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Good Economy? Tech Layoffs Are Up

Nerval's Lobster writes: If you look at the broad numbers produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy seems great, especially for the tech industry: The unemployment rate for tech pros currently stands at 2.1 percent, down from 2.3 percent in the first quarter. However, that dip isn't uniform for all sectors: The unemployment rate for Web developers climbed from 2.1 percent to 3.1 percent. Computer support specialists, network and systems administrators, computer & information systems managers, and database administrators also saw their respective unemployment rates rising slightly. Layoffs and discharges for the tech industry as a whole rose slightly in April and May (the latest months for which the BLS had numbers), to an average of 441,500 employees per month. That's higher than the first quarter, when layoffs and discharges averaged 424,300 per month. That's not to say we're on the verge of a collapse, bubble, or other economic shock, but it's definitely not great times for everybody.

293 comments

  1. Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Who says its a great economy? Have we come to the point we think this is great. The last two presidents have been a disaster.

    1. Re:Great Economy? by pwizard2 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Credit where it's due: Obama has done a pretty good job, in spite of the unprecedented obstructionism he had had to put up with every step of the way.

      --
      "It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
    2. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I agree. By almost any metric you choose to use since he came into office, with possibly the exception of the national debt, we are better off now. I remember the end of Bush's term well and it was quite fucking scary.

    3. Re:Great Economy? by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Obama has done a pretty good job

      ...of lying about unemployment, just like his predecessors before him. The published rate is not based on the inverse of the workforce participation rate. It is, frankly, invented, by ignoring large swaths of people who are out of work but not eligible to collect any unemployment benefits.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Great Economy? by tomhath · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yea, by relaxing the rules for disability claims he took almost two million people out of the labor force (which went a long ways towards cooking the unemployment rate) while also putting doing a double whammy on Social Security (instead of contributing, all those people are draining it). Great job.

    5. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > You do realize that the Democrats controlled BOTH Houses of Congress for his first two years and still couldn't get the economy moving?

      On the plus side, it didn't collapse entirely. I don't know how well you remember the economic storm clouds of 2008.

    6. Re:Great Economy? by Smidge204 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, how do you want to measure economic health?

      GDP is up ~8.5% since 2008.

      DJIA is up ~18.5% since 2008.

      Unemployment is down ~2% across the board since 2008.

      Average hourly wage is up ~4% (Although the MEDIAN seasonally adjusted wage is down slightly, perhaps indicating a widening gap in wages?)

      Perhaps the reason tech related jobs are doing relatively poorly is because they are too easily outsourced. If it doesn't matter where you are physically when you do your job, then you are literally competing with the entire planet for that job.
      =Smidge=

    7. Re:Great Economy? by jedidiah · · Score: 2

      For his first two years, we were lucky we didn't up in a 2nd great depression. Fraud in bond ratings associated with what should have been mortgage junk bonds singlehandedly brought business lending to a halt.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    8. Re:Great Economy? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Well, how do you want to measure economic health?

      With meaningful, uncooked figures. I don't care if GDP is up if the profits are going into the same old pockets. The published unemployment rate is based on who is eligible to collect benefits: it is just made-up bullshit. Stop believing it.

      Average hourly wage is up ~4% (Although the MEDIAN seasonally adjusted wage is down slightly, perhaps indicating a widening gap in wages?)

      Yes, we will never care about the average wage. Only the median wage and the minimum wage are relevant. Why would you think an average was notable?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    9. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      You shouldn't include children or college students or retired people or stay at home mothers in the unemployment rate. These are people who do not participate in the workforce because they are doing other things instead. The workforce participation rate is mostly meaningless. As a matter of fact, in a perfect, idyllic (non-Republican) world, the workforce participation rate would be as close to 0% as possible. But then who is going to generate wealth for the 1% OMG!

    10. Re:Great Economy? by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Informative

      You shouldn't include children or college students or retired people or stay at home mothers in the unemployment rate. These are people who do not participate in the workforce because they are doing other things instead.

      That's why they don't affect the workforce participation rate, which measures what percentage of people who normally work aren't working. Try again.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    11. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Bullshit. He is a major CAUSE of the obstructionism, there are certainly others to blame but the brinkmanship dramatics are a direct response to Obama not willing to work toward a compromise....even with his own party.

    12. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 0

      Well, that is the sort of thing that happens when you task the two men (Chris Dodd and Barney Frank) MOST responsible for the failure of the government to address the meltdown with the task of writing the law which was supposed to stop it from happening again. Please note that I am not saying that there are not others who share responsibility, I am merely saying that if these two had not used the power they had to promote the idea that there was nothing wrong (while profiting from the situation), perhaps one of the several attempts to correct the problem before the meltdown would have passed and worked.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    13. Re:Great Economy? by gtall · · Score: 4, Informative

      Apparently you do not realize that anyone's definition of the unemployment rate is flawed and either includes or excludes people. It isn't a real number, it is something like the bill in an Italian restaurant (if I recall Douglas Adams correctly).

      And Obama didn't come up with the prescription the government uses, it was in use well before him.

      I admit Obama isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but this isn't his fault, he isn't lying about this.

    14. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      He shoulda just wrote checks to everyone like Bush did. Then anti-austerity the government and spend like a drunken sailor and still fuck up the economy. Asshat.

    15. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      If there are no jobs, and government policy says US Citizens are not supposed to feed themselves by working for a living.....then NO WONDER people file disability! People have to survive.

