Economics

As recently as June, 2007, when this was written, it was universally said that we were in
a sustained economic recovery and had been since 2002.

Part of this was Bush hot air and the Republican Noise Machine, which the media quotes verbatim.
By a certain measure, however, it was real.
The economy had grown. Corporate profits were at an all-time high.
Average income was up.
There was lots of money around.
But the recovery has some really strange features. Oddities never before seen in a recovery.

Jobs: During Bush's first term the US actually lost private-sector jobs.

In Capitalism 101 we learned that capitalism was good. It beats communism, any day, hands down, out and out.

It also beats socialism which is soft core communism and leads to degeneracy. Really, it does. We all know that profit motivates people to work hard. And fear of becoming destitute is the most efficient of whips. Whereas in a planned economy, which provides security, workers lose their motivation, and their fear and just sit around and jerk off.

There were two stories in Saturday's New York Times that reveal the reality of Bushenomics.

One said that Delta Airlines was going to eliminate its pilot pensions. It was in the business section, page C3.

"Where Did the Good Investments Go," was the headline on the other one. It was an editorial. It said, "By and large, American companies are flush with cash," and have been for some time, but they can't find productive places to put the money.

Did you know there is an "official arbiter of when recessions begin?"

It's called the National Bureau of Economic Research.