March Report: The Recession In Full-Time Jobs Is Here
2024-04-06
According to a new report from the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics this week, the US economy added 303,000 jobs for the month of March while the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.8%. In what has become a familiar pantomime, reporters from the legacy media were sure to declare this a "blowout jobs report" while Richmond Fed president Tom Barkin described the report as "quite strong." This report showed, however, that the jobs economy continues to follow a pattern that began in December of last year: namely, full-time jobs are disappearing and the "job growth" reported so enthusiastically by the media is virtually all part-time jobs. Moreover, nearly a quarter of new payroll jobs are government jobs. If we look more closely at this report, what we really find is that the
US Job Growth is Slower than Reported
2024-04-04
The news media has been reporting steady job growth in the US economy since the Covid 19 crisis. Employment has grown steadily. However, data on employment represents progress in the number of jobs filled. The total number of jobs in business plans is the sum of all filled and unfilled jobs, total employees plus total job openings (see the red line in the top-left graph below).The total number of jobs in the US economy increased rapidly up to March 2022. Total filled and unfilled jobs have fluctuated since March 2022, with little increase. Why have businesses been planning for relatively few new jobs? It appears that low businesses confidence has put a damper on business plans to create additional jobs. Growth of fixed nonresidential fixed investment peaked in the second
Legacies of Injustice and Racial Inequality
2024-01-27
This article is a revised version of a talk given at the Oxford University Mises Society on January 16, 2024. The talk drew upon themes discussed in David Gordon and Wanjiru Njoya, Redressing Historical Injustice: Self-Ownership, Property Rights and Economic Equality (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).
Supporters of free market capitalism are often thought, wrongly, to be unconcerned about human well-being. On the contrary, it is precisely because we are concerned about human well-being that we promote free markets, productivity, and peaceful exchange—a point powerfully made by Ludwig von Mises in Liberalism: In The Classical Tradition:
That there is want and misery in the world is not, as the average newspaper reader, in his dullness, is only too prone to believe, an argument against liberalism.
The Federal Government’s Version of “Fiscal Responsibility” Offends Merriam and Webster
2024-01-25
A glance at the introductory sections in the 2024 budget put forth by the Biden administration might invite dangerous bouts of laughter if only the topic were not so serious and our so-called leaders not so delusional. After the “Budget Message of the President,” the fun begins with “Delivering Results for the American People” and “Growing the Economy from the Bottom Up and Middle Out” followed by the impossible-to-say-with-a-straight-face “Ensuring an Equitable, Effective, and Accountable Government that Delivers Results for All.” Unfortunately, it is likely that politicians in Washington are so removed from reality that they truly believe their fiscal policies can do anything but hinder progress, hamper productivity, and forcibly distribute people’s property against their wishes.
An
Biden’s Middle East Policy Puts Americans at Risk
2024-01-24
The situation in the Middle East is growing more and more dangerous for the Americans stationed there. Two Navy SEALs are dead after being lost at sea off the coast of Somalia while searching a boat that was allegedly carrying weapons bound for Yemen. And many US troops have suffered concussions and other brain injuries in rocket attacks in Iraq and Syria. President Joe Biden and his advisors are reportedly convinced that it is only a matter of time before US troops are killed directly.
The Biden administration also suggests American deaths will give them no choice but to carry out direct attacks against Iran—the exact approach Biden himself has admitted isn’t working against Yemen.
But the danger is greater than Biden is letting on.
In 1996, the Israeli government conducted a military