    16. Re:Great Economy? by Shortguy881 · · Score: 1

      You forget he also increased unemployment benefits to two+ years, while the bureau of labor statistics only counts people unemployed under a year in their numbers. Anyone unemployed for over a year is moved into the category of not looking for employment.

      --
      Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
    17. Re:Great Economy? by tmosley · · Score: 4, Informative

      Right, by kicking the can down the road, and making exactly ZERO reforms, increasing the perverse incentives that caused the crash in the first place, we have made everything better, FOREVER.

    18. Re:Great Economy? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Apparently you do not realize that anyone's definition of the unemployment rate is flawed and either includes or excludes people.

      When the goal is to lie, and you repeat the lie, and you know what the goal is, then you're a liar. It doesn't matter how many excuses you have.

      I admit Obama isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but this isn't his fault, he isn't lying about this.

      Either he's an idiot, which I don't believe, or he knows the figure is a lie but he's repeating it as if it were the truth, which is just a different kind of lie. Which would you like? Or do you see a third way?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    19. Re:Great Economy? by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Also there are always winners and loosers in the sector as times are changing.

      Web Developers: Decline in the need of Web Developers is expected as right now, much more sales and marketing are happening on social media sites. So there is less need for Web developers to keep corporate billboard sites.

      System Admins: The the rise of cloud, there is less of a need for small-medium sized data centers.

      Now just because there is less of a need, it doesn't mean these are bad careers, just there is less demand then they were before.

      Such as Mainframe developer and Cobol programmer... They are still needed, just not as many as it was 20 years ago.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    20. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Insightful

      look to the republican debate last night: "less government regulation"

      the democrats have been complicit in the failure that led to 2008 only when they have gone along willingly with the republican wet dreams about how less government regulation makes magic better world: of companies not punished for polluting, companies not punished for tanking the economy, companies not punished for screwing up the food supply, etc.

      the democrats bear about as much responsibility as the guy who handed the murderer the gun. who is the real culprit here? which party loves, loves, loves less regulation?

      that doesn't mean all regulation is good. some regulation sucks and needs to be thrown out. but the people behind the purse books don't fucking care about healthy environment, food, economy, etc., they want all regulation destroyed, evne the good and important parts. they just care about making as much money as they fucking can right now, fuck the rest. fuck your grandkids, fuck the poor and middle class. fuck them all: i'm making money, screw you. and which party do such people give most too and which party whines loudest about "evil regulations?"

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    21. Re:Great Economy? by gfxguy · · Score: 1

      Agreed - he said he wanted to work with the other side, but then whenever they met he was like "hey, I won, get over it!" and wouldn't compromise at all. Now not compromising might be a good thing under some circumstances (too many chefs spoil the meal - you don't want to see good legislation watered down by compromise), but the republicans can say the same thing. I'm neither democrat nor republican, but looking at how democrats and republicans act, the confirmation bias for "their side" is absolutely astounding, and you can't point it out to them - they go nuts.

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    22. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Which is why I like to look at the other end. The total employment numbers. Not the number of unemployed. It is a much better metric of what is going on (as it is not as baked).

      https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PAYEMS/
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment-to-population_ratio

      Basically either you have a full time job or you dont, you either have a part time job or you dont. 'Looking for' is irrelevant, 'farm' is irrelevant. It started because some bright spark decided part time means something else. They also bake inflation numbers too. For example I like to use cars and houses as a factor of inflation. As both of those have not changed much in 50 years (other than slightly better tech).

      The baking of the numbers is a Ford/Carter/Regan invention. The rest of the president administrations have tweaked it more and more. The 'why' is because of confidence. If people are confident people spend money. If they are fearful the horde it. So the administrations since Ford. Have baked the numbers to make it 'look good'. Because it literally becomes self fulfilling.

      Also recessions hurt jobs? What a shock! SHOCKED I tell you. Obama could do nothing or even actively try to hurt it and jobs would come back. In the US we do not have a 'base pay' sort of thing. So yeah most people will start looking for a job or make one themselves. For some reason they like to eat and have a place to live (its weird... /sarc)

      Why would you think an average was notable?
      He likes to compare himself to Bill Gates?

    23. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What that means is the low levels of participation we see today are not primarily due to the economic cycle. They're due to a much longer lasting demographic influence," Wolfers said. "It's actually something that's going to continue over the next decade."

      Baby boomers – made up of the large subset of Americans born between 1946 and 1964 – dominated the domestic labor market for years. But now that they're leaving the workforce en masse, their exodus has dragged (and will continue to drag) on the country's overall participation rate.

      "Baby boomers in a big lump are leaving the labor force. And that explains about half of the drop in the labor force participation rate between 2007 and the end of 2014," says Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor. "The second factor is education – people getting more education and staying in school longer. If you get an MBA, you're out of the labor force for three years. If you get a Ph.D., you're out of the labor force for 5 years, maybe 7 years."

      The number of individuals enrolled in post-secondary degree-granting institutions, which includes both undergraduate and post-baccalaureate programs, ballooned more than 52 percent between 1990 and 2014, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. With more Americans staying in school longer, the domestic labor force is operating with a constricted supply.

    24. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obama is just Dick Cheney in blackface. I would say he's just George W. Bush in blackface, but Bush was never President like Obama and Cheney.

    25. Re:Great Economy? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I agree. By almost any metric you choose to use since he came into office, with possibly the exception of the national debt, we are better off now. I remember the end of Bush's term well and it was quite fucking scary.

      What a lot of people do not understand was that in 2008, we were on a precipice.

