KP Week-End (4/11/2010): The U.S. Economic Tsunami
I have been writing about the World Economic Tsunami throughout "outsiders" over the past year and a half. Although the Obama Adminstration tells us that they have turned the corner, that "happy talk" is yet to be translated into real results.
This past week saw Al Jazeera talking about the the very plight that the average person is facing now. It featured the shutdown of a Hugo Boss Factory in Cleveland. The production moved to Turkey because the private Equity Firm that owned it felt that the factory was not competitive enough. Despite the euphoria by the President about the creation of 162,000 jobs, the fact remains that the United States has to create 10 Million Jobs just to be back at the level of employment before the economic meltdown that began in late 2006.
As I listened to the report by Al Jazeera's Avi Lewis, I was especially surprised to hear about the program in Mississipi. The STEP program is a State-Funded program that funds new hires for up to two months. This is done in a State ran by Mr. Conservative himself, Haley Barbour. At least Haley Barbour saw the light. But, the problem is that there has not been any major initiatve--with the exception of a token jobs bill--since the stimulus bill. In the meantime, people are scared and some 30 Million People are vying to gain a level of dignity back. Just pushing this notion of the Private Sector doing it all is simply living in fantasyland.
The Economic Winter in America is yet to turn into Spring. There is a massive rebalancing going on which I welcome. Because I have been living through this in a personal way, I truly understand what needs to be done. I think that the United States will emerge stronger. The key is patience while not forgetting the admonition and at the same time keeping the faith:
There needs to be boldness and imagination as we have never seen before. I have to wonder if the courage exists.
This past week saw Al Jazeera talking about the the very plight that the average person is facing now. It featured the shutdown of a Hugo Boss Factory in Cleveland. The production moved to Turkey because the private Equity Firm that owned it felt that the factory was not competitive enough. Despite the euphoria by the President about the creation of 162,000 jobs, the fact remains that the United States has to create 10 Million Jobs just to be back at the level of employment before the economic meltdown that began in late 2006.
As I listened to the report by Al Jazeera's Avi Lewis, I was especially surprised to hear about the program in Mississipi. The STEP program is a State-Funded program that funds new hires for up to two months. This is done in a State ran by Mr. Conservative himself, Haley Barbour. At least Haley Barbour saw the light. But, the problem is that there has not been any major initiatve--with the exception of a token jobs bill--since the stimulus bill. In the meantime, people are scared and some 30 Million People are vying to gain a level of dignity back. Just pushing this notion of the Private Sector doing it all is simply living in fantasyland.
The Economic Winter in America is yet to turn into Spring. There is a massive rebalancing going on which I welcome. Because I have been living through this in a personal way, I truly understand what needs to be done. I think that the United States will emerge stronger. The key is patience while not forgetting the admonition and at the same time keeping the faith:
There needs to be boldness and imagination as we have never seen before. I have to wonder if the courage exists.
Mike Pouraryan
