August 9, 2003
Improving Productivity and no Jobs
This is the good news:
On Thursday August 7th, the Bureau of Labour Statistics offered the latest evidence of America�s productivity revival: output per worker soared by 5.7% in the second quarter, at an annualised rate.And this may be very bad news for Bush reelection prospects if not for the rest of us:
Arthur Okun, an American economist, showed that employment would fall, even if the economy were growing, if an �output gap� opens up between actual output and the economy's long-term �potential� output. Okun�s razor appears to be at work in the American economy today, shaving payrolls in the non-farm sector by 44,000 in July.After promising to cure all ills with his tax cuts bush's failure to deliver may lead the armies of unemployed to vote for anyone but bush. Posted by Steve on August 9, 2003
