“The economy probably grew at close to 4 percent in the second quarter and is expanding at near 2 percent in the third quarter. …Worker productivity, the single best measure of the intrinsic strength of an economy, is booming.” http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/20...

Should McCain's comment be taken as correct?

Technically yes, but fundamentally, no.

The people part of the economic equation is what complicates this. Obama has spoken that he is not for a handout economy, but that he is for helping people retool for the future and for retooling the economy from this unsustainable state.

It seems only a short while that economy can tolerate a critical mass of people losing homes, jobs, and futures in a good economy. The tension that will develop will be both financial and social.

Further, this good economy still depends in large part on derivative financial products, not real production. Did you know that many of the “mortgages” packaged for sale and resale and resale aren't actually representing real homes, but rather single mortgages broken up in to pieces as multiple mortgages. Read a little here: http://solari.com/blog/?p=1357

That's why the McCain comment is a bit off center though technically correct. Yeah the economy's good, but the federal budget isn't good, the job outlook is not good, and the economy in the medium term would seem to be due for another shock if we continue in this model. The mess has not totally unraveled and some hard economic thinking and re-programming is needed.

The number of times McCain said that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Mathews fortunately played a montage of times he said it… including times he said our national economy… our country's economy… you know our economy is strong… McCain STILL doesn't remember that there is such a thing as VIDEO.

Estupido.

“The economy probably grew at close to 4 percent in the second quarter and is expanding at near 2 percent in the third quarter. …Worker productivity, the single best measure of the intrinsic strength of an economy, is booming.” http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/20...

Should McCain's comment be taken as correct?

Technically yes, but fundamentally, no.

The people part of the economic equation is what complicates this. Obama has spoken that he is not for a handout economy, but that he is for helping people retool for the future and for retooling the economy from this unsustainable state.

It seems only a short while that economy can tolerate a critical mass of people losing homes, jobs, and futures in a good economy. The tension that will develop will be both financial and social.

Further, this good economy still depends in large part on derivative financial products, not real production. Did you know that many of the “mortgages” packaged for sale and resale and resale aren't actually representing real homes, but rather single mortgages broken up in to pieces as multiple mortgages. Read a little here: http://solari.com/blog/?p=1357

That's why the McCain comment is a bit off center though technically correct. Yeah the economy's good, but the federal budget isn't good, the job outlook is not good, and the economy in the medium term would seem to be due for another shock if we continue in this model. The mess has not totally unraveled and some hard economic thinking and re-programming is needed.

The number of times McCain said that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Mathews fortunately played a montage of times he said it… including times he said our national economy… our country's economy… you know our economy is strong… McCain STILL doesn't remember that there is such a thing as VIDEO.

Estupido.

“The economy probably grew at close to 4 percent in the second quarter and is expanding at near 2 percent in the third quarter. …Worker productivity, the single best measure of the intrinsic strength of an economy, is booming.” http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/20...

Should McCain's comment be taken as correct?

Technically yes, but fundamentally, no.

The people part of the economic equation is what complicates this. Obama has spoken that he is not for a handout economy, but that he is for helping people retool for the future and for retooling the economy from this unsustainable state.

It seems only a short while that economy can tolerate a critical mass of people losing homes, jobs, and futures in a good economy. The tension that will develop will be both financial and social.

Further, this good economy still depends in large part on derivative financial products, not real production. Did you know that many of the “mortgages” packaged for sale and resale and resale aren't actually representing real homes, but rather single mortgages broken up in to pieces as multiple mortgages. Read a little here: http://solari.com/blog/?p=1357

That's why the McCain comment is a bit off center though technically correct. Yeah the economy's good, but the federal budget isn't good, the job outlook is not good, and the economy in the medium term would seem to be due for another shock if we continue in this model. The mess has not totally unraveled and some hard economic thinking and re-programming is needed.

“The economy probably grew at close to 4 percent in the second quarter and is expanding at near 2 percent in the third quarter. …Worker productivity, the single best measure of the intrinsic strength of an economy, is booming.” http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/20...

Should McCain's comment be taken as correct?

Technically yes, but fundamentally, no.

The people part of the economic equation is what complicates this. Obama has spoken that he is not for a handout economy, but that he is for helping people retool for the future and for retooling the economy from this unsustainable state.

It seems only a short while that economy can tolerate a critical mass of people losing homes, jobs, and futures in a good economy. The tension that will develop will be both financial and social.

Further, this good economy still depends in large part on derivative financial products, not real production. Did you know that many of the “mortgages” packaged for sale and resale and resale aren't actually representing real homes, but rather single mortgages broken up in to pieces as multiple mortgages. Read a little here: http://solari.com/blog/?p=1357

That's why the McCain comment is a bit off center though technically correct. Yeah the economy's good, but the federal budget isn't good, the job outlook is not good, and the economy in the medium term would seem to be due for another shock if we continue in this model. The mess has not totally unraveled and some hard economic thinking and re-programming is needed.

