ECONOMICS SATURDAY

From The Economist courtesy of J. Orlin Grabbe:

George Bush comes out worst in our poll of academic economists

WOULD John Kerry or George Bush do a better job stewarding America's economy? Judging by the polls, voters are not sure. Within the past couple of months both candidates have had narrow leads on the issue. Ask economics professors, however, and you get a clearer answer.

In an informal poll of 100 academics, conducted by The Economist, Mr Bush's policies win low marks. More than 70% of the 56 professors who responded to our survey rate Mr Bush's first-term economic policies as bad or very bad. Fewer than 20% give positive marks to Mr Bush's second-term economic agenda, and almost six out of ten disapproved. Mr Kerry hardly got rave reviews either, but his economic plan still fared better than the president's did.

Click here for more.

And from ZNet:

Still Not Getting By In Bush's America

While income has sunk for the poor, the middle strata have seen their wages stagnate over the same period. Meanwhile healthcare costs, housing, education, gas and oil, and food have soared.

This growing disparity is of special concern as the jobs picture has looked bleak in the last three years. In the first two years of the Bush presidency, 2.6 million jobs were lost, nearly doubling the unemployment rate. While the Bush administration points to recent jobs creation to build a case for its reelection bid, over 1.5 million jobs remain unaccounted for. The jobs that have been created, says economist Art Perlo, may not even cover the number of people who entered the work force for the first time in the same period. This is certainly the case in recent months with only 112,000 jobs in June and 32,000 new jobs in July. At least 140,000 new jobs need to be added "each month just to absorb new workers," Perlo says.

Further, according to economists, 60 percent of the jobs that have been created pay less than the national average in wages, the vast majority are in the low-paying service sector, few provide benefits such as health care coverage, and as many as 1/5 are temp jobs. Currently, the national average of weekly wages is at its lowest point since the official end of the Bush recession in late 2001.

Click here for the rest.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$