      The years of using risky mortgages as an investment vehicle

      The years of running the presses for emergency appropriations

      The years of people living off their credit cards and re-fi's

      And even though that was insanity enough, fighting war on two fronts at the same time as reducing taxes (for some) ranks in my book as fiscal attempted suicide.

      2008 could have been the year that the Great depression of the 1930's could have been dwarfed.

      So yes - despite some folks visceral hatred of the "Magic Negro" and his appointees and cabinet, something amazing happened. Despite an amazing amount of money that vanished into thin air, despite a decade of financial voodoo, we got through it with a lot less pain than it looked like we were due.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    26. Re:Great Economy? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      You mean by crating the weakest post-War recovery the U.S. has seen

      A weak recovery beats a recession every single time. Slow growth beats contraction and half a loaf is better than the loafer who was in the White House before him.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    27. Re:Great Economy? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Right, by kicking the can down the road, and making exactly ZERO reforms, increasing the perverse incentives that caused the crash in the first place, we have made everything better, FOREVER.

      You talking about the simultaneous emergency appropriations to finance a two front war, plus tax reductions at the same time?

      Oops, sorry, wrong timeline.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    28. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A man who tells lies merely hides the truth. But a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it.

    29. Re:Great Economy? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 2

      For his first two years, we were lucky we didn't up in a 2nd great depression. Fraud in bond ratings associated with what should have been mortgage junk bonds singlehandedly brought business lending to a halt.

      I wouldn't say single-handedly, but it certainly was a major contributor. Unfortunately no one was really punished for all that fraud; not just by the ratings agencies but by loan originators and the banks that sold mortgage backed securities. Eric Holder institutionalized "too big to jail", basically saying that since the crimes were so immense, and their effects so far reaching, we couldn't hold anyone accountable for fear of destroying the system. He is now back at his old firm Covington & Burling, where they literally saved his office for him while he was Attorney General. He is now representing the very same banks that he would not prosecute while in office.

      The fix is in. We can argue about whether Obama's actions were good or bad, or helped or didn't, or were too much or not enough. But the real issue is that the system has been captured, and we can't remove the parasite without killing the host (or so we're told, anyway).

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    30. Re:Great Economy? by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      I'm neither democrat nor republican, but looking at how democrats and republicans act, the confirmation bias for "their side" is absolutely astounding, and you can't point it out to them - they go nuts.

      Just looking at all the comments above this point pretty much proves your point. :^)

      I've stopped voting for the two main parties myself. My votes have been pretty fairly spread between Reps, Dems, and third party. For the last presidential election I went with the Green Party choice. Maybe next year I'll finally go Libertarian, if they field a better candidate than usual.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    31. Re:Great Economy? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      workforce participation rate

      "Workforce participation rate" is a scam. Why are we better off when larger percentages of the population are working? Would we be better off as a society if every adult man and woman was working full time? The "workforce participation" rate was much lower in the golden '50's and '60's than it is today, yet we somehow managed to survive as a society.

      When did a desire for 100% workforce participation become the new normal? You've got to know when you're being played.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    32. Re:Great Economy? by HiThereImBob · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Well, how do you want to measure economic health?

      GDP is up ~8.5% since 2008.

      DJIA is up ~18.5% since 2008.

      Unemployment is down ~2% across the board since 2008.

      Average hourly wage is up ~4% (Although the MEDIAN seasonally adjusted wage is down slightly, perhaps indicating a widening gap in wages?)

      Perhaps the reason tech related jobs are doing relatively poorly is because they are too easily outsourced. If it doesn't matter where you are physically when you do your job, then you are literally competing with the entire planet for that job. =Smidge=

      I would start by not using the low point of the greatest recession in living memory as my reference point.

    33. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean by crating the weakest post-War recovery the U.S. has seen, even with the cooked books his Administration uses?

      You do realize that the Democrats controlled BOTH Houses of Congress for his first two years and still couldn't get the economy moving?

      Check the amount of Filibusters and blocked votes during that two years.

    34. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Right, by kicking the can down the road, and making exactly ZERO reforms, increasing the perverse incentives that caused the crash in the first place, we have made everything better, FOREVER.

      The US DOJ should have arrested, charged, and convicted every one of the Wall Street bankers club and sent them to North Korea. I do not give a damn about their human rights when they acted with criminal recklessness causing the economy to collapse on a global scale. Obama is as much as traitor to the People as his Republican predecessor. For a constitutional scholar Obama should be executed for treason before December 31, 2015. Seize his children and adopt them out to some crack-whore in Chicago.

    35. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 2

      Apparently, you do not remember the numerous speeches which both Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd made in the 2003-2007 range stating that not only was there nothing wrong with the housing/mortgage market, but that the market was in great shape. They made such speeches every time someone proposed that something be done to prevent the coming meltdown. Their insistence that the housing mortgage market was doing better than fine and that those trying to fix it were just making partisan points played a large role in the problem not getting addressed before things blew up. I know you won't believe that since I have observed that you believe that Democrats are the font of all good and Republicans do everything with evil motives.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    36. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meh, on the precipice brought to us by the same people in power today. I see no real change or benefit to the US save the long extensions of unemployment benefits to keep people in some kind of housing... those policies where instituted in the 30's and are subject to the whim of the idiots in charge, luckily they came through this time.

      I can see the level of difficulty people are having in the news, hopelessness, violent crime, and mass killings by those who no doubt on the edge.

      i think the tepid growth has caused or was precipitated by companies going elsewhere, and being allowed to do so, with impunity from out government to both the exportation of jobs and the importation of foreign workers to the remaining. In effect, no real change.

