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Empty Gestures vs. Real Reform: How to Prevent 9.8% Unemployment From Becoming the 'New Normal'

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 12:54pm.

BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

It's tough to put a rosy face on the unemployment numbers released Friday morning.

While we saw this same jobless rate as recently as 1983, the plunge mimics a much older feeling. Since the food linesbeginning of the recession in December 2007, the unemployment rate has doubled to 9.8 percent, a decline that hasn't been seen since the Great Depression.

As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics makes public September's higher-than-expected unemployment numbers, you'll likely hear a lot of stories highlighting the disparity between Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke saying the recession is basically already over last month and the growing number of job-seekers in this country. National Public Radio's treatment of the story pointed out that jobs will lag well into next year, if previous recessions are any clue, and that we may experience a "jobless recovery" or even a "double-dip recession."

The announcement of September's jobless rate is coupled with a whispered warning of a "new normal," where we won't be surprised by nearly ten percent of our workforce being unemployed anymore. What seems untenable now may become ordinary, some economists warn. For example, last month on the anniversary of the U.S. economy hitting rock bottom, economic advisor and financial expert Alvin Hall told NPR's Jennifer Ludden that the recovery will come when we stop losing jobs, not when we start making them (emphasis mine):

I think the recovery will indicate itself when things stabilize, when the jobless rate stop rising. The new normal is looking at unemployment claims that are flat, the rise in unemployment stops. That's the new normal. Our day-to-day lives, we don't see yet the possibility of more income, but we can hold on to what we have. That's the new normal.

It's a depressing thought, which is probably why you don't hear many in the media fleshing out the term outside of financial reporting. After all, if those who are unemployed now saw their current position as endemic (if not for them, for some poor schmuck somewhere in the country) and not temporary, consumer confidence might plummet even further. So what do we do to stop this from becoming normal?

Well, MoveOn.org sent me an e-mail today urging me to head down to Sen. Roland Burris' office for an unemployment demonstration with an interesting twist:

The jobs situation is a crisis. So we're organizing a symbolic unemployment line TODAY in front of Sen. Burris's office in Chicago to call for passage of President Obama's clean energy jobs plan and the 1.7 million new jobs it would create.

My first reaction was to wonder if a "symbolic unemployment line" isn't somewhat insulting to those who have to stand in real unemployment lines. That thought aside, the demonstration is a smart one both ideologically and visually. First of all, very few can argue against the virtue of building a green economy. Second, the image of a line of needy people -- be it a bread line, unemployment line or the queue at Ellis Island -- is a potent political symbol in the land of plenty.

But, as it has proven itself very capable of doing time and time again over the past year or so, Move On has again misappropriated a salient symbol for use in a watered-down half-measure.

Green jobs are a necessity. They're surely part of the long-term plan if the United States wants to keep up in what Thomas Friedman recently called "the new Sputnik." The Space Race of our age is, no doubt, one of green tech, and the government must encourage and foster innovation.

But in truth, Move On's demand for "green jobs now" is nothing more than a temporary salve for what might be a permanent problem. The people now lining up before unemployment offices across the country are not, for the most part, going to be plucked from those lines by green entrepreneurs.

It's important to remember that the jobless rate is quite misleading, with soaring numbers of underemployed people, as well as those who have given up looking for a job, being overlooked in the mainstream press. With the average length of a job search growing beyond record levels, the unemployed are more desperate than in the past. Many of them are like this single mom interviewed for NPR's piece on unemployment today, who said she's "been looking for jobs that I never thought I would do in my life" just to keep from becoming homeless.

Green jobs initiatives are important, but they will not save this woman from being homeless. When college-educated, experienced workers are applying for jobs at Taco Bell, parading around a lame-duck senator's office while he's in Washington to "really show Sen. Burris that people in the Chicago area want action to create good jobs" will not shorten tomorrow's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families application line.

That's not to say there aren't things Congress can do to help mitigate the immediate problems of joblessness. The extension of emergency unemployment benefits by 13 weeks will help in the 26 or so states with high unemployment rates.

Demanding green jobs and strengthening stop-gap measures such as unemployment compensation will only help us eventually dig ourselves out, and won't force us to learn from our mistakes. We have to look at the root causes of this crisis and change the way we do business. Move On, with its lion's roar dimmed to a kitten's purr in non-election years, has been silent on many of the more controversial issues of the day, and has been extremely reticent to criticize the Obama Administration.

