Richmans' Ideal Taxes Association Blog

Obama's SOTU: Still No Manufacturing Jobs -- we're published in today's American Thinker

04 Feb 2012 19:17:13 EST

Howard Richman, 2/4/2012

Here's how we begin:

In his January 24 State of the Union speech, President Obama argued that American manufacturing is already coming back under his presidency. But his actual record on manufacturing jobs is dismal.

Normally, after a recession, laid-off workers get hired back. But America had 13.8 million manufacturing jobs when the Great Recession began at the end of 2007. Today, the nation has just 11.8 million, as shown in the graph below:

To read the rest go to:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/obamas_sotu_still_no_manufacturing_jobs.html

Initial Unemployment Compensation Claims Exceeded 400,000 Week Ending January 28, 2012

03 Feb 2012 16:34:44 EST

Raymond Richman, 2/3/2012

Initial unemployment compensation claims exceeded 400,000 during the week ending Jan 28, 2012. What you did not see, hear, or read in the media Thursday or Friday Feb. 2-3, was the unadjusted number, i.e., the actual number of initial claims reported by the BLS beginning in the 4^th paragraph below. Instead, the media, including Rick Santelli of CNBC, the Friday WSJ, Bloomerg, et al. reported that the number of claims filed was 379,000 when in fact it was 415,094. ...

Morici: 8.5% unemployment may be as good as it gets

31 Jan 2012 21:05:58 EST

Howard Richman, 1/31/2012

In his latest commentary, University of Maryland economist Peter Morici predicts that the unemployment rate won't go below 8.5% in the near future. Here's his reasoning:

Fourth quarter growth was exceptionally strong as the global economy recovered from first half disruptions such as the earthquake in Japan, but going forward economists expect growth to slow to about 2 percent.

Job growth in the range of 130,000 should be expected to accommodate labor force growth, but it won't do much to lower the unemployment rate. That is hardly a pace that will restore economic health or validate President Obama’s heavy intervention in the economy and industrial policies in the upcoming presidential campaign.

What could the U.S. government do? He writes:

Gains in manufacturing production are not accompanied by stronger improvements in employment largely because so much of the growth is focused in high-value activity. Assembly work, outside the auto patch, remains handicapped by the exchange rate situation with the Chinese yuan.

The situation with the yuan is the single largest impediment to more robust growth in manufacturing and its broader multiplier effects for the rest of the economy; the Obama administration indicated over the holidays it has no intention of challenging China on this issue, and it enjoys the unlikely support of House Speaker John Boehner.

The current Washington establishment is oblivious to reality. So long as China and almost all of the other emerging market countries are allowed to continue their currency manipulations, there will be little manufacturing job growth.

The only hope on the horizon is that likely Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney might balance trade if elected president. His current trade position is:....