Letters to the Editor
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The Jobless Revolution
Oil prices are pretty rational. Global demand is strong, and the dollar is weak. There is none of the volatility you see in gold, just a relentless rise. The gold bugs on the other hand are a paranoid group, who feel the Central Bankers have been manipulating gold prices since Bretton Woods. SOme still remember when Roosevelt took their gold. They are sure that this time it will be different, but it is just more C. Brown and Lucy. This most recent rally in the market is probably money coming out of the gold ETF and going back into stocks.
Lets give credit to McCain, in Michigan, he said, those jobs aren't coming back. America is becoming a jobless nation, unless you call the food service industry gainful employment, (Even Bourdain opted out for the gritty world of television).
How is America going to handle mass joblessness? Good question. I suppose we'll go on the dole, like Europe.
And of course the more money we give the jobless, the better the economy will look, and the more likely you are to be reelected if you are a politician.
Ditto the credit crunch. What do people do when they have two of everything? The common wisdom goes that there is never enough, but Americans have never been good at avarice, and gluttony. (most obesity in this country is related to poverty, and when some wheel makes a billion he gives it all to starving kids in Africa.)
Here's a stark prediction. The Consumer Confidence number will be reconfigured within a year, to reflect the new reality. Fifty will be the new One Hundred. No one wants to look at these paltry numbers, it makes you feel, well, poor.