America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
economist.com
America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
1–10 of 71 posts
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#2Contrary to the millennial gripes and the 'trophy kids' syndrome, I believe that there's a generation of highly specialized and highly educated people out there whose expertise is going to waste because they are not getting the first important steps to start working on the job. The work gap that most of these people are going to experience is going to have irreparable harm to the product, with regards to all the papers unwritten, projects unstarted, and lessons learned - for all of us.
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#3Sorry I don't believe this. If it is true that we are close to maximum employment, there would be more pressure for wage inflation and more overall inflation. In places other than the bay area (which is its own world) inflation is really low nowadays. If you take into account various promotions, many prices are actually lower than last year.
And other than in the STEM fields, there is pretty much no wage inflation. If job growth increases and wages increase, I guarantee you we will see many people entering the work force. No-one likes poverty.
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#4Talking about unemployment numbers without talking about how they are routinely massaged, and the calculations changed, is either stupid (for the journalist not knowing about it) or evil (if the journalist does and is merely trying to toe a line).
See shadowstats.com for instance - they (the BLS) have changed the way unemployment (and many other stats such as CPI) are calculated over the years, and are no longer very accurate.
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#5Talking about unemployment numbers without talking about how they are routinely massaged, and the calculations changed, is either stupid (for the journalist not knowing about it) or evil (if the journalist does and is merely trying to toe a line). See shadowstats.com for instance - they (the BLS) have changed the way unemployment (and many other stats such as CPI) are calculated over the years, and are no longer very…
Sure but I actually think this article comes closer to talking about the real situation than most.
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#6Contrary to the millennial gripes and the 'trophy kids' syndrome, I believe that there's a generation of highly specialized and highly educated people out there whose expertise is going to waste because they are not getting the first important steps to start working on the job. The work gap that most of these people are going to experience is going to have irreparable harm to the product, with regards to all the pape…
A few years ago, I believed outsourcing was the main culprit removing the bottom rungs on the career ladder. That was until someone, older than I was, told me: "A career is not a right." That's when I understood that it is a choice by business owners and business managers to only hire pre-trained workers. It is a choice to run at half staff while waiting for a "perfect fit". Despite the large number of skilled, and near-skilled, workers, businesses are choosing to hire fewer workers, all the while bemoaning a skills gap.
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#7Contrary to the millennial gripes and the 'trophy kids' syndrome, I believe that there's a generation of highly specialized and highly educated people out there whose expertise is going to waste because they are not getting the first important steps to start working on the job. The work gap that most of these people are going to experience is going to have irreparable harm to the product, with regards to all the pape…
Regarding the millennial gripes and trophy kids syndrome, funny, because this week I just read my school's magazine covering this. Not that I am agreeing with the writer, but interesting read.
http://issuu.com/ccnycampus/docs/february_2014/9?e=9281508/6...
I think there is more than just job numbers. Are the unemployed people facing risk of losing home? The average age? Average skill? State they live in? How much is government doing? People say free market small government, I think that's BS because during election both sides will propose the government to create X number of jobs by fixing national infrastructure. And the market can't bounce up on its own. A lot of jobs can be created when the state and the federal government begin fixing the bridges and damns. You don't get those without government. On the other hand, yes, private sector should try to hire more here not outsource. I don't dispute that.
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#8Contrary to the millennial gripes and the 'trophy kids' syndrome, I believe that there's a generation of highly specialized and highly educated people out there whose expertise is going to waste because they are not getting the first important steps to start working on the job. The work gap that most of these people are going to experience is going to have irreparable harm to the product, with regards to all the pape…
A few years ago, I believed outsourcing was the main culprit removing the bottom rungs on the career ladder. That was until someone, older than I was, told me: "A career is not a right." That's when I understood that it is a choice by business owners and business managers to only hire pre-trained workers. It is a choice to run at half staff while waiting for a "perfect fit". Despite the large number of skilled, and n…
This might be the longest period in a while where some fast-spreading illness hasn't killed large numbers of people across multiple demographics.
Usually wars and sicknesses create a significant need to train new workers, but wars on their own aren't doing enough anymore and would only harm the demographics that are suffering anyway.
It's totally horrible for me to say this but a deadly flu pandemic is needed for the health of our economy.
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
A few years ago, I believed outsourcing was the main culprit removing the bottom rungs on the career ladder. That was until someone, older than I was, told me: "A career is not a right." That's when I understood that it is a choice by business owners and business managers to only hire pre-trained workers. It is a choice to run at half staff while waiting for a "perfect fit". Despite the large number of skilled, and n…
This might be the longest period in a while where some fast-spreading illness hasn't killed large numbers of people across multiple demographics. Usually wars and sicknesses create a significant need to train new workers, but wars on their own aren't doing enough anymore and would only harm the demographics that are suffering anyway. It's totally horrible for me to say this but a deadly flu pandemic is needed for the…
It's totally horrible for me to say this but a deadly flu pandemic is needed for the health of our economy.
If it comes to that, I prefer a French Revolution style class war. Fewer deaths, more gain for each death and in total, thus more efficient. Between 10 million deaths, no correlation between dying and deserving it, and chaos and no reason to believe in political progress, versus 200,000 deaths, a high correlation between dying and deserving it (i.e. higher death rates among the current elite) and the likely deposition of the corporate upper class, I know which one I'd pick.
I'm not sure I agree with your premise-- I don't think society ever needs traumatic death, and I wouldn't want the violent revolution or the flu pandemic-- but if it were true, there's a much better way of getting it, which is to rise up and depose the assholes running the world now.
I think the problem is related to what you are saying but much more prosaic. For the most part, humans are myopic and reactive, and the people who tend to rise in organizations (in peace time) are even more that way than the general population. They make shitty leaders, though, due to their lack of vision. The result is that, when there is progress, such people would rather cut costs (and involve fewer people) than do more. That, in a nutshell, is why Corporate America is so depressing: it's run by mindless cost-cutters, not leaders.
Couple this with the mean-spiritedness of the US society and you have long-term joblessness and, eventually, widespread, cancerous poverty of a kind not seen since the 1930s.
Re: America’s labour market has suffered permanent harm
#10Talking about unemployment numbers without talking about how they are routinely massaged, and the calculations changed, is either stupid (for the journalist not knowing about it) or evil (if the journalist does and is merely trying to toe a line). See shadowstats.com for instance - they (the BLS) have changed the way unemployment (and many other stats such as CPI) are calculated over the years, and are no longer very…
Every time I read an article about our supposedly improving unemployment picture, I try to figure out if the author is ignorant or malicious, because it's the same story with every article. As though the 6.6% number were even remotely real.
13.5% U6 unemployment [1]. Down 5.x million full-time jobs [2] since the recession began (which even ignores population expansion and the expectation that we should have more full-time jobs now). Records on poverty, food stamps and SS disability fraud. A continuing plunge in the labor force participation rate [3] that makes it look like we're knee deep in a depression. We routinely drop a city the size of Pittsburgh out of our labor force.
There has only been a recovery in asset prices, and that's strictly due to the Fed's QE programs [4] massively artificially suppressing the real cost of debt (which you can see in real-time effect when there's talk of, or an actual tapering to the QE program).
[1] http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
[2] http://www.businessinsider.com/full-time-vs-total-employment...
[3] http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000
[4] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-06/sp-and-without-qe