Just how bad were the aughts? My home state, Massachusetts, and a dozen other states actually lost jobs during the decade. While Massachusetts posted 2 percent negative job growth, Michigan lost 15 percent of its jobs. Though Illinois and Ohio also saw significant job losses during the 2000s, Michigan experienced about a quarter of all of America's private sector jobs lost in the aughts. The biggest winner? Texas, which added 700,000 jobs as the country as a whole lost more than 1,000,000 jobs. "This was the lost decade," Andrew Sum of Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies told the Boston Globe. "No job growth, no wage growth. It was a total wipeout."

Aren't you glad that the "free" market enabled wealth sectors at the top to gut our manufacturing base, the greatest industrial apparatus the world has ever produced, for short-term gain benefiting a select few? Aren't you glad that the market was "deregulating", allowing banksters and speculators to leech money from productive, true wealth-producing sectors for short-term gain benefiting a select few? Thanks, Reagan revolution! It was morning in America, despite the facts!

Income has stopped increasing commensurate with productivity gains since 1979. RIP golden era of American prosperity, 1945-1979.

The GOVERNMENT is the problem, for God's sake...

It's amazing that we have to explain these things in such simple terms...but you see...it's like the story of The Scorpion and Frog. You can't expect business people to be anything other than PROFIT mongers. That's what they are!!

The problem is MASSIVE, UNRELENTING regulation from everything to environmental BS to labor issues, to freakin' transfats. The US Government has made this country an INSANELY difficult place to do business. That's why you're losing jobs everyone.

Oh, and the reason we have to explain this as if we're talking with little children likely has something to do with the fact that our President's campaign slogan was from Bob the Builder.

Yes We Can!

I am so glad we listened to Al Gore and not Perot about NAFTA. Now if we could just get behind cap and trade we could get rid of the rest of the jobs and be done with it.

wayne,

LOLOLOL!!! Brilliant.

Homer wrote,

"The GOVERNMENT is the problem, for God's sake...

It's amazing that we have to explain these things in such simple terms...but you see...it's like the story of The Scorpion and Frog. You can't expect business people to be anything other than PROFIT mongers. That's what they are!!

The problem is MASSIVE, UNRELENTING regulation from everything to environmental BS to labor issues, to freakin' transfats. The US Government has made this country an INSANELY difficult place to do business. That's why you're losing jobs everyone."

Are you claiming that the loss of manufacturing jobs in America is due primarily or secondarily to government regulation? If so, what were the specific government regulations that led to this diminution, and in what specific sectors to which specific companies?

You actually don't need to explain anything to me or yourself or anyone else for that matter "in such simple terms", you need to list facts and clearly state how you are using inductive reasoning to reach a specific conclusion based on those facts. Otherwise, you're pulling crap out of your "kiester".

Also, are you against regulation universally? So, would you have opposed regulation that would have made collateralized debt obligations and structured investment vehicles more transparent to market actors? This transparency would've required *DUN DUN DUN* GOVERNMENT REGULATION, and would have created a more rational market.

PMA, I make it a habit not to debate with you because you're generally uncivil. My guess, though, is that you've had very little exposure to the seemingly endless list of regulatory agencies and their respective regulations/programs. I would also suspect the "cost of compliance" WRT to any one body of Administrative Law, esp in the corporate world, is an area you're unfamiliar with. But I'm refusing your request, mostly in the interests of my time, and I suppose you'll thump your chest and call it a victory. So, congrats in advance.

There's no win/loss in a discussion. You said that "The government is the problem, for God's sake", pretty strong language, so I was looking for some clarification, which you gave in the last comment.