One of the reasons cited for the fall of the Roman Empire is unemployment. It seems that all that cheap slave labor available at the time resulted in the unemployment of the working class citizens of Rome, the Plebs. These folks then became dependent on handouts from the state. The state did try to correct the situation by establishing a policy of unrestricted trade (you know, Free Trade) but that only made the situation worst because working class Romans could not compete with foreign trade. The state then had only one solution, to subsidize the working class. This created a class of Romans content to live off their subsidies and enjoy the idle life. It did not take long for this idle class to grow bored. That led to riots in the streets of Rome. The solution, the “Games”, you know gladiators, lions, bloodshed, etc. Turns out the cost of the “games” was born by the state, which eventually came to one third of the total income of the Empire. This did work for a while but the result was loss of the values, customs, traditions, and institutions of the Empire. The very principles, standards and judgments about what was valuable and important were lost. All of the conventions of acceptable rules or standards were lost leading to the fall of the Roman Empire.[i] Hey, just for the heck of it, here is an interesting site that draws parallels between the U.S. and the Roman Empire: http://www.city-data.com/forum/history/331538-todays-united-states-vs-ancient-rome-2.html
I have too much faith in the institutions of our government to believe that a similar fate awaits us but I also believe it is time to get beyond the partisan blame game so popular in Washington. The only solution to this is the light of truth. It cleans, it sanitizes, and it washes away the lies, half-truths, deceptions, the pandering smiles, and the flutes magical tones that irresistibly call us to fall in line and follow the beat. This comes from independent thinking and research. That is what I did with the debate about unemployment. This is what I found.
There actually is a science involved in arriving at a number. It is heavy on the math, has a formula, and includes several variables. Here is the formula:
Unemployment = Unemployed Workers / Total Labor Force[ii]
Unemployed workers are those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, and have sought work within the prior four weeks.[iii] In the United States, the total labor force is people 16 years old or older who are employed or looking for work.[iv]
Economists distinguish between various kinds of and theories about unemployment, including cyclical or Keynesian unemployment, frictional unemployment, structural unemployment and classical unemployment, seasonal unemployment, hardcore unemployment, and hidden unemployment. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measures six types of unemployment, U1-U6. I will not bore you with the details of U1-U6 but I will leave the link open so you can look if you are interested.[v]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures employment and unemployment using two different surveys conducted by the United States Census Bureau and/or the Bureau of Labor Statistics that gather employment statistics monthly. The Current Population Survey (CPS), or "Household Survey", conducts a survey based on a sample of 60,000 households. The Current Employment Statistics survey (CES), or "Payroll Survey", conducts a survey based on a sample of 160,000 businesses and government agencies that represent 400,000 individual employers. Additional data are also available from the government, such as the unemployment insurance weekly claims.[vi] I thought I would look at some historical averages to see if I could find any trends there. It looked like this. I will leave the link below enabled. [vii]
When you look at the results above, a minus number means unemployment decreased, or in other words, more people were working. Positive numbers mean that unemployment increased, or more people were out of work. Now that I have found what I think is a trend, I have to ask why. It has many facets like wars, natural disasters, and economic downturns and so on. Nevertheless, for the numbers to be so consistent there has to be something unique to the parties. Something like economic models maybe. I am sure everyone has heard the terms, “trickle-up”, and “trickle-down”. These terms represent different philosophies or economic theories and each can be associated with a political party. Trickle-up with the Democrats and Trickle-down with the republicans. The republicans tend to follow an economic model called “supply-side” economics while the Democrats follow a model called “New or Modern Keynesian Economics”. No need to bore with those details but you can follow the thread at http://thislifeandtime.blogspot.com/2008/09/democrat-vs-republican-presidents.html if you are interested.
Before closing, I would be less than thorough if I failed to mention demographics. When we hear a number like 9.6% unemployment, it is far less than the whole story. Within that number is a 15.6% unemployment rate for blacks. Likewise, that number varies by state, gender, age group, industry, etc. You can check here, http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2009/ted_20090904.htm and here http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/lauhsthl.htm for more information.
So to recap; unemployment is not just a talking point, it is a science, it has been around since man decided to settle down in villages, it may have been responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire, and it seems to be most affected by economic philosophies or models. You know, one would think that when all the evidence is this clear, learning could take place. I guess when the students are politicians that may not hold true. In any event, I bet you will not learn any of this from your favorite politician or the party web site. If you want the truth, you have to do the research on your own.
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