THE FACTS OF HISTORY DOES NOT SUPPORT THE CLAIMS OF THE JAMAICAN ECONOMISTS

Written by John Anthony

The fearmongering has led economists on radio in Jamaica and elsewhere to postulate that the recession in the US is the worst since the Great Depression. But these economists must know of the facts that anyone can read in any history text book or research on the internet and they must know that the facts undermine their claims. So what gives? Well what gives is most listenners are not digilent enough to do the research themselves and unfortunately so too is the Prime Minister who on no evidence whatsoever allowed the fearmongers to influence him. Here are the facts.

THE ECONOMIC DECEPTION EXPOSED!
Let us compare the present recession in the USA to the one in the 80s and see what were the remedies applied then. What a major difference Ronnie and Ralston? This is not a partisan chart too; it is from the FDIC!!


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The Jobless Rate Gap Comparing now to the 80s Recession
We've still got a long way to go Ronnie and Ralston.
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Jobless Claims As Percent of Payrolls Comparing 1980 to 2009

Mr. Prime Minister believe your eyes; not your ears. This is all US govt. data and charts.
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Who was the president that caused the recession in the 80s? Let us see:



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39th President of the United States

January 20, 1977 – January 20,1981


Who succeeded Jimmy Carter and caused that dramatic fall in unemployment for 8 years? Let us see:




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40th President of the United States


January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
What were the solutions Reagan used to stimulate the economy??
His supply-side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics,"
1. included deregulation and
2. substantial tax cuts implemented in 1981. No stimulus package was used; none whatsoever in what was according to the facts, not real business radio show, a far worse economy.

MORE CHARTS TELLING A DIFFERENT STORY THAN WHAT ONE HEARS ON REAL BUSINESS RADIO SHOW!

President Barack Obama has turned fearmongering into an art form. This fearmongering may be good politics, but it is bad history and bad economics. It is bad history because our current economic woes don't come close to those of the 1930s. Mr. Obama's analogies to the Great Depression are not only historically inaccurate, they're also dangerous.

At worst, a comparison to the 1981-82 recession might be appropriate. Consider the job losses that Mr. Obama always cites. In the last year, the U.S. economy shed 3.4 million jobs. That's a grim statistic for sure, but represents just 2.2% of the labor force. From November 1981 to October 1982, 2.4 million jobs were lost -- fewer in number than today, but the labor force was smaller. So 1981-82 job losses totaled 2.2% of the labor force, the same as now.

Job losses in the Great Depression were of an entirely different magnitude. In 1930, the economy shed 4.8% of the labor force. In 1931, 6.5%. And then in 1932, another 7.1%. Jobs were being lost at double or triple the rate of 2008-09 or 1981-82 (see chart above).

~Economist Bradley Schiller in yesterday's WSJ
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By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression.
~President Barack Obama in today's Washington Post
MP: The chart above shows annual real GDP growth during the Great Depression I (1930-1932) and the 2007-2009 period, using the WSJ consensus forecast of -.30% for 2009 growth.

So then what is really going on?? How come all this fuss over what is not a serious crisis as in the 80s? Why the deception??