On Apr 17, 2012, at 4:29 PM, Jim Devine wrote: > It's not that the Fed has "turned left." Instead, its leadership > (mostly) knows that if they want to save their main constituency (the > banks, Wall Street) in the current situation, they cannot accept > right-wing bromides. They have to save the economy from extended or > deeper stagnation and deal with the illness spreading from Europe.
To his credit, Bernanke says things about the corrosive effects of long-term unemployment you won't find any other prominent person saying. http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20120326a.htm > Those who have experienced unemployment know the burdens that it creates, and > a growing academic literature documents some dimensions of those burdens. > For example, research has shown that workers who lose previously stable jobs > experience sharp declines in earnings that may last for many years, even > after they find new work. Surveys indicate that more than one-half of the > households experiencing long unemployment spells since the onset of the > recent recession withdrew money from savings and retirement accounts to cover > expenses, one-half borrowed money from family and friends, and one-third > struggled to meet housing expenses. Unemployment also takes a toll on > people's health and may have long-term consequences for the families of the > unemployed as well. For example, studies suggest that unemployed people > suffer from a higher incidence of stress-related health problems such as > depression, stroke, and heart disease, and they may have a lower life > expectancy. The childre! n of the unemployed achieve less in school and appear to have reduced long-term earnings prospects. Has Obama said anything like this? Doug _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
