Nice photo / story connection.

I was in Lowe's today for about an hour and passed the appliance area several times. NO ONE was in the department even looking the entire time. Never seen that before.

Eventually the unemployment benefits run out...

@PLATTWORX:
I was hiding in a maytag waiting to scare you, but you never even opened the lid :(

and this is why other countries (japan, canada, france) have had their recessions end/reverse/slow, but we're still trucking along (downhill)

@gStein: I can't speak about Canada, but both Japan and France have strong protectionism in place to ensure that domestic production isn't seriously undercut by imports. The U.S. has a much more open market than most countries and businesses are far more willing to send jobs elsewhere than Japan in particular (which will only do so if there is no other choice but bankruptcy or if forced by a foreign head office rather than simply because it's more profitable).

Other countries put at least some emphasis on social stability as a factor when deciding whether to provide incentives for business to send production overseas, and a lot of them are suckling on America's consumer teats (again, esp. Japan as its domestic market is weak). America is all about the bottom line.

With this sort of trend continuing unabated (that is, without some sort of intervention or technological leap which spurs jobs and consumption), America really could drop down to a second world country as the continuous job losses will diminish consumer spending power which will diminish business further and make for a continuous downward spiral. Other countries protect their citizens. America protects its businesses.

@PLATTWORX: you spent an hour in lowes walking around? can't you find what you need and get the hell out? an HOUR?!?

@ShariC:
"... a lot of them are suckling on America's consumer teats..."

My teats are plum wore out, how 'bout yours?

@ShariC: Why can't we do that? Do I need to move to Europe?

@trixrabbit: Lowe's, Where shopping is a baffling ordeal.

@trixrabbit: If I ever have to buy more than one thing at Lowe's or Home Depot, I partition off about an hour. The first time I ever went to a Home Depot I asked someone where the hammers were and they said "I don't know, I don't work in that department" and kept walking.

@ShariC: A few things. Canada is party to the WTO and NAFTA and therefore like the US has very liberal trade laws.

Second, you use the term "provide incentives" to refer to the US policy of low/no tariffs with most other countries. Lack of tariff isn't an "incentive" from the government, it's an absence of government. Also, looking at "social stability" is a fancy way of saying "protect big businesses and labour unions." Big companies and labour unions have the political clout to get bills written. Most regulation favours the largest companies in the field regulated, since they can comply more cost-effectively than smaller competitors, who have to pay the same complaince costs spread over less volume of sales.

But back to tariffs. The low tariff policy has many benefits for US citizens, such as substantially lower costs of living due to cheaper imports. Also it helps expand the global economy and eventually raises everyone's standard of living. Also it prevents war, since trading partners seldom want to go to war with each other.

@ShariC: Nice post. Not enough people talk about this because they feel social programs or government programs geared towards soclal stability = socialism. Because they are retarded. Americans have a lot more to be worried about in terms of big business, rather than big government. The majors basically operate as their own sovereign nation, with nobody to answer to but themselves and no loyalty to any one country. And people don't have the right to vote a corporation out of power.

Companies used this recession as an excuse to layoff workers in unprecedented numbers, and thus artificially depress the value of American labor. Wages have stagnated or fallen in many places and sectors, so in this regard, they've succeeded. But the massive layoffs, and the attendant reduction of overall American buying power, prevent Americans from buying stuff at earlier levels.

Yet, economists and businesses are actually SURPRISED that consumer confidence remains low. Well ... HELLO! How exactly is this supposed to be surprising? It's not. It's a natural, foreseeable consequence of American business's efforts to lower wages.

Any economist who is actually surprised at this development, must be incompetent. As for businesses, they're reaping what they sowed. I can't shed any tears for them.

That's really strange because the Washington Post reported that stocks were up as consumer confidence was better than expected.
[www.washingtonpost.com]

Maybe confidence was still down but not as much as economists were projecting and that became cause for celebration.

If you laid an infinite number of economists end to end, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion.

@PsiCop: Unfortunately, we're all reaping from the same field. It becomes a death spiral as businesses lay off workers, workers then don't have the money to buy products, which means businesses go out of business, which means more workers are laid off. I don't pretend to know the answer but it's not pretty out there.

Hmmm.... do you read Dooce ?

[www.dooce.com]

I find it an interesting alignment of the universe..... Whirlpool layoffs & Dooce's story....

@youbastid: I work at a Home Depot, and I've found that customer service is sort of hit or miss. One store might be awesome while another store just 10-15 minutes away may be absolutely horrible.

People frequently come into the store I work at and tell me how awful another location is just 10 minutes away, yet they're telling us how awesome we are.

Although I'm kinda surprise the guy couldn't at least point you in the direction of the hardware section. I mean, a hammer, really? I can see if you asked for some obscure household item but a hammer... *shakes head*

@H3ion: I fully agree and I think the ripple effects of the 2007 recession will be felt for a long long time even after this thing is over with.

Unions. They're what drove Whirlpool south of the border and they're what's killing what little manufacturing jobs we have left here in the US.

