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The Great Resignation

OPINION

PAUL KRUGMAN

The Revolt of the American Worker

"All happy economies are alike; each unhappy economy is unhappy in its own way.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the economy’s problems were all about inadequate demand. The housing boom had gone bust; consumers weren’t spending enough to fill the gap; the Obama stimulus, designed to boost demand, was too small and short-lived.

In 2021, by contrast, many of our problems seem to be about inadequate supply. Goods can’t reach consumers because ports are clogged; a shortage of semiconductor chips has crimped auto production; many employers report that they’re having a hard time finding workers.

Much of this is probably transitory, although supply-chain disruptions will clearly last for a while. But something more fundamental and lasting may be happening in the labor market. Long-suffering American workers, who have been underpaid and overworked for years, may have hit their breaking point.

About those supply-chain issues: It’s important to realize that more goods are reaching Americans than ever before. The problem is that despite increased deliveries, the system isn’t managing to keep up with extraordinary demand.

Earlier in the pandemic, people compensated for the loss of many services by buying stuff instead. People who couldn’t eat out remodeled their kitchens. People who couldn’t go to gyms bought home exercise equipment.

The result was an astonishing surge in purchases of everything from household appliances to consumer electronics. Early this year real spending on durable goods was more than 30 percent above prepandemic levels, and it’s still very high.

But things will improve. As Covid-19 subsides and life gradually returns to normal, consumers will buy more services and less stuff, reducing the pressure on ports, trucking and railroads.

The labor situation, by contrast, looks like a genuine reduction in supply. Total employment is still five million below its prepandemic peak. Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector is still down more than 9 percent. Yet everything we see suggests a very tight labor market.

On one side, workers are quitting their jobs at unprecedented rates, a sign that they’re confident about finding new jobs. On the other side, employers aren’t just whining about labor shortages, they’re trying to attract workers with pay increases. Over the past six months wages of leisure and hospitality workers have risen at an annual rate of 18 percent, and they are now well above their prepandemic trend.

The sellers’ market in labor has also emboldened union members, who have been much more willing than usual to go on strike after receiving contract offers they consider inadequate.

But why are we experiencing what many are calling the Great Resignation, with so many workers either quitting or demanding higher pay and better working conditions to stay? Until recently conservatives blamed expanded jobless benefits, claiming that these benefits were reducing the incentive to accept jobs. But states that canceled those benefits early saw no increase in employment compared with those that didn’t, and the nationwide end of enhanced benefits last month doesn’t seem to have made much difference to the job situation.

What seems to be happening instead is that the pandemic led many U.S. workers to rethink their lives and ask whether it was worth staying in the lousy jobs too many of them had.

For America is a rich country that treats many of its workers remarkably badly. Wages are often low; adjusted for inflation, the typical male worker earned virtually no more in 2019 than his counterpart did 40 years earlier. Hours are long: America is a “no-vacation nation,” offering far less time off than other advanced countries. Work is also unstable, with many low-wage workers — and nonwhite workers in particular — subject to unpredictable fluctuations in working hours that can wreak havoc on family life.

And it’s not just employers who treat workers harshly. A significant number of Americans seem to have contempt for the people who provide them with services. According to one recent survey, 62 percent of restaurant workers say they’ve received abusive treatment from customers.

Given these realities, it’s not surprising that many workers are either quitting or reluctant to return to their old jobs. The harder question is, why now? Many Americans hated their jobs two years ago, but they didn’t act on those feelings as much as they are now. What changed?

Well, it’s only speculation, but it seems quite possible that the pandemic, by upending many Americans’ lives, also caused some of them to reconsider their life choices. Not everyone can afford to quit a hated job, but a significant number of workers seem ready to accept the risk of trying something different — retiring earlier despite the monetary cost, looking for a less unpleasant job in a different industry, and so on.

And while this new choosiness by workers who feel empowered is making consumers’ and business owners’ lives more difficult, let’s be clear: Overall, it’s a good thing. American workers are insisting on a better deal, and it’s in the nation’s interest that they get it."’

Bwak bwak?

And if the "illegal immigrants" are stealing jobs from US citizens, why did only 25 to 30 people show up for the Koch owned chicken processing plant job fair which had 680 job openings?

