populist

Fed Up with the Fed Blaming Boomers

Why does the Fed keep claiming Baby Boomers are the main reason for the decline in the labor force? The real reason is because there aren't enough jobs for prime-age workers, and not mostly because older workers are leaving the work force.

Regarding this post: The Economic Outlook and Forward Guidance from the Atlanta Fed: It states, "About half of the fall in participation can be explained by demographic trends— that is, baby boomers choosing to retire."

Robots? Meet the Real Job Killers

Robots, automation and computers have greatly increased worker productivity, while also displacing many American workers in the process. But not only wasn't this increased productivity not shared with the workers in the form of equally higher wages, the jobs that these displaced workers might have otherwise gravitated to were sent overseas, leaving them with nowhere else to turn—except maybe to lower-paying jobs in the service and retail industries (that is, if enough such jobs were even available).

Poverty isn't a Money Problem

This can not be said enough: "People don't choose to be poor."

Most people do all they can to better their lives. It's not the mismanagement of their available resources, it's not being able to obtain the minimum resources necessary in which to survive—such as being able to find a job, or finding a job that pays a living wage, or finding a job that offers enough hours. Some of the poorest people manage their money better than anyone else, because their lives depend on it. They are attempting to "take personal responsibility for their lives".

Corporate Welfare vs. Public Welfare

Last night on MSNBC's The Last Word, Lawrence O’Donnell in his "Rewrite" compared the new 5-year farm bill to Socialism; where taxpayers have to guarantee profits for large corporate farmers with crop insurance and farm subsidies (bad socialism), while at the same time, the Republicans and the Democrats also agreed cut food stamps (good socialism) for the poor.

Real Retail Sales Up 1.4% in 4th Quarter, Will Add 1.32% to 4th Quarter GDP

We'll start by looking at the Advance Monthly Retail Sales Report for December from the Census Bureau, which estimated that our total seasonally adjusted retail and food services sales were at $431.9 billion, which was 0.2 percent (±0.5%)* higher than November sales. Before the seasonal adjustment, December's sales were estimated at $488.7 billion, up 13.2% from November's $431.8 billion, about the increase we would expect for December.

Mortgage Delinquencies Rose 2.6% in November as Foreclosure Starts Fell to a Post Crisis Low

One monthly report that was released this week that we regularly review is the Mortgage Monitor for November from LPS (pdf) which includes quite thorough and detailed graphics covering the spectrum of information on US mortgages.  As per usual, we'll be focusing on mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, which are the crisis aspects of his report.

STUDY: 1/3 of Americans are Moochers

“Three or four million heads of households don’t turn into tramps and cheats overnight, nor do they lose the habits and standards of a lifetime. They don’t drink any more than the rest of us, they don’t lie any more, and they’re no lazier than the rest of us. An eighth or a tenth of the earning population does not change its character which has been generations in the molding, or, if such a change actually occurs, we can scarcely charge it up to personal sin.” ~ Harry Hopkins, Federal relief administrator under Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933)

That was then, and this is now:

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