David Brooks Tells Us to Just Sit Back and Accept Double-Digit Unemployment

[Hannah Bell]

In another fascinating piece of creative economics David Brooks tells us: "we can get distracted by short-term stimulus debates, but those are irrelevant by now." Okay folks, just get used to 9.6 percent unemployment, Mr. Brooks says that there is nothing can be done.

The column is chock full of observations that most people did not know, probably because they are not true. For example, Brooks tells us that if more people follow the recommendation of Michelle Obama and go into teaching and service occupations then it will make the country poorer.

That's an interesting thought. Would the country be worse off if most teachers came from the top quartile in their classes rather than further down the ladder? I certainly did not know this.

As for other service occupations, the country certainly could have used more competent and honest economists. We are losing more than $1.4 trillion a year (@$19,000 for a family of four) due to the recession caused by the collapse of the housing bubble. If we had more competent economists, then the bubble never would have been allowed to grow to such dangerous levels. We can call this $19,000 in lost output a year the "incompetent economist tax." (By way of comparison, toward the middle of next year the incompetent economist tax will exceed the size of the 75-year projected shortfall in the Social Security trust fund.)

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/david-brooks-tells-us-to-just-sit-back-and-accept-double-digit-unemployment

[JuniperLea]

1. We have no manufacturing to speak of...

And the GOP controlled corporations have forced us into a service based economy, then started shoving our service jobs off shore too. I don't really think we have a choice; people are taking what they can get.

As for education and teachers... this is the most important thing we have. All hail and praise to those who choose to become teachers!

[Supersedeas]

2. some truth in what Brooks is saying: we have been fundamentally pushed into a corner by decades of

RW policies. A stimulus package is a bandaid for what is a gaping bound...multiple gaping wounds.

Either we appease the RICH by stashing their tax burden in order to entice them to return their overseas investments here; OR

We fundamentally change the nature of how we handle our natural resources in order to put people to work in this country.

Stimulus packages are temporary bandaids. The RW GOP will always favor stashing the tax burden on the rich in HOPES that some of their investments trickle down to working Americans. They have already taken their money overseas...and the GOP wants to entice the scoundrels back when taxes and labor laws more heavily favor monied interest.

The fundamental question (one the Brooks doesn't fully elaborate on)is whether or not we as Nation will engage in the effort to complete for other foreign interests in order to bring back their money in a last ditch effort to create jobs--the old fashion way...where labor laws and tax laws favor those what want to preserve and grow their capital. Of course, Brooks and most RW ideologue are ready to sell their children into labor in order to appease the rich.

The alternative is to fundamentally restructure the public sector in order to put people to work--this form of socialism/communtarianism is not something that will sit well with ideologues who are paid by the monied interest to spout RW propoganda...so it's not an alternative worth discussing.

Instead, he and others will label stimulus packages are nothing more than a band-aide...and in some sense, he may be right about that...it's just not the whole story.

[blueworld]

3. Babbling Brooks has one particularly amazing talent among his many true gifts, IMHO

Assuming that he cites valid facts (and sometimes that's a big assumption), he lays them out beautifully, articulates things clearly & summarily --- and then draws a completely wrong and/or irrelevant conclusion. It almost never fails! :rofl:

[hobbit709]

4. Let him be unemployed for about 6 months

Then he can write an article extolling the wonders of same.

[Capitalocracy]

5. Apparently there are people without jobs.

What lazy people they must be!

Ah, the priveleged conservative mind. :crazy: