http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/rj-eskow/36588/hoodwinked-selling-job-despair-as-the-new-normalIn light of yesterday's terrible job numbers, it's a bittersweet experience to re-read a recent report from Wells Fargo Bank which argues that high unemployment is "the new normal." While it's comforting to find Wells Fargo employees who aren't laundering money for the Mexican drug cartels, their report is one more ideologically-driven nail in the coffin of America's jobs agenda.
Ideology's not a bad thing in politics, but it is a bad thing when it's disguised as as a work of unbiased analysis. Despite their mild disclaimers, that's exactly the posture Wells Fargo's economists are adopting.
They may not even realize how biased and ideological their report is, and that's the problem. Almost three years later, people are still hewing to the flawed philosophies that led to the financial crisis. That prevents the country from taking steps to end the permanent recession that enshrouds whole segments of our population.
Let's be very clear about what these economists are selling: For decades, "full employment" meant that one out of twenty (5%) of working Americans was looking for work. As they found jobs, others became unemployed. Today the official unemployment rate is nearly twice that, 9.1%, and the unofficial rate is much higher. Many unemployed people are staying that way indefinitely, which means they're plunged into a cycle of hopelessness. An entire generation of young people is beginning its work life in a state of prolonged unemployment, and the jobless rate for African Americans is twice that of whites.
More at the link --
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