A VAST ECONOMIC AND HUMAN CATASTROPHE Calling it a “vast economic and human catastrophe,” Paul Krugman penned the epitaph of the Great Recession. He quickly added that “trillions of dollars of productive potential [were] squandered and millions of families [were] placed in dire straits for no good reason.” Krugman ties our malaise to “inadequate demand.” He suggests that “well-informed people balk at the notion that simple lack of demand can cause so much havoc.” But he minimizes how much “inadequate demand” was created by idling 30 million Americans to some degree in 2008. Back then, per capita personal income averaged $41,000. So the maximum impact of idling 30 million Americans would have been $1.23 TRILLION per year. And year after year, that $1.23 trillion in “inadequate demand” dampened economic growth, increased costs to government and decreased tax revenues. Clearly, it played havoc with millions of Americans. But macroeconomics cannot convey the reality of microeconomics – the real-life decisions of millions of Americans who lost their homes to foreclosure, saw their savings vanish, feared the mounting stack of unpaid bills and wondered if they would ever find work again. For those 30 million Americans and their families, the Great Recession and its Anemic Recovery have scarred them forever. They will never forget how painful were the choices they had to make. Nor will they forget the politicians that denigrated their efforts to find a job that matched their skills, earn a fair wage to feed their families, and grab for an even chance to live the dream again. For those leaders who didn’t give a damn, they will find a way to make them pay for the havoc they had to endure. Rick Sloan UCubed
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 20:45:44 +0000