Paul Krugman: Winter of Our Discontent

[babylonsister]

Winter of Our Discontent
by Paul Krugman

“Americans’ Economic Pessimism Reaches Record High.” That’s the headline on a recent Gallup report, which shows a nation deeply unhappy with the state of the economy. Right now, “27% of Americans rate current economic conditions as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good,’ while 44% say they are ‘only fair’ and 28% say they are poor.” Moreover, “an extraordinary 78% of Americans now say the economy is getting worse, while a scant 13% say it is getting better.”

What’s really remarkable about this dismal outlook is that the economy isn’t (yet?) in recession, and consumers haven’t yet felt the full effects of $98 oil (wait until they see this winter’s heating bills) or the plunging dollar, which will raise the prices of imported goods.

The response of those who support the Bush administration’s economic policies is to complain about the unfairness of it all. They rattle off statistics that supposedly show how wonderful the economy really is. Many of these statistics are misleading or irrelevant, but it’s true that the official unemployment rate is fairly low by historical standards. So why are people so unhappy?

The answer from Bush supporters - who are, on this and other matters, a strikingly whiny bunch - is to blame the “liberal media” for failing to report the good news. But the real explanation for the public’s pessimism is that whatever good economic news there is hasn’t translated into gains for most working Americans.

One way to drive this point home is to compare the situation for workers today with that in the late 1990s, when the country’s economic optimism was almost as remarkable as its pessimism today. For example, in the fall of 1998 almost two-thirds of Americans thought the economy was excellent or good.

The unemployment rate in 1998 was only slightly lower than the unemployment rate today. But for working Americans, everything else was different. Wages were rising, yet inflation was low, so the purchasing power of workers’ take-home pay was steadily improving. So, too, were job benefits, including the availability of health insurance. And homeownership was rising steadily.

It was, in other words, a time when Americans felt they were sharing in the country’s prosperity.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/26/5434/

[ixion]

1. and in 98 there were jobs everywhere

not so today.

[demnan]

2. The late 90's were the good old days

Every year you could go out and get a job making $30K more a year if you had some smarts and were in the IT field. Huge selections of jobs were posted in the Washington Post Jobs section. And all of them offered working from home, great campuses, etc.

All that started to crash right aroung 2001-2002. Now you make $30K less per year and permenent jobs with benefits are almost impossible to come by. Washington Post Jobs is bearly 8 pages anymore.

Try making a living wage in IT, unless you're the manager.

And I'm one of the lucky ones, I still somewhat landed on my feet.