactured goods became a lot cheaper. I wonder what all those people who lost their jobs when the plant moved are doing....

Oh wait, what was the unemployment rate again?

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by Timmotheus
Ugh. Do you know how inflation is mainly kept in check? The national interest rates are raised, and the people spend less money because of the larger amount of money they would have to pay.

Are you telling me the buttons didn't work!?

Also - BlazinXtreme - you would do well to find out the actual definition of unemployment. It varies from country to country - but it's usually a percent of the actual workforce rather than the population. How you define 'employed' and 'workforce' can have significant effects on the number.

I'll be lighting a candle.

Unemployment in this country is anybody in the workforce (over 16) who is actively seeking work. It's more in-depth than that, since 'actively seeking work' can be interpreted so many ways that it has no meaning, but that's the basic idea.