    37. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Well, yes, but recessions end. Throughout history recessions, such as the Dodd-Frank recession, recovered about the same point where that recession did. Except that those which occurred post WW II were all stronger recoveries than this one. If Obama is such a master of the economy, why was he unable to match ANY other President in that time period? And do not claim it was because the recession was so bad, because previously the worse the recession the stronger the recovery.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    38. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Insightful

      you completely glossed over the part where the republicans want less regulation the most. since reagan this is their wet dream. that you can point to democratic morons who go along with their fantasy does not absolve the party most responsible for the deregulation push

      "the republicans have been shouting the most about deregulation for the longest time, by many multiples"

      "well, i found some democrat morons who went along with that, so let's shift all blame to them"

      partisan blindness: negate all critical thinking on the topic, just shift all blame to the party you hate the most, forget actually making sense or intellectual honesty on the topic

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    39. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      people like you scare me more than the bible beaters. You are the faux informed. You THINK you understand, but you don't. No single person has fucked your kids or grand kids more than the current prez. america is done. You think I should be forced to believe that government oversight is a fucking plan? My information is ALL OVER the world now thanks to the "oversight" at OPM. So ya, i'll take my chances on the evil corporations. At least they are 100% predictable.

    40. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not quite - the Democrats didn't have a filibuster proof majority in the senate. The TECHNICALLY had control of both houses but EFFECTIVELY (what actually matters) did not control the senate. Legislation cannot be passed it if doesn't come up for a vote.

    41. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      My information is ALL OVER the world now thanks to the "oversight" at OPM

      so is this alex jones flavor herp derp or are you a free agent crackpot?

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    42. Re:Great Economy? by operagost · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, it is his fault, because going in, in 2009, he claimed he was going to make government transparent. Of course, he continued the same policies of obfuscation and deceit, plus adding a few of his own.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    43. Re:Great Economy? by khallow · · Score: 1

      Credit where it's due: Obama has done a pretty good job, in spite of the unprecedented obstructionism he had had to put up with every step of the way.

      Put me on the "nay" side. He's done more than his fair share of fiddling while Rome burns. The fossil fuel stuff is a good example. Maybe right after the worst recession in 80 years is not the best time to try to reduce fossil fuel consumption (for example, blocking off shore drilling and putting huge constraints on coal burning plants). Same goes with the Obamacare crap (we still don't have significant parts of the legislation active yet). He also completely blew the Keynesian spending strategy (such as TARP and ARRA).

      And there's the ridiculous level of creativity in promoting US government power. During his two terms, there's been an unusually large number of unanimous Supreme Court decisions overturning some overreach of the federal government. For example, the EPA once argued that a family from Idaho didn't have standing to sue the EPA for blocking construction of a home until the family paid massive punitive fines first.

      Those kinds of games don't help the economy and they demonstrate that he hasn't been focusing on stuff important to the US economy.

    44. Re:Great Economy? by khallow · · Score: 2

      Only the median wage and the minimum wage are relevant.

      As an aside, the minimum wage has always been $0 an hour.

    45. Re:Great Economy? by operagost · · Score: 1

      Prices are up 10.8% since 2008.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    46. Re:Great Economy? by RabidReindeer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The "get over it" comment wasn't very diplomatic, but on the other side you already had Republican leaders explicitly stating that their primary goal was to prevent a second Obama presidency. When politics trumps good government, that's not good for the nation.

      Truth is, the Republican Party has pretty well committed to ensuring that nothing Obama proposes should get done and everything that he does do should be undone to the point that it seems that they want his historical legacy to be as if he'd never been. And when it comes to "uncompromising", most of the people who brag about being "uncompromising" seem to be on the Conservative side. Uncompromising isn't the virtue they pretend it is. We're trying to run a country, not fight Satan himself. Although listening to some you'd be hard-pressed to tell.

      The partisan spiral seems to have started with Newt Gingrich and the (uncompromising) Moral Majority. Both sides have taken their turns as their respective stars rise and set, but it really needs to stop.

    47. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When 'unemployment' (however defined) is high demand for jobs is high, workers are competing with each other for jobs. That lowers salary which lowers spending which is bad for a consumer driven economy.

      When 'unemployment' (however defined) is low demand for workers is high, employers are competing with each other for workers. That raises salary which raises spending which is good for a consumer driven economy.

    48. Re:Great Economy? by blue9steel · · Score: 2

      Unfortunately no one was really punished for all that fraud; not just by the ratings agencies but by loan originators and the banks that sold mortgage backed securities.

      I remember the savings and loan crisis and that's the reaction I wanted to see. Prosecutions in the hundreds and thousands, enough to send a giant shudder of fear through the financial industry and get them back to a more conservative posture. Instead we gave them a big pass, so of course the lesson they took from that was "go ahead and do it again, the profits outweigh the consequences".

    49. Re:Great Economy? by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      And do not claim it was because the recession was so bad, because previously the worse the recession the stronger the recovery.

      If you're going to compare you really need to use the great depression as your benchmark, this was on that sort of scale and the recovery there was pretty slow.

    50. Re:Great Economy? by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Well, how do you want to measure economic health?

      There's the rub. Government and Economists use different metrics than the voters do. Just because corporations are doing well doesn't automatically mean that the people are also doing well. When you're fearful for your continued income - that it may be interrupted or reduced, then you don't feel that the "real" economy is in such great shape. And while trickle-down wealth has pretty well lost all credibility, there's plenty of evidence to show that bubble-up poverty is real. If I don't know if I'll have a paycheck next month, I'm likely to put off purchasing things and even more likely to avoid investing in things where I could actually lose money. For economists, a recession is a sequence of numbers. For Main Street, it's a state of mind.

