Here’s a column by Samuelson that lays out a very pessimistic view regarding unemployment, the economy and the American Dream. I wish I could find fault with it.
A liberal think tank has calculated that in order to bring unemployment down to 5% within 5 years, we will need to produce an average of 282,000 new jobs per month. Currently, we have averaged 105,000 new jobs per month since early 2010. During our boom period of 1993 through 2000, we produced a monthly average of 240,000 new jobs.
If that is not bad enough news both for the unemployed and the economy stymied by lack of demand, an important part of the American dream – getting ahead – may be absent for a generation.
Samuelson says there are two employment business models: the "career system" as practiced by our employers [we learned on the job and became a valuable commodity our employers protected] and the parallel "churn system" as practiced by McDonalds or Walmart [pay low wages and replace the attrition with more entry level workers]. Due to tough times, lack of growth and the declining caliber of the workforce, the churn system is now winning out. The majority of our kids will be less well off than we were and we cannot know what populist consequences that might bring.
My grandchildren must leave school with skills that remain in demand. That will mean nothing less than advanced degrees in something other than the humanities.
Monday, Sep. 05, 2011
Labor Day blues
By ROBERT J. SAMUELSON - Washington Post
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