There’s a bit of confusion out there about exactly how America is going to get itself out of the job market crunch we are in. Even though job rates are getting slightly better, the unemployment rate is still at a relatively high margin, which makes it difficult to defend any kind of growth that I have discussed in this blog. With management jobs losing steam, the growing concern isn’t being lobbed at corporations for creating less jobs or laying employees off.
In fact, according to a column from Newsweek, columnist Ezra Klein is putting the blame on the policies of Washington politicians, who may destroy the little chance we have of creating long term job growth for the nation:
“Right now, Republicans and Democrats are going to the mat over a bill to keep the federal government’s lights on through the end of the fiscal year—a “continuing resolution,” in Washington’s customarily inelegant parlance. And this fight is little more than sparring practice for April or May, when we’re scheduled for an unnecessary and dangerous brawl over whether Congress will raise the debt ceiling. Only after that, during the summer, will debate begin over the budget for 2012. What you need to know about each of these bills is
that they’re “must pass” legislation: a breakdown in negotiations or collapse into gridlock could mean economic catastrophe, with our fragile recovery shattered amid the market chaos of a government shutdown or, worse, a default on our debt.”
As economists put the emphasis on major growth and long term plans for now, politicians seem to be moving towards a lose-lose situation, according to Klein. In his opinion, the solution to long term deficits in America is to promote these ideals, but instead, he fears that politicians will simply end up destroying “hundreds of thousands of jobs this year without doing anything at all about our long-term deficit problems.”
Let’s hope that Klein’s line of thought in this column is all off and that Congress will find ways to keep the job market fresh and useful for the unemployed.
