Wade
  • Wade
  • Veteran Member
12 years ago
1. "Unemployment" and "not working" are not synonyms. Unemployment, pretty much as it as always been calculated, is a percent of the "labor force". And being in the labor force requires either "working" or "looking for employment." If you ain't looking, you ain't unemployed. Period.

1A. The biggest source of potential dispute in unemployment statistics is disagreement about what counts/should count as "looking"? If I get fired as a professor, and I turn down an offer to wash dishes in a restaurant, am I still looking? What if I turn down a job to be a high school substitute teacher? To be a professor at a salary 10% less than my pre-termination salary?

2. The notion of "what counts as 'looking'?" is always going to be fuzzy in application, because being underemployed can be a bigger negative for the economy than being unemployed.

2A. And it can be a bigger negative for the same reason zero unemployment (much less zero people "not working") is bad for the economy: In many cases, the costs of searching for the most productive job are substantially greater when you are employed than when you are not working. Why? Put it this way, if you want to interview for a new job, what do you tell you're boss? Do you lie, and if so, how do you avoid getting caught? If you don't lie, is your boss going to be okay with you taking an hour off? What if the interview is a plane flight away? Even if your boss is okay with it, what's it going to cost the boss to arrange to cover for you? Or do about that client or vendor you need to be talking to, like, yesterday?

Zero unemployment is a bad idea. The trick is in figuring out what the best level of unemployment >0 is. No economist worth anything will ever say we should have zero unemployment. No two economists worth anything are ever likely to agree on how much non-zero unemployment is optimal.

3. Notwithstanding the above, the possible error in measured unemployment rates is tiny compared to the error in how we talk about inflation. What people usually mean when they talk about "inflation" is the "cost of living." (Technically inflation is simply a decline in the purchasing power of money; all prices, those for "living" and those for "other stuff" are going up at the same time. The cost of living a particular way is how much of the other stuff you have to give up. Pure inflation doesn't change this, because it doesn't change the price of X relative to the price of Y. If you paid $100 for X before and $150 for Y before, now you pay $150 for X and $225 for Y.

3A. The problem all of us worry about, though, is how the prices of X (what we buy) change relative to the prices of Y (what we sell, most importantly for most of us, our labor services).

And in that regard, the cost of living has been going up a lot more than the "2-3% inflation rate" that the "official reports" claim. On the order of two or three times as much.

I drove to the burbs of Chicago today. I paid $1.90, $3.00, $2.00, $1.50, and $0.90 for five tolls. These are almost exactly double what I paid about a year ago when I made the same trip, or an increase of about 100%. The gas at the Belvidere Oasis was only $3.90, or about a 20% increase from what I remember. The bottle of water I bought at the Mobil station was $2.49, up about 25%.

Now these three prices don't measure my personal cost of living particularly well. I live in Iowa where transport and water prices are almost always substantially less than these Illinois people have to pay, and I rarely make this trip. But if I did live around here, and I saw these living prices going up at this rate of change?

And the reality is, though the starting prices in Iowa are lower (that gallon of gas was 3.49 when I bought it this morning in Iowa, and that same bottle of water sold for $1.50, the rate of increase I've been seeing in Iowa is a heckuva lot closer to those I've just reported for Illinois than to 3%.

At the end-of-year faculty meeting we were given the usual fun news about next years salary expectations -- a whopping increase of 1.35 %. My fellow faculty members (invariably big fans of Obamacare) were bummed about the fact that our faculty share of our insurance premiums went up by about 6 percent. It is a bummer, but a pretty darn small one -- that 6 percent amounts to a whopping $6-10 of the single faculty member's monthly budget and about $35 for the faculty member with family coverage.

None of them seem to realize that the real culprit is other prices -- things like food and rent and property upkeep and the cost of regulation to keep our butts sufficiently clean....things that mean a lot more than 30-40 bucks a month.

Or, for that matter, the cost of all those other things the college budget has to cover, like sustainable windmills and country club housing for students, and a food court instead of a cafeteria and assorted brick and mortar upgrades and a rope course and a disk golf course and all those top end admin types we've been hiring over the last decade.

When I started, the average prof salary here was somewhere between the 65th and 70th percentile of all profs of similar rank at 4-year non-research institutions. The admin at the time established a target of bringing us all up to the 70th.

Yesterday's report? Full and associate profs (the tenured people like me) are at the 60th and falling. The assistant profs and instructors (the untenured) are at the 56th.

And what do we complain about....$30 a month more for a health care premium.

And what do we cheer about ... we probably won't have to get pre-certification for those MRIs, CTs, and PET scans.

I'm not saying we profs have it bad. Compared to many, we live lives of luxury. And many of us don't deserve what we get, here or elsewhere. But the principle is the same -- if you want to know why your own cost of living sucks and is getting worse, look to the other things that the people who pay you are spending their dollars on.

That's the real culprit. Not "the economy." "The economy" is the excuse those real culprits use to mis-spend wealth on things other than you. Don't let them get away. Make them explain why *their* budgets for the things *they* want keep going up more than yours do. Make them explain why *their* stuff is more important than yours. Make the bastards squirm.