Prediction that 38% of jobs will disappear within 13 years

Watch out America, robots are coming for your jobs: Report finds 38% of US jobs will be automated by 2030

This and that

Lost in the last ten years.

And what we may have in the next ten.  And how we might be able to provide power.  And provide jobs.

Holy shit... San Francisco police out of control.

Caturday cat.  Kinda.

Polar vortex, my ass.

Revolutionizing the government.

The weirdness of those who attack birth control.

Making proper bread.

Cats, the Moon and everything in between

Reddit asks:  What is something your current or past employer would NOT want the world to know about their company?  The responses about banking, food service, recycling, chemical waste, crony drunks on the job... makes one want to dig a hole and hide in it....

Hell cat.

Mars had water.  But does that mean it had life?  And how about a super computer on the MoOOooon!?

Bees, birds and butterflies:



Reasons to vote Republican:



Who will stop the gun violence?

Stephen Barton survived the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado. But 12 others didn’t. Watch his personal message asking President Obama and Governor Romney to offer their plans on how they will end gun violence, and join him by signing our petition.

Like... you know...



The worm from the CENTER OF THE EARRRRRRTH.....!1!!1!1!

ARRRrrrrrrrrrr....

Talk like a pirate day... or maybe not.



Damned females getting all the jobs!  Or something.

Dogs.

Roman tile floor found in Turkey.

Russia has a huge site of diamonds... enough to flood the world with sparklies.  And drop the bottom out of the diamond business....

Put a burka on it!

Soon, EVERYONE will have a giant marble to run their electronics, their house, their car.....



The Bible is more violent than the Koran.

Update:  Found over via Bryan of Why Now?'s place:


Top Ten Pickup lines for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day

(We came up with these in an effort to interest The Other Dave (Letterman) in TLAPD. His staff liked 'em, but alas, his show was"dark" the week of Sept. 19.)

10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?

9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?

8. Come on up and see me urchins.

7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.

6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.

5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if I fired me cannon through your porthole?

4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?

3. Ya know, darlin’, I’m 97 percent chum free.

2. Well blow me down?

And the number one pickup line for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day is …

1. Prepare to be boarded.

Bonus pickup lines (when the ones above don't work, as they often won't)

They don’t call me Long John because my head is so big.

You’re drinking a Salty Dog? How’d you like to try the real thing?

Wanna shiver me timbers?

I’ve sailed the seven seas, and you’re the sleekest schooner I’ve ever sighted.

Brwaack! Polly want a cracker? … Oh, wait. That’s for Talk Like a PARROT Day.

That’s the finest pirate booty I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Let's get together and haul some keel.

That’s some treasure chest you’ve got there.

Top Ten Pickup Lines for the Lady Pirates

By popular demand ...

10. What are YOU doing here?

9. Is that a belayin' pin in yer britches, or are ye ... (this one is never completed)

8. Come show me how ye bury yer treasure, lad!

7. So, tell me, why do they call ye, "Cap'n Feathersword?"

6. That's quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard!

5. Aye, I guarantee ye, I've had a twenty percent decrease in me "lice ratio!"

4. I've crushed seventeen men's skulls between me thighs!

3. C'mon, lad, shiver me timbers!

2. RAMMING SPEED!

...and the number one Female Pirate Pick-up Line:

1. You. Pants Off. Now!

Bill Moyers

Paul Krugman on weaponized Keynesianism

Appeals to confidence have always been a key debating point for opponents of taxes and regulation; Wall Street’s whining about President Obama is part of a long tradition in which wealthy businessmen and their flacks argue that any hint of populism on the part of politicians will upset people like them, and that this is bad for the economy. Once you concede that the government can act directly to create jobs, however, that whining loses much of its persuasive power — so Keynesian economics must be rejected, except in those cases where it’s being used to defend lucrative contracts.

So I welcome the sudden upsurge in weaponized Keynesianism, which is revealing the reality behind our political debates. At a fundamental level, the opponents of any serious job-creation program know perfectly well that such a program would probably work, for the same reason that defense cuts would raise unemployment. But they don’t want voters to know what they know, because that would hurt their larger agenda — keeping regulation and taxes on the wealthy at bay.

Birds and bees

Mandatory bird.

