Economist: I Didn't Laud U.S. Job Losses

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's chief economist, who stirred controversy by suggesting that shipping U.S. service jobs overseas could be good for the economy, said Tuesday his comments were "far from clear and were misinterpreted."

N. Gregory Mankiw, author of one of the most popular college textbooks on economics and current chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, said nothing he said should have been construed "as praising U.S. job losses."

"Nothing could be further from my view," Mankiw said. "Creating an environment for robust job creation is the paramount goal of the president" and his economics team.

Mankiw's speech Tuesday represented the administration's latest effort at damage control for his remarks last week, which brought criticism not only from Democratic presidential candidates but also from Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

more..................

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-bush-jobs,0,6410198.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[tom_paine]

1. Wow, it didn't take long for them to lie about telling the truth

It's such a rare occurrance. To be quite honest, I am quite surprised the avalanche of lies covering up the rare Imperial admission of the truth took so long to get rolling.

[MrBenchley]

2. And Chimpy never said "imminent"

Wow.....they're really counting on the brain-dead for support, aren't they?

[moondust]

19. "Iraq war plans are not on my desk."

(They're on the filing cabinet. Teehehehehe.)

[kodi]

3. he admits his remark was "far from clear," ergo subject to interpretatio

yet another bushevik who admits he doesn't know what the hell he is talking about.

what the hell is wrong with these people?

each time they get caught talking bullshit, they attempt to cast it as misrepresntation of what they actually said.

as to Mankiw, this clown was critical of trickle-down economics for years, that is until his appointment as head of CEA.

i guess he fell out of his humvee on the way to tarsus and had a vision.

[Sagan]

4. THIS is what he SAID..

(from the Washington Post)

As Mankiw released the annual Economic Report of the President, he said Monday that the "offshoring" of U.S. service jobs is only "the latest manifestation of the gains from trade that economists have talked about" for centuries.

"Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade," Mankiw told reporters. "More things are tradable than were tradable in the past and that's a good thing."

------------------------------------------------

That sounds like lauding job losses in America to me!

[Manix]

5. Yup!

nt

[aquart]

9. Nothing unclear about that statement.

Except what the hell he thought he was doing when he made it.

[aquart]

12. What, exactly, are US jobs being traded for?

CEO bonuses?

[0007]

15. That's was it is all about - Same reason why big corporations and

higher management hate unions, the IRS and the worker and have figured out ways to screw all three.

[remfan]

13. Funny...one of AEI's monkeys said the same thing

on Lou Dobbs a day or so afterwards. What a coincidence!

[stevedeshazer]

6. He'll be on message from now on

But I wonder how Bushco delivered the message? Phone, email, chip in his forehead, new download, ride with the "boys" in a car?

This sentence alone sounds like the KGB got to him:

"Creating an environment for robust job creation is the paramount goal of the president" and his economics team.

Does ANYONE believe that? Maybe those in the "defense" industry.

[daleo]

17. Horse head in the bed perhaps?

n/t

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. More things are tradable than were tradable

Is tradable like do-able?


This is really very sick. He is saying that good jobs in the US have become a commodity, like a raw material for export. This is a very short sighted policy.

[xchrom]

8. short sighted policy

from a short sighted administration.

[aquart]

11. And this leads to "robust job creation" HOW?

When US jobs can be had for the same or lower price than India jobs?

Wow. We'll get 'em all back then.

[DS1]

10. *smirk* Welcome to DC, hope you enjoy your stay

[dfong63]

14. so fire Mankiw's ass and hire a Pakistani economist - see how he likes it

[Thor_MN]

16. When the he!! are CEOs going to learn to distinguish

between what maximizes their personal benefits and and their personel's benefits?

"Growing the company" (I detest that phrase) is not always what is best for the company. It's often not best for the people working for the company and certainly horrible for those that get laid off following each merger/purchase.

[ignatius]

18. I work for a bank. We had a major lay off(ie) firing program last

year. The line was loans were down, profits were down..bad earnings,etc...turns out we had a record year..course those on the last leg of their unemployment compensation didn't fare as well.

It is all about the bottom line in this country today and it is a damned shame.

Walmart is the largest employer now in the country. Think about that, an employer who pays shitty wages, who hires illegal immigrants,who works people off the clock, where only 50% have any insurance benefits and who buys from countries with the worst human rights in the world.

Are we still supposed to be proud to be Amuricans?