The number of times McCain said that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Mathews fortunately played a montage of times he said it… including times he said our national economy… our country's economy… you know our economy is strong… McCain STILL doesn't remember that there is such a thing as VIDEO.

Estupido.

The number of times McCain said that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Mathews fortunately played a montage of times he said it… including times he said our national economy… our country's economy… you know our economy is strong… McCain STILL doesn't remember that there is such a thing as VIDEO.

Estupido.

[T]he Obama campaign on Monday rolled out the endorsements of “hundreds of national women leaders in fields ranging from business to women's rights, from astronauts to athletes, from former governors to cabinet secretaries.” The list includes Stacey Snider, Chairman of DreamWorks, Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President Emerita, AFL-CIO, and Olympic gold-medalist Dominique Dawes.

Speaking on the phone with many of these individuals, Obama implored them to start reaching out on their own to help recruit female support. “Don't wait for our call,” he said. “I need you to talk to your colleagues get on the radio, write op-eds in the newspapers, talk about what is really at stake in this election.”

Bad news about unemployment – for women and men.

When the unemployment rate for women went from 4.6 percent in July to 5.3 percent in August, it was the largest one-month spike in the jobless rate for women in more than 33 years.

Black women were hit even harder, as their unemployment rate jumped 21 percent, from 7.5 percent in July to 9.1 percent in August.

Among single mothers and women with families, unemployment climbed to 9.6 percent in August — the highest level in 15 years.

By themselves, the figures provide only a one-month snapshot of labor-market activity and may be merely an aberration in the business cycle. But the increases are a reminder of the 2001 recession, which was the first in decades to see men and women lose jobs on an almost equal basis.

[T]he Obama campaign on Monday rolled out the endorsements of “hundreds of national women leaders in fields ranging from business to women's rights, from astronauts to athletes, from former governors to cabinet secretaries.” The list includes Stacey Snider, Chairman of DreamWorks, Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President Emerita, AFL-CIO, and Olympic gold-medalist Dominique Dawes.

Speaking on the phone with many of these individuals, Obama implored them to start reaching out on their own to help recruit female support. “Don't wait for our call,” he said. “I need you to talk to your colleagues get on the radio, write op-eds in the newspapers, talk about what is really at stake in this election.”

Bad news about unemployment – for women and men.

When the unemployment rate for women went from 4.6 percent in July to 5.3 percent in August, it was the largest one-month spike in the jobless rate for women in more than 33 years.

Black women were hit even harder, as their unemployment rate jumped 21 percent, from 7.5 percent in July to 9.1 percent in August.

Among single mothers and women with families, unemployment climbed to 9.6 percent in August — the highest level in 15 years.

By themselves, the figures provide only a one-month snapshot of labor-market activity and may be merely an aberration in the business cycle. But the increases are a reminder of the 2001 recession, which was the first in decades to see men and women lose jobs on an almost equal basis.

http://www.csmonitor.com/patchworknation/

http://www.csmonitor.com/patchworknation/

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McCain, Palin, and Bush's fundamental inadequacy (I would add nancyelyn to that list, if I could figure out if she or they would be more insulted) is the insistence on viewing the world as a bunch of individuals making individual decisions, without regard to the structures that shape behavior.

If there is terrorism, there must be terrorists, and if we kill all the terrorists, then terrorism goes away.

If there is racism, there must be racists, and if we tell them all to stop talking about race, then racism goes away.

If there is poverty, there must be poor people, and if we get them all to work more, then poverty goes away.

If there is Wall Street malfeasance, there must be scammers, and if we send them all to jail or make them bankrupt, then malfeasance goes away.

This last concept is particularly stupid because these same people will readily acknowledge that “greed is good” — it's the driving force of capitalism. So, how can greed be good, but also be bad? If there is a way to distinguish “good” greed from “bad” greed, there must be some arbiter. And there is. That is called regulation.

McCain, Palin, and Bush's fundamental inadequacy (I would add nancyelyn to that list, if I could figure out if she or they would be more insulted) is the insistence on viewing the world as a bunch of individuals making individual decisions, without regard to the structures that shape behavior.

If there is terrorism, there must be terrorists, and if we kill all the terrorists, then terrorism goes away.

If there is racism, there must be racists, and if we tell them all to stop talking about race, then racism goes away.

If there is poverty, there must be poor people, and if we get them all to work more, then poverty goes away.

If there is Wall Street malfeasance, there must be scammers, and if we send them all to jail or make them bankrupt, then malfeasance goes away.

This last concept is particularly stupid because these same people will readily acknowledge that “greed is good” — it's the driving force of capitalism. So, how can greed be good, but also be bad? If there is a way to distinguish “good” greed from “bad” greed, there must be some arbiter. And there is. That is called regulation.