unemployment rate hits the lowest level since 1969

[metis]

Some of you here at RF are for more high tech than I am, and I also know that at least a couple of you here have posted charts showing that what we are now experiencing in terms of economic growth is really just an extension of what started and continued under Obama. If possible, could someone put one of those charts up? Thanks in advance.

 

[Twilight Hue]

You won't like this, given that you're a conservative, but you can fact check it if you don't believe it: From the end of World War II up until the early 1980s, wages for the middle class rose approximately as fast as productivity gains and proportionally in step with them.

That's to say, as workers became more productive, about one half of the wealth created by their productivity went to them. No one disputes that this had much to do with the strong unions of the time being able to demand wage and benefit hikes.

Once Reagan came to power, unions began losing their bargaining power due to new laws like "right to work" laws. That meant they could no longer demand and get wage and benefit increases that kept up with the rising productivity of workers.

The result was that workers in the end could not feed their families, educate their children in universities, and have a pension all on one income -- as they had before the 1980s.

This is actually one topic where I don't really have the heart anymore to stay partisan on. Even for the challenge of debate.

I always had it pegged at least in part , that it had something to do with the Great Depression, the loss of the gold standard , and NAFTA trade deals for which the exodus of manufacturing decimated the working blue collar class who had no choice but to pursue cheap low paying service sector jobs.

I'll check that history. I really would like to know what the cause was.

Far as I'm concerned , whatever party can bring something like that back , assuming that is even possible anymore, will get my vote next election cycle.

 

[Sunstone]

This is actually one topic where I don't really have the heart anymore to stay partisan on. Even for the challenge of debate.

I always had it pegged at least in part , that it had something to do with the Great Depression, the loss of the gold standard , and NAFTA trade deals for which the exodus of manufacturing decimated the working blue collar class who had no choice but to pursue cheap low paying service sector jobs.

I'll check that history. I really would like to know what the cause was.

Far as I'm concerned , whatever party can bring something like that back , assuming that is even possible anymore, will get my vote next election cycle.

If you want a non-partisan view, you might be interested in this then: The Productivity–Pay Gap

The Economic Policy Institute is a nonpartisan think tank.

 

[Salvador]

Deregulation and tax reform are evidently working to create American jobs! Through 2020 and beyond, let's keep in power the leadership who've given businesses the incentive to hire more American workers.

 

[Sunstone]

Deregulation and tax reform are evidently working to create American jobs! Through 2020 and beyond, let's keep in power the leadership who've given businesses the incentive to hire more American workers.

Are you quite certain you actually know what's going on? For instance, do you know how the unemployment rate is calculated? Do you know what it most likely means when unemployment goes down while job creation does too? Do you know what kind of jobs are being created?

 

[Sunstone]

Some of you here at RF are for more high tech than I am, and I also know that at least a couple of you here have posted charts showing that what we are now experiencing in terms of economic growth is really just an extension of what started and continued under Obama. If possible, could someone put one of those charts up? Thanks in advance.

I don't have any charts, Metis, but back in the old bipartisan days it was generally agreed upon by all parties that a president's economic policies didn't kick in for two years after he was elected -- that up until he'd been in office for two years, the economy was basically a reflection of his predecessor's policies.

 

[Shaul]

It's truly a testament to Obama that he was able to
achieve this despite Trump's efforts to the contrary.

LOL

Good one, nice joke.

 

[Revoltingest]

I see what you did there...

Nuthin gets past you.

 

[Revoltingest]

Some of you here at RF are for more high tech than I am, and I also know that at least a couple of you here have posted charts showing that what we are now experiencing in terms of economic growth is really just an extension of what started and continued under Obama. If possible, could someone put one of those charts up? Thanks in advance.

Charts show results, but not correlation with policies.
Tis best to examine each policy change & guess at how much
effect it will have & when. 2 years is an arbitrary time frame.
That having been said, I don't credit Trump with improvement
in these common economic measures.....nor do I credit Obama,
who imposed some policies with expected deleterious consequences,
eg, giving no assistance to troubled borrowers, requiring that banks
foreclose on troubled but still surviving loans, prohibiting major
lenders from renegotiating loans in order to salvage them.
But even with bad federal policy, the economy will have sine wave
like behavior, ie, swinging up after bottoming out.

 

[Revoltingest]

LOL

Good one, nice joke.

If the economy tanked under Trump, how many lefties
would say that it's due to the Obama 2 year phase lag?

 

[Sunstone]

If you want to know who actually benefits from our economy over the past 34 years, here's an interesting chart for you:

The grey line shows you the income gains of the poor and middle class. The red line shows you the income gains of the top 1% and above richest people in America. Note that the income gains of the poor and middle class have been declining, while the incomes of the super-rich have soared.

Source.

 

[Sunstone]

If the economy tanked under Trump, how many lefties
would say that it's due to the Obama 2 year phase lag?

I would be the first to say that -- and I will say that, if the economy tanks between now and the end of 2018. Unlike you, I don't think economics is entirely a matter of opinion. It's an imprecise science to me. Imprecise, but still a science.

 

[Sunstone]

By the way, if anyone is interested, the economy we have today is in part due to the failure of the politicians back during the Great Recession to provide an adequate bailout of the economy. They voted, if I recall, for a 600 billion dollar stimulus package. Much more than that was needed to restore the economy to robust health for all Americans.

Many economists of the time pointed that out, including some Nobel Prize winners, like Paul Krugman. Krugman, because he's a liberal in the public spotlight, is often the subject of ridicule, but he got it absolutely right when he predicted that the small size of the stimulus package would lead to sluggish wage and earnings growth for at least the next decade following the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.

 

[BSM1]

By the way, if anyone is interested, the economy we have today is in part due to the failure of the politicians back during the Great Recession to provide an adequate bailout of the economy. They voted, if I recall, for a 600 billion dollar stimulus package. Much more than that was needed to restore the economy to robust health for all Americans.

Many economists of the time pointed that out, including some Nobel Prize winners, like Paul Krugman. Krugman, because he's a liberal in the public spotlight, is often the subject of ridicule, but he got it absolutely right when he predicted that the small size of the stimulus package would lead to sluggish wage and earnings growth for at least the next decade following the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.

Show of hands--Nope, looks like no one is interested.

 

[Sunstone]

Show of hands--Nope, looks like no one is interested.

You sure aren't.

 

[BSM1]

You sure aren't.

Nothing gets past you.

 

[Sunstone]

Nothing gets past you.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think.

 

[BSM1]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think.

Wouldn't be too sure.

 

[Revoltingest]

I would be the first to say that -- and I will say that, if the economy tanks between now and the end of 2018. Unlike you, I don't think economics is entirely a matter of opinion. It's an imprecise science to me. Imprecise, but still a science.

I don't think you understand my understanding.