Sunday, February 21, 2010

Painful Productivity Gains

Many economic changes occur without public knowledge or fanfare. Yet, they affect the personal affairs of all of us.

I often suggest the public ought to get some basic Economics 101 education, so that they may more readily absorb information that has so much to do with their everyday lives.

Example: Positive changes in output per hour by industry often is made out, correctly, to be good during economic recessions; it helps recovery. Companies cut staff to do this to keep their labor costs low. It is happening in this deep recession. One of the few positive aspects.

It is painful, of course. Lost jobs produce the statistic. However, that is true only in private industry. The public sector, particularly those jobs which are unionized, are being added to, with the aid of past federal stimulus funds. And they are budget-busting.

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