Click to enlarge.
This exponential trend was destined to fail (as all exponential trends eventually do). As seen in the following chart, it is unfortunate that it didn't fail sooner.
Click to enlarge.
Half a trillion man-hours of American labor owed? And we're told that this is prosperity?
We probably won't actually have to do the work. We've already paid for it in US dollars. We'll feel its effects in other ways instead. Got cheap oil? Got high-paying American factory job? Got high-yielding treasury bonds? Got long-term economic growth?
Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart
"it is unfortunate that it didn't fail sooner"
ReplyDeleteWell, most certainly would have if not for "the Housing Bubble temporarily paper[ing] over the impact of hollowing out America's industrial base."
No worries though. Nothing another round of dollar debasement, er QE, won't fix. Now back to work you lazy savers and retirees.
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=axL
ReplyDeletered line is adding in trade deficit hours as virtual payroll jobs back onto PAYEMS
AllanF,
ReplyDeleteNo worries though.
Absolutely not. I'm the picture of carefree here let me tell you, lol. Sigh.
Gallows sarcasm! ;)
Troy,
ReplyDeleteVirtual jobs for the win. Fantastic.
(Even more gallows sarcasm.)
Changing the datum to netexp lets us go back to the 1960s . . .
ReplyDeletehttp://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=ayc
The positive side in this is that we will all have to work 25/8 to repay that work hour debt. That should reduce the unemployment rate a bit.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeletePerhaps we'll import some cheap labor from China and convince them to do it for us. Sigh.