      If that goes on long enough and is widespread enough, however, eventually it's going to bubble up all the way to the "official" metrics. Possibly even another Great Recession, but with less optimism about getting out of it next time, since last time things never really got that good for the consumers who drive it all.

    51. Re:Great Economy? by blue9steel · · Score: 4, Informative

      Agreed - he said he wanted to work with the other side, but then whenever they met he was like "hey, I won, get over it!" and wouldn't compromise at all.

      I'm a Libertarian, and that's not how it looked to someone who wasn't part of one of the major parties. Sure, he staked out a position on things he wanted, but as best I could tell he bent over nearly backwards trying to broker some kind of deal. The Republicans were so focused on not working with him they gave up an opportunity to get legislation passed that would actually move things farther towards their philosophy. Democrats are horrible negotiators because they believe in government, that always leads them to make compromises which often times give away too much.

    52. Re:Great Economy? by funwithBSD · · Score: 1, Troll

      While no fan of Obama, he is using the same yardstick that every other President was measured by in the last 15 or so years.

      Yes, it is a lie, but it is a lie we agreed on as the standard. Changing the goalposts in the middle of the presidency for arguments sake is also disingenuous at best.

      Anyone who live through the Carter recession, Regan boom, Bush 1 recession, Clinton boom, internet bust, Bush 2 boom/bust cycle, knows this one is fundamentally different. In part because the industrial age continues to fade, and the tech revolution continues to grow, while our measuring sticks don't change.
      (and in part because Obama's policies are objectively and rationally not working as well as he claimed they would)
      The whole process needs to be revamped with the increase in tech workers. The current system is based around factory and 40hr a week officer workers.

      Adjustments need to be made, with clear indications of how the raw numbers differ, for:
      People who want to work a full time job but can't
      People who choose to work less than full time.
      An "overemployment" number to show workers who work full time, but report more than 40hrs per week. Those hours need to be part of the unemployment number as they directly add to the unemployment number if a company can avoid hiring more people by making workers put in more hours, overtime or salary.
      Self employed are not counted in the current numbers, they should be. Too many "independent contractors" are hidden in the numbers.

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    53. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Losers", loser.

    54. Re:Great Economy? by gfxguy · · Score: 1

      We saw it in vastly different lights, then. Democrats had "won," and wouldn't budge; republicans were trying to satisfy tea party types and wouldn't budge... and the news painted the republicans as the obstructionists (as they typically do, except for Fox and their ilk).

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    55. Re:Great Economy? by goarilla · · Score: 1

      But the real issue is that the system has been captured, and we can't remove the parasite without killing the host (or so we're told, anyway).

      So, we need to contact the Tok'Ra.

    56. Re:Great Economy? by goarilla · · Score: 1

      Well you don't have the worldwide demand WWII gave you.

    57. Re:Great Economy? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Well, how do you want to measure economic health? GDP is up ~8.5% since 2008. DJIA is up ~18.5% since 2008. Unemployment is down ~2% across the board since 2008.

      Slowest economic recovery since the great depression. GDP going up 8% in seven years is less than 1% per year, not very good. And unemployment still sucks, especially when you look at the underemployed.

      I don't blame Obama for this, the president can't single-handedly fix the economy, just pointing out it hasn't been too great.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    58. Re:Great Economy? by tnk1 · · Score: 2

      I think his point was, in the 1950's half the population wasn't working, which is to say, women mostly stayed at home.

      Today, we have closer to full participation and wages are lower in a relative sense.

      It is great that women are now working, but it may have been a better world for us when only one person was working in a household.

      Further, the point of technology is that people should not *have* to work. The problem is that the gains we are making with automation are just being used to simply not pay workers, as opposed to eliminating drudgery. We have a world were people don't have to work, but we still insist that they work to live.

      We really should look at how we can come up with a basic income for people now that we can do so. There are some hurdles to that, because we can outstrip our ability to pay out if we say, reproduce too often, or even live too long, but I don't think there's a reason that people have to suffer today in Western countries simply because they can't work at a job where the human will actually do less than automation would.

    59. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are those numbers adjusted for inflation?

    60. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you think the OPM breach was fake? brilliant.

    61. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      i don't even know what the fuck you are talking about

      do you understand the fucking topic of the fucking thread? do you have the mental wherewithall to do that?

      nevermind that changing the topic is usually the sign of conceding a point, dishonestly

      or changing the topic randomly means you're such a moron you don't even try to understand what the fucking topic in front of you is, you just think throwing random crap is supposed to be coherent in any way or that anyone is going to fucking listen to you. a scatterbrained weakminded crackpot

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    62. Re:Great Economy? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      April 30, 2009 to September 25, 2009 - filibuster proof Senate.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    63. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      The issue has nothing to do with regulating everything you do (which is what Democrats want) vs not regulating anything (which is what you think Republicans want). It is about changing BAD laws which allowed certain people (Chris Dodd and Barney Frank...you may have heard of them in the law named after them) to profit off of the mortgage mess which caused the 2008 meltdown.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    64. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      No, it was not on the scale of the Great Depression, except of course, as much as Obama made the same mistakes FDR did.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    65. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All common sense goes out the window when it comes to Rodeo Clown and will be modded down appropriately.

      The "great economy" is a facade covering all these things you mention. It's Blue Smoke and Mirrors.

