Mark Knows It All

Today is Labor Day, and I am happy to say that some world organization is reporting what we already know. American workers are the most productive in the world. We work more hours here than in any other country. For each hour worked, we produce $35.00 worth of goods. That is second only to Norway, which produces $37.00 worth of goods for each hour worked. Hoorah for us. Now I know why we are so tired. By any standard, the American economy is humming along at a clip that my 1970’s economics teacher would have said was impossible. Our unemployment rate is 4.6%., both before and after the 9/11 recession, showing that this is the new norm. When I studied economics, I was told anything under 5% was considered full employment, and full employment was unachievable. So much for economic theory. To add to the mix, the rich may be getting richer, but so is everybody else. It has been fun watching the media try to grapple with the economy. First they said the figures were wrong. Then they said th...