Americans were asked if they think we are still in a recession. Majority of them said yes because they cannot find a job or have not received a raise in years. The higher profits and stock prices have not created higher wages for the employees. The current economic policy focuses on improving the overall economic growth and not improvements to employment and wages. The policies that the Obama administration have been put in effect, only help the poor and provide little help to the middle-class. Education and human capital policies have been thought of to help improve the overall growth. Most of these policies will help in the long-run.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/people-think-were-in-a-recession-dont-blame-them/?ref=economy
4 comments:
I would be interested to know who was polled to answer this question. Despite public interpretation, I think how the economy reacts to the implementation of policies is out of the hands of our elected officials. Though it is the responsibility of the administration to implement policies for the good of the economy, I think there is still a great deal that is left out of their control. As far as direct improvements to the unemployment rates and wages, it may get better in the long run, but is potentially too hard to refine and turnaround quickly.
There is a pretty steep difference between what technically constitutes recession (two consecutive quarters of GDP decline) and whatever many negative associations one might've tied to the formal recession over the last few years, including foreclosures and bankruptcies. For the layperson, the wounds of the recession are still fresh, so likely it'll be several years into a period of formal economic prosperity when polls might indicate otherwise.
I agree with Steph, who was polled to answer this question? I would think most Americans are aware that unemployment has lowered since last year and obviously that is not a characteristic of a recession. Yes, the economy is not as great as it was, but that does not strictly define a recession. Many policies are being implemented to get the economy to grow and prosper, but Americans want the economy to "be like it was". Americans must understand that the economy is always changing and almost never returns to the same characteristics. The economy has many aspects that can change to make a particular economy.
As the previous comments stated, looking at the sample group is very important. As things continue to get better for the economy, there is still improvement that is needed. There always will be. There is always a cycle of ups and downs in the economy and hopefully 2008 was the lowest for a while and we can reach a high point again soon. A perfect economy may be unattainable but there is always room for improvements. But, there is also a lot of good things for our economy as well.
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