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Round by me a helluva lot of pubs have mysteriously burnt down.

No raises for the past couple of years. I switched from a locally funded job to a federally funded one for a greater a degree of stability.

Construction & real estate industries are dead. State & Local budgets are in rough shape. Lots of gov't employees could be out of work in the next couple of years. Saturn (aka GM) plant has been shut down/slowed down. Unemployment is 11%.

Frazzled wrote:

Wrexasaur wrote:

Wrex wrote:Too many people are highly educated now, most of which have a minimum of a 4-year degree.

Hmmm... this may be a bit untrue, but the economy cannot support this many brains, especially when most of the best brains go to other countries to pursue their careers anyway.

Wait did you just have a disagreement with yourself?

Yes... sometimes my brain like to work like Whack-a-mole. WREX IS RIGHT... NO! WREX IS WRONG... WAIT! WREX WAS SORT OF RIGHT!



No I am not saying I am the best thing since jesus and sliced bread... I think I may be the best thing since jam though... on occasion at least.

Confused by formatting... it is like some sort of really deep conversation... about apple pie and whip cream... maybe some sugary sprinkles, you never know.

I am having no problems right now * knock wood * last week I worked 80.5 hours 10 days straight with no day off. Monday I slept like a rock.

Shinigami wrote:Round by me a helluva lot of pubs have mysteriously burnt down.

In America we call that Jewish Lightning ...no I am not a bigot, its just a common phrase....

Wrexasaur wrote:Too many people are highly educated now, most of which have a minimum of a 4-year degree. This causes huge problems for small businesses, due to the fact that having those degrees means you are looking for very well paid work. On top of this the more important careers such as teaching take so extremely long to develop, and end up paying so very little because of those stupid teachers unions, who would want to even be a teacher now?

I would teach, but I am not going to try and tackle that tsunami, it works out to be a total waste of my life on the whole of it. I applaud teachers that do their jobs well, and can maintain a clear frame of mind, but it is my general opinion that most U.S. schools are incredibly bad, and on top of this they lack funding to a degree that is astounding.

The worst part about education in the U.S. is the fact that the community colleges have taken a massive hit in terms of funding. Due to this lack of funding I have seen nearly every "extra-curricular" activities just disappear. I was planning on taking a course that would have given me some serious experience that I could apply directly to a job in my chosen field, but they did not get enough applicants so this incredibly useful class just disappeared.

Overall the USA is the world's biggest economy and richest nation. It's difficult to understand why such a rich nation cannot provide well-paid jobs for educated workers.

Because everything is made in China.

Because America is so large, you're going to find varying opinions about how the economy affects us. I live in an area that was once heavily industrialized, but suffered huge economic losses in the 70s and 80s due to the collapse of the steel industry. It's been a blessing in disguise, since now we have relatively low unemployment when compared to most of the nation. The region and its people were forced to diversify, and it's kept us mostly immune from the current recession.

Killkrazy wrote:
Overall the USA is the world's biggest economy and richest nation. It's difficult to understand why such a rich nation cannot provide well-paid jobs for educated workers.

Before I jump on this, I just want to clarify: how do you mean "provide well-paid jobs?" Do you mean there should be enough companies and business that are willing to hire people, or do you mean that people have a right to have a job provided to them by the government? If it's the former, a lot of businesses are in survival mode right now, so most places have a freeze on hiring, and some of the larger ones are slashing positions and consolidating departments to stay lean. If it's the latter, we're actually having a bit of a discussion about that in this country right now. I'm of the opinion that what you have a "right" to is pretty well laid-out in our Constitution, and having a "right" to a home, job, or even (gasp!) healthcare is earned through self-reliance and hard work and not some government mandate. Being healthy, housed, and employed are predicated on the individual, not the collective.

the_Armyman wrote:I'm of the opinion that what you have a "right" to is pretty well laid-out in our Constitution, and having a "right" to a home, job, or even (gasp!) healthcare is earned through self-reliance and hard work and not some government mandate. Being healthy, housed, and employed are predicated on the individual, not the collective.

This man is my hero.

My Fiance is from Scotland and one of the many things we cant see eye to eye on is just what exactly the government owes its citizens. She has a tendency to believe that its the governments job to take care of you, and I have a tendency to believe you are responsible for your own well being, and the government is there to defend you, not to babysit you.

Ketara wrote:Because everything is made in China.

Because it requires very little education to manufacture the things made in China. Remember kids, a 30 year-old man with a family of 4 and an MBA with a $10 an hour job is still effectively unemployed. He might be paying for food, and utilities, but he sure as hell isn't seeing to any outstanding debt.

America is over-educated, or simply does not understand how to properly employ its educated labor pool.

Redbeard wrote:California's problem is the people who live there. You have a state where 50% can pass an amendment to the constitution, basically forcing the government to do something, but pass another that prevents them from raising the necessary revenue to do it.

QFT

I live there and have for 15 years.
I think that this is one of the most succinct summations of major issues I have read.

OT, yes, I have.
I have a decently stable position but got it thanks to the economy. As a family, things are a bit harder, as work is harder to change and improve upon for those who need to.

Most of the savings allowance go to those who are lacking enough income.

