Thursday, February 18, 2010

Great Recession is Actually a Depression for Many When It Comes To Unemployment



Hear an informative discussion from NPR on the impact of the latest recession. Economists Andrew Sum & Barry Bluestone have broken down the unemployment numbers group by group and have been able to show huge disparities in terms of who is being impacted the most. The mainstream corporate media has been almost AWOL on this. Listen Here. See the findings of a new study from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.

I have been writing all along about the weakness of the stimulus efforts since last year when the legislation was passed. I thought that employment would be lacking because there was not enough focus on the creation of lasting, sustainable jobs, particularly in new industries. There was an opportunity to do something big & impressive by creating a public works program and/or grant programs for start-ups in new technologies. There was also a need for aggressive loan programs for small & medium sized businesses.

Even if you have employment, survival is becoming more precarious.

Bonus:

Also hear a discussion about the gridlock and paralysis in the U.S. Congress.

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