The Teenagers Can No Longer "Stuff the Channel"

The following chart shows the fraction of the civilian noninstitutional population aged 16 to 19 who are employed. It's basically a brutal combination of an extremely high unemployment rate and a very poor labor force participation rate among those aged 16 to 19.


Click to enlarge.

Teenagers can't stuff the channel if they are no longer in the channel! As seen in the chart, they are a long, long ways from being in the channel again (if ever).

Channel Stuffing

Channel stuffing is the business practice where a company, or a sales force within a company, inflates its sales figures by forcing more products through a distribution channel than the channel is capable of selling to the world at large.

For what it is worth and in the spirit of shady business practices, I think many teenagers are being stuffed. I'm not just talking Thanksgiving Day leftovers either.

November 25, 2013
USA Today: Government books $41.3 billion in student loan profits

The $41.3 billion profit for the 2013 fiscal year is down $3.6 billion from the previous year but it's a higher profit level than all but two companies in the world: Exxon Mobil cleared $44.9 billion in 2012, and Apple cleared $41.7 billion.

"It's actually neither accurate nor fair to characterize the student loan program as making a profit," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said during a July conference call with reporters after the Free Press and other news media reported on profits from student loans.

I wouldn't characterize it as making a profit. I'd suggest that the main purpose is to stuff the typical teenager with excessive "lifeblood". Perhaps that's just me though.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart