P.J. O’Rourke comment: Mike, we are biased at American Consequences – biased against all politicians. One of the reasons for our bias is that every president takes the credit for a good economy and blames a bad economy on the president before him. Public opinion tends to follow suit. Being that we at AmCon are members of the public too, we sometimes fall into the same trap of talking about “The Obama economy” and “The Trump economy” as if they controlled it. They didn’t and they don’t. We the people control the economy. Sometimes we make bad choices. But, that said, the worst choice we could ever make is to let politicians actually control the economy. You wrote: “Wages for rank-and-file workers are rising at the quickest pace in more than a decade, even faster than for bosses, a sign that the labor market has tightened sufficiently to convey bigger increases to lower-paid employees.” Not where I live. People are working two to three jobs just to cover basic expenses. Basic expenses like, you know, rent? – Bob R. P.J. O’Rourke comment: Bob, note the wording in what you quote. “Bigger increases” doesn’t mean “big enough.” And I sure do know about rent. One of my favorite poets, Langston Hughes, had a brief and brilliant poem about it: I wish the rent Was heaven sent .
things have happened (few believed the Colonies could separate from the mother country at the time). – Mark N. P.J. O’Rourke comment: Mark, an A+ in American History for you! And an excellent point (borne out in the long part of the Declaration on Independence nobody ever reads), that the American Revolution was based on a perception that the British government was gradually impinging on the previously well-established rights of Americans. Alas, the fact that the protests in Hong Kong have a happy precedent doesn’t ensure a happy outcome for Hong Kong’s residents. True, Britain was a bigger power than the 13 colonies. But not that much bigger. The population of Britain in 1776 was about 8 million while the colonies had about and a half million people. Mainland China has a population of 1.3 billion versus Hong Kong’s mere 7.4 million. Another major factor: Distance between Philadelphia and London, 3,539 miles. Distance between Hong Kong and China, none. Re: If You Can’t Get a Job Now... Watch Out for the Next Recession You reel off stats on the current economy “under Trump” and the prior economy “under Obama.” As if Trump is managing us to greatness. And as if all the good things about the ‘previous’ economy were irrelevant other than the unemployment rate. Your pro- Trump and anti-Obama bias is staggering. Seems you have already forgotten what was going on in 2008. – Mike B.
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American Consequences
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