It's the (Tanking) Economy, Stupid

[one...two...tree 2,762]

If the people don't like the economy, there must be something wrong with the people.

This is the new line from the Bush administration and its flacks: Growth is up! Unemployment is down! Incomes are soaring! So why, according to a poll taken by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, do 63 percent of Americans say that the economy is on the wrong track? Obviously they are deluded. Or maybe they're just not all that bright.

Weighing in on the side of delusion is New York Times columnist David Brooks, who wrote the following on Sept. 7:

... workers overall are not getting a smaller slice of the pie. Wages and benefits have made up roughly the same share of G.D.P. for 50 years ... Jobs are not more insecure. Workers are just as likely to hold a job for 20 years as they were in 1969 ... workers are not stuck in dead-end jobs.

And, in a statement that has economists scratching their heads: "The typical male worker with some college but no degree has seen his income rise from $34,000 in 2000 to about $40,000 today." (Who is this guy, and how do I find him?)

If the public is pessimistic, Brooks argues, it must be because "the populists, who usually live in university towns, paint a portrait of unrelieved misery that badly distorts reality." And the public, sated as it is by a steady diet of high-end restaurant meals and distracted by constant mall sprees, is dumb enough to believe those academic cranks.

Elaine Chao, the secretary of labor, tacitly endorses the intellectual defect theory, stating on CNN recently that "our economy is evolving and transitioning to a knowledge-based economy" that favors the highly educated and highly skilled. Translation: If you're not enjoying the economy, it must be because you're just not too smart. And if you're not smart enough for our knowledge-based economy, you're clearly too dumb to understand how great it really is.

Connoisseurs of American political ideologies will note the delicate bind the Pew survey puts the conservatives in. For years, they've styled themselves as the "populists" -- upholding the supposed simple virtues and gut patriotism of the common person against the cynicism and "moral relativity" of the overeducated, Chardonnay-swigging, stem-cell-hating "liberal elite." What to do then when the average Joe and Joan say the economy sucks? Brooks falls back on the liberal elite theory -- attributing public pessimism to the baleful influence of those who dwell in "university towns." Chao wants us to believe that the disgruntled are simply those who haven't yet grasped the wonders of a "knowledge-based economy."

But right-wing populism never applied to economics. While bravely championing chastity, fetuses and heterosexual marriage, the right has pursued an unabashedly elitist economic program: cutting taxes for the wealthy and services for everyone else. The effects of these policies -- along with private sector layoffs and cuts in wages and benefits -- are finally coming home to roost. Real wages are declining; in fact, the share of the GDP that goes to wages and salaries has reached a 59-year low, while the share going to corporate profits is at a 40-year high.

Meanwhile the number of Americans without health insurance rose by 1.3 million in 2005. And while the unemployment rate is admirably low, it fails to take into account the large numbers of people who have given up looking for work or who are working at low-paid jobs for which they may be far overqualified. Odd, isn't it, that in a "knowledge-based economy" so many college graduates are waiting tables and laid-off engineers are driving airport limos?

Here's another explanation for the economic disgruntlement of the American public: They're not dumb or deluded, they're hurting. Stagnant wages and salaries, combined with rising costs of health care, energy, tuition and rent, have left a majority -- somewhere around 63 percent -- battered and bruised. Real populists don't call the people dumb. They listen to what they're saying.

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of 13 books, most recently "Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream." This piece originally appeared on Barbara's blog.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Growth is continuing. Not as fast as I'd like to see it but it is. But real problem is wage stagnation. That won't change until worker productivity begins to dip.

Tanking? That hyperbolic garbage. Is the economy soaring to new levels of prosperity? Even more hyperbolic garbage.

This economy is kind of like a guy with a 99 degree fever. It's sick but it can't take a day off because it isn't sick enough.

[mmmbop1976 1]

If the people don't like the economy, there must be something wrong with the people.

This is the new line from the Bush administration and its flacks: Growth is up! Unemployment is down! Incomes are soaring! So why, according to a poll taken by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, do 63 percent of Americans say that the economy is on the wrong track? Obviously they are deluded. Or maybe they're just not all that bright.

