A spoof received in my email inbox. Remember the “Who’s on First” skit by Abbott and Costello?
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COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America.
ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It’s 9%.
COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?
ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%.
COSTELLO: You just said 9%.
ABBOTT: 9% Unemployed.
COSTELLO: Right 9% out of work.
ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%.
COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 16% unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, that’s 9%…
COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 9% or 16%?
ABBOTT: 9% are unemployed. 16% are out of work.
COSTELLO: IF you are out of work you are unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, you can’t count the ”Out of Work” as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.
COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!
ABBOTT: No, you miss my point.
COSTELLO: What point?
ABBOTT: Someone who doesn’t look for work, can’t be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn’t be fair.
COSTELLO: To who?
ABBOTT: The unemployed.
COSTELLO: But they are ALL out of work.
ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work… Those who are out of work stopped looking. They gave up. And, if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.
COSTELLO: So if you’re off the unemployment rolls, that would count as less unemployment?
ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!
COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don’t look for work?
ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That’s how you get to 9%. Otherwise, it would be 16%. You don’t want to read about 16% unemployment do ya?
COSTELLO: That would be frightening.
ABBOTT: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means they’re two ways to bring down the unemployment number?
ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.
COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?
ABBOTT: Correct.
COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?
ABBOTT: Bingo.
COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to just stop looking for work.
ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like an economist.
COSTELLO: I don’t even know what the hell I just said!
Funny skit!!! But not funny for the people who are unemployed. Or should I say “out of work”? Could somebody write a similar script for “the China price”??? That is also a lot of smoke and mirrors, double talk and misleading numbers! And American manufacturers are the victims on that issue.
During the Carter administration, we had the “Misery Index.” It was obtained by adding together the unemployment rate and the inflation rate. When Carter left office, the Misery Index hit a high of 22.
President Reagan brought the Misery Index down to 9.72 by implementing programs to reduce both umemployment and inflation.
The Misery Index under Obama is around 13, but, would be 33 using the same measures that were in place during the Carter administration.
President Clinton appointed the Boskin Commission to rework the “Inflation” measure in an effort to avoid huge increases in the cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security recipients. They took out food and energy. Imagine that! Under the old measure, today’s inflation rate would be about 11%, instead of around 3%. Also, if you use the old measure of unemployment, the rate would be around 22%. Thus, the Obama Misery Index would be about 33%, much worse than under Carter.
Our government is lying to us at every turn. Those of us who were around when Carter was in office must speak out before it’s too late. We have lost control of our government. They don’t listen to us and they don’t care what we think.
We threw out the Carter Administration and elected Ronald Reagan, the last conservative president. This November, we will have a chance to take back our country. If we don’t, we may be missing out last opportunity. We are approaching what Thomas Sowell calls “the point of no return.”