And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
Zero2Cool
12 years ago

And why can't we do the same thing here?

Originally Posted by: zombieslayer 



Cuz we sent the jobs out of the country???
UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : WR who said he'd break Xavier Worthy 40 time...and ran slower than you
Mucky Tundra (2-Apr) : Who?
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : Texas’ WR Isaiah Bond is scheduled to visit the Bills, Browns, Chiefs, Falcons, Packers and Titans starting next week.
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : Spotting ball isn't changing, only measuring distance is, Which wasn't the issue.
Zero2Cool (2-Apr) : The spotting of the ball IS the issue. Not the chain gang.
Mucky Tundra (2-Apr) : Will there be a tracker on the ball or something?
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : uh oh
Martha Careful (1-Apr) : Too bad camera's can't spot the ball as well.
Mucky Tundra (1-Apr) : So will the chain gang be gone completely or will they still be around as a backup or whatever?
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : The method for measuring first downs in the NFL will switch from chain gangs to camera-based technology in 2025, the league announced.
Martha Careful (1-Apr) : A big step in the right direction. Just put in the college system is very very good.
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : NFL has passed a rule that allows both teams to possess the ball in OT during the regular season
Zero2Cool (1-Apr) : Touchbacks on kickoffs will now bring the ball to the 35-yard line.
beast (31-Mar) : It might of gotten more popular recently, but braiding hair (even men) in certain cultures goes back for centuries.
Martha Careful (30-Mar) : Is men braiding their hair a new style thing? Watching the NCAA men's tournament many players have done
Zero2Cool (29-Mar) : Ha. Well, it'd be nice for folks to reset their own password. Via validated email 😏
beast (29-Mar) : Monopoly was supposed to be an educational game, that show how evil capitalism was and how we should avoid it
beast (29-Mar) : Lol, I was thinking username would be better, as then I wouldn't have to keep an email up to date lol 😂
beast (29-Mar) : Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : I was thinking email because I think it'll make folks keep it up todate lol
wpr (29-Mar) : sure is
Zero2Cool (29-Mar) : Monopoly is a rip off of The Landlord's Game
wpr (27-Mar) : 28 days until the draft
earthquake (27-Mar) : Which seemed strange to my 9 year old self, that you could be a fan for a team other than the one you play for
earthquake (27-Mar) : Nothing eventful happened, other than it being clear that he was a bengals fan
earthquake (27-Mar) : And we went and hung out with him one afternoon, I must have been 9 or so
earthquake (27-Mar) : That’s wild, when I was a kid my friend lived in the same apartment complex in De Pere
Mucky Tundra (27-Mar) : Only career highspot was a 200 yard rushing game while playing for the Cardinals
Mucky Tundra (27-Mar) : He is a former Packer. Drafted out of Northern Illinois. Didn't do much in GB.
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Despicable
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Former NFL. I think Packers too
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : NFL RB Leshon Johnson has been charged in a massive dog fighting operation, with the FBI seizing over 190 Pit Bulls
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Some real irony of a QB as short as Wilson playing for the Giants
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Giants country, let's be the tall beings of lore!
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : Russell Wilson signs with the Giants.
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : I was thinking email because I think it'll make folks keep it up todate lol
wpr (25-Mar) : I don't think there is a significant difference. I use a user name for many. Others email.
Martha Careful (25-Mar) : email
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : would it be better to use EMAIL or USERNAME to log into a site?
wpr (25-Mar) : Thanks Zero
Zero2Cool (24-Mar) : New forum has the ability to Thank a post now.
beast (24-Mar) : And the only time they have won the Championship in an even year, was the first time they did, in 2006.
beast (24-Mar) : Since 2007, there have been 10 odd numbered years, Wisconsin Women have won the Championship in 7 of those 10 odd numbered years.
buckeyepackfan (24-Mar) : Congratulations Lady Badger Hockey Team. NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!
Zero2Cool (23-Mar) : I don't think it's completed yet. it was just announced last month, right?
dhazer (23-Mar) : did netflix ever release the Packers documentary
Zero2Cool (21-Mar) : And it is glorious!
beast (21-Mar) : Unsigned FA QB Rodgers is supposedly in the Steelers building
Martha Careful (19-Mar) : But I don't own a car! So can I still use it in my apartment?
Zero2Cool (19-Mar) : btw, new site auto updates
Zero2Cool (19-Mar) : Woohoo!
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 3:25 PM
Vikings
Sunday, Jan 5 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Jan 12 @ 3:30 PM
Eagles
Recent Topics
2-Apr / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

2-Apr / Green Bay Packers Talk / bboystyle

1-Apr / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

1-Apr / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

31-Mar / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

30-Mar / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

29-Mar / Random Babble / wpr

28-Mar / Feedback, Suggestions and Issues / dfosterf

28-Mar / Random Babble / Martha Careful

26-Mar / Random Babble / Mucky Tundra

25-Mar / Random Babble / Martha Careful

24-Mar / Random Babble / packerfanoutwest

24-Mar / Random Babble / Zero2Cool

21-Mar / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

19-Mar / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.