Shipping jobs overseas has contributed to U.S. employment problems, but it isn't the main issue. Many people have already shown the numbers on this. I was talking about companies being able to get the same work done using fewer Americans, and I believe this was a major factor in the slow uptake of jobs after the latest recession. This article discusses slow job recovery after recent recessions, and labels the 1990-1991 recession as "the first jobless recovery." It isn't clear if they are just talking about Minnesota or not.

I really think there's something to my theory of automation finally seriously affecting the white collar jobs. The last recession before 1990-1991 was in 1980-1982, and the recovery after that was not "jobless." What were computers like in 1981?

Add to this a worldwide communications system available to almost everyone that permits rapid data transfer with not much equipment, and the ability to acquire a lot of productivity with fewer people or less money becomes even easier.

The good news for those of us on top of the wave is that I get paid a hell of a lot more than I did as a draftsman. Productivity isn't entirely a bad thing.

Companies stayed profitable due to Bush's tax cuts and looked for ways to invest those profits. In a normal recession companies focus on cost cutting to weather the storm.

Yeah, and what's a major way to cut costs? Lay off a few people? End result looks pretty much the same from the employee's standpoint.

As for tax cuts, I still refuse to accept the foundational premise some people have that a dollar in Ted Kennedy's hands will do more for American prosperity than one in the hands of the private sector.