Tag Archives: Unemployment

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

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People who didn’t like Margaret Thatcher at all have driven “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” to the top of the charts in Great Britain (the British can be rude to their politicians, and good for them!).

In addition to writing the lyrics to that one, as well as “Over the Rainbow” (the actual title), Yip Harburg, born Isidore Hochberg, also wrote the words to this terrific song about the Great Depression. The music was composed by Jay Gorney, based on a Russian lullaby.

Bing Crosby recorded the most famous version back in 1931. This one is by James Crowley and the Top Hat Orchestra. It was released in 2011, in the continuing aftermath of the Great Recession.

If anyone in Great Britain records a new version of “The Witch Is Dead”, this would make a great flip side, if we still had flip sides. 

The Forgotten Millions

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I’ve been intending to write something here about how America has become a low-wage nation compared to other developed countries. In the meantime, here’s a link to the latest column from the fairly indispensable Paul Krugman, in which he points out that unemployment is still a terrible problem and briefly explains what will happen if we start down the “fiscal slope” (it’s not really a cliff, since its effects will be gradual):

“The unemployment crisis goes on and on, even though we have both the knowledge and the means to solve it. It’s a vast tragedy — and it’s also an outrage.”

Throw in the issues of underemployment and low wages and the problem is even worse.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/opinion/krugman-the-forgotten-millions.html?hp

Why Listening to TV Commentary Might Drive a Person Crazy

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Today’s big story was that the nation’s official unemployment rate dropped to 7.8%. This is good news if you want the economy to improve.

Of course, it’s well-known that the unemployment rate calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics isn’t precise. It’s a statistical approximation based on various kinds of data. But the official rate does generally indicate whether unemployment is going up or down and roughly how many people are out of work.

Lately, when the number has been bad, Republicans have used this as evidence against the Democrats. Today, when the number was good, Republicans loudly suggested that the Obama administration somehow manipulated the number to its advantage. Right. When you like a number, it’s accurate. When you don’t, it’s phony. This behavior is so clearly hypocritical and self-serving that it’s hardly worth pointing out.

Unfortunately, I happened to switch to a cable news station today while the TV’s sound was on. What I immediately heard was this remark from one of the panelists: “I’m not smart enough to speculate on whether the number is accurate or not”.

Well, you’re apparently smart enough to be on TV. Shouldn’t you be smart enough to know that there is no reason to speculate at all? The unemployment rate is calculated by civil servants. There has never been any evidence that politicians have manipulated the official unemployment rate to their advantage. Isn’t it obvious that the Republicans are questioning the number this time because it’s bad news for them? Isn’t it obvious that people in the media were manipulated into speculating about the number’s accuracy in order to cast doubt in some voter’s minds about the economy and thereby affect the election? 

If you’re going to offer your opinions on television, you should at least be smart enough to know when to speculate and when not to.