Growing The Government
…and shrinking the private sector is not the way to solid economic recovery:
A look at what has happened to the nation’s inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services produced in the economy, during the last six quarters is sadly instructive. Comparing the fourth quarter of 2009 with the second quarter of 2008, we see that:
- Even after six months of “recovery,” the economy as a whole has shrunk by almost 2%.
- Uncle Sam’s level of annualized consumption and “investment” has grown by 8.5%.
- Despite the incessant pleadings of poverty by most state and local governments, their consumption and “investment” have hardly changed.
- What remains, i.e., the private sector, is over 3% smaller.
The private-sector shrink is really about one percentage point higher than indicated, because the above data treats General Motors and Chrysler as if the government and a meddling Congress aren’t in control of them. This of course is nonsense.
Meanwhile, the past year and a half has been a great period to be a federal government employee. While the private sector has shed almost 6.4 million jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis during that time, federal non-postal employment has leaped by over 150,000, a stunning increase of over 7.5%. Two-thirds of the increase occurred during the first eleven full months of the Obama administration, even though the severity of the recession was drop-dead obvious well before he took office. Even higher federal employment is on the horizon.
Or, maybe along those same lines, “Is Greece Our Future?”
Links from Instapundit.
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Let the interest rate hikes begin…
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-to-lay-out-interest-rate-hike-plan-this-week-2010-02-08
Comment by Randal — 2/8/2010 @ 11:08 am
They can ‘lay out a plan’ all they want — they’re not going to do it until the market forces them to. With the 3-month rate still down at 0.09%, the Fed is in no hurry. It’s all talk.
Comment by BMB — 2/8/2010 @ 12:11 pm
The story of the Constitution’s 27th amendment is very peculiar with regard to the “automatic” COLA pay raise Congress is wanting to allow itself for FY2011.
AMENDMENT XXVII
Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992. (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html)
“No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”
FY2011 and the corresponding Congressional pay raise to be given would apparantly start (Oct. 1 2010) BEFORE the election of Representatives (Novemeber 2, 2010).
Automatic COLA adjustments mightier than the Constitution’s XXVII Amendment’s supreme power?
Comment by Henry — 2/8/2010 @ 2:06 pm
Since when does our Congress know, or care, about the Constitution?
When was their last raise?
Comment by BMB — 2/8/2010 @ 2:08 pm
Congress gets a raise every year, automatically.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090101/news/901010995
Congress votes ONLY when they DO NOT want to receive a raise. They continue to automatically receive their “COLA entitlement” without deference to the 1992 enacted 27th Amendment, deferring priority to the 1989 “Ethics Reform Act” of which bestows their automatic annual COLA hike.
Comment by Henry — 2/8/2010 @ 2:33 pm