    66. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      You mean the demand that allowed George W. Bush to oversee a much stronger recovery than Obama did, even with an attack on the U.S. was a result of WWII?

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    67. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The also controlled BOTH houses of Congress the last two years of Bush's Presidency.

      Which, seems to coincide with when everything started going into the toilet.

    68. Re:Great Economy? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 0

      Well, when you're adding over $1 trillion a year in debt, you gotta do SOMETHING to keep the spending somewhat hidden...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    69. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know how old you are, but for me the early 1990s represents the worst recession in living memory. It was much worse than 2007-2009.

    70. Re:Great Economy? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Well, how do you want to measure economic health?

      GDP is up ~8.5% since 2008.

      A solid 1.1% per year, well below the historical average post WWII... Not sure I'd count that as a good thing, given it's within the margin of error of calculating inflation (meaning - we may have some real GDP growth or we may not, it's so close to the error we can't tell).

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    71. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      The issue has nothing to do with regulating everything you do (which is what Democrats want) vs not regulating anything (which is what you think Republicans want)

      you mean like social issues? (abortion, gay marriage, marijuana, etc.)

      It is about changing BAD laws which allowed certain people (Chris Dodd and Barney Frank...you may have heard of them in the law named after them) to profit off of the mortgage mess which caused the 2008 meltdown

      the guys bankrolling your congresscritter do not want laws which effect their bottom line. it doesn't matter if the law is good or bad or not, they only care if the law costs them money

      but you want us to:

      1. forget about those plutocrats who buy your congresscritter

      2. forget about the party that screams deregulation in the name of plutocrat interests the loudest, by far

      no, you want us to blame two democrat stooges for all of it

      so your derangement is that you don't actually care about making sense or being intellectually honest on the topic. all you care about is punishing the democratic party any way you can, even by using subject matter that anything more than the slightest shallow analysis would mean you want to go after plutocrats and republicans way more than two democrat fall guys

      if you actually care about the topic you say you care about, then the republican party is a greater enemy to you than two democrat stooges ever could be

      so i am saying that you are intellectually dishonest and a blind shallow partisan hack: you don't actually care about the topics you say you care about, because if you thought for the slightest second about those topics you say you care about, you'd realize who is really creating the problem

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    72. Re:Great Economy? by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      Care to point to relevant federal laws passed during Obama administration and relaxing the disability claim requirements? Ah, thought so.

    73. Re:Great Economy? by khallow · · Score: 1

      the democrats have been complicit in the failure that led to 2008 only when they have gone along willingly with the republican wet dreams about how less government regulation makes magic better world: of companies not punished for polluting, companies not punished for tanking the economy, companies not punished for screwing up the food supply, etc.

      Well, that makes them complicit then. And they're so much better when they're shielding ATF officials who are accessories (in the legal sense of the word) to something like 200 murders and counting. Guess I'm still butthurt over the Fast and Furious thing and that hypocritical thing about punishing people for legal behavior, but not punishing people for genuine crime.

    74. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      As opposed to you who SUPPORTS the party which makes it possible for those plutocrats to thrive by increasing the regulations which keep people from entering into the market and offering services which compete with those plutocrats.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    75. Re:Great Economy? by khallow · · Score: 1

      If you're going to compare you really need to use the great depression as your benchmark, this was on that sort of scale and the recovery there was pretty slow.

      The Great Depression had similar characteristics, an interfering president, Roosevelt who derailed the recovery he inherited to create a second recession as well as a long period of unemployment. If it weren't for the necessities of the Second World War, the US might still be in that depression today.

    76. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > t is a lie we agreed on as the standard

      No, it is not. Fixing the problem requires data. Flawed data is worse than no data. Your opinion looks religious, since you're believing a lie in the sky and then trying to use it to justify conclusions. -1

    77. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 1990s recession was 8 months. Unemployment peaked at 7.8%. In 2008-10 it lasted 18 months and unemployment peaked at 10%

      The 2008-10 one was much worse. And in the USA it was mild compared to many places.

    78. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy Fuck dude.

      The Dodd Frank law was bad. Bush and the Republicans wanted to change it but YOUR HEROS blocked it and said all was good. Then the inevitable happened.

      All the distraction and "but, but, but...less regulation!" doesn't change one god damned fucking thing about that.

      Stop being a Face Painting Homer and either address the issue or shut the fuck up.

    79. Re:Great Economy? by goarilla · · Score: 2

      No I'm talking about the fast recoveries in the 50's, 60's, 70's. But you're right Obama isn't doing *everything* he can to save the economy.
      Because he wants to accomplish some of his campaign points and 8 years really isn't that long.

    80. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He got everything he wanted the first two years because both houses of Congress were controlled by the Democrats. Until this year, Harry Reid blocked everything that Obama didn't like. He blames everyone and everything else for his failings and takes all the credit for any successes. The economy is barely crawling along at very low rates. The drop in unemployment is more due to people dropping out of the work force than people finding jobs. IMHO, he's done a shitty job on domestic issues and has a horrendous foreign policy track record. Pretty good job? Keep drinking the kool-aid.

    81. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      LOL

      if there are no regulations, who do think wins? the established players. you think with no rules in the market the little guy has a chance? you want to know the kind of market abuses that can go on without any rules in the market? you're completel yignorant of this subject matter, why are you talking about it?

      what you're talking about is *corrupt* regulations

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      which is also a huge problem

      so what you want is to fight "the corrupt regulations* not *regulations*

      do you understand?

      would you kind getting the slightest education on a topic before opening your ignorant mouth?

      as for democrats being the evil party that makes corrupt regulations... LOL!

      how can someone be so twisted around in propaganda and ignorance?

