It should also be noted the labor participation rate is at its lowest point since 1981. If the labor force participation rate were at the same percentage as when President Obama took office, the U-3 unemployment rate would be 11.2% instead of 8.1%.
Facts are stubborn things. We've had other recessions before, and the one in 1981 was worse. So why has this one lingered? The bottom line is that the economic prescription to repair the damage of the real estate bubble popping has failed. It seems we've been given every excuse for non-performance by this administration except for the real one: you can't borrow and spend your way out of recession. Clint Eastwood was right: when someone doesn't do their job, you just have to let them go.
That's why you will never see feeble-minded Eastwood invited to speak at another Republican Convention. Ever. What a backfiring embarrassment that was.
Obama inherited a mess. My guess is it would take 12 years to get out of it. Bush II has been the worst president in history. What a travesty he created.
Reagan inherited a worse situation in 1981 and by 1984 had enormous growth that propelled him to carry 49 states.
What measure are you using to argue the 1981 recession is worse than the current one? There's been a bigger drop in GDP in this recession. I agree that Obama hasn't solved the problem but Romney doesn't have the answer either. Cutting government spending will put more people out of work and reduce personal incomes. Cutting the corporate tax rate will reduce government revenue, offsetting any helpful impact on the deficit from the government spending cuts. Corporations have cash out the ass, profit margins are record high AND they're still not hiring
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/worse-than-1982/ By contrast, the early 1980s (blue) series shows two recessions in the three years before the downturn’s end. In a sense, the 1981-’82 recession damaged an economy already tender from the 1980 recession. Measured from the start of the first recession, the early 1980s recession lasted 34 months whereas this recession is so far “only” 17 months old. The usual comparisons of the current recession to 1981-’82 are based on the worst two to four consecutive quarters, without regard for the other activity near and around that time. For example, the worst two quarters of this recession (so far) have seen G.D.P. fall 3.1 percent (from an index in the chart of 103.5 to 100.4) whereas the worst two consecutive quarters 1980-2 were late 1981 and early 1982, when real G.D.P. fell 2.9 percent. Arguably, we would like to see real G.D.P. fall 3.1 percent rather than 2.9 percent in two quarters, as long as the former case had some other good growth quarters. The chart illustrates this idea: the red series (late 2000s) is consistently above the blue series (early 1980s) despite the fact that the red series has the greatest two-quarter descent. ... While the job losses, foreclosures, stock declines and other casualties of the current recession have been very painful, substantially more bad economic news is needed to make this recession worse than the downturns of 1980-’82, at least in G.D.P. term
Companies are scared of Obama and how he has punitively dealt with various sectors of the economy since becoming President. They are bulging with cash but are afraid to hire. When GM is torn away from the bond holders, given to a union along with a few hundred billion for union coffers then it scares the daylights out of all business. I know our parent company is waiting on the sidelines for a more stable President before making any moves.
Denny addressed the 81-82 recession (the one with the closest parallel at the beginning of President Obama's term) and BP addressed why corporations aren't hiring. What Denny didn't address was inflation and interest rates in the 81-82 recession which made investing by companies even more daunting. There is a pattern to recessions if the market is allowed to correct it: the deeper the recession, the more robust the comeback. Our "recovery" has been like the piss stream of an old man with a massively enlarged prostate and now we're likely entering yet another recession. If we don't make a policy course correction, we'll likely see a reliving of the 1930s.
i actually think the conservative flocks ideas are pretty cutting edge, ship our jobs overseas until we are a 3rd world country, that way businesses will start using our labor again, and pay us 3 bucks a day. we will be so destitute at that point im sure most will welcome it sneaky good
Do you know what this country's competitive advantage is? It's not manufacturing. It's not services. It's not finance. It's innovation. Let the rest of the world have the jobs of the past; we'll innovate the jobs of the future. We don't know what they'll be, but when you leave the American people in charge of their own future, that future will be bright.
