The Jobs Problem

If cell phones cost $ 10,000 apiece and required $ 1,000 monthly service bills, who would own them? Well, no doubt, Warren Buffett would own one and perhaps Bill Gates and Barrack Obama as well.



But, what about the average guy. Would he own a cell phone at those prices? What if the economy was very strong, would most folks get a cell phone, if these were the costs?



The answer is pretty obvious. At that price, very few people would be interested.



This is the fundamental jobs problem in the US. Because of government mandates, the anticipation of Obamacare, litigation fears, OSHA rules, threat of unionization, a blithering variety of employment taxes, family leave laws, American labor is priced out of the market for most businesses. There are some businesses for which price is not an issue: Wall Street, the movies, professional sports, working at the White House, etc. But, for most private businesses who do the bulk of hiring in the US, labor is just way too expensive thanks to the various levels of government.



If you are a movie star and a sports celebrity (or even a reality show star), then these are not your problems. The wealthy don't really have a problem in this brave new Obama world. They are a-ok. That is why the Buffetts of the world strongly support the Obama program. It doesn't hurt rich people. It is the average guy or girl who has no real hope in the Obama economy, not the rich guy. The rich guy, like Buffett, is having a ball. this is fun for him.



The average American worker is simply not affordable anymore and it has nothing to do with with wage and salary and has everything to do with government. All of these programs to "help the average guy" have made the average guy way too expensive.



Unemployment is not going to go away in the US. This is the new reality. Those who are protected from the problem, like Warren Buffett, will continue to cheerlead for the programs that devastate middle and lower income Americans. "Let them eat cake" has a certain ring to it for the Buffett-Obama class. But, for the rest of America, life will stay pretty grim. I wonder how long Obama and Buffett can blame all of this on George Bush -- 10 years? 20 years?