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    82. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Less regulation doesn't mean no regulation. An environmental engineer friend of mine has said that one of the most maddening things about his job is dealing with government regulation: multiple layers of government bureaucracies writing regulations for the same thing, most often contradicting each other (or many times, themselves), all insuring that there is no way in hell that anyone can comply with them all. He basically has to try to find a balance and come up with enough supporting data to show that he's come up with the best solution whenever his client is raked over the coals by the regulators. Not if, but when because damn near every company is in violation of something. That's the problem. Streamline regulations so that it's straightforward for companies to "Do The Right Thing" and make it easier for regulators to make sure people are in compliance.

    83. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      Finish the thought: Bush and the Republicans wanted to change it how?

      In vact, how are Republicans still trying to change Dodd Frank, in what ways?

      Do you need help using Google news search? Is that too hard for you? I can paste the link if you need me to.

      Think. then have an actually valid opinion.

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    84. Re:Great Economy? by Smidge204 · · Score: 1

      The low point was in 2009-2010. Things were only just getting started in 2008, so I chose that year as right before things went to shit. Early 2008 was actually a high point.

      Also, "in living memory" ? Have you graduated high school yet?
      =Smidge=

    85. Re:Great Economy? by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      The size of the disaster was equivalent. Yes, the response was poor, but the response during the depression was downright stupid, so that's an improvement and why it wasn't as terrible.

    86. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not just two Democratic stooges (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/). Calling for sensible regulation reform is one thing, opting for no regulation when it is clear that fraud is occurring is another. Dodd, Frank, Rubin, and Summers are responsible for the latter and the bigger problem (IMHO).

    87. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      like the labor participation rate, average annual income

      Huh, weird, pay what you paid in the 1970's and get what you got in the 1970's. The President doesn't have the power to make everyone pay more.

      effective tax rate

      I can't find this PDF on cbo.gov now, but google has a scrambled version of it on http://webcache.googleusercont... which looks like effective tax rates went up about 3% since 2009.

      average growth rate

      http://www.tradingeconomics.co... looks like it's currently around +2%, which isn't very good, but it's a damn sight better than -8% at 2009.

      percentage of income allocated to healthcare

      Which has been growing every year for decades. Obamacare failed to stop it.

      percentage of population receiving government payments

      Pay 1970's equivalent salaries after 40 years of inflation, get welfare.

      The liberal Obama's been terrible, but the only thing worse would be another George W Bush. I'm sure when the Republicans beat Hillary, we'll have an amazing postwar recovery after the Iran war.

    88. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      and which party screams loudest and for the longest time about no regulations and has done the most to destroy regulations?

      but no, we have these stooges who agreed with us momentarily, therefore they deserve all blame

      do you want to actually solve the problem, or play moronic partisan games?

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    89. Re:Great Economy? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      While no fan of Obama, he is using the same yardstick that every other President was measured by in the last 15 or so years.

      That's my point exactly.

      Yes, it is a lie, but it is a lie we agreed on as the standard. Changing the goalposts in the middle of the presidency for arguments sake is also disingenuous at best.

      Anyone who live through the Carter recession, Regan boom, Bush 1 recession, Clinton boom, internet bust, Bush 2 boom/bust cycle, knows this one is fundamentally different. In part because the industrial age continues to fade, and the tech revolution continues to grow, while our measuring sticks don't change.

      Well, make up your mind. Either we need to change our yardstick, or we don't. Which is it?

      Adjustments need to be made, with clear indications of how the raw numbers differ, for:

      (etc.)

      Sure, I agree, but first the goal has to be to get real numbers.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    90. Re:Great Economy? by jriding · · Score: 1

      You mean when CONGRESS defunded the SEC so they would not be able to have the manpower to go after and convict the criminal wall street bankers?

      --
      love the taste, hate the texture
    91. Re:Great Economy? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Well, nobody's going to become a child based on employment opportunities, but people may retire, go to college, or become homemakers because they can't get a job. These things aren't completely independent.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    92. Re:Great Economy? by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      As an aside, the minimum wage has always been $0 an hour.

      Lol nope. Some interns pay for the privilege.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    93. Re:Great Economy? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Which, given that this is 2015, means inflation has been a bit over 1%, which is pretty darn low for modern times.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    94. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      So, you ignore the faster recovery under George W. Bush and forgive Obama for not doing better on the economy because he campaigned on doing things to damage the economy?

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    95. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Oh yes, that explains why as government regulations have gotten stricter small businesses have thrived at the expense of big business...Wait, no, it's the other way around. As those government regulations, which you claim help small businesses compete, have become stricter and more extensive, it has become harder to start a business to compete with big business and big businesses have gotten bigger.
      It is time to stop theorizing about how big business dominates in the absence of regulation and notice that what actually happens is that big business gets bigger as government regulation gets bigger.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    96. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Well, only because this time the Republicans were able to stop the President from doing what he wanted to do.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    97. Re:Great Economy? by goarilla · · Score: 1

      Just out of curiosity, how was the New Deal bad ?

    98. Re:Great Economy? by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      I disagree. Although I wasn't particularly happy with many of the Democratic responses, they were right in one thing, increasing Federal spending was the correct course of action. That's the one thing that Republicans most opposed. If it were up to them, they would have slashed spending much as happened in the great depression and with similar results. It's pretty straightforward sectoral balances stuff.

    99. Re:Great Economy? by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      Although there were some things to complain about with regards to the New Deal, I was actually talking more about the poor response by the Fed and the attempts to cut Federal spending as things were melting down.

