American has produce a net gain of jobs in every decade since the 1940s, but something went horribly wrong in the last decade. In the 1940s, we saw a 38% increase in payroll employment. The fifties produced a 24% increase, the sixties had a 31% gain, the seventies had a 27% rise and even the eighties and the nineties saw a 20% increase. But in the 2000s, America had a ZERO net growth in jobs.
Many people are calling it "The Lost Decade," but I agree with Peter Schiff, the 2000's was "the decade of (economic) sin."
This decade will be the decade of hell."
Aughts were a lost decade for U.S. economy, workers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/01/AR2010010101196.html
Whats interesting from that article is that the last decade was the first time there was a net loss in household wealth. There also was a loss in wages for the first time.
ReplyDeleteNow we became a debtor nation in 1980. So basically I guess our standard of living was continuing even as we transferred jobs overseas. I suspect as Celente said that the internet boom is what allowed our standard of living to continue despite borrowing and becoming a consumer economy. Once the tech bubble blew it was game over. I know there hasn't been jobs in California since 2000 no matter what the doom and gloomers like to say about the current economy things have been bad in California for a very long time. Most of the jobs that were created in california in the last 10 years were crap or hard labor illegal alien type jobs.
I don't think the majority of Gen X and even Gen Y would have survived without credit cards. Now many of those two groups are jobless or will be? Already, defaulting is becoming the norm. (I am still paying my debts, but who knows for how long most people can keep it up?)
ReplyDeleteMost younger people of these generations have had to use credit to survive in most instances. Not having the credit card meant not getting a repair on the car when it needed one, and sometimes came in handy when there was no money left for groceries.
Honestly, the only people I have seen NOT affected by the economy during all these years up until now have been my wealthier relatives. They don't worry and have nothing to worry about, really. At least not yet.
But the general populace has and is continuing to feel the effects and is suffering.
My husband ran into his ex-workers from different places he worked years ago, and since then, all his ex-coworkers have been laid off or quit due to the companies cutting their hours to a minimum.
Only one of them still holds the same job, but he's the only one with an MA. The rest of them, who did not hold any degree, are scrambling from job to job. One of them told him (we ran into him while in a fast-food joint) that even the fast food places are cutting his hours.
Btw, just a little sidenote here: My mother's husband is Argentine, and he said that many illegals in the construction business, etc. have returned home to Mexico. Apparently, one told him he would rather be on his little "rancho" in Mexico. I guess ranchos in Mexico are small groups of huts for ranch workers according to what I've read.
Not sure where we're going at this point. I know the collapse isn't happening like most people expect. It's not going to just implode tomorrow or on a specific day and time.
I also heard somewhere that someone said this isn't even the beginning of the recession; that it hasn't even begun yet. That makes me wonder, just how much more difficult can things get?
I've been in California for a long time now and have held different jobs throughout my life, but never have I seen it like this before. Not even during the recession during the Clinton years. (Things did spring back quickly back then, but never like this.)
In my city right now, they are offering teachers early retirement or else the threat of lay offs if not enough retire. My mother, who works for the school district, is afraid of being laid off. Her husband gets odd jobs from his friends. He used to make thousands per month in construction, but all of the people he worked for either left this state or no longer function.
Where are going? What will we do
Wealth is a direct result of discipline. In today's America children can call the police on their parents if they "feel" that their parents are being a bit too "rough". Couples fight it out in courts instead of being upfront with each other when they first met. To top things off, credit has been so readily available to those who can't even afford the basics. We shouldn't be surprised things are going the way they are. We can only point the fingers at ourselves. The government is only able to do what we allow them to do. If we clean up our act it will be even easier to control those who control us and keep things fair for the average American who needs to take care of themselves and the family.
ReplyDeleteOnly because peoples cushy government jobs are now being touched are people waking up. But hello people we have been outsourcing jobs for 30 years and you finally wake up now? I realized 5 years ago California was a dead end road when there were no entry level positions for college educated people in the so called "Silicon valley".
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