For some bizarre reason this story is back in the headlines
The approval of the deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama is a victory for President Obama and proponents of the view that foreign trade can drive America’s economic growth in the face of rising protectionist sentiment in both political parties. They are the first trade agreements to pass Congress since Democrats broke a decade of Republican control in 2007.
All three agreements cleared both chambers with overwhelming Republican support just one day after Senate Republicans prevented action on Mr. Obama’s jobs bill.
The passage of the trade deals is important primarily as a political achievement, and for its foreign policy value in solidifying relationships with strategic allies. The economic benefits are projected to be small. A federal agency estimated in 2007 that the impact on employment would be “negligible” and that the deals would increase gross domestic product by about $14.4 billion, or roughly 0.1 percent.
What hits one in the face is the, er, ‘indifference’ of the political crowd while Occupy Wall Street is still ‘center stage’.
Is the (according to some) ‘movement’ made up of Friedmanites that still believe, despite the evidence, that globalization is a net positive?
If I don’t miss my guess, good citizen, the movement became ‘mobile’ BECAUSE these long stalled ‘Free Trade Agreements’ were threatening to move forward.
I think most would agree that the last thing we need is another expansion of the ‘economic desert’, facilitated by ‘the left wing’ of the Libertarian Party and its incumbent president.
This is, of course, a slap in the face to the protesters…who I believe expected as much and I also suspect they aren’t (well most of them anyway) prepared to take things to the next level.
For all of their, er, ‘wisdom’, I just don’t see this situation being resolved ‘peacefully’.
Avoiding confrontation only prolongs the decay of a long moldering corpse we once called the United States.
Kids camping out in public parks didn’t win us the 40 hour work week, burning factories and riots that killed thousands did.
So it was, so it shall ever be.
I’m all for peace but so are they!
Each side will vilify the other for ‘disturbing the peace’ (no matter how fragile) but neither side will back down from doing what they are used to getting away with.
In tacit recognition of that which is sure to come we have this ‘add-on’ to our nation’s largest export:
The Joint Economic Committee report reviews data showing that the occupations that are expected to grow the most in the future are also those with a high share of workers who hold bachelor’s degrees. According to Labor Department data cited in the report, about a quarter of the job growth between 2008 and 2018 will come in professional occupations, where about 65 percent of current workers hold a four-year degree.
At the same time, the five slowest growing occupations, including production, maintenance and repair and farming, fishing and forestry, are those that do not tend to require college degrees.
Because trade can displace entire industries in a specific region, it helps if a displaced worker can move. But the report shows that older people are much less likely to move than younger workers, making it harder for older laid-off workers to find new jobs.
Not to be mean but isn’t the ‘House with the white picket fence’ an integral part of “The American Dream” ?
Now, in order to survive the growing ‘economic desert’ the, er, ‘successful’ worker has to become a ‘Bedouin’ with NO permanent roots!
Sort of fucks the mortgage industry, doesn’t it?
And, in case you haven’t been paying attention, the mortgage industry supports our entire banking system!
Did I mention that our ‘social model’ is broken?
No? Well, that’s okay, Mr. Panzer takes care of that little detail for us
More on the Train-Wreck-in-the-Making
In "Just in Time for Halloween," I highlighted three charts (along with accompanying commentary) that paint a frightening picture of where things stand in today's America. But those aren't the only examples. In fact, hardly a day goes by when I don't stumble across yet another data point or statistical series that adds to the notion that our economy -- and our country -- is a train-wreck-in-the-making. Here are three I picked up from today's journey through my usual run of blogs and mainstream media outlets:
An overwhelming majority of small businesses are pessimistic about the economic outlook
Um, nobody should be surprised that a ‘second’ Great Depression has been developing while those responsible for this train wreck continue to pretend all is well.
No, the ‘insidious’ part of the looming disaster will be the stark contrast between those suddenly faced with impossible choices and those who don’t realize they, er, ‘accidentally’ landed on the other side of the fence.
They DO have the income to meet the price structure INTENDED to sink the vast majority of us.
It won’t even occur to these people that others aren’t quite as ‘fortunate’ as they are so they won’t understand ‘why’ these people are rioting.
So it will be doubly, er, ‘unfortunate’ when they (foolishly) try to defend what little they have.
If you can’t hide it in a body cavity you have to ask yourself if whatever it is is worth dying for…seriously.
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
PS, ’Reader’s Digest’ version of A Simple Plan tomorrow! (possibly late, like last night’s post.)
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