[sarcasm]

ping

[RLK]

More of the same. It will continue until we are an economically bankrupt third world country with atom bombs.

[Indie]

But as one door closes, another opens. It's the maturation - and growing pains - of a new economy. By 2010, an additional 22 million jobs will be created in the United States, bringing the total to 168 million, the Department of Labor reports. Nearly 14 million, or three out of every five, will be in service occupations such as home health care, food preparation, child care and transportation.

This sounds to me like a propaganda piece for the globalist freetraders. What the above paragraph left out was..."and those new jobs will be at considerably lower pay and benfits (if any) than the jobs lost."

Growing pains of a new economy?? HA! Pure bull. There will be no economy soon. No state has survived, or can survive, on purely a service economy. The ship is sinking and the officers are swimming away to retirement villas overseas.

[Recovering_Democrat]

But as one door closes, another opens. It's the maturation - and growing pains - of a new economy.

Holy crap...some real world writing...instead of the continual harangue of pessimism and "blame America" garbage.

In what world, besides pre-school, did societial norms begin to create and/or expect a "Nanny Society" where even employees are expected to be able to have everything all the same all the time?

[carlo3b]

Stick with the Union Label, and raise minimum wage and wave bye bye to low cost jobs. After all these folks don't even have an education, or a work ethic, and Environ, Harassment, Workman's comp, Trial Lawyers, are breathing down corporate necks anyway.. Why fight city hall and Union thugs.. Hello India, China, Mexico..

[freeangel]

These articles remind me of Pittsburgh when they started shutting down the steel mills. Many "waited" several years knowing that their jobs at the mills would not be lost forever(big mistake). Some retrained into jobs that were ultimately more financially lucrative than their old jobs, and a few brave souls started their own businesses doing what they loved. We've been through tough times before and will weather this one too.

[verity]

We can't go out to eat every Friday, Saturday and Sunday like we used to,"

That alone should save you a bunch of money!

[cp124]

or three out of every five, will be in service occupations such as home health care(changing diapers), food preparation(MacJobs), child care(more diapers) and transportation(driving from one minimum wage job to another).

[ctonious]

Of the 50 best-paying jobs listed today by the Labor Department, 48 require at least a college degree. The two exceptions are air traffic controllers and nuclear power reactor operators.

Scary little factoid that sounds like a line from the "Simpsons".

[RogueIsland]

"As bleak as it sounds, we just have to say to our fellow citizens, 'Get a skill, an education, learn a (second) language,'"

Yup. You'll need those skills when you're training the guy offshore who's just taken the latest new career you spent the last 6 years of night school acquiring a skill, education, and second language to do.

[Long Cut]

What a fun, optimistic thread!

Just a question: Do you guys ENJOY looking hangdog at each other and whining about impending doom?

If so, continue, please. I'm one of those rare sorts whoo gets amusement aplenty by watching others in terror of the sky falling.

I get the same fun from watching Democrats in their hate-twitches.

[discostu]

Man you guys are hilarious with your little weeping circle. making the same ALWAYS WRONG claims about a didsappearing manufacturing sector for the last quarter of a century. Wrong then, wrng now, wrong ALWAYS AND FOREVER.

[BlueNgold]

So free market economies defined by the laws of supply and demand are bad? Or should those laws stop at our borders? Shall we thwart the growth prospects of our own economy to provide consumers with higher priced goods just because they are produced from within?

The American economy is far from a service only engine. It is American business and American consumer demands that drive a vast portion of the world economy. In recent years Honda, Toyota, and Mercedes (to name only 3) have opened massive manufacturing operations in the U.S. for the sole purpose of providing American consumers with products we demand at a price we are willing to pay.

Anecdotal evidence does not mean the sky is falling. And the Blame Wal-Mart, Blame Microsoft, Blame IBM crowd has no solutions that meet market demands. Of course, we could always elect Buchanen, isolate ourselves, pay artificially inflated prices, watch unemployment skyrocket, and remove ourselves from the import/export business altogether...
or we could lead the world economy as we have done for 60 years...

[taxed2death]

Hmmmmmm....interesting title.

I wasn't aware that being a machinist or tool maker in a factory was a low skill job. Is programming a 3 axis CNC low skilled?

When I tool manufacturing technologies for my degree in ME, working a piece of metal to .005 tolerences wasn't all that easy.

All I see is GWB pushing this country's workforce into a race to the bottom.

[rintense]

Well the factory jobs at my company are coming back. We've re-hired many, MANY factory workers in the past nine months, and are looking at good forecasts.