Monday, August 26, 2013

Jared Bernstein, find the problem, then fix it

Jared is talking about the long term destruction of the middle class.
Why is this happening?
Economists typically cite globalization and technological change, both of which increase the earnings prospects of skilled workers relative to the less skilled. But that’s far from the whole story. The E.P.I. report shows that the real wages of college-educated workers have been flat over the last decade as well, though workers with advanced degrees have done better.
Also, the college wage premium — the wage advantage held by college-educated workers over the less educated — grew much more slowly over the last decade compared to the prior 20 years, posing a challenge to the notion that skills can either explain or solve wage stagnation. To be clear, there is little question that more educated workers are likelier to capture some of the economy’s growth than those with lesser skills or training.  But the wage data show that upgrading skills alone is an incomplete solution.

Ok, he has ruled out one cause, so lets look at another cause? No, he goes right into the solution, having been unable to determine the cause.
Which policies would promote full employment? In the near term, there would be more fiscal stimulus (instead of the fiscal drag we’re getting), and the Federal Reserve would not be planning to unwind its monetary stimulus too soon. But in terms of aiming at the primary distribution, we need to be willing to think of the government as the employer of last resort, ready to step up direct hiring or subsidized employment programs in slack times.
Wow, what if the problem is exactly that, stimulus spending has a multiplier less than one. We have plenty of evidence that large federal programs are harming California due to the mismatched economies of scale. Yet, Jared wants to do more of the same. It is likely that Jared's policies are the problem. Look at middle income losses during the period in which his previous employer was VP, the greatest losses for the middle class in 30 years. Jerad needs a clue.

Immanuel Saez points out that the higher income losses are greater just after the crash, but they are ultimately restored to a greater proportion before the recovery begins. Saez is implicating the Fed, though he suffers denialism because of his priors. It is very likely that DC itself, the progressive portion of DC is causing this problem.

This is a debate between two liberals. How to mostly trash the middle class, and Obama is the worst offender.

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