Also, I stopped reading the thread when I read Redbeard's quote and had to discuss it a bit.
Thanks for that , now I will read the rest.

the_Armyman wrote:Because America is so large, you're going to find varying opinions about how the economy affects us. I live in an area that was once heavily industrialized, but suffered huge economic losses in the 70s and 80s due to the collapse of the steel industry. It's been a blessing in disguise, since now we have relatively low unemployment when compared to most of the nation. The region and its people were forced to diversify, and it's kept us mostly immune from the current recession.

Killkrazy wrote:
Overall the USA is the world's biggest economy and richest nation. It's difficult to understand why such a rich nation cannot provide well-paid jobs for educated workers.

Before I jump on this, I just want to clarify: how do you mean "provide well-paid jobs?" Do you mean there should be enough companies and business that are willing to hire people, or do you mean that people have a right to have a job provided to them by the government? If it's the former, a lot of businesses are in survival mode right now, so most places have a freeze on hiring, and some of the larger ones are slashing positions and consolidating departments to stay lean. If it's the latter, we're actually having a bit of a discussion about that in this country right now. I'm of the opinion that what you have a "right" to is pretty well laid-out in our Constitution, and having a "right" to a home, job, or even (gasp!) healthcare is earned through self-reliance and hard work and not some government mandate. Being healthy, housed, and employed are predicated on the individual, not the collective.

Obviously the government can't give everyone a job because there would be no-one paying any taxes to fund the government.

My point is that the USA is a fabulously wealthy and richly resourced country, it has got richer and richer since the end of WW2, yet somehow all that money isn't capable of generating decent jobs for the population. I don't believe it is purely the result of the recent recession -- it's obvious from decades ago that salaries of many workers were in decline relative to living costs, and loads of jobs were being out-sourced to overseas.

Kilkrazy wrote:Obviously the government can't give everyone a job because there would be no-one paying any taxes to fund the government.

Erm, actually you'd still end up paying taxes no matter who gave you the job.

My point is that the USA is a fabulously wealthy and richly resourced country, it has got richer and richer since the end of WW2, yet somehow all that money isn't capable of generating decent jobs for the population. I don't believe it is purely the result of the recent recession -- it's obvious from decades ago that salaries of many workers were in decline relative to living costs, and loads of jobs were being out-sourced to overseas.

Until the recent recession, we had a national unemployment rate of somewhere in the neighborhood of 6.5%. I don't know what you think would be an acceptable number for a "fabulously wealthy and richly resourced country." There will always be non-working adults. Some will be between jobs, the victims of changing circumstances; some will be unable to work due to chronic illness or debilitating injury; and some will choose not to work because they are lazy.

Again, I'm getting the sense that you beleive that having a job is a right. You're certainly entittled to that opinion, but I hope we as a country never begin to think this way. I love the English people, but I hope they're starting to realize that they're running out of ways to tax the productive members of their populace to support those that do not produce. I mean, how much of your country's populace is directly employed by the British government? I think I read just this weekend in the Sun that the MoD employs almost 100,000 civilian administrators to support an armed force of only about 145,000 soldiers, airman, sailors and marines. Do you see something wrong with this picture?

It's not just the number of unwilling unemployed, it is also the quality of jobs held by the employed workers.

Everyone is familiar with the phrase 'MacJob'. That's not the kind of job that will support a family.

The same has happened in the UK where while the economy created a couple of million jobs between the late 80s and today, a lot of them were low paid, low skill, part time jobs.

Gwar! wrote:I lost my Job and became a Full Time DakkaDakka Trolle and waster. Over a year now and I have been utterly unable to find a single job.

I am in Ireland though, and having lived in Both the UK and Ireland, I would prefer to live in Canada.

If you are under 30, you can get the working Holiday visa. You have to prove you have more than $5000 in the bank (Easy remedy if totally broke: get a loan from a bank/friends, photocopy the statement, submit the proof then return the money). Once in Canada, being able to speak English, after one year your employer will probably help you immigrate permanently if you want it as the majority of Canadians are content to lead the world in being just north of the United States. Also, chicks in Canada really seem to dig British guys.

Hey lets look at the upsides to 20% and higher unemployment..

1) My commute time has been drastically reduced.

Umm thats about all I can come up with.

I consider myself some what fortunate in that my business caters to the rich,so as long as they have money to burn on Ferraris and BMWs and such,my family will be ok.
Of course the rising prices of most things affect me,and I'm not blind to the possiability of sugar turning to gak in the current economic climate.

Actually, no. I've been lucky. Good reputation at work, came into their employ at a time when they had next to no one who could perform the position I fill, never turn down an assignment and always bugging them for extra work. I don't turn down jobs because I have been hungry and I will shovel gak or commit crimes before I see my kids get skinny. I am humbly grateful to have been able to keep employed.

Yup, Been job-hunting since December. Can't even get a job at Wal-Mart, because I have gak credit.

I have been exceptionally lucky and unaffected by recent events. Though others around me have not been so lucky.

My company however was a bit devious and used the recession as an excuse to get rid of a few people they didn't like

The only way in which the recession has hit me is the way GW has screwed up the to new guard tank kits. Bastards!