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Social Issues
Smoot-Hawley Fiction
2/15/09
Smoot-Hawley tariff "protectionism" is continually being blamed for the Great Depression: "OMG, that would start a trade war and hurt our exports. After all, doncha know that caused the Great Depression?!!!" Trouble is, our enormous trade deficit shows we've been in, and lost, that war. Creating balanced trade and Buy American are perfectly consistent with fundamental economic development principles and are not "protectionism." "Free trade" proponents commit economic treason by perpetrating pro-"free trade" propaganda. Not to put too fine a point on it, they're lying. Here's why it's obvious. And it wasn't FDR's New Deal that prolonged it either.
Social Issues
Economic Development: What to do locally?
5/29/09
This article uses an economic development model to describe what can be done locally to respond to massive regional manufacturing and IT job losses. The same principles apply to the U.S. economy.
Social Issues
Jobs & 'Trade' Data Update Jun10
8/2/10
Colorado Springs Jobs: As of Jun 2010 Colorado Springs has lost over 54% of its Mfg & IT jobs since Jan01; that's 14,300 Mfg & 7,800 IT jobs lost. Computer & Electronic Products Mfg jobs are down 69% since Apr01. Overall there are 19,500 fewer non-farm jobs than in Nov 07 ... about the same number of jobs as in July 1999.
Colorado Jobs: CO has lost 155,800 jobs since May08. The number of CO jobs now is less than the number of jobs in May 2000.
National Jobs: There are 7.4M fewer jobs than in Nov07. That's 1.3M better than the Dec09 loss of 8.7M jobs. "Official" (U-3) unemployment was 9.5%, with the more realistic expanded measure of U-6 at 16.5%. But 'real' unemployment is now ~24%. Jun10 U-2, job losers, was at a yearly rate of 5.9% of the civilian labor force (1.17M lost their jobs in June), compared to 6.7% in Oct09.
Trade Deficit: A major drag on GDP and employment is the continuing offshoring of jobs as evidenced by the again increasing trade deficit. From 2000 through May 2010 the cumulative trade deficit (trade debt) has been $5.8 trillion; that's how much GDP has been reduced by this insane policy. Since 1980 it's $7.7 trillion of debt to other nations. There's no possible amount of stimulus that can make up for this drain on GDP.
ATP Trade: The Advanced Technology Products trade deficit is $56.6B/yr projected based on the Jan - May data. In 1991, the U.S. had a $38.4B ATP surplus. The loss of high-tech jobs and intellectual capital has been enormous and continues despite the economic downturn.
Social Issues
Jobs & 'Trade' Data Update Oct09
11/19/09
Economic crisis root cause: massive offshoring of good-paying manufacturing & IT jobs. Economy: increasingly unstable as U.S. wages systematically undermined. As of Sep09 Colorado Springs lost over 50% of Mfg & IT jobs since Jan01 with overall jobs lost at 14,600 since Nov 07. Colorado has lost 120,000 jobs since Aug08. Nationally in Oct09: 8.4M fewer jobs than in Nov07; "official" (U-3) unemployment rose to 10.2%, with the more realistic expanded measure of U-6 at 17.5%. But 'real' unemployment is now ~25%, approaching Great Depression levels. U-2, job losers, increased to 6.9% of the civilian labor force.
Social Issues
Jobs & 'Trade' Data Update Jun09
8/2/09
Economic crisis root cause: massive offshoring of good-paying manufacturing and IT jobs. Economy: increasingly unstable as U.S. wages systematically undermined. Colorado Springs lost 47.2% of mfg jobs as of May, nationally 32.8% as of Jun. As of May, Colorado has lost 96,700 jobs since Aug 08 and Colorado Springs has lost 12,400 jobs since Nov 07. Nationally there are 6.5M fewer jobs than in Nov 07. U.S. "official" (U-3) unemployment rose to 9.5% in May, with the more realistic expanded measure of U-6 at 16.5%. But 'real' unemployment is now ~23%, approaching Great Depression levels. U-2, job losers remains at 6.2% in Jun 09. [Added: Who's responsible for how much of projected deficits.]
Social Issues
Jobs & 'Trade' Data Update May09
6/14/09
The root cause of the current economic crisis: massive offshoring of good-paying manufacturing and IT jobs. The economy is increasingly unstable as U.S. wages have been systematically undermined. Colorado Springs lost 46.8% of mfg jobs as of Apr, nationally 32% as of May. Colorado has lost 93,300 jobs since Aug 08. Colorado Springs has lost 12,000 jobs since Nov 07. Nationally there are 6.1M fewer jobs than in Nov 07. U.S. "official" (U-3) unemployment rose to 9.4% in May, with the more realistic expanded measure of U-6 at 16.4%. But 'real' unemployment is well over 20%, comparable to the Great Depression. U-2, job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs as a % of the civilian labor force, has risen to 6.2% in May 09 (was 2% in Oct 06 & 4% in Nov 08).
Social Issues
Jobs & 'Trade' Data Update Apr09
5/14/09
The root cause of the current economic crisis is the massive offshoring of good-paying manufacturing and IT jobs has caused the economy to become increasingly unstable as U.S. wages have been systematically undermined. Colorado Springs lost 46.1% of mfg jobs as of Mar, nationally 31.1% as of Apr. Colorado Springs has lost 10,900 jobs since Nov 07. Nationally there are 5.7M fewer jobs than in Nov 07. U.S. "official" (U-3) unemployment rose to 8.9% in Apr, with the more realistic expanded measure of U-6 at 15.8%. But 'real' unemployment is well over 20%, comparable to the Great Depression. U-2, job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs as a % of the civilian labor force, has risen from 2% in Oct 06 to 4% in Nov 08 to the current 5.7% in Apr 09. Colorado has lost 73,700 jobs since Aug 08.
Social Issues
Jobs & 'Trade' Data Update Mar09
4/7/09
Irrational belief, despite clear evidence, in "free trade" and the infallibility of the "free market" has led to the massive offshoring of good-paying manufacturing and IT jobs. Financial fraud and speculation have precipitated economic collapse, but offshoring has caused the economy to become increasingly unstable as U.S. wages have been systematically undermined. Colorado Springs lost 45.7% of mfg jobs as of Feb, nationally 30.2% as of Mar. National job "growth" is increasingly negative with 5.8M fewer jobs than in Nov 07. U.S. "official" unemployment rose to 8.5% in Feb, but 'real' unemployment is well over 20%, comparable to the Great Depression. Colorado's lost 61,100 jobs since Aug 08. The Advanced Technology Products "Trade" Balance went from a $38.4B surplus in 1991 to a $55.6B deficit in 2008. I explain why both stimulus and trade policy reform are necessary.
Social Issues
Jobs & 'Trade' Data Update Feb09
3/16/09
Irrational belief, despite clear evidence, in "free trade" and the infallibility of the "free market" has led to the massive offshoring of good-paying manufacturing and IT jobs. Financial fraud and speculation have precipitated economic collapse, but offshoring has caused the economy to become increasingly unstable as U.S. wages have been systematically undermined. Colorado Springs lost 44.9% of mfg jobs as of Jan, nationally 29.3% as of Feb. National job "growth" is increasingly negative with 4.9M fewer jobs than in Nov 07. U.S. "official" unemployment rose to 8.1% in Feb, but 'real' unemployment is more like 20%, comparable to the Great Depression. Colorado's lost 48,000 jobs since Aug 08. The Advanced Technology Products "Trade" Balance went from a $38.4B surplus in 1991 to a $55.6B deficit in 2008.
Social Issues
Jobs & 'Trade' Data Update Dec08
1/14/09
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