Archive > 2008 > Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

November 2008 · Previous · Next   PDF

Reindustrialize

By Eric Janszen

Here, in brief, is the state of the Union. Home sales and prices have declined more in the past year than in any year during the Great Depression. Credit contraction has spread to corporate borrowing and student loans. Unemployment is rising in every state in the nation—except for tiny declines in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, which benefit from higher energy and food prices but together account for only one fortieth of the U.S. population. Unemployment in California, the most populous state, reached 7 percent in June, up from 4.9 percent just two years ago, at the peak of the housing bubble. Debate continues over whether the United States as a whole has been in recession since the GDP contraction during the fourth quarter of 2007. But data ranging from retail sales to declining tax revenues serve as clear warnings that the recession may be ongoing. Evidence of economic contraction has been obscured, ironically enough, by the rising inflation that has been spurred by record energy prices.

43 44 45

SEE ALSO: Capitalism; Financial crises; Financial services industry; Infrastructure (Economics); Insurance companies; Public-private sector cooperation; Real estate business; Risk management; Subsidies

Previous · Next