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No Jobs for the New Economy or the Old
By Paul Craig Roberts
08/01/08 "ICH" -- - December
did not bring Americans any jobs. To the contrary, the private
sector lost 13,000 jobs from the previous month.
If December is a harbinger of the new year, it is going to be a
bad one. The past year, hailed by Republican propagandists and
“free trade” economists as proof of globalism’s benefit to
Americans, was dismal. According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics’ nonfarm payroll data, the US “super economy” created
a miserable 1,054,000 net new jobs during 2007.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t14.htm
This is not enough to keep up with population growth--even at
the rate discouraged Americans, unable to find jobs, are
dropping out of the work force--thus the rise in the
unemployment rate to 5%.
During the past year, US goods producing industries, continuing
a long trend, lost 374,000 jobs.
But making things was the “old economy.” The “new economy”
provides services. Last year 1,428,000 private sector service
jobs were created.
Are the “free trade” propagandists correct that these service
jobs, which are our future, are high-end jobs in research and
development, innovation, venture capitalism, information
technology, high finance, and science and engineering where the
US allegedly has such a shortage of scientists and engineers
that it must import them from abroad on work visas?
Not according to the official job statistics.
What occupations provided the 1.4 million service jobs in 2007?
Waitresses and bartenders accounted for 304,200, or 21% of the
new service jobs last year and 29% of the net new jobs.
Health care and social assistance accounted for 478,400, or 33%
of the new service jobs and 45% of the net new jobs. Ambulatory
health care and hospitals accounted for the lion’s share of
these jobs.
Professional and business services accounted for 314,000, or 22%
of the new service jobs and 30% of the net new jobs. Are these
professional and business service jobs the high-end jobs of
which “free traders” speak? Decide for yourself. Services to
buildings and dwellings account for 53,600 of the jobs.
Accounting and bookkeeping services account for 60,500 of the
jobs. Architectural and engineering services account for 54,700
of the jobs. Computer systems design and related services
account for 70,400 of the jobs. Management consultants account
for 88,400 of the jobs.
There were more jobs for hospital orderlies than for architects
and engineers. Waitresses and bartenders accounted for as many
of last year’s new jobs as the entirety of professional and
business services.
Wholesale and retail trade, transportation, and utilities
accounted for 181,000 of 2007’s new jobs.
Where are the rest of the new jobs? There are a few scattered
among arts, entertainment, and recreation, repair and
maintenance, personal and laundry services, and membership
associations and organizations.
That’s it.
Keep in mind that the loss of 374,000 goods producing jobs must
be subtracted from the 1,428,000 new service jobs to arrive at
the net job gain figure. The new service jobs account for more
than 100% of the net new jobs.
Keep in mind, too, that many of the new jobs are not filled by
American citizens. Many of the engineering and science jobs were
filled by foreigners brought in on work visas. Indians and
others from abroad can be hired to work in the US for one-third
less. The engineering and science jobs that are offshored are
paid as little as one-fifth of the US salary. Even foreign
nurses are brought in on work visas. No one knows how many of
the hospital orderlies are illegals.
What a super new economy Americans have! US job growth has a
distinctly third world flavor. A very small percentage of
2007’s new jobs required a college education. Since there are
so few jobs for university graduates, how is “education the
answer”?
Where is the benefit to Americans of offshoring? The answer is
that the benefit is confined to a few highly paid executives who
receive multi-million dollar bonuses for increasing profits by
offshoring jobs. The rest of the big money went to Wall Street
crooks who sold trusting people subprime derivatives.
“Free traders” will assert that the benefit is in low Wal-Mart
prices. But the prices are low only because China keeps its
currency pegged to the dollar. Thus, the Chinese currency value
falls with the dollar. The peg will not continue forever. The
dollar has lost 60% of its value against the Euro during the
years of the Bush regime. Already China is having to adjust the
peg. When the peg goes, Wal-Mart shoppers will think they are
in Neiman Marcus.
Just as Americans have been betrayed by “their” leaders in
government at all levels, they have been betrayed by business
“leaders” on Wall Street and in the corporations. US government
and business elites have proven themselves to be Americans’
worst enemies.
Dr. Roberts was Assistant
Secretary of the US Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan
administration. He is credited with curing stagflation and
eliminating “Phillips curve” trade-offs between employment and
inflation, an achievement now on the verge of being lost by the
worst economic mismanagement in US history.
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