A column by Dean Baker and Kevin Hassett in The New York Times sums up the employment crisis facing the nation -- one that is playing itself out across so many other sectors, including housing. The growing incidence of long-term unemployment, or unemployment lasting more than six months, is creating a vast pool of unemployable order. It is, they say "nothing short of a national emergency."
Millions of workers have been disconnected from the work force, and possibly even from society. If they are not reconnected, the costs to them and to society will be grim.
Tent City in Lakewood, with its mix of the unemployed and unemployable, offer a glimpse into a potential American future, one in which our land of promise slowly slides away and we more and more come to resemble out third-world neighbors.
No comments:
Post a Comment