Interventionism and the Jobless Rate

The jobless rate has shot up to 10.2% according to a story in USA Today. Now, in the video that covers this story on USA Today's website, AP reporter Mark Hambrick says that if you factor in those people who have settled for part time work or have given up altogether, the rate is 17.5%. So, what is the real jobless rate? Well, we may all agree that the real rate is those who are actually without work and are still looking, that's a fair definition. However, the fact that the other numbers aren't reported to everyone, or aren't widely known seems to be... misleading? deceptive? Here's one person's take on it.

Now the question is: "What does interventionism have to do with the jobless rate, and what does that even mean, anyway?" Slow down, there. One at a time.

First, interventionism is defined by Wikipedia, here. Basically, it's when a government feels an undying need to interfere in an economy. For details on that, just google the word "federal" and add any of the following names of these Fortune 500 companies: AIG, GM, Citigroup, Bank of America, etc. For more interesting information on the history of government bailouts, click here.

Now for how this effects the jobless rate. I'll start with a question: Have you ever heard of the Great Depression of 1920? No? You're thinking of the Great Depression of the 30's, right? There was a Great Depression in 1920-21, but it ended after about 18 months. How did we recover so quickly? I'm glad you asked! Well, listen carefully... The government did nothing. That's right, nothing. Well, that's not entirely true. They cut spending. What?! The government cut spending? That's absolutely absurd, you say? Well, that's what they did. Other than that, they did nothing. No propping up banks, no bailing out large corporations, no TARP, no TALF, no New Deal, nada. Nothing. Does that just defy all logic? Well, then doesn't that make you wonder for a moment, just for a split-second, "Could the Great Depression of the 30's have been much less painful for everyone had the government cut spending and kept out of business altogether?" Now that we've opened that possibility, read this article by Tom Woods (mentioned earlier in the IVLG blog). Then, track down this book by Amity Shlaes, entitled "The Forgotten Man." Both are well worth your time and will help you to get a clearer picture of what is really happening to your country right now.