Public Congress

Many Americans are unemployed because there are few jobs available for them.

Information retrieved 6/16/10 from http://www.epi.org/analysis_and_opinion/entry/policy_responses_to_long-term_unemployment/

Regarding EPI:

The Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit Washington D.C. think tank, was created in 1986 to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers. Today, with global competition expanding, wage inequality rising, and the methods and nature of work changing in fundamental ways, it is as crucial as ever that people who work for a living have a voice in the economic discourse.

EPI was the first — and remains the premier — organization to focus on the economic condition of low- and middle-income Americans and their families. Its careful research on the status of American workers has become the gold standard in that field. Its encyclopedic State of Working America, issued every two years since 1988, is stocked in university libraries around the world. EPI researchers, who often testify to Congress and are widely cited in the media, first brought to light the disconnect between pay and productivity that marked the U.S. economy in the 1990s and is now widely recognized as a cause of growing inequality.

EPI’s staff includes eight Ph.D.-level researchers, a half dozen policy analysts and research assistants, and a full communications and outreach staff. EPI also works closely with a national network of prominent scholars. The institute conducts original research according to strict standards of objectivity, and couples its findings with outreach and popular education. Its work spans a wide range of economic issues, such as trends in wages, incomes, and prices; health care; education; retirement security; state-level economic development strategies; trade and global finance; comparative international economic performance; the health of manufacturing and other key sectors; global competitiveness and energy development. Its research is varied, but a common thread runs through it: EPI examines issues through a “living standards” lens by analyzing the impact of policies and initiatives on the American public.

Source: http://www.epi.org/pages/about_the_economic_policy_institute/

Unemployment occurs when a person is available and willing to work but currently without work.[1] The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed. The unemployment rate is also used in economic studies and economic indices such as the United States’ Conference Board’s Index of Leading Indicators as a measure of the state of macroeconomics. (Wikipedia, Unemployment)

Unemployment Rate is the percentage of the total labor force that is unemployed but actively seeking employment and willing to work. (Investopedia)

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s.[1] It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century, and is used in the 21st century as an example of how far the world’s economy can decline.[2] The depression originated in the United States, starting with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday), but quickly spread to almost every country in the world.[1] (Wikipedia, Great Depression)

In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity over a period of time.[1][2] During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way. Production as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, investment spending, capacity utilization, household incomes, business profits and inflation all fall during recessions; while bankruptcies and the unemployment rate rise.

Recessions are generally believed to be caused by a widespread drop in spending. Governments usually respond to recessions by adopting expansionary macroeconomic policies, such as increasing money supply, increasing government spending and decreasing taxation. (Wikipedia, Recession)

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4 Responses

1. aw18678 Says:
   June 25th, 2010 at 10:01 am

   agreed, mainstream …
   agreed, mainstream media provides feel good for suckers; media distribution underpins government control

   if you take baby off the teat it howls; deny the teat, baby dies

2. Supacomputer Says:
   June 25th, 2010 at 10:01 am

   @nokia10001 haha, : …
   @nokia10001 haha, its volume was used to drown out static from my microphone, my first vid speaking and testing the microphone.

3. nokia10001 Says:
   June 25th, 2010 at 10:01 am

   kill the annoying …
   kill the annoying back ground music.

4. bradleymxz Says:
   June 25th, 2010 at 10:01 am

   What is even worse …
   What is even worse is the underhyped attention the media gives it. The real unemployment rate must be closer to 30%. Everyone I talk to who is unemployed has between 100-500 other applicants competing against them for whatever job they applied to. People need to wake up and do something, the government does not live in the real world

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