Unemployment is caused by poor sales, not regulations

The primary cause of unemployment, says a survey a business owners, is poor sales. Concerns about regulations are a distant third.

It’s not surprising that regulatory uncertainty seems to have such marginal economic effects. Regulations do impose burdens on businesses, but the numbers are relatively small compared to everything else that affects a business, [...]

Unemployment. Long lines in freezing weather

Rapper J-Hustle videoed a six block line of people in Chicago standing in minus 8 wind chill weather waiting to get an application to work at Ford. And then Ford closed the doors early. The unemployment rate there and in too many other areas is off the charts. Make no mistake, these are people who [...]

Maybe the Luddite Fallacy isn’t a fallacy any more

The Economist explores how automation and technology is replacing jobs. Unlike previous eras when such disruptions did indeed create many new jobs, this time the robots and bots may be self-perpetuating. And the jobs they are replacing are ones previously thought immune from such technological shifts.

First thing we do, we replace all the lawyers.

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Craigslist jobless desperate for work

USA Today

Craigslist… is a portal into the misery of people who are struggling to find jobs. Posts from people who are desperate for work read like Haiku poems that detail hard times and fear.

Meanwhile, D.C. continues to be catatonic about creating jobs and reducing unemployment.

Obama’s jobs platitudes can be difficult to stomach

The Oklahoman is not impressed with Obama’s jobs plan. Welfare for the rich, it seems to me.

Washington is paying $2,571 per resident of three Oklahoma hamlets for broadband connections. These citizens (fewer than 600 altogether) won’t get the money themselves. It goes to large telecom firms. But please don’t call that corporate welfare. Surely [...]

Polizeros Perky Podcast tonight. Talking about solutions!

No more kvetching! Tonight we’ll be talking about solutions to political, domestic, and foreign policy issues. Join us!

Fellow co-host Keith Boyea sums it up:

We’ve noticed that our discussions have sometimes degenerated into “bitch sessions,” so instead of complaining about things, we wanted to do an episode where we talked about potential solutions.

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Headline of the Day

From those masters of snark at Zero Hedge

Sgt Obama’s lonely unemployed record poverty club is back in session

Podcast. Gun-walking, CIA rendition, Obama speech

Last night’s podcast started with the growing Gun-walking scandal, where the US Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix allowed at least 1400 weapons and parts for hundreds of grenades to pass from the US to Mexico. Multiple federal agencies may have been involved. The story still isn’t getting the attention that it should. After all, a [...]

Podcast tonight. Obama job speech, Republican debate, CIA and Libya

Did Obama’s jobs speech have real substance? If he proposed something, will he actually fight for it?

Did Republicans discuss genuine issues or was it just a photo op?Is there a front runner?

And of course the CIA was busy being pals with Gadaffi and sending prisoners to Libya to be tortured and killed.

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New business creation in California drops off a cliff

For most of the last decade, California was first or second in new business creation. In 2009, it ranked first. In 2010, new business creation imploded. Actually, that’s an understatement. California was almost dead last in 2010 with only Michigan behind them. That’s right, it went from #1 to #50 in just one year [...]