The Future of American Jobs

[keepinitreal]

This means even if we enjoy a vigorous recovery that produces, say, 300,000 net new jobs a month, we could be looking at five to eight years before catching up to where we were before the recession began.Alcoa, for example, had $1.5 billion in cash at the end of last year, double what it had on hand at the end of 2008. It managed this largely by cutting 28,000 jobs, 32% of its work force.

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/2010/04/12/american_jobs/index.html

[WhatMoney]

This is an excellent analysis of the present and future US job situation by Robert Reich. The comment section in Salon is also very good.

I must quote some political comments from those replies, since conservatives not voting their self interest has always been a source of amazement to me.

We can only hope that the people feeling the most pain from the recession are republicans and conservatives.
Seeing as how the blue collar white males are getting hit so hard, that is likely. They're some of the most loyal republican voters.
People should suffer the consequences of their misguided voting patterns and ignorance-based political support.

and

That happens to be true regarding support of our empire. "Red" states have suffered more casualties than "blue" states.
The only problem with your "hope" is that those same people have a very slim chance of learning from their mistakes. The echo chamber is too loud and too pervasive in their environment.

I don't think there's any question that the standard of living for the middle and lower classes in the USA will continue to decline. The world is much flatter now, and as long as populations continue to procreate there will be an increasing excess of cheap labor available in the world.

The fact that US corporations are profiting more from these new world conditions does bring up a point for the redistribution of wealth to the middle and lower classes in the US. If you can't make it working here, and the wealth class keeps getting wealthier at your expense, what should be done to keep the population content? Conservatives won't like the answer...

Birth control could have prevented the excess labor supply, but try to tell that to the governments and religions that still encourage large families to increase their power and influence.

[keepinitreal]

We can only hope that the people feeling the most pain from the recession are republicans and conservatives.

"Red" states have suffered more casualties than "blue" states.

Not surprising that the party currently in power in both the Executive branch and the Legislative branch would target funds to their supporters and exclude their opponents.

The November elections should be interesting.

[banca rotta]

"Red" states have suffered more casualties than "blue" states.


Not sure about the red state, blue state statement. Anyone take a look at california, michigan or nj? All blue states?

I heard Texas has lower unemployment then everyone else. I think they are a red state.

Don't really think red and blue matter much since we all know that "d's and r's" are both the same.

We are in a stimulas recovery and if we build things and sell them then we would be in a sustainable recovery.

Since govt has grown too big to feed it will simply starve to death and the "recovery" will be no more.

[WhatMoney]

"Red" states have suffered more casualties than "blue" states.
Not sure about the red state, blue state statement. Anyone take a look at california, michigan or nj? All blue states?

Since govt has grown too big to feed it will simply starve to death and the "recovery" will be no more.

Yeah I agree the red/blue State quote has many exceptions. Oregon is a blue State that had 13% unemployment in 2008, in the top three in the nation. And because of this we qualified for more Obama stimulus money for the schools and public services than red states who were still doing better back then.

We are now seeing some recovery here, lower unemployment, and Intel just announced better than expected earnings and bright expectations for the remainder of 2010. That means more jobs for the State, as Intel had been decreasing their workforce here by several thousand starting in 2007. Intel is the largest single employer in the State.

But the conservatives in Red States voting for Republicans is still a general trend. There was a good book about this "What's The Matter With Kansas?", also made into a movie. From a book review:

In his book 1984, George Orwell described the state of perpetual war in his fictional future society by saying that the war wasn't meant to be won, it was only meant to be continuous. In WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS?, Thomas Frank illustrates how, and how effectively, the neoconservative right has implemented Orwell's concepts via a neverending war over culture and values.

Using his home state of Kansas as the model and focal point, Frank asks rhetorically why it is that Kansans so willingly espouse right-wing social issues (creationism, defunding public schools, prayer in schools, pro-life) while simultaneously allowing their state to become economically devastated by Republican free market policies of unfettered, unregulated capitalism. In other words, why do Kansans (and many other Red Staters) vote consistently against their pocketbooks, against their own economic self-interest?

With great specificity, Frank illustrates these behaviors and their devastating economic consequences by describing individuals and communities in Kansas.

http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-K.../dp/0805073396

[banca rotta]

Don't want to ruin your day whatmoney but any recovery is short lived.

I just read that calf. has a 500 billion dollar pension shortfall. OMG!

They are bk and promised to pay 500b. That's like any of us here owing 500b of non dischargable debt.

Cannot wait to see how they fix this one.

Things like this just keep over shadowing any hopes of long term recovery.

[WhatMoney]

I just read that calf. has a 500 billion dollar pension shortfall. OMG!

They are bk and promised to pay 500b. That's like any of us here owing 500b of non dischargable debt.

Cannot wait to see how they fix this one.

Simple, Huge Earthquake chops off CA coast, LA, SF, and SD underwater, millions of non-swimmers drown.

Inland empire becomes high price oceanfront property.

That's why I live on a hill.

[dakota112]

We will survive but there will be greater disparity, haves and have nots and this will lead to greater resentment and division in our great country. This country is over regulated , overtaxed, over governed and over lawyered. I don't know how you stop a moving locomotive that has lost its breaks going down a 6 degree hill 20 miles long. Read or watch Grapes of Wrath. Thats what all of this reminds me of.

[Pizza]

Take my view with a grain of salt, but why is it that consumer behavior doesn't match such bleak outlooks? Go to the bowling alley, wait on a lane. Go to a restaurant, wait on a table. Congested traffic is everywhere, even with gas @ $3/gallon, and there are still luxury cars and limosines flooding downtown on the weekends. Even the malls are becoming crowded again.

So where is all of this money coming from? Are all of these people taking their minds off the economy by blowing money that they (supposedly) don't have? Credit is tight and lines have been cut across the board, so if they are borrowing, how? Certainly not with home equity loans, right? Something isn't quite adding up.