As of Oct. 2, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, “Since the start of the recession in December 2007 the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million, and the unemployment rate has doubled to 9.8 percent.”
Some states, like Michigan, are reporting unemployment numbers as high as 15 percent.
Many sources, including the White House, expect the national unemployment figure to hit double digits sometime next year before showing any significant signs of improvement.
In conjunction with the unemployment statistics, the BLS released some eye-opening figures concerning job creation and hiring rates.
The BLS, as of Oct. 9, reported, “The number of job openings in the U.S. was little changed at a series low level of 2.4 million, or 3.1 percent,” and the hires rate, “was little changed and remained low at 3.3 percent,” a decrease of 2.4 million, or some 50 percent since June 2007.
What happened to job creation? Obama touted job creation as one of his visionary principles, but $787 billion dollars of hard earned taxpayer money later and where do we stand?
The current administration has resorted to taxation and government spending to combat our ruptured economy.
But I join the growing ranks of many when I question the Obama administration’s economic understanding and the tactics they are using to battle the recession.
Steve Wynn is CEO of Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas and a private sector champion. He employs more than 20,000 people and at times has had to supply health insurance to as many as 150,000 families. In a recent interview on Fox News. He said this about the Obama administration:
“The priority should have been job creation. And the most powerful weapon and the tool that the government has for that is its tax policy.
“If the government had used its power to restrain its tax collection they would have given everybody who runs small businesses, large businesses, a chance to hire more people.
“With $800 billion to $900 billion we could have created four or five million jobs … soaring rhetoric and great speeches aren’t going to change the truth, and the truth is: The biggest enemy, the biggest obstacle that working middle class America has is government spending … the source of government revenue, the source of well-being in this country is employment.”
If you take anything from this excerpt, understand this is a tried and tested man of our economic system. He is extremely knowledgeable in labor economics and has his ears on the streets of the private sector.
When a real working man like this speaks, it’s important to listen.
Economics is, above all, common sense. If anything, take your own life as a microcosm of the American economy.
The only way you pay taxes, survive and provide is through working a job. If you are in debt and jobless would you ever spend feverishly to get out? Of course not. My remaining question then is: Why is our government?
Patrick Mulshine is a senior in the College of Business Administration
