It has been frequently stated in this blog that German correspondents in Washington are quite a special pack. They may differ in many respects, but there is one common trait that seems to rank high among their job requirements: hatred, or at least dislike, of US President Bush.
Today's entry: Peter De Thier.
His reporting on President Bush and his policies has an obvious negative slant, whatever the topic:
Iraq:
America's styled war motives ... constructed arguments for war ... consideration of oil interests by the Bush administration ...
...immigration policy of Bush is not at all "humane"...
Bush goes the way of least resistance...
Bush completely disregarded the law...
De Thier's view of John Kerry is, hmm.., slightly more sympathetic ("Kerry wants a sound balance.").
It is amazing that a respected business paper such as "Boersenzeitung" would give Bush-hater De Thier a forum for his completely off-the-mark forecast of the US job market. Comment by De Thier in Boersenzeitung, February 21, 2004:
Bush's Job-Illusion
...the trend in the US industry to move production to low-wage countries continues. While this had been true for manufacturing it is now catching up in the service sector, too. ... President Bush followed a dangerous illusion when he promised millions of new jobs in the USA. Tax reductions and robust economic growth will not suffice to stop this development. Bush should be lucky if in spring and autumn there is any positive trend at all in the job market.
Depends on your definition of "positive":
Job growth rocks againPayroll growth of 288,000 comes in well above forecasts; unemployment dips to 5.6 percent.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Employers added jobs at a surprisingly rapid clip for the second straight month in April and the unemployment rate fell, a government report showed Friday, as the nation's labor market finally showed signs of sustained improvement. ...
Payrolls grew by 288,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported, well above the 173,000 economists had forecast, according to a survey by Reuters. The number even topped the highest forecasts of about 250,000.
The department also revised its reading on March job growth to 337,000 jobs from the 308,000 reported last month. That gave the economy an average monthly gain of 217,000 a month so far this year, even with weaker-than-expected growth in January and February.
The unemployment rate eased to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent in March.
After the economy lost 2.7 million jobs from the start of 2001 until August 2003 -- well after the recession ended -- payrolls have now grown for eight straight months, adding 1.1 million jobs.
Job growth in April was widespread.
It's so much easier to forecast the past than the future... especially if your mindset is clogged by anti-Bush rage.
(All De Thier statements translated by us)
(Translation check by Ray D.)
We did not lose 2.7 million jobs, the bureau of labor stats was going to revise to bet 1.3-1.5m.
Losing over a million jobs, yet adding over a million immigrants - probably more like 3-4 million, and we're still working.
Posted by: Sandy P. | May 09, 2004 at 03:08 AM
Sandy P: Losing over a million jobs, yet adding over a million immigrants - probably more like 3-4 million, and we're still working.
Right on ! I think this is a HUGE thing to consider and I am amazed that it gets so little attention. The fact that millions of immigrants come to the US and still, the economy is doing much better than Western Europe speaks volumes for the structural strength of the American economy.
One other country in a similar position is Canada. They also get high numbers of immigrants each year. The problem there is that the economy isn't doing well. That's mainly because they have a socialist and corrupt government.
Can anyone here imagine how the German economy would look like with that percentage of immigrants ? The German economy is broken with a dwindling number of workers. What would they do if hundreds of thousands of workers would be added to the job market ?
Thanks God for the German "experts". Now we truly knwo what's wrong with the American economy. As you see, it takes a German to point out what's wrong in America. When I look at the high number of German "experts", I can't stop wondering why the German economy isn't doing at least a little bit better. But I'm not worried. The EU said that by 2010 (I guess), the EU economy will outgrow the US's.
We in Europe live our lifes filled with pride for what we did in the past and what we will do in the future. The past was bright, the future will surely be bright (that what the experts say). Who cares about the present anymore ?
Posted by: WhatDoIKnow | May 09, 2004 at 09:20 AM
he fact that millions of immigrants come to the US and still, the economy is doing much better than Western Europe speaks volumes for the structural strength of the American economy.
One other country in a similar position is Canada.
Cause our politicians are also still too stupid to adopt a real immigration politics (picking immigrants who have something to offer for us in return) and to push for such a need. It hasn't sunk in yet. In other news, Europe's population continues to overage.
Schroeder's "Green Card" concept was a hilarious meaningless gesture in terms of numbers and a joke in terms of realization.
Posted by: Klink | May 09, 2004 at 12:29 PM
Some times it is much more important to have immigrants who want to be in the country they chose rather than having them bring a particular skill set with them.
How successful they are and what they contribute in most instances has to do with the opportunities they find and how well they are integrated into the overall larger society. Most European nations have failed to allow this integration to occur. They are failing to provide opportunities for their own citizens much less opportunities for new immigrants.
Europe struggles with it Mars probe. America’s probes continue to explore Mars. I am not sure who heads the European Space Agency ‘s effort but the head of NASA’s effort is lead by an Iranian who is a naturalized American, Firouz Naderi
So much of Europe is faced with negative birth rates, fewer workers, more claimants on the social welfare state and both policies and attitudes that resist immigration. I am sure there is something that I am failing to see in how this is to secure the future for most Europeans.
Hopefully the elites have told you their plan to deal with this situation and one of you will share it with me.
Posted by: Joe | May 09, 2004 at 05:08 PM
@ Niko:
Luckily, Donald Luskin is on track to dissect that kind of distortions with profound facts: It's the economic lies, stupid!
Hm... whom should we believe?
Quote: Goldman Sachs paints an even bleaker picture of today’s slack labor market, noting that if the same proportion of people were in the labor market today as there were seeking work in March 2001, the unemployment rate would be 7.4 percent. (Krugman referred in his column to this number.)
Posted by: | May 14, 2004 at 07:31 PM