258 Slow Job Growth

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal today (March 12), economists are puzzled about the reason for the slow job growth. Only 16% of them think offshore jobs are affecting US job growth.

I'm no economist, but I think we need to blame the people who have influenced every cultural, social, economic and educational trend in this country since the end of WWII--The Boomers. You reach a stage in life when you don't need "things" any more, when you aren't buying the latest entertainment gizmo whether it is a something to listen to or to watch or to play with, when you can't bear the thought of one more silly fashion gaffe hanging in your closet, and your 3 year old car looks just like the one on the show room floor. The Baby Boomers are now at that age, and they aren't buying as much as they used to.

The tax refund encouraged a lift in the spending, but a lot of us had what we needed materially, so instead we want to be making a difference in life, and that doesn't mean fingering the merchandise in the mall or kicking the tires at the auto show. Also, the Boomers had smaller families and probably have fewer grandchildren, or had them later, so they aren't even buying in that niche.

I don't want to give up my $5.00 shoes made in China that I bought 3 years ago and still look good as new. If I had had to buy them Made in the USA by a union plant, I wouldn't be able to afford many other things. The global economy helps the third world in ways government foreign aid never could. A low wage here that is scorned is a magnificient sum in some countries and the product comes back here to be distributed, sold and enjoyed by Americans at lower prices. Then we can put that savings into buying a piece of a business through stock.

Some people, like TV evangelists Benny Hinn and Joyce Meyer, want mansions and $100,000 cars and flashy rings, but most of us by 55 have learned money might buy comfort and fame, but it doesn't buy a good marriage, a loving friendship or a sense of purpose.