Interesting chart from New York Times via ritholtz.com
Number of job unemployed people rising, number of job openings falling - not a good combination.
Not the best time to be graduating if you are looking for a job.
Let us hope that the grip of the visible hand of rules and regulations is relaxed, so that the employers, the business owners can regain their confidence and resume business investment and hiring. Let us hope that starts happening soon!
This is a very interesting chart. Certainly a very good argument can be made against government intervention during times of recession. That well known Ronald Reagan quote comes to mind: "Government isn't the solution; government is the problem!"
ReplyDeleteI like to ask my students what they think should be the Christian policy-maker's response in times of high unemployment.
ReplyDeleteI tend to very much lean toward the free markets, so in my view government has an extremely limited role to play during economic hardships or during prosperity, but it seems that people in general tend to favor government intervention more during recessions.
I agree. The general public's perception seems to be that government intervention during economic downturns is not only desired, but necessary. That fits with the political misconception that the President wields the power to alter the economic fortunes of America by sheer will.
ReplyDeleteI ran across a very interesting article by John Stossel about the early effects of the "stimulus" bill and the Obama Administration's need to claim success no matter what the statistics say. You might find it interesting. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/09/30/success_no_matter_what_98512.html