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The job market is so bad people are willing to scrounge for scrapes - their reserves have been depleted and credit maxed out. Unemployment is low because people

The job market is so bad people are willing to scrounge for scrapes - their reserves have been depleted and credit maxed out. Unemployment is low because people can no longer say no. One of many reasons people draw parallels between today and the Gilded Era or Roaring twenties.

ShabbosGoy 8y ago
Except it’s not at all like the 20s. Human mortality is at record lows, and you won’t die from contracting the flu. Credit is a function of interest rates and has nothing to do with employment. I’m really disappointed that people on HN don’t have an understanding of basic macroeconomics.
mgkimsal 8y ago
> Unemployment is low because people can no longer say no. Succinctly put. I'd say this was also a reason why, 9 years ago during the big crash, we saw "productivity" measures go up, and continue to rise even after the 'recovery', even with companies working with fewer people. They managed to get the same results out of fewer people (or... close enough results), and those people really couldn't say 'no' because... they'd rather have some job than none at all (or, again, they needed something vs nothing).
- jsoc815 8y ago
  This is correct. And to add more clarity about the oft-cited labor shortage, I was at an event where the President of the Minneapolis Fed talked about how when he asked employers when the best of times was w/respect to hiring, their response was 2008 - 2010. He went on to say that the issue isn't really about a labor shortage but an unwillingness to raise wages because the employers were spoiled by applicants' desperation during the cited period.
  - mgkimsal 8y ago
    I remember multiple news reports and hour-long news stories on the inability of people to get jobs because of their unemployed status. There were so many people to choose from, companies would generally ignore someone who was unemployed, regardless of the reason, preferring only to hire people who were already employed. I have no doubt that delayed the start of a recovery for months.

ShabbosGoy 8y ago

Except it’s not at all like the 20s. Human mortality is at record lows, and you won’t die from contracting the flu. Credit is a function of interest rates and has nothing to do with employment. I’m really disappointed that people on HN don’t have an understanding of basic macroeconomics.

mgkimsal 8y ago

> Unemployment is low because people can no longer say no. Succinctly put. I'd say this was also a reason why, 9 years ago during the big crash, we saw "productivity" measures go up, and continue to rise even after the 'recovery', even with companies working with fewer people. They managed to get the same results out of fewer people (or... close enough results), and those people really couldn't say 'no' because... they'd rather have some job than none at all (or, again, they needed something vs nothing).

jsoc815 8y ago
This is correct. And to add more clarity about the oft-cited labor shortage, I was at an event where the President of the Minneapolis Fed talked about how when he asked employers when the best of times was w/respect to hiring, their response was 2008 - 2010. He went on to say that the issue isn't really about a labor shortage but an unwillingness to raise wages because the employers were spoiled by applicants' desperation during the cited period.
- mgkimsal 8y ago
  I remember multiple news reports and hour-long news stories on the inability of people to get jobs because of their unemployed status. There were so many people to choose from, companies would generally ignore someone who was unemployed, regardless of the reason, preferring only to hire people who were already employed. I have no doubt that delayed the start of a recovery for months.