Layoffs at this Whitewater plant have been rumored off and on; the length of speculation makes the company’s actual letter to the Department of Workforce Development no less unfortunate. See, “Whitewater company announces 87 layoffs” by Latest News — GazetteXtra.
Economy
City, Economy, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Poverty
Whitewater’s Innovation Center from the Perspective of the New Deal
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted yesterday about Whitewater’s Innovation Center, in a post entitled, Whitewater’s Innovation Center: Grants and Bonds. The more one looks at the project, the emptier it seems. Attempts to justify the multi-million dollar public expenditure — on their own, apart from any other consideration — are exercises in embarrassing hyperbole. Attempts to answer objections…
Economy, Free Markets
Joyce Appleby on the Relentless Revolution of Capitalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
Capitalism is humanity’s best arrangement for prosperity. Alternatives are, to one degree or another, schemes of enforced poverty. Reason.tv has an interview with professor emerita Joyce Appleby of UCLA. It’s eight minutes of clarity and insight. The video is below, with Reason‘s description thereafter. Enjoy. Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZktWEAWLvM. “Exploitation is not exclusively capitalist, but wealth…
Economy
John Merline: A Tale of Two Economic Recoveries
by JOHN ADAMS •
The recovery that isn’t — Fourteen months after the 1981-1982 recession ended, the unemployment rate had dropped to 8 percent, the Consumer Confidence Index had soared to more than 103, and the economy was cooking along at an average 7.7 percent quarterly growth. This time around, unemployment is stuck at 9.6 percent, consumer confidence is…
Economy
Since 2009, Unemployed More Likely To Drop Out Of Labor Force Than Get Jobs
by JOHN ADAMS •
Since 2009, a layoff victim has been more likely to give up looking for work and drop out of the labor force than to find a job, according to a new report from the Roosevelt Institute, meaning employment prospects for the jobless are the worst they have been since the government started keeping track of…
Economy, Free Markets, Tyranny
Wall Street Journal: Cuba Unveils Huge Layoffs in Tilt Toward Free Market
by JOHN ADAMS •
There could be few happier headlines than this: Cuba Unveils Huge Layoffs in Tilt Toward Free Market. Few happier because it signals the beginning of the end of the tyrannical regime that has so devastated Cuba. That Castro has lived to see the end of his oppressive life’s work is satisfying. There are, though, many…
Economy
Not Enough Labor Day: How the government is destroying jobs – Reason Magazine
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy
Capital Times: Labor Day 2010 offers little to cheer
by JOHN ADAMS •
For many thousands across Wisconsin, this is a particularly hard Labor Day holiday: While the state unemployment rate has eased somewhat, falling to 7.8 percent in July, the “underemployment” rate — which includes those who’ve given up looking for work or are working part-time because they can’t find a full-time job — now accounts for…
Economy, Government Spending, Politics
Reason.tv: Give Us Liberty? Q&A with Dick Armey & Matt Kibbe of Freedom Works
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a post with two Tea Party supporters, one of whom was once Republican majority leader in Congress. There are differences between the Tea Party movement and libertarianism, but simarities, too. Here’s a description from Reason accompanying the video: Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK7j4bBqhtY Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is the latest victim of the Tea Party insurgency that’s…
Economy
Unemployment Rate Rises in August
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy
Foreclosures creep higher – JSOnline
by JOHN ADAMS •
A preliminary count by Madison-based ForeclosureAlarm.com showed 2,511 filings in courts around the state last month, compared with 2,484 in August 2009…. Russell Kashian, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor who tracks foreclosures in the state, put the blame on the job situation. “You aren’t going to see a real improvement in foreclosures unless you see…
Economy, Weird Tales
For Sale: T. Rex, Good Condition, Wooly Mammoth, Needs Repair – WSJ.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
This lingering recession has affected many businesses, great and small. Among those small businesses are any number of unusual and eccentric tourist spots. Many were vulnerable even before the recession, and a good number will likely be lost during these difficult times. Prairie Dog Town, near Oakley, Kan., is for sale, with an asking price…
Economy
Carmen Reinhart Warns That Economic Recovery Could Be Slow – NYTimes.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
At the recent meeting of federal bankers in Wyoming, there was sobering news: Ms. Reinhart’s paper drew upon research she conducted with the Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff for their book “This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,” published last year by Princeton University Press. Her husband, Vincent R. Reinhart, a former director…
Economy
Second-Quarter GDP Growth Revised Downward – WSJ.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
The U.S. economy grew more sluggish than initially estimated in the second quarter, and corporate profits nearly dried up, further evidence that the recovery is losing steam. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at an annualized seasonally adjusted rate of 1.6% from April to June, the Commerce Department said…