Christina Romer is the former top economic advisor for President Obama. I find it interesting in her interview that she mentions the “real” unemployment rate (15.7%) rather than just the popular number (8.8%) used by politicians. She also suggests that a weaker dollar is good for America.
A weaker dollar is good for those who have invested heavily in precious metals and energy. It is bad for inflation-sensitive purchases. Our debt-based economy is difficult to manage and someone is going to lose, most probably the average worker. Wall Street was saved at the expense of us all. How many Treasury Secretary’s and economic advisors have worked or consulted with the same Wall Street firms that were saved? Nobody has gone to jail for those fraudulent securities that nearly brought down the global financial system.
Until the average American wakes up and realizes that the politicians have no real solutions to the problems plaguing the economy, we are destined to repeat the mistakes currently being made. When 1 out of 6 people are unemployed and we hear the popular version of 1 in 11 are unemployed, our response is different. Management by perception can last only so long.
The photo ops this week concerning the government shutdown seemed like a circus. Clearly with a structurally unsound economy in the balance, do you think they would worsen the problem with a shutdown? It would be interesting to have heard the conversations behind closed doors.