Posted on 07/21/2010 6:44:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Everyone agrees the American job picture is a disaster. Unemployment estimates from June stretch from the official 9.5% to 16.5% to a sickening 22% by the most inclusive definition.
Economists, politicians and pundits debate the reasons. You’re familiar with the arguments.
--Those on the right look at the $1.8 trillion of cash reserves held by American companies--and those are just the publicly traded ones-- and conclude that business has gone on a capital strike. Business is refusing to invest aggressively in the future, including hiring more people, in an atmosphere of rising taxes and regulations, not to mention overt rhetorical attacks on business by President Obama.
--Those on the left point to weak demand, overcapacity and banks that won’t lend. Some, fearing deflation, argue for massive quantitative easing so as to force cash off the sidelines of corporate balance sheets and into the game of investment and hiring.
What’s lost in these arguments about jobs, especially by those on the left, are the voices of the jobs’ creators themselves. Those would be the employers. Let me repeat: In a national debate about jobs and job creation, hardly anyone is talking to job creators about jobs!
For example:
John Harwood, The New York Times, “Where Did the Jobs Go?”
Harwood: “[The question] which reclaims center stage in Washington this week, is this: Why is unemployment so high? The whodunit has flummoxed economists in both parties for a year. In 2009, as the new Obama administration grappled with the financial crisis, joblessness rose nearly two points beyond customary recession forecasts.”
In 788 words, Harwood does not quote a single employer.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.forbes.com ...
Zer0's War on America continues unabated.
As a President, he is a complete failure.
The bigger picture is that the US has created a generation that was raised to believe that they do not need to face responsibilities in any way. Unless you have actually experienced it, making a payroll is a large responsibility.
On the other hand, in general we have a society that has taught:
a) If you (boy & girl) get pregnant then you are not responsible because abortion is the easy out.
b) If you steal, you are not responsible unless you get caught. Even then you are not responsible because you are the victim of some wrongdoing.
c) If you lie, you are not responsible unless you get caught in the lie. Even then you are not responsible because you are the victim of some wrongdoing.
d) If you cheat, you are not responsible unless you get caught. Even then you are not responsible because everyone else is cheating.
So it is no wonder that no one is around to take responsibility, to start businesses, to make payrolls.
The old guys would rather fish.
One word describes the reason why most employers, large, medium and small are reluctant to hire — UNCERTAINTY.
Uncertainty is the enemy of employment.
With all these new healthcare mandates in the pipeline, a complicated financial “reform” ( note the quotes ) bill, cap and trade, taxes increasing next year, corporate taxes going up etc, and government sneaking into every nook and cranny of businesses, employers just don’t know what the future holds. How can one plan if in the middle of your business plan, someone in Washington or your state capital suddenly decides to change things ?
What we need is A STABLE, SOLID, BUSINESS-FRIENDLY, PREDICTABLE POLICY. Without this, I don’t see how employers are going to hire. In fact, if we don’t neutralize all these legislation rammed through the past 18 months at all, expect real unemployment to remain double digits.
Has John Harwood ever emnployed anyone?
I have contracts now where I needed 11 new people...in times past, I would have hired them directly. Due to the uncertainty of today's environment, I used a temp service...these 11 folks get their wage, period, from the temp service (no health care, no 401, etc, etc).
As a small business owner, I simply could not take the financial risk to bring these folks on full time with my company, as much as I wanted to. My business is one that is putting as much capital (CASH) aside as we can, because no one knows what is going to happen under the Obama administration.
Who is asked for the cause of high unemployment? Politicians, economists, academics, and pundits. NONE of whom have ever created a payroll and NONE of whom have ever sweated out PAYING that payroll.
When did you last see the shop owner, the store owner, the plant owner, “anyone” owner, interviewed on the subject of hiring some new people?
Yet with each new hire, the target on the back of the “evil employer” grows in size.
To make matters worse, unemployment “goodies” are raised and raised to the point that those who make their living being unemployed will not accept work because “it is not worth going to work for such a small amount over what I am getting in benefits”. I’ve heard that, too!!
It is simple to avoid being an “evil employer”. Just don’t employ anyone above today’s level.
Good for you- I suggest you write this all out in a letter to our arrogant asshole liberals like Benyamin Cardin, Doddering Babs Mikulski, Slimy Hoyer, etc
Hope WV gets a GOP senator in November!
What is ‘today’s level’?
When Obama was elected I had 24 employees. Things were slow because of the spike in oil prices from the previous summer. But when Obama was elected, I knew where this would end up. We decided the number would be 20. So, 5 people left. (3 retirement, 2 work as contract employees, only coming in to collect paperwork and process it at their homes.)
So now today, FinReg is getting signed and I hear there is a provision that calls for businesses with 10 employees will be required to offer retirement plans. Of course, it ‘won’t cost employers anything’ because it will be offered through the payroll service’. Yeah, right.
Having employees will become unprofitable. Of course that’s they want. However, no profits, no business.
Possible new tag line?
I retired three years ago at 57 with a nice nest egg. I originally thought I would start a small business and employ five or six young people - have some fun, make a little money - after taking a break to sail around the Pacific for a few years.
I have since decided that sailing beats working and dealing with all the headaches that go with a small business start-up these days. The risk/reward equation just does not pencil favorably, so...
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