Roughly 11 million people are unemployed in the USofA, and there is every reason to believe that this will increase. Every month another 600k or so workers file for unemployment insurance. This figure doesn’t include those who do not have a full 40 hours of work each week but would like to – add them in, and the number might be twice as high. If this grows substantially, any discussion regarding this as a recession or depression will be academic. Stopping the job loss is likely to become the highest priority soon.
Home » Nooze (Page 146)
Category Archives: Nooze
Journalism and other myths.
Underwrite and Under-Write
Anyone who doubts the potential for a Depression needs to read the newspaper. No, don’t bother with the front page or the business section – skip over to the part that matters. A quick glance at the ads taken out by retail stores shows an amazing number of deep sales, running 50 or even 75 percent off on everything. They’re doing this because the stores are unusually, unreasonably quiet. That’s the defining characteristic of any market failure, whether you’re looking at it from the strip mall or the Capitol Mall. It’s the unusual quiet that comes from everyone staring at each other, shrugging their shoulders.
Was it so Great?
President Obama has gotten his first bill through, an $825B package of tax breaks, local government aid, and unemployment extensions. They call it an “Economic Recovery” bill because the term “Stimulus” is a bit passé now. What’s clear about it, however, is that this bill is designed to do little more than avoid Depression and turn it into an ordinary Recession, no matter what they call it.
What’s in a name? A little, and a lot.
The Wheel
During the many lulls in inaugural coverage, CNN knew what would dazzle ‘em. They had their satellite image of everyone standing around in the cold waiting for The Moment – the time when Obama would formally be worn in. Huddled around giant screens you could see the black specs, which the CNN crew dutifully told us “look just like ants!” Yes, from a distance, we are small, but doesn’t that miss the point just a little? It seems to me that when the great Wheel of History appears to be turning, we have one day where we should not be focusing on where we are on the rim, but on the progress of the great Wheel itself.
That’s why I started rummaging though all the ancient texts in my library.
Shadows Past
The rumor spread down Flagler Street with a sense of urgency. Miami was a city of rumors, each of us trying to stay ahead of the latest in unrest. There was a way these things came through, a procedure. It came to me in broken Spanglish, filling the pause between the order of Café Cubano and the exchange of money. “They found the shadows yesterday. I think they’ll just leave it.” I wasn’t sure exactly what they were talking about, but I knew it was exciting. “It was the old Colored fountain.” What?
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 