For millions of Americans, it does not feel like it, but the month of June marked the official end to the financial crisis induced “Great Recession.” Although the media may not have conveyed it to the American people, the National Bureau of Economic Research called an end to the recession before Barack Obama ever stepped in office, and it appeared that the economy would recover.One of the very few truths that the President and Vice-President said during the 2012 presidential campaign is that many of the pre-recession jobs have not, and never will return to the middle class. The standard by which they have measured the administration’s so-called success and our so-called recover is nothing short of a human tragedy of the first order. AEI said it perfect:
So, how are we doing? Well, if the generation-long period of steady growth and low inflation from 1982 through 2007 was the Long Boom, this current expansion is more like the Long Bust.
Economic growth, as measured by GDP, has averaged an anemic 2.1 percent for the 15 quarters during the so-called recovery, juxtaposed to the 5.1 percent during the same span after the severe 1981-82 recession. The Obama administration would have you believe that they are the only administration in U.S. history to begin their tenure after economic crisis.
Nevertheless, as a result, the economy has yet to return to its pre-Great Recession growth trend, or even come close for that matter. Barack Obama can continue to talk about technology and natural disasters making previous job sectors obsolete, but that is not the cause of the weak job creation pot-recession.
The average household has recovered just 45% of the wealth we lost during the Great Recession. This recovery has seen the weakest increase in real disposable income out of any of the 7 most recent recoveries – including the Asian currency collapse crisis.
Obama talking heads such as Austan Goolsbee love to be their chests over the fact that if average monthly job gains consistently remains close to the last twelve months’ average of 180,000, then private-sector payrolls will hit an all-time high in just under one year. However, job levels will still be far below where they should and would be if the trend from 1990 through 2007 had continued.
Although these numbers may seem cold, it is a jobs shortfall which equals nearly 12 million missing workers; our neighbor, friends, and families – or maybe ourselves. Certainly, it will have long-lasting implications on our children. Even if the job creation continues out the pace the Obama administration is so proud of, then it would still not be enough to contend with the 9 million young workers entering the workforce.
The workforce, itself, is perhaps the most depression statistic. The labor-force participation rate is 63.3%, which of course, is the lowest it has been since Jimmy Carter. In total, however, the long-term trend as a result of progressivism is much, much, worse.
Consider this: In 1880, before progressive pension reform, the labor-force participation rate for males age 65 and up, was an astonishing 88%. Now, we cannot even come close with all age groups of all races. This may be difficult for modern Americans to understand, but the elderly was forcibly pushed out of the labor-force. They did not want pensions and would even resort to putting shoe polish in their hair in order to avoid supervisors questioning whether or not they were old enough to apply for pensions.
Of course, they were only following the direction set by their progressive political friends who were actively attempting to reduce the elderly workforce and make them dependent on big government. Shockingly, manufactured economic crisis, much like the sub-prime mortgage crisis, forced elderly workers into the arms of government assistance programs. Today, the participation rate is little more than 6%.
Now it appears that our society as a whole are simply less production in our mindset and our faculties. And the history tells us that the more they beat us over the head with manufactured crises, then the less self-sufficient we all become. People have not simple disappeared from the labor-force, but millions have filed and received SSI and SSD instead of returning back to work.
The historical economic statistics clearly demonstrate that even if the economy booms in the future, providing all of the lost job opportunities to those who had since left for government income, they will not give up their benefit to return to the labor-force. That is just a sad fact.
Happy Anniversary “Summer of Recovery,” and welcome to the new economy. That would be a funny joke if it wasn’t for all of the human suffering.
