also at MLW
The rightwing has one of the worst persecution complexes I have ever seen. No matter what the press says, it is a sign of "liberal bias". Every headline has a subliminal message. It reminds of trial where parents sued Judas Priest for a subliminal message in a song that supposedly said, "do it" as the proximate cause of their sons death. (Overlook the fact their son was heavily intoxicated when he committed suicide and had a history that a layman would describe as depressive). Anyway, the RWNM is at it again regarding the economy. Despite strong macro-level numbers, the headlines are negative because the press wants Bush to fail. According to "Newsbusters" this is a sign of the liberal plot against Bush. (BTW: I am still not getting my notices for the vast left-wing conspiracy.) OK. Let's really look at the economy, shall we?
Wages
Since January 2001, total hourly earnings of production workers increased from $14.27 to $16.27, or an increase of 14%. Over the same time, the inflation gage increased from 175.1 to 198.8 or an increase of 13.5%. This makes the real income increase .5% over 5 years.
A 5-year .5% increase in earnings is not to be aspired to. What it essentially means is today's paycheck is slightly more than January 2001's paycheck. Wow. I can buy one more Starbuck's coffee/week with that increase.
Jobs
Since January 2001, the economy has lost 3.6 million high-paying jobs: 2.8 million in manufacturing and 600,000 in high-tech. Since January 2001, the economy has created 4.8 million jobs. (BTW: The RWNM has started to claim a higher job creation total by changing the starting date, implying Bush took office in 2003 and not 2001.) Let's look at that number, shall we?
There have been 57 months of figures since January 2001. 4.8 million divided by 57 yields 85,000 jobs/month. The economy needs to create approximately 150,000/month to keep-up with natural attrition in the economy. So, the US is not creating enough jobs to keep up with natural economy developments. This partially explains why wage growth is not keeping up with inflation: too much supply depresses the price of a good.
Consumer Debt
Somehow the economy is still going forward, despite the lack of wage growth. How? Simple. Follow the Republican example of debt, debt and more debt (Hell, it worked for Reagan, Bush I and his son). In January 2001, total consumer debt was 7.6 trillion. Now it is 10.2 trillion, or ove 90% of total US GDP. "Charge it!" is the motto of this economy.
Trade Deficit
Last year, the balance of payments deficit was 5.5% of GDP. This year that number is projected to be over 6%. That means the US currently sends 5.5% of its GDP in the form of cash to other countries. To put this in perspective, when Argentina's BOP number reached 5% IT EXPERIENCED A CURRENCY CRISIS.
Federal Deficit
The "fiscally responsible" Republicans inherited a surplus from that evil "tax and spend" liberal Clinton. Did the "fiscally responsible" party maintain the surplus, or even pay down some of the debt its predecessors like Reagan (2.6 trillion) and Bush I (1.4 trillion) create? NNNNNNNOOOOOOOO! Why would we do that? We want more debt!!!!! So much that our children will drown in it!!!!!!!
The US now has over 8 trillion in debt. (BTW - Bush started with 5.6 trillion.)
Poor job creation + no wage growth + increases in consumer and federal debt + massive balance of payments deficit = bad.
To the RWNM: Please let me know where I can send a highlighted, tabbed and indexed copy of my econ 101 textbook. You need it more that I do.