Phila of Bouphonia's Friday Hope.

I guess the Koch brothers didn't buy the right scientist...

Koch-Funded Berkeley Temperature Study Does “Confirm the Reality of Global Warming”

Honeybees and bumblebees. And lighting their hives on fire.

How Japan cleans up after a disaster.

Now they've pissed off the nurses...

Outraged by the arrest of two nurses and a union organizer volunteering at the Occupy Chicago protest over the weekend, National Nurses United is planning a protest at Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office today.

The group, the nation's largest union of registered nurses, is calling on its membership in Chicago to picket City Hall this morning to demand that misdemeanor trespassing charges against the nurses and all of the protesters be dropped.

Do you think they've learned anything? The Iraq war is finally over. And it marks a complete neocon defeat

About time:

Regulator throws lifeline to underwater borrowers

and

'We can't wait': Obama to use executive authority to boost economy as Republicans dither on jobs

And magic! There is no more poverty!

One really good way to ruin your Saturday?

Read these articles...

What If the Tea Party Wins?

The 11 craziest things in Rick Perry’s ‘Fed Up’ manifesto

8 Facts That Prove the Tea Party Is Ignorant of the U.S. Constitution

‘Cut Budgets to Kill Jobs’ – And 4 More GOP Schemes to Rig the 2012 Election

11 Reasons Why the Unemployment Crisis Is Even Worse Than You Think

Between Race and Reason: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

I was just wondering....

What will the Republicans have when they finally achieve all the things that they care about?

They don't want to create jobs. Obviously. That would make the government actually functional.

They want to make government so incompetent that people cease to look to the government for help. Even though government has been created by the very voters to help when citizens need assistance. Government is not a separate entity but interwoven into our society and is made to last, as Lincoln said: "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." But the Republicans want to drown government in the bathtub. Government gets in the way of making money. People who count on the government for assistance will die. Republicans don't care. Drowning government will get them votes and money.

They want to remove a woman's control over her own body and reproduction, and remove abortion as an option of choice. Women will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to negate gays from society. Republicans apparently think gays should have no rights as human beings. Gays will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to allow virulent racism to be unleashed. It helps their voters to be afraid and rally around the Republican flag. People of color will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to remove Medicare and Social Security. This makes rich people happy. Older Americans and people with disabilities and children will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to let religious extremism into government, finally breaking the wall between church and state. This helps them get more votes. Wars about which religion is the right one have started in this way. People of other faiths (other than the one religion finally chosen as the right one) and atheists will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to erase the power unions have because it impedes the progress of corporations. The workers will have less rights and protections. Workers will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want corporations to ignore any regulation that hinders its ability to make money. This means poisoning the earth, the water, the food. The quality of the product corporations will produce will be as cheap as possible to make and as expensive as possible to buy. People will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

What on earth DO they care about? They worship the almighty dollar. But dollars won't keep your community happy, healthy, unafraid, and working unless money aimed at helping people and communities prosper. Corporations will lose money in the long run. Corporations will die because of this. No corporations, no money, no votes. Do Republicans care?

You show'em, Joe.

Rep. Joe Crowley (D) of New York:



How do they enter that into the Congressional Record if he doesn't say anything to record?

Steve Benen clarifies it all

The reason why incoherence is a deliberate strategy to deal with Obama:

I've been trying to think of a way to explain this in a way Mitch McConnell would understand. As 2009 got underway, Republicans had left two huge messes related to the economy: 1) a nearly-catastrophic recession and unemployment crisis; 2) a budget mess, including a $1.3 trillion deficit and $10 trillion debt. Both problems were simply left for the Obama administration to clean up.

The economic question of 2009 was which problem would be addressed first, but there was a catch that went largely unstated. Whichever mess policymakers chose to clean up first would necessarily make the other mess worse. It was simply unavoidable -- investing in a recovery would increase the deficit; lowering the deficit would take money out of the economy and exacerbate the recession.

Questions of sincerity notwithstanding, it was the main difference between the Democratic and Republican approaches to the economy -- Dems wanted to focus on one of the messes Republicans created (growth and jobs); the GOP wanted to focus on the other (deficit and debt).

