Lies, Damned Lies, and Economics

Myth No. 1: Economic growth produces jobs.

Fact: GDP has grown for seven consecutive quarters since the official end of the recession; no job growth in the same period.

Myth No. 2: There are plenty of traditional jobs if you just look for them.

Fact: In May 2011, there were 4.7 unemployed people for every 1 job opening. That number has not gone below 4.3 in 29 months. From 2001 through 2008, it never went above 3.

Myth No. 3: If we cut taxes on big corporations and the wealthy, they’ll use the extra cash to create jobs.

Fact: Corporations are sitting on a record pile of cash—more than $80 billion. So are big banks, with $1.6 trillion in excess reserves that they’re not lending (before 2008, excess reserves had never been higher than $3 billion). That’s been the case for more than a year. But the unemployment rate is unchanged.

Source: Paul Krugman, NYT; research.stlouisfed.org

YES! Magazine Graphics, 2011