@TheUncleBob: Bullshit. But even if you were right, without unions, manufacturing jobs would be about $5.25 an hour, 29 hours a week (part time, see? no overtime pay or benefits). Basically, they'd be the same as Wal-Mart or McDonalds jobs. Which is EXACTLY the kind of jobs that have been replacing these manufacturing jobs we've been losing for 30 years.

Therefore, unions have not made anything worse. Also, I disagree vigorously with that whole "BEND OVER AND TAKE IT!" attitude toward workers that frowns upon unionization. How dare they demand better working conditions and family-supporting wages and benefits! How dare they! Why can't they just work for peanuts in dangerous factories like workers do in Mexico and China? Don't they know that's more profitable?

@West Coast Secessionist: So, what you're saying is that you're okay with unions driving away all of the manufacturing jobs because, without unions, all we'd have are jobs paying $5.25/hour anyway?

The flaw in that logic is that there's only so many McDonald's locations. A crappy paying job is better than no job. I'd rather see 1,100 low-wage jobs in my community than 1,100 law-wage jobs in Mexico (sorry Mexico).

@krom: The only reason unemployment is down is because those people do their damnedest to get people off it... and I don't mean by finding work. They gave my wife such a run around and terminated her unemployment benefits and couldn't even give us a good reason why or explain the reason they were giving us in detail so we could understand how to fix it.

@huadpe - sorry but I don't buy that we have a better standard of living. Maybe in some things, but have you seen the crap we import from China? Have you looked at the quality of consumer goods? NAFTA and GAT and all that shit wasn't about the consumer, it was about increasing the profit margins of large multinational corporations.

And the only reason things were good up until the crash is because people had access to easy credit. Consumers went into massive amounts of debt. We've had a debt economy this whole time.

I'm sorry but debt really isn't a good thing.

@TheUncleBob: Ah, great. So you'd much rather see everyone working for a quarter an hour (or a good swift kick in the ass) than nothing?

Ah, but then they'd be on the dole so they'd be useless welfare leeches in your opinion.

We have had it too good for too long living off debt. Now we have to pay for it by living on less than we make to pay off our bills.

@Batwaffel: Good! I'm sick of people making a good living off of unemployment and abusing the system. After all, it's OUR money that goes to people that don't want to look for work.

A few months of free money when you lose a job? Ok, no huge deal. A few years? No, thank you.

@GuinevereRucker: Have you tried to get a job right now. With most they would prefer not to be on unemployment but with as many people competing for each and every opening in the market right now they do not have a choice.

I'm almost willing to move to Mexico...
1. Everything from the US is being out-sourced to Mexico.
2. Probably easier to find a job,
3. Easily 1/4 of the US speaks spanish as a first language anymore.
4. I bet the economy is better?
5. I could buy "US made" cars CHEAP!

@Mykro: Mexico wouldn't issue you a visa. And if you tried to work there illegally, very bad things would happen.

@youbastid: But he knew what a hammer was, so they must be getting extra training lately.

@GuinevereRucker: Quit your job and try to find another one. 8 months later let's see what your opinion is.

@West Coast Secessionist: No, they'd be $7.25 an hour, which is the current minimum wage. Maybe a little more so they don't have to settle for McDonald's rejects. Not every job is going to have a family supporting wage, it's just not possible.

@woolygator: It's a good thing the government is leading by example, right? Right?

@Mykro:

6. Conveniently available illegal drugs
7. Equally conveniently available armed drug lords to keep #6 flowing after you're hooked

@catnapped: If the options are "Everyone in the US works for a quarter" or "Half the US population works for a quarter while we ship the other half of the jobs to Mexico" - then yes.

@West Coast Secessionist:

For such wages you do not get quality, nor consistent labour (I know, I've worked for them, you might have too).

Considering the one thing barring Chinese cars (manufactured for such wages) from entering the US is that they will not pass any form of safety testing, this form of labour is unsuitable for manufacturing cars for sale in the US (Never mind that consumers expect more than 3 years out of ANY car, although 3 years is what you'll get out of a Chinese made car).

This is why Toyota's multitude non-union plants pay living wages, because it means employees don't leave just for a change of scenery, and it means that when employees do poorly and management threatens to fire them, they actually care.

When your wage is a stone's throw away from welfare, you will eventually look forward to the day you're made to leave.

@GuinevereRucker: Please tell me where these "jobs" you speak of are, because I sure as shit can't find one. Every interview I go on feels more like an American Idol cattle-call than an actual interview.

I am applying to the retail sector for "Seasonal work" but am not optimistic, as I'm sure there will be plenty of competition and little demand.

@West Coast Secessionist: there i a bit of give and take here. Unions for a time have driven benefits in such a way that it's really unsustainable.

Unions really need to re-evaluate their tactics. It's not simply getting management to agree to what ever you want. They should be forecasting the industry, seeing where the business is headed. Unions should honestly be partners in the business, even reducing benefits when companies hit rough spots.

If the jobs go over seas so should the unions, lending cash and clout to the foreign workers who took the jobs, making sure management can't escape from fair worker treatment,

How's that hope & change working out for you?