Catherine Rampell observes Tough economies usually push people into more education. It’s not happening this time. She writes that Usually, postsecondary enrollment increases during tough economies, as workers seek shelter from the lousy job market and invest in upgrading their skills. This can be a (small) silver lining of downturns: If displaced workers choose wisely…
Economy
City, Disinformation, Economy, Employment, Poverty
Unemployment Imagined and Real
by JOHN ADAMS •
National unemployment figures have been undercounting the true number of those unemployed. Rachel Siegel reports Fed chair: Unemployment rate was closer to 10 percent, not 6.3 percent, in January: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said Wednesday that the unemployment rate in January was “close to 10 percent,” significantly higher than the 6.3 percent rate…
Business, City, Coronavirus, Economy, Free Markets
Buy Local Will Change
by JOHN ADAMS •
The pandemic has made takeout and delivery more valuable than ever, not only for convenience but also for reduced exposure. In larger cities, some changes to restaurant delivery (among other services) have been building for years, and are likely to be permanent. See Heated patios, QR code menus and pop-ups: Milwaukee restaurants got innovative during…
Business, CDA, Charity, Development, Economics, Economy, Failure, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Poverty, Press Release
Markets and Markets
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that Whitewater now has an option, for most of the city, of grocery delivery from nearby cities. As it is, Whitewater has a Walmart, but no stand-alone, full-service grocery. Private delivery service is a benefit to the community. It’s better to have more grocery options than fewer. These are private enterprises providing private delivery…
America, Economy, Employment, Failure, Trump
Trump’s Employment Failure
by JOHN ADAMS •
Catherine Rampell writes December’s jobs report confirms Trump is set to be the worst jobs president on record: When the pandemic first hit the United States, we lost 22 million jobs almost immediately. Then after seven months of gains — albeit decelerating ones — the economy tipped back into job losses in December, the Bureau…
City, Culture, Demographics, Economy, Education, Local Government, Politics, School District
Local 2021 Races in the Whitewater Area
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update: this post about local politics, with an optimistic final sentence, was published before the morning and afternoon events in Washington. It has always been true – and always will be true – that what harms the country harms the city; what stains the nation stains the city. Every moment of opposition to Trump and…
Aside, City, Coronavirus, Culture, Economy
For Whitewater, the Pandemic Reveals What Was Already There
by JOHN ADAMS •
For Whitewater – and other places – the pandemic hasn’t changed contemporary politics or culture, it has revealed plainly the character of contemporary politics and culture: divided, debilitated. Whitewater’s meaningful changes began years ago, with the Great Recession (2007-2009). For small towns like Whitewater, that recession never ended. It’s as if a man with poor…
City, Coronavirus, Economy
What Changes After the Pandemic?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Megan McArdle, writing at the Washington Post, speculates about What changes after covid-19? I’m betting on everything. She’s thinking about the other side of the pandemic, when the worst has subsided, and we are no longer here but instead there. Her forecast focuses on technological changes likely in the wake of the COVID-19: But on closer…
2020 Presidential Election, America, Courts, Documentary, Economy, Film, Law, Trump
Frontline: Supreme Revenge: Battle for the Supreme Court
by JOHN ADAMS •
With the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett days before the 2020 presidential election, conservatives solidified a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court — and the chance to shape American life and policy for a generation. Behind it all was a powerful Republican from Kentucky: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for whom Barrett’s confirmation was…
2020 Presidential Election, America, Coronavirus, Culture, Documentary, Economy, Elections, Film, Trump, Voting Rights
Frontline: A Nation in Turmoil (Full Film)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Filmed across the country this past year by a production team headed by Mike Shum and Blair Woodbury, “American Voices: A Nation in Turmoil” captures the diverse perspectives of a number of people — a pastor, a barber, a doctor, an activist and more — as they deal with COVID-19 in their communities, respond to…
Culture, Economy, Joe Biden, Trump
The Economic Gap Between Biden and Trump Counties
by JOHN ADAMS •
While Biden has won an absolute majority of the popular vote, he’s also won that majority from counties significantly more productive than the counties Trump won. A stark difference between counties that went for Biden and those that went for Trump is the significantly higher share of gross domestic product in Biden-supporting counties. (The gap…
Economy, Employment, Poverty, Recession
That’s Not a Recovery: Millions Slip into Poverty & Unemployment Claims Rise
by JOHN ADAMS •
That a rush to re-open would lead to an economic rebound was always doubtful (no economic fix without a pandemic fix), but the data are clear that America is experiencing no national ‘recovery.’ Jason DeParle reports 8 Million Have Slipped Into Poverty Since May as Federal Aid Has Dried Up: After an ambitious expansion of…
Business, Coronavirus, Economy, Joe Biden
Kevin, a Small Business Owner, Backs Biden for President
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy, Trump
Trump Abandons the Midwest
by JOHN ADAMS •
Trump plans return visits to Wisconsin during the pandemic he’s exacerbated through lies, but long before the novel coronavirus Trump was lying to the Midwest. Catherine Rampell writes that Trump said he would bring jobs back to Ohio’s manufacturing workers. Instead, he deserted them: “It’s incredible what’s happened to the area,” he said Monday, in…