A new government report on Thursday has come up with a unpleasant, yet unsurprising statistic: A record 6.1 million people will be receiving jobless benefits. The housing market has also plunged to its second-lowest level on the record. Construction as a whole seemed to have slowed, as the number of new homes has dropped 10.8 percent and applications for building permits are also declining .The recession is far from over.
The good news is that the economy is not plunging as badly as economists predicted it would. The Department of Labor readjusted its figures on annual unemployment claims, and found the adjusted 610,000 much less than the predicted 655,000. Apparently the spring shopping season has changed some of the numbers around, being much more successful than predicted. Hopefully this will show that even hard times, people will not hide all their money under the couch.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
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Lately, i have had a conversation with an elitist republican that strongly dislikes President Obama. He argued that the money being spent to aid the unemployed is being wasted. According to him people need to suffer to improve. I strongly disagree. I believe that President Obama has a better idea of the living conditions of the average American.We need to stand together as nation through these rough times.The spirit of America is based on hard work. Sooner rather than later we will overcome this econmic problem.
President Obama has a better idea of the living conditions of the average American? Better than who? Obama pulled in roughly $2.5 million last year, which I'd say is just SLIGHTLY above the national average. Sure, he might have been somewhat closer to the average American when he was getting full rides through Columbia and Harvard, which I'm sure the average American receives, but he hasn't been much of an average American for quite a while (since his teen years I'd say) and the situations have changed since then.
Back on topic, I've heard quite a bit of this 'we need to stand together as a nation' and 'hurrah for patriotism' being spouted off, but that equates back to a certain principle. That being, let's tax the wealthy more and give their money to the less deserving! I do believe that quite a bit of the money that the government is spending, in general not just on unemployment, is being wasted, but then again, a proportional amount, how much is debatable, is contributing to stabilizing the economy as well. As stated before, big corporations are releasing their reports, and I don't believe we'll see good figures, but it should be better than expected if we go by the recent stock market activity.
That is never good news, that our economy is at its lowest. It is good though that people are not just scared out of their minds of spending money and simply saving it in wherever they feel like it. The more we spend, the more we stimulate the economy. I think people kind of get that concept, hopefully the recession will be over in sooner than we predict.
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