|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grubble Grubble
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, December 06, 2002 :::
rant
Let's talk about the economy. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, along with economic advisor larry Lindsey, resigned today at the request of the White House. White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer noted that the President had full faith in these two men, but decided that the ecomonic team needed some shaking up.
Asking the boss to quit is quite a shake-up. I am not particularly a fan of O'Neill, this is the same man who dared to try and keep $100 mil in shares of Alcoa when he was appointed, but I find it laughable that the White House is attempting to put a positive spin on this mess.
MSNBC.com reported unemployment to be at 6% right now. I fully expect that number to go to 7% after new years as I am sure many seasonal workers who will be laid off after Christmas will add to the number of new unemployment claims in the month of January. Add to that the number of companies that will lay off right before the Christmas holidays in efforts to save capital. 7% is about right. Anyone want to try for 8%?
O'Neill had been quite a cheerleader for the economy lately when he predicted that we would never reach a full-blown recession. Even now, the administration still refers to this as an economic downturn. 6% unemployment is the highest it has been since Bush, Sr. was in office.
I find it interesting that the current regime, er... *cough cough* administration is now finally taking a shot at the economy. They have done such a wonderful job of ignoring it for so long that I was beginning to think this was a new form of Reagan era "trickle down economics." Of course, I was never able to figure out where it was supposed to trickle down from.
Hopefully, the Bush administration will find some way other than tax cuts that barely help in the short term, and certainly do not help in the long run, to turn our failing economy around. I am not particularly hopeful.
/rant
|
|
|
|