That's why independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' video address from a couple weeks back was so refreshing. He merged the very personal issue of unemployment with the root causes of the recession, and proposed that Congress actually -- gasp -- do something about it. The entire video is worth watching, but he ends with this strong appeal (emphasis mine):

What we must demand -- and this is enormously important, very few people are talking about it -- is a new Wall Street. A Wall Street not designed to make hundreds of millions of dollars for their CEOs, but a Wall Street designed to help increase manufacturing in the United States, create decent jobs, help small businesses do something for the productive economy. Another area that we need to return to is our disastrous trade policies which allow Corporate America to throw American workers out on the street, move to China, pay people 50 cents an hour, bring those products back into this country. So there is a lot of work in front of us in terms of the economy. Let's stay focused on this issue, and don't believe anybody who is telling you, quote on quote, the recession is over.

It's easy for Move On to praise green jobs, but when is the last time you heard them talk about NAFTA or regulating Wall Street? I want to thank Sen. Sanders for having the courage to say what we all know, but can't seem to say aloud. Not only is this recession not over, no matter what the stock market or Federal Reserve Bank says, but job losses will continue unless we change the way we think of employment, business and the economy in this country.

BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

Image courtesy of WoodleyWonderWorks' photostream on Flickr.




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I don't believe that both

Submitted by Bob16 on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 10:04am.

I don't believe that both parties are the same but in one respect they are.

Both of them are protecting illegal immigrants and illegal employers and both will probably be voted out of office because said protection keeps unemployment FOR VOTERS very high. There are token crackdowns but no real crackdowns.

I'm a life long Dems but i will vote for the opposition if the Dems don't fix the economy just as i voted against the Repubs.

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Surely an unpopular suggestion, but...

Submitted by smchris on Sun, 10/04/2009 - 12:53pm.

I would like to suggest that a foundation of the current _world_ crisis is a few billion more people than the world can sustain.  That isn't Catholic policy since the Pope just loves to see all those new souls to save.  Isn't popular with capitalism because they want a plentiful supply of disposable humans priced cheaply.  Isn't popular with human instincts in general. 

But when you read that the oceans currently contain a small percentage of the large fish that were surveyed as late as the seventies, you think of the growing deserts, the draining of the aquifers, erosion and poisoning of the land with pesticides, destruction of the rain forests forever (no, they don't just "grow back" once the ecology is destroyed) for more McDonalds cattle, the gap between the promise of solar and the demands for power, isn't it clear?  _Can_ a "green" revolution support the current world population?  And won't the sheer demand for power continue global warming in any conceivable scenario?  Is it possible for the world in its current state _not_ to be dog-eat-dog when the "correction" to the problem means fewer people on the planet?

And another unpopular suggestion:  In a world like this, what makes Americans special?  Lots of countries have 10% unemployment and have had it for decades.  20%.  30%.  More in some hell holes.  The shock is the shock of understanding that Americans aren't "special" anymore.  Could be a good thing because Americans have been "special" in an unfortunate sense too long.  Maybe we'll spend less time worrying about intelligent design and pay more attention to Congress, the President and Wall Street working together to rob the rest of us blind simply because we can't sustain that sort of bleeding anymore.

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unemployment farce

Submitted by ranting citizen on Sun, 10/04/2009 - 11:15am.

We are a nation of 300 million or so with maybe 140 million of working age. Then there are about 14 million unemployed. The number of unemployed is about the same as the number of employed illegal residents. Of course it is not practical to deport all those who are here illegally due to the cost. At the same time we can spend billions to rescue the institutions of the non working investor class, lest they lose their grip on the resources we might think of as belonging to all citizens. The entire game is a horrible joke on the working class. Try to remember the last time time that any of us were referred to as citizens rather that voters or tax payers. We are collectived refered to by the definition that best fits what the investor class wants us to provide to them. Welcome to change coppertops.

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Recessions

Submitted by George Graham on Sun, 10/04/2009 - 2:10am.

