Posted on 09/08/2013 7:25:21 AM PDT by whitedog57
As we know from Friday’s disappointing jobs report, labor force participation fell again. It now stands at 63.2% indicating that 36.8% of the labor force are NOT participating. And the decline in labor force participation is correlated with a similar decline in M2 Money Velocity, a disturbing sign.
lfpm2v
The usual explanation for the decline in labor force participation is the aging of the population, retirements, etc. “It was expected.” Hmm. But if we look at Australia and Germany, two other developed nations with aging populations, we see a different picture. While the US Labor Force Participation has been declining since 2000, Australia and Germany have seen growing labor force participation.
lfpaustraliagerm
France and Italy have not seen the swoon in labor force participation that the US has seen since 2000.
lfpfrit
Notice that the US has the LOWEST labor force participation of all countries that I have mentioned: Australia, Germany, UK, Canada, France and Italy.
Even Greece has a higher labor force participation rate than the US!
lfpgreece
What happened in 2000 (or before) that gave us the WORST performing labor force participation of major economies? Here are a few suggestions OTHER than aging population.
1. Food Stamp Economy. The US has adopted a government dependency mentality (for votes).
Food-Stamps-Yearly
2. Welfare Cliff. Our welfare system currently rewards workers … not to work.
welfare cliff_0
3. Excessive Student Debt Coupled With Degrees Not In Demand. This encourages young people to stay at home in the basement playing computer games like “World of Warcraft,” “Need for Speed,” and my favorite title, “Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland.” It should be “Tony Hawk’s American ECONOMIC Wasteland.”
student-debt-is-the-only-kind-of-household-debt-that-rose-during-the-recession-its-now-the-second-largest-consumer-debt-category-after-mortgages
4. Excessive Homeownership Sudsidies. Yes, President Clinton and subsequent Administrations (and Congress) have pushed homeownership extremely hard. nhsdream2 Here is a table of affordable housing goals set by HUD that helped destroy Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
affordgoals
Actually, there are so many structural problems in the US economy to list, but a big one going forward is the Affordable Healthcare Act.
So, here we sit. 90 million Americans are NOT in the labor force and the number keeps on growing.
notinlaborforce
Like the surfer dude who buys lobster and sushi on food stamps.
fnc-binge-20130809-greenslate
Jeffrey Lebowski’s dream of food stamps, Section 8 vouchers and subsidized healthcare has come to fruition.
lebowskiralphs
Of course, not everyone on food stamps, etc. is a deadbeat moocher on other’s dime. These programs were intended to be short-term safety nets. But they have morphed into long-term nets. Hence, fewer people want to work.
But there are a growing legion of Jeffrey Lebowskis in the US economy.
Why be a tax slave to a gov’t run amok.
Why spend 30 to 40% of your time working for others who spend ZER0 percent of their time working for the "greater good"?
Yeah, he pays for his own half and half.
Greece and France have an edge they don’t have Obama&Co.
A personal check for $0.69, I believe.
At least The Dude did it with some style and sense of humor!
Quite unlike these charmless and dull obot freaks
“Nobody calls me Lebowski. You got thr wrong guy. I’m the dude.”
“What the f*** is this?”
“Obviously you’re not a golfer.”
Bet you've got some pics of Bunny squirreled away.
I’d like to see those statistics discern between the private sector and government ‘jobs’ (Greece comes to mind, but not only).
"Look, let me explain something to you. I'm not Mr. Lebowski. You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. That, or His Dudeness … Duder … or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing."
How are you gonna keep em on the farm once they’ve seen Karl Hungus?
:)
Great flick.
I wonder if anyone has taken that screen name. LoL
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