Weighing in on the side of delusion is New York Times columnist David Brooks, who wrote the following on Sept. 7:

... workers overall are not getting a smaller slice of the pie. Wages and benefits have made up roughly the same share of G.D.P. for 50 years ... Jobs are not more insecure. Workers are just as likely to hold a job for 20 years as they were in 1969 ... workers are not stuck in dead-end jobs.

And, in a statement that has economists scratching their heads: "The typical male worker with some college but no degree has seen his income rise from $34,000 in 2000 to about $40,000 today." (Who is this guy, and how do I find him?)

If the public is pessimistic, Brooks argues, it must be because "the populists, who usually live in university towns, paint a portrait of unrelieved misery that badly distorts reality." And the public, sated as it is by a steady diet of high-end restaurant meals and distracted by constant mall sprees, is dumb enough to believe those academic cranks.

Elaine Chao, the secretary of labor, tacitly endorses the intellectual defect theory, stating on CNN recently that "our economy is evolving and transitioning to a knowledge-based economy" that favors the highly educated and highly skilled. Translation: If you're not enjoying the economy, it must be because you're just not too smart. And if you're not smart enough for our knowledge-based economy, you're clearly too dumb to understand how great it really is.

Connoisseurs of American political ideologies will note the delicate bind the Pew survey puts the conservatives in. For years, they've styled themselves as the "populists" -- upholding the supposed simple virtues and gut patriotism of the common person against the cynicism and "moral relativity" of the overeducated, Chardonnay-swigging, stem-cell-hating "liberal elite." What to do then when the average Joe and Joan say the economy sucks? Brooks falls back on the liberal elite theory -- attributing public pessimism to the baleful influence of those who dwell in "university towns." Chao wants us to believe that the disgruntled are simply those who haven't yet grasped the wonders of a "knowledge-based economy."

But right-wing populism never applied to economics. While bravely championing chastity, fetuses and heterosexual marriage, the right has pursued an unabashedly elitist economic program: cutting taxes for the wealthy and services for everyone else. The effects of these policies -- along with private sector layoffs and cuts in wages and benefits -- are finally coming home to roost. Real wages are declining; in fact, the share of the GDP that goes to wages and salaries has reached a 59-year low, while the share going to corporate profits is at a 40-year high.

Meanwhile the number of Americans without health insurance rose by 1.3 million in 2005. And while the unemployment rate is admirably low, it fails to take into account the large numbers of people who have given up looking for work or who are working at low-paid jobs for which they may be far overqualified. Odd, isn't it, that in a "knowledge-based economy" so many college graduates are waiting tables and laid-off engineers are driving airport limos?

Here's another explanation for the economic disgruntlement of the American public: They're not dumb or deluded, they're hurting. Stagnant wages and salaries, combined with rising costs of health care, energy, tuition and rent, have left a majority -- somewhere around 63 percent -- battered and bruised. Real populists don't call the people dumb. They listen to what they're saying.

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of 13 books, most recently "Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream." This piece originally appeared on Barbara's blog.

blah blah blah....more mindless drivel

[one...two...tree 2,762]

blah blah blah....more mindless drivel

...the share of the GDP that goes to wages and salaries has reached a 59-year low, while the share going to corporate profits is at a 40-year high.

Yes, it's all too much thinking for the average sheep.

[mawilson 2,133]

Growth is up! Unemployment is down! Incomes are soaring! So why [...] do 63 percent of Americans say that the economy is on the wrong track? Obviously they are deluded.

Obviously.