That is, it would be the difference if lawmakers like McConnell approached governing with even the slightest bit of seriousness. Notice in his response that there's nothing even approach coherence -- he wants Obama to spend less, and more. He wants the administration to take on a larger role, and smaller. He wants the White House to care more about debt reduction, and less. He wants the president to prioritize investing in job creation, and to stop prioritizing investing in job creation.

Why anyone could take such policy gibberish seriously is a mystery to me.

They do it because it works. We are now celebrating the Era of Stupid and the stupids vote.

Bits and bytes

Rate your lawmaker.

California voting issues.

Andre Bauer: 'Flat-Out Lazy' People Are The Real Cause Of The Immigration Problem

Dick Cheney rises from the dead.

Tom Tomorrow takes on Glenn Beck.

Goldman Showers ... the title of our new era. (via trifecta in comments)

Just so you know

You are unemployed because you like it. So says Tom DeLay, and he should know!

"You know," Delay said, "there is an argument to be made that these extensions, the unemployment benefits keeps people from going and finding jobs. In fact there are some studies that have been done that show people stay on unemployment compensation and they don't look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out.

Host Candy Crowley: Congressman, that's a hard sell, isn't it?

Delay: it's the truth.

No concept on what regular people go through, is there? Where did they get the concept that poor people are lazy, that bad things happen to bad people, that somehow being chosen by the people to serve in Congress is like being chosen by God to do whatever you want to because you are special and everybody else is not.... Is there something in the water in Washington D C that makes people go mad?

Is it power? Or lead?

I read the news today

Oh boy...

Justice for Sale. (Bill Moyers talks about the perversion of our judicial system, from small courtrooms to the Supreme Court.)

Rowling’s being sued for plagiarism again. (Apparently every thought she ever had is owned exclusively by weird self-published authors lurking in basements...)

Your Worst Nightmare; Conservative Success (Reminding conservatives that Georgie Bush did exactly what Republicans have been dreaming about for years... observe the wreckage.)

The NYT's mystery Op-Ed writer. (Glenn Greenwald puzzles over the bloodthirsty Op-Ed writer.)

Santorum Suggest Military Was 'Indoctrinated' Into Supporting DADT Repeal. (Because if we accept gays into the military and lose the fear of the gay, there goes most of Santorum's platform to run for president...)

Schwarzenegger says Obama's stimulus created jobs. (Ahnold steps outta line... clearly he's been too Hollywooded to be a real Republican. This headline demands this short skit. I can't stand the Gropenator, but this made me laugh.)

Dear Santa

Send jobs.

More jobs, please

Paul Krugman of the New York Times:

But there’s also, I believe, a question of priorities. The Fed sprang into action when faced with the prospect of wrecked banks; it doesn’t seem equally concerned about the prospect of wrecked lives.

And that is what we’re talking about here. The kind of sustained high unemployment envisaged in the Fed’s own forecasts is a recipe for immense human suffering — millions of families losing their savings and their homes, millions of young Americans never getting their working lives properly started because there are no jobs available when they graduate. If we don’t get unemployment down soon, we’ll be paying the price for a generation.

So it’s time for the Fed to lose that complacency, shrug off that fatalism and start lending a hand to job creation.

Why do banksters get a hand and the economic engine of the country ... the middle class ... gets the finger?

Lack of water = lack of fish = lack of jobs= lack of food

The effects of drought bring disaster on so many levels:

The once free-flowing Manaquiri River, which runs through the state of Amazonas in northwest Brazil, is in the fight of its life against a spell of dry weather - and it appears to be losing the battle.

Thousands of dead fish are rotting on the river banks and hundreds more float on its surface, turning the area into a toxic cesspool.

Vultures circle overhead, picking away at the rotting carcasses. Even an alligator - one of the fiercest reptiles of the Amazon - floats belly up in the river.

Local fishermen say it has not rained in more than 25 days, leaving the large surrounding rivers in recession. This has in turn choked off the tributaries that provide fresh water to the Manaquiri.

With no fresh water coming in, oxygen levels in the river have dropped, leaving the fish to suffocate to death.

"One week the river water levels dropped, the next week all the fish died," Bruno dos Santos, a fisherman, told Al Jazeera.

"In five days all the fish were dead. We have nothing left, only this ugly water."

There will be more of these stories in the future.