Thread: Surprise rise US jobless raises spectre of Great Depression

From The Times
January 10, 2009

Surprise rise in US jobless raises spectre of Great Depression

Gary Duncan, Economics Editor



Fears that the world is sliding into the worst global recession since the Great Depression multiplied yesterday as figures showed the steepest jump in American unemployment since the Second World War and a slump in manufacturing across Europe.

Economists on both sides of the Atlantic were startled by the severity of the latest indications of global economic slump, which further stoked pressure for radical action to stave off economic calamity.

A further surge in US joblessness led the litany of bleak developments yesterday. Official figures confirmed that more Americans lost their jobs last year than in any year since 1945, and that unemployment is soaring at the fastest pace seen since then.

A total of 524,000 Americans were made redundant by US employers last month alone, the latest official payroll figures showed. The mounting toll of job losses drove the unemployment rate in the world's largest economy up to a 15-year peak of 7.2 per cent, sharply higher than November's 6.8 per cent, amid predictions that it will leap to 9.5 per cent or more by the second half of next year.

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“The jobs situation is ugly and it is going to get uglier,â€

Nothing will be solved in 3, 6 or 9 months. Even if people are working, how many appliances does one family need with majority of that product having been built in China? And if you don't buy the appliance, the store lacks sales and lays off workers. The only one that has made money is China. The taxpayer keeps his money for the moment, the store starts to fail, the government issues more debt to support the economy, mostly bought by the Chinese who are just investing our dollars in our debt obligations, interest which needs to be paid by the American taxpayer that lost his job because of lousy sales of the appliance. Offshoring even the production of one component has made the American worker superfluous. The majority of American-based companies are doing this in the name of free enterprise and cheaper labor while still expecting the American job-less to consume.
So many Americans are overloaded with debt on their credit cards, loss of jobs producing loss of homes, and the government continually loading debt on us to pay for deficits that are supposed to come out of tax dollars that more and more do not need to pay because they have no income. Americans have mostly gotten to the point they will not buy what they don't absolutely need when there are calls from collection agencies and foreclosure eviction notices pinned to the front door. Stores are losing income, banks are wary about giving credit to an apparently failing business that may not be around next month, etc. etc.
The entire economy has been built on ethereal value of money, a house of cards that depends on the flamboyance of the American consumer.

That's what happens when you base your entire economy on a giant Ponzi scheme. Derivatives based on subprime mortgages based on illegal aliens telling the truth!!!