What may be occurring is a seismic shift in the American economy, one that could leave as many as one in four Americans permanently unemployed or so drastically underemployed that he or she can’t make ends meet. That’s the situation today. The greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression has resulted in the greatest social dislocation since the Great Depression. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
Today, as college-educated workers get laid off, they often replace less-educated workers at theirs, as long as the better-educated worker is willing to work for less. Younger workers find it hard to move up because their older colleagues are putting off retirement. Even the competition for low-wage jobs is fierce, as immigrants — both legal and illegal — compete with under-educated native-born Americans for work. A blue-collar worker could support a family while mom stayed home with the kids. It worked because there was hope of better. It worked because most folks remembered worse and never had known any better. It worked because people didn’t have a sense they were being kicked around by forces beyond their control. That’s no longer the case.
