Financial News

[Jenksismyhero]

That number can only be true if its HEAVY manufacturing. And that's to be expected.

 

I don't see why.

 

More Americans work for the government than work in construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and utilities combined.

[Balta1701]

I don't see why.

Because we've decided as a national policy that manufacturing is the biggest economic sector that has to compete directly with low-wage workers from overseas, so it has been effectively dismantled over the last 40 years.

[jasonxctf]

plus every city has some level of govt workers. Not every city has mftg.

[Jenksismyhero]

Because we've decided as a national policy that manufacturing is the biggest economic sector that has to compete directly with low-wage workers from overseas, so it has been effectively dismantled over the last 40 years.

 

Or we've just gone to a more service oriented economy because the price of manufacturing is cheaper elsewhere. Either way, the fact that we have more people on the payroll of the government than in private business in manufacturing is still an issue IMO.

[southsider2k5]

Because we've decided as a national policy that manufacturing is the biggest economic sector that has to compete directly with low-wage workers from overseas, so it has been effectively dismantled over the last 40 years.

 

And we have decided that everyone has a fever, and it needs more government!

[StrangeSox]

Or we've just gone to a more service oriented economy because the price of manufacturing is cheaper elsewhere. Either way, the fact that we have more people on the payroll of the government than in private business in manufacturing is still an issue IMO.

 

Isn't that what Balta is saying? Free trade has meant that it's much, much cheaper for companies to send manufacturing jobs overseas to people making 1/100 of the minimum wage in the US. We've also valued heavy expansion in the pushing-around-money sectors over the last couple of decades way more than we've valued actual production of goods.

 

 

And we have decided that everyone has a fever, and it needs more government! corporate subsidies!

 

Response elsewhere:

"{the] article is a piece of junk that glorifies the fact that corporations are able to make huge profits by replacing workers with machines and overseas child labor and somehow implies that the government's inability to do so is some sort of terrible social curse"

Edited April 2, 2011 by StrangeSox

[Balta1701]

It's probably worth looking at those #'s in a different way...as fractions of population.

 

It's certainly true that manufacturing has declined...but it hasn't been the government that has made up the difference. It's been a shift to financial products, healthcare, and a service sector, with an actual decline in retail as well.

 

[southsider2k5]

It's probably worth looking at those #'s in a different way...as fractions of population.

 

It's certainly true that manufacturing has declined...but it hasn't been the government that has made up the difference. It's been a shift to financial products, healthcare, and a service sector, with an actual decline in retail as well.

 

 

They must have a super narrow definition of "government"

[Balta1701]

They must have a super narrow definition of "government"

My guess is that version is excluding "Teachers" for some reason (these damn women & N***** have wanted to get educated since 1960 and that's caused an increase in teachers). I'm going to blame the Google for bringing that table up first. This one took a lot longer to find.

 

Here's the BLS numbers. Government goes from 14.5% in 1960 to 16% now.

[NorthSideSox72]

Or we've just gone to a more service oriented economy because the price of manufacturing is cheaper elsewhere. Either way, the fact that we have more people on the payroll of the government than in private business in manufacturing is still an issue IMO.

First sentence is absolutely true and absolutely a problem, I agree. And the second sentence I only partly agree with, as government employment hasn't grown substantially as a percentage of population. The real problem is a combination of a declining education system, a stupid tendency to keep some death grip on manufacturing that isn't the future, and a lack of ability to see the value in getting to what the US can actually manufacture competitively.

 

[Y2HH]

These graphs and charts probably don't include money the government pays out to 3rd parties, such as Haliburtin, or contractors making 30,000$ a month to work in Iraq, etc...which has been going on for the last decade. While these aren't government employees because they're all contracted out...it's still the government paying out the $.

[NorthSideSox72]

These graphs and charts probably don't include money the government pays out to 3rd parties, such as Haliburtin, or contractors making 30,000$ a month to work in Iraq, etc...which has been going on for the last decade. While these aren't government employees because they're all contracted out...it's still the government paying out the $.

Mostly for defense. Which I'm told by the GOP doesn't count.

 

[Y2HH]

Mostly for defense. Which I'm told by the GOP doesn't count.

 

It counts, and the GOP is stupid.

[iamshack]

Not sure where to put this...

 

But did you guys get emails that Epsilon's database was hacked? A lot of email addresses were stolen, but supposedly no personal information (riiight).

 

I have gotten emails from Chase bank and now from my company, explaining that my email address may have been stolen...

 

Best to be monitoring your credit reports/scores closely...

[Balta1701]

Not sure where to put this...

 

But did you guys get emails that Epsilon's database was hacked? A lot of email addresses were stolen, but supposedly no personal information (riiight).

 

I have gotten emails from Chase bank and now from my company, explaining that my email address may have been stolen...

 

Best to be monitoring your credit reports/scores closely...

I've gotten the same email from Kroger and from something else too.

 

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Not sure where to put this...

 

But did you guys get emails that Epsilon's database was hacked? A lot of email addresses were stolen, but supposedly no personal information (riiight).

 

I have gotten emails from Chase bank and now from my company, explaining that my email address may have been stolen...

 

Best to be monitoring your credit reports/scores closely...

I've gotten at least three of them. It was an email system hack, so its probably true that its just names and email addresses. They'll use it for phishing probably.

 

But I would recommend, as always, that you monitor your credit report anyway.

 

[Balta1701]

That's now 4 companies that have emailed me to say that they had my email address hacked in this case.

 

Sad thing is, this'll go down with absolutely no penalties happening for anyone. The company that lost the info is probably insured, no one will go to jail, and if anyone does have their identity legitimately stolen, it's their problem, not the company that lost it.

[mr_genius]

It's probably worth looking at those #'s in a different way...as fractions of population.

 

It's certainly true that manufacturing has declined...but it hasn't been the government that has made up the difference. It's been a shift to financial products, healthcare, and a service sector, with an actual decline in retail as well.

 

 

 

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/04/news/compa..._jobs/index.htm

 

McDonald's jobs are through the roof!

 

"We're excited to offer 50,000 new jobs, all across America, all in one day," said Jan Fields, president of McDonald's U.S.A.

 

well that sounds pretty good

 

She said the average pay for the jobs is $8.30 an hour.

 

oh.

[mr_genius]

Not sure where to put this...

 

But did you guys get emails that Epsilon's database was hacked? A lot of email addresses were stolen, but supposedly no personal information (riiight).

 

I have gotten emails from Chase bank and now from my company, explaining that my email address may have been stolen...

 

Best to be monitoring your credit reports/scores closely...

 

I got an email from 'Best Buy' about this.

[Iwritecode]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/04/news/compa..._jobs/index.htm

 

McDonald's jobs are through the roof!

 

 

 

well that sounds pretty good

 

 

 

oh.

 

 

$8.30/hour is better than $0/hour that all the people that have fallen off unemployment are making.

[StrangeSox]

^capitalism is a b****!

[Y2HH]

$8.30/hour is better than $0/hour that all the people that have fallen off unemployment are making.

 

Amen.

[Balta1701]

Portugal officially asks for their bailout.

[mr_genius]

$8.30/hour is better than $0/hour that all the people that have fallen off unemployment are making.

 

that's true.

[kapkomet]

These graphs and charts probably don't include money the government pays out to 3rd parties, such as Haliburtin, or contractors making 30,000$ a month to work in Iraq, etc...which has been going on for the last decade. While these aren't government employees because they're all contracted out...it's still the government paying out the $.

 

 

You have no idea what kind of money goes where... from the government. It's absoultely amazing what happens, and I know more about it now then I ever cared to.