How many times can we be told by the experts that our economy has turned the corner before everyone but them realizes that all this corner turning is just walking us around in circles? In this country for many months, far too many times.
The most recent corner turning burst of official euphoria occurred this past Friday when a new employment report found that 162,000 new jobs were created in March. The statistician-economist-government-shilling clique was ecstatic at the number. A closer look, however, made its ecstasy-inducing properties for anyone but these worthies seem far less appealing.
The overall unemployment rate didn’t budge from 9.7 percent. The number of people unemployed for more than six months actually rose. Average hourly earnings for the month fell. The number of Americans forced to take part-time or temporary jobs increased.
What’s so scary here isn’t the finagling with the numbers, but the delusional state these numbers apparently reinforced within the Obama Administration. People there, surrounded by economists and Wall Street alumni, seem woefully out-of-touch with the reality of people who exist outside this charmed circle. Oh, sure. There’s the usual “we know you’re still hurting” comments. But it’s clear that in Obamaland they still think that a hands-off, stuff the Wall Street crowd’s pockets, is the approach that will eventually lead to a beneficial economic outcome for all.
Yes, they still believe that. Amazingly, they honestly and truly still believe that.
Sadly, the economy hasn’t turned the corner. The world of perpetual glimmers and round in circles corner turning is not the real world. And if the President and his party don’t stop promoting policies that allow a very few hedge fund managers to make a billion a year each while so many other people continue to hurt so badly, a great many of these pols are going to get voted out of their cushy Beltway jobs in the very near future.
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