Saturday, August 6, 2016

The American Economy

According to the latest reports, the American economy is doing well.  Allow me to quote from an article by Neil Irwin in today’s Times business section.

The United States economy is creating jobs at a rapid pace; most people who say they want a job are able to find one, and employers are having a hard enough time finding workers that they’re having to pay higher wages.  But large segments of the population, especially those without advanced education, left the the labor force during the last several years, and relatively few of them are bing pulled back in by this improved job market.

Exactly.  These are the people who show up at Trump rallies.  55-year-old guys who have no job, no hope, no future.  The sad thing is that their jobs are not coming back.  Anthracite coal mining is not coming back.  Shirt factories are not coming back.  They aren’t even coming back in China.  Automation is global.


Another sad thing is that these men and women think that Trump will fix this.  They think he will bring back manufacturing.  Unfortunately, if you look at towns like Scranton or Johnstown, the jobs left long before NAFTA.  The final sad thing is that people are being duped and don’t even know it.

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