Recessions are painful. We are suffering that pain right now. The recovery must be thorough throughout this country. Many workers in the United States do not see the same emphasis on "green" that others do. In some ways it looks like a popular trend to follow that will not have legs. This recovery must come from every sector of business. Let's hope the recovery (whenever it starts) is strong and goes on for many, many years while helping every area of this economy. casino en ligne

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Squandering The Opportunity

Submitted by neoconned on Sat, 10/03/2009 - 12:01pm.

Obama has to be a corporate tool, or else why would he be seeking to rebuild the collapsed economic structure of the US instead of following a new path which is better suited to the future?

Instead of refunding the banks (we all know how well THAT worked!), Obama should be encouraging micro-financing. The developer of micro-financing, Muhammad Yunus, was awarded a Nobel Prize for his efforts (more here). It might have hurt some at first in the transition, but the entire nation would have been improved and made stronger economically, not just the portfolios of Wall Street criminals.

Instead of rebuilding the wrecked auto industry, Obama is allowing the green revolution to move to China. The Chinese are expected to surpass years of effort creating the entire wind-turbine infrastructure of the US with just a year's effort, and they are going to surpass the entire world's manufacture of solar panels shortly after that. In doing so, they take away the production lead from Germany, whose conservatives have won the day while losing the future.

The list of the things Obama seeks to look backward to protect while not moving forward into the future grows daily, but I think these two items are enough for now. It really is time to find other options to lead the nation than to allow the Dems and Reps to continue to share the swag they steal from our children.

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solutions obvious ,guts not

Submitted by godblessfdr on Sat, 10/03/2009 - 10:13am.

I have be writing about this for the past 12 years and predicting Americas third world status for as long.There has never been a country who has stayed a world power who has had to get all its goods from other countries.Free trade has destroyed America.If ever America is to be a strong nation again with people working we must rebuild our industries,put tariffs back in place and rebuild unions.Simple enough if you really want to rebuild America but our current politicians both Republican and democrat merely want to protect the wealth so things will only continue to get worse until maybe but I am not holding my breath we have another revolution to give the government back to the people.I forgot 1 very important thing,we must break up the monopolies and regulate industry

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GNP needs to be measured in

Submitted by Freedem on Sat, 10/03/2009 - 12:23am.

GNP needs to be measured in real stuff!

A large part of the Gross National Product during the Bush years was those Credit Default Swaps, and Madoff cons that evaporated like the mirage they were, making the net GNP probably in negative numbers for some years before, propped up in smoke and mirrors.

The actual manufacturing capability to produce real value is probably at the lowest levels since before the buildup to WW2, and even then the factories were idle but intact, where today they are ghost towns that will need tremendous infrastructure to even begin to produce anything.

Unless the Obama administration establishes an Industrial policy to recreate that infrastructure the hottest market will only get a lot more Chinese imports and few American Jobs.

If the Gang Of Pirates think that the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat, it is not any part of Bipartisan to accommodate them and roll over and play dead.

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Read your history; the answers are there

Submitted by willymack on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 9:39pm.

For example, two past Presidents with the same last name, and from different parties. The name, of course, is Roosevelt.

What are the odds of this? These two men were actually related as well.

They're responsible for practically everything GOOD that has happened to ordinary citizens in the past century.

Their example needs to be followed, NOW.

Reinstate and ENFORCE anti-trust laws. Throw scumbags like rupert murdoch out on their ears.

Write and ENFORCE new ethics codes for congresspeople and senators. At least half of them should be in JAIL.

Launch a new New deal program with CCC, WPA, and other, similar programs to put people back to work and teach them valuable skills, enabling them to keep our disintegrating infrastructure in top shape, and TO HELL WITH DEFICITS.

IF NECESSARY, DE-CERTIFY THE "REPUBLICAN" PARTY, WHICH IS THE WHIGS IN DISGUISE.

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How's Unregulated Capitalism Working Out?

Submitted by mcartri on Fri, 10/02/2009 - 4:45pm.

Sadly, we have elected a corporate owned President. Great speeches followed by corporate appeasement is now the norm. With a wholly owned GOP and the owned Blue Dogs, what hope is there for real health care reform, an improved employment outlook, union card check, prosecution of war crimes, Cap 'n Trade, etc.? The love of money by the richest of the rich is destroying our nation. We are in deep, dark waters, encircled by uncaring politicians feeding off corporate handouts.

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