Tag Archives: job growth

Why is economy such a drag on election?

Some things I just don’t get, such as why polls keep showing that the economy remains such a worry for Americans.

Incumbents from both parties are sweating out the election that takes place Tuesday because the economy, for crying out, is on voters’ minds.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/midterms-governor-races-economy-incumbents/2014/10/30/id/604083/

I keep seeing the numbers and I actually am heartened by them. Joblessness is down; job growth is up; retirement accounts (such as mine) are up; budget deficits are down; energy production is up; energy consumption is down; home construction is up; auto sales are up.

Who’s badmouthing the economy? Oh, I keep forgetting. It’s foes of the Obama administration in Congress, on talk radio, on cable news shows and a smattering of right-wing economists who keep saying that the economy is in mortal danger of collapse at any minute. They grabbed Americans’ attention when the government enacted aggressive stimulus incentives in early 2009 to try to rescue the failing economy and haven’t let go.

It appears from my vantage point that the economy has been in full recovery mode for about a year, but the doom-and-gloomsayers keep instilling this fear in us that it’s all about the collapse.

OK, it’s not rosy in every corner of the country. As the link attached to this blog notes, some governor are taking it on the chin because job growth isn’t what it should be. Other governors, such as the one in Texas, are crowing about superior growth and are taking all the credit they deserve — and even more than they deserve — for that growth. That’s all fine.

So help me, though, while I might be slow on the uptake a lot of the time, I fail to understand how the economy continues to strike such fearĀ across the land.

 

Jobs are up; jobless rate down ā€¦ still no love

The U.S. Labor Department today reported 162,000 jobs were added to the nationā€™s payrolls in July, while the jobless rate fell to 7.4 percent, the lowest in nearly five years.

But still, despite that, the news is being received with a shrug and a ā€œso what?ā€ even from those who detest President Obama and his economic policies.

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/08/02/jobs-report-july/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fortunefinance+%28Fortune+Finance%3A+Hedge+Funds%2C+Markets%2C+Mergers+%26+Acquisitions%2C+Private+Equity%2C+Venture+Capital%2C+Wall+Street%2C+Washington%29&utm_content=Google+UK

It honestly puzzles me. Then again, I donā€™t get paid to analyze this data. Iā€™m watching all this unfold from the peanut gallery, like most Americans ā€“ and that includes the TV talk show chatterboxes who purport to be the know-it-alls of everything thatā€™s supposed to matter.

This administration took office with the nation in free fall. We were losing ā€“ depending on whoā€™s counting ā€“ 700,000 to 800,000 jobs each month. Banks were crashing. Housing markets all across the country were cratering. A member of my family ā€“ a well-educated architect ā€“ personified the agony of what happened when he lost his job as the housing market disintegrated all along the West Coast.

Whatā€™s happened since then? The government added rules that added accountability to lenders who were loaning money to people who couldnā€™t repay their loans. Rules for banks were tightened. The government pumped money into state and local economies ā€“ such as Texas and Amarillo, where officials were more than happy to take it. Jobs have been added at a slow, but reasonably steady rate.

Is the economy growing fast enough? No. Considering where we were at the start of 2009 and where weā€™ve gone since then, though, Iā€™d rate the policies a success.

Yes, some individuals disagree with that. Let ā€˜em disagree. Iā€™ll stand by what Iā€™ve witnessed from the cheap seats.

Oh, and my family member who lost job in 2009? Heā€™s back to work ā€¦ as an architect.