If anybody wants a comprehensive look at the(ir) economy by region, by industry, by state, by income segment…here’s an amazingly comprehensive look at our nation’s progress (or stagnancy or downtrend, depending upon sector) since just before the Great Recession that hit like a ton of bricks in 2008.
It’s far from all bad – or good. it points to something i’ve been touting for years…that high body-count manufacturing jobs that paid high “middle-class” wages are pretty much a thing of the past. We can make great stuff here – and do now – but with higher tech and lower warm body count. So…when we talk of population growth, we also talk about higher “safety net” social services and supports because there will be fewer jobs to absorb the old assembly line populations that once made up the backbone of our middle-class entry level employment profile.

But this is really an important look at reality, and what’s to become of our dependence upon humans to do a machine’s job. That is, to my way of thinking, the beginning of an economic formula that precedes a population decline. The numbers will tell the story and households will feel the impact.

This will give fuel to those who wish to cut taxes and those who think that “the dole” has to be cut and cut and cut. Very difficult period coming along this pike, folks. A reality of human over burden and machine efficiency facts. Where will the bouncing ball finally settle? On sensible population self-regulation or on continued population growth without the jobs and income and future to support it?

Hmmm.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/14/business/this-side-of-the-recession.html?ref=economy