--- ~~C~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 20:39:10 -0600 > From: "~~C~~" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: An Economy Driven By Debt > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Don't Confuse the Jobs Hype with the Facts > By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS > The November payrolls job report was announced > Friday with the usual > misleading hype. Spinmeisters made the most out of > the 215,000 jobs. Looking > beyond the glitter at the real facts, this is what > we see. 21,000 of those > jobs were government jobs supported by taxpayers. > There were only 194,000 > new jobs in the private sector. > Of those new jobs, 37,000 are in construction and > only 11,000 are in > manufacturing. The bulk of the new > jobs--144,000--are in domestic services. > Wholesale and retail trade account for 20,000. Food > services and drinking > places (waitresses and bar tenders) account for > 38,000. > Health care and social assistance account for > 27,000. Professional and > business services account for 29,000. Financial > activities gained 13,000 > jobs. Transportation and warehousing gained 8,000 > jobs. > Very few of these jobs result in tradable services > that can be exported or > help to close the growing gap in the US balance of > trade. > The 11,000 new factory jobs and the 15,000 of the > previous month are a > relief from the usual loss. However, these gains are > more than offset by the > job cuts recently announced by General Motors and > Ford. > Despite the gain in jobs, total hours worked > declined as the average > workweek fell to 33.7 hours. The decline in the > labor force participation > rate, a consequence of the shrinkage in well-paying > jobs, masks a higher > rate of unemployment than the reported 5 percent. > The ratio of employment to > population fell again in November. > Average hourly earnings (up 3.2 percent over the > last year) are not keeping > up with the consumer price index (up 4.3 percent). > Consequently, real incomes are falling. > This is not the picture of a healthy economy in > which growth in high > productivity, high value-added jobs fuel the growth > in consumer demand and > provide savings to finance Washington's red ink. > What we are looking at is > an economy that is coming unglued from the loss of > jobs that provide ladders > of upward mobility and from massive trade and budget > deficits that are > resulting in unsustainable growth in indebtedness to > foreigners. > The consumer price index measures inflation at 4.3 > percent over the past > year. Many people, experiencing household budgets > severely impacted by fuel > prices and grocery bills, find this figure > unrealistically low. PNC > Financial Services has a Christmas price index > consisting of the gifts in > the song, "The 12 Days of Christmas." The index > reports that the cost of the > collection of gifts has risen 6 percent since last > Christmas. Some of the > gifts have risen substantially in price. Gold rings > are up 27.5 percent, and > pear trees are up 15.4 percent. The cost of labor > (drummers drumming, > maids-a-milking) has remained the same. > Populations are hard pressed when the prices of > goods rise relative to the > price of labor, because this makes it impossible for > the population to > maintain its standard of living. > The US economy has been kept alive by low interest > rates, which fueled a > real estate boom. Consumers have kept growth alive > by refinancing their home > mortgages and spending the equity in their houses. > Their indebtedness has > risen. > Debt-fueled growth is qualitatively different from > economic growth that > results from an increase in high value-added jobs. > Economists who look at > the 3+ percent economic growth rate and conclude > that things are fine are > fooling themselves and the public. When the real > estate boom ends, what will > be the source of new spending power? > Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic > appointments and has contributed to numerous > scholarly publications. He served as Assistant > Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan > administration. His graduate economics education was > at the University of Virginia, the University of > California at Berkeley, and Oxford University. He is > coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can > be reached at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7zgKlB/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
