J.D. Tuccille on America's Self-Inflicted Economic Wounds
As of last month, to go by the polls, half of Americans consider the country to still be in recession. Even more expect their kids' generation to have to scrap harder than their parents to get by. Little did those poll respondents know that, even as they voiced their worries, job creation had taken a dip, with only 142,000 nonfarm slots created in August, compared to 212,000 in previous months. Another poll in September found similar economic gloom. That's hardly a shocker when the proportion of the population working or looking for work is at its lowest level since 1978.
No, it's not the Great Depression—technically, we're in the midst of an economic recovery. But it's a lousy recovery, and one that most people find unconvincing as hell. Whatever else the sort-of recovery, not really recession may be, writes J.D. Tuccille it's strong evidence of self-inflicted economic wounds. America may be limping along, but we did it to ourselves.
