2008 Woodie Awards
Candidates ignore real issue
Daniel Potter
Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: Opinions
The nation lost 63,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department estimated Friday, but America's bleak economic forecast has its silver lining, at least for some.
Take for instance the European tourists who now enjoy phenomenal savings when they visit here, thanks to the ailing dollar.
Consider also the Democratic presidential candidates. A weak economy plays to their advantage, as it's almost always a liability for the incumbent party. Just ask the first President Bush, who lost the White House to a Clinton riding a wave of economic frustration in the wake of a recession. Déjà vu, no?
Even the current President Bush has something to smile about: Recessions can't be verified overnight, so he can go on pretending it's just a slowdown for two whole quarters before the numbers definitively prove otherwise. Not long after that he too will be unemployed, but I doubt he minds.
As a student, keep in mind that if you graduate into double-digit unemployment, maybe you won't be able to find a job, but at least it won't be your fault. Grad school applications, go!
China
Meanwhile, China's economy continues to astonish, with an 11.4 percent growth rate in 2007, according to CIA estimates. Boy, if only we could be like them, right? Actually, no.
"In June 2006, an official at China's State Council said environmental damage (everything from crop loss to health care costs) was costing 10 percent of its gross domestic product - in other words, all of the economy's celebrated growth." This from Jacques Leslie in last month's Mother Jones.
The article goes on to report that due to China's rapid industrialization, "more than three-fourths of its forests have disappeared," with grim consequences in terms of accelerated climate change.
"Not only do cut trees no longer absorb carbon," writes Leslie, "they release the carbon they'd sequestered. Thus, deforestation accounts for 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions - a rate higher than the global transportation sector's."
Take for instance the European tourists who now enjoy phenomenal savings when they visit here, thanks to the ailing dollar.
Consider also the Democratic presidential candidates. A weak economy plays to their advantage, as it's almost always a liability for the incumbent party. Just ask the first President Bush, who lost the White House to a Clinton riding a wave of economic frustration in the wake of a recession. Déjà vu, no?
Even the current President Bush has something to smile about: Recessions can't be verified overnight, so he can go on pretending it's just a slowdown for two whole quarters before the numbers definitively prove otherwise. Not long after that he too will be unemployed, but I doubt he minds.
As a student, keep in mind that if you graduate into double-digit unemployment, maybe you won't be able to find a job, but at least it won't be your fault. Grad school applications, go!
China
Meanwhile, China's economy continues to astonish, with an 11.4 percent growth rate in 2007, according to CIA estimates. Boy, if only we could be like them, right? Actually, no.
"In June 2006, an official at China's State Council said environmental damage (everything from crop loss to health care costs) was costing 10 percent of its gross domestic product - in other words, all of the economy's celebrated growth." This from Jacques Leslie in last month's Mother Jones.
The article goes on to report that due to China's rapid industrialization, "more than three-fourths of its forests have disappeared," with grim consequences in terms of accelerated climate change.
"Not only do cut trees no longer absorb carbon," writes Leslie, "they release the carbon they'd sequestered. Thus, deforestation accounts for 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions - a rate higher than the global transportation sector's."
Be the first to comment on this story