| Too many hippies on this thread. The biggest problem with the us economy currently is the erosion of middle class jobs for unskilled and semi-skilled labor. My grandparents lived comfortably on union jobs. Most of those jobs are gone now, and those that exist are paying less all the time. I know a man who is 60 working in a lumber mill making less then he ever has in his life (40+ years of factory work). Yes sure consumption has increased with affluence but Many people don't realize how hard it is for an unskilled and unconnected person to find any kind of work. I know some Iraqi refugees who could not even get agriculture work because the Hispanic population always filled any open jobs through network effects. The only jobs that exist for unskilled labor are service sector, fast food &tc. These may pay enough to survive in many places but it will not be comfortable or secure. Second biggest problem is the rising cost of healthcare. 15% of GDP and growing, more than half of that is government paid (medicare / medicaid / etc). My father is self-employed so purchases his own healthcare, but there is no out-of-pocket maximum for him so when my mother was diagnosed with cancer there was a massive financial cost despite 80% being paid by the insurance company. There are other problems as well, but those are the biggest cause of financial insecurity and lower lifestyle quality among the bottom quintile of US citizens. Edit: Fewer hippies after I had composed my rant. Re: rents. yeah they are bad but really only outrageous on the coasts. So depending on your location the rent can kill you, but in my hometown it was never a big deal. |
I wish the focus of the US public discourse was less "how terrible is it that these unskilled people can't find jobs" and more "how can we provide economic stability to these unskilled people and help them become skilled"