[mmmbop1976 1]

Yes, it's all too much thinking for the average sheep.

didn't feel like doing much typing today, that's why the blah blah blah post......but, average sheep? ok steve, let me tell you something, i see the u.s. economy everyday, from all aspects, on an intimate basis. transportation, energy, manufacturing, service, construction, etc etc.....and overall it is a strong, vibrant, heathy economy poised for long term growth and stability. and the numbers prove it. so why is part of the american public pessimistic about the economy? poor personal financial planning compounded by envy and jealousy over what their neighbor has that they don't. americans want to get their paycheck on friday, go buy that new plasma tv they want and still have enough money to pay all their bills. and when they can't, out comes that plastic and they keep it up until they are living paycheck to paycheck. when they get to that point, they are not able to point the finger of blame at themselves where it belongs, so they point it at the government and business...i.e. i should make more money, this economy sucks...all because of envy, jealousy and poor personal financial planning.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Yes, it's all too much thinking for the average sheep.

didn't feel like doing much typing today, that's why the blah blah blah post......but, average sheep? ok steve, let me tell you something, i see the u.s. economy everyday, from all aspects, on an intimate basis. transportation, energy, manufacturing, service, construction, etc etc.....and overall it is a strong, vibrant, heathy economy poised for long term growth and stability. and the numbers prove it. so why is part of the american public pessimistic about the economy? poor personal financial planning compounded by envy and jealousy over what their neighbor has that they don't. americans want to get their paycheck on friday, go buy that new plasma tv they want and still have enough money to pay all their bills. and when they can't, out comes that plastic and they keep it up until they are living paycheck to paycheck. when they get to that point, they are not able to point the finger of blame at themselves where it belongs, so they point it at the government and business...i.e. i should make more money, this economy sucks...all because of envy, jealousy and poor personal financial planning.

...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Yes, it's all too much thinking for the average sheep.

didn't feel like doing much typing today, that's why the blah blah blah post......but, average sheep? ok steve, let me tell you something, i see the u.s. economy everyday, from all aspects, on an intimate basis. transportation, energy, manufacturing, service, construction, etc etc.....and overall it is a strong, vibrant, heathy economy poised for long term growth and stability. and the numbers prove it. so why is part of the american public pessimistic about the economy? poor personal financial planning compounded by envy and jealousy over what their neighbor has that they don't. americans want to get their paycheck on friday, go buy that new plasma tv they want and still have enough money to pay all their bills. and when they can't, out comes that plastic and they keep it up until they are living paycheck to paycheck. when they get to that point, they are not able to point the finger of blame at themselves where it belongs, so they point it at the government and business...i.e. i should make more money, this economy sucks...all because of envy, jealousy and poor personal financial planning.

We're not talking about keeping up with the Jones' - we're talking about Americans who can't afford the basics - a home, healthcare, food on their table, and the trend is for a dismal future.

The US economy depends on a massive flow of funds from overseas investors to sustain its external deficit. In other words, as empire grows, the 'republic' goes into deeper crises, stripped of its competitive enterprises and unable to limit its consumer imports. This contradiction cannot be easily resolved, because the political leadership is totally committed to empire building and the only concession it can make to the domestic economy is greater subsidies and greater protection - which in turn increases tension and conflicts with its imperial competitors in Europe and its client export regimes in the Third World.

Financial Times, May 2002; Forbes 500, July Report.

[Ban Hammer 13,369]

yup, the economy is tanking according to someone. and i just got a 12k a year raise

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

yup, the economy is tanking according to someone. and i just got a 12k a year raise

Nice. Promotion?

[Ban Hammer 13,369]

yup, the economy is tanking according to someone. and i just got a 12k a year raise

Nice. Promotion?

pay raise. but i'm still looking for evidence of this tanking economy

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The wife and I make almost $100k a year and we can't afford to buy a house.

[Ban Hammer 13,369]

The wife and I make almost $100k a year and we can't afford to buy a house.

that's cause you're in joisee! what's the median cost for a house up there?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The wife and I make almost $100k a year and we can't afford to buy a house.

Really?

I bought my house when I was single and made well below 100. Bought it in NJ in 2003, so peak bubble time.

My advantage was I had plenty for a downpayment.

Edited September 13, 2006 by Gupt

[dalegg 143]

The wife and I make almost $100k a year and we can't afford to buy a house.

I think in California to buy a house now you have to make about $200,000. I saw condos in what used to be considered a low income area going for $550,000 although I think those prices have come down in the past couple of months.