    100. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Workforce participation rate" is a scam. Why are we better off when larger percentages of the population are working?

      Because instead of doing something labor intensive like adding insulation to old houses (as well as sealing, crackfixing, HVAC upgrades) they are instead sitting on their asses or thugging.

      They are watching TV instead of babysitting. They are cashing in food stamps instead of working in the restaurant industry.

      They are NET DRAINS on the economy instead of POSITIVE CONTRIBUTORS.

      If you've earned your retirement, I hope you and everyone gets to enjoy it (keeping in mind, some people enjoy work more than being a layabout).

      I'm a minarchist/anarchist/anarco-capitalist type and even I would prefer a mincome style scheme to the patchwork of bullshit we have going on. Provided it replaces SSN and education dollars too (I'd prefer a life-long flat rate, but that's just me, if it dips at 18-54 or something to discourage laziness, I can live with that). Not that I think it is a good idea, but a better way to do the wrong thing.

    101. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      So, you think that they should have increased the deficit by even more than the $1 trillion they did in Obama's first year? I would argue that it was the fact that the Democrats increased the deficit from less then $500 billion to over $1.4 trillion is all the explanation we need for the soft recovery we have seen.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    102. Re:Great Economy? by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      So, you think that they should have increased the deficit by even more than the $1 trillion they did in Obama's first year?

      Weirdly yes. The Federal Government's budget as a currency issuer does not work the same way as a household or state budget. (both of whom are currency users not issuers) The additional deficit could have been accomplished either through a temporary tax cut or an increase in spending. The limiting factor on government spending under a fiat currency regime is not their ability to borrow, which is infinite, rather it is inflation which has been remarkably low lately. It's a hard concept to grasp, especially for a fiscal conservative like me, but that's how our system works. Here's a good explanation if you're interested: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/pa...

    103. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Then we have no common ground on which to come to an understanding. If you ever decide to visit the real world, let me know. I will be happy to show you around.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    104. Re:Great Economy? by khallow · · Score: 1

      Good point. I'd call it tourism not work myself, but there it is.

    105. Re: Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Regulations are the problem in the first place. It was government regulations that forced banks to get rid of the "racism" built into the system and give loans to minorities who couldn't afford them. Carter did it, Clinton did it, and it still goes on to this day despite the lesson we (should have) learned not 10 years ago.

    106. Re:Great Economy? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2
      Boy, some Teabagger with mod points went through and modded every post about the present occupant's ressurecting the economy as off topic.

      Yeah as we all know a topic That starts with "Good Economy" is not about the economy.

      Why what could be the reason for the off topic mods.

      Give credit where credit is due, or at least go back to whining about the confederate flag, his birth certificate, or how gay's getting married dstroys the sanctity of your 5th marriage.

      Quick" Mod this down to show you diagree with it!.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    107. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      You are correct, but a newly elected President can only do so much. Don't hold Obama's failure to collapse the economy against him, He tried.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    108. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Well, first, I am not arguing for no regulation. I am arguing for LESS regulation. My question is, do you really believe that the little guy has a chance with the level of rules that are currently in place? Even if the regulations were not corrupt, complying with them costs money which can more easily be adsorbed by the large, established players.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    109. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      I would love to solve the problem. Our discussion suffers from the fact that you think that the symptoms are the problem and that they can be solved by making the real problem worse.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    110. Re:Great Economy? by tmosley · · Score: 1

      It actually doesn't, when you achieve that weak growth by manipulating the denominator (ie destroying the value of money). All you get in the long run with such tactics is the destruction of economies by false economic signals.

    111. Re:Great Economy? by tmosley · · Score: 1

      It was and remains a ponzi scheme. One that everyone who works "legitimately" is forced to participate in. Once population growth stops, which it has in native Americans, it's all over. This will be the last generation that participates in this idiot scheme.

    112. Re:Great Economy? by tmosley · · Score: 1

      But now that they're leaving the workforce en masse,

      No, they aren't. They are staying in the workforce, and graduating students are never able to enter it. Hand waving isn't going to dispel facts, and the fact is that the boomers aren't retiring, and it is the young people who are leaving/never entering the workforce "en masse".

      But as a consolation prize, you sure sounded smart using that French term. I learned it as a boy from the Foxtrot book of the same name.

    113. Re:Great Economy? by tmosley · · Score: 1

      The only time it is good not to work is when you are fully self reliant. Do you really want to say that the majority, or even a significant minority of those not participating in the workforce have achieved such a state?

    114. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      Our discussion suffers from the fact that you think that the symptoms are the problem and that they can be solved by making the real problem worse.

      we need strong effective regulations, free from bad regulations created by regulatory capture: big business bankrolling congresscritters and telling them what regulations to write

      do you have a problem with that? because that's 100% in line with what i've said

      and the largest enemy to getting that done is plutocrats and the Republican party who constantly whine about "evil regulations." by which they mean any regulation that hurts their donor's profits.

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    115. Re:Great Economy? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      The only time it is good not to work is when you are fully self reliant.

      You equate "work" with "work for wages". There was a time when it was very common for one parent to stay at home and raise kids. That parent was most certainly not "self reliant". Are we better off now that both parents absolutely have to work and we have latch key kids?

      Think about it, we've got all this automation and computerization of the workforce, yet MORE people have to work for families to survive, and now you're telling us that MORE people have to work for communities to survive. Who really benefits from "100% workforce participation"? Certainly not the people working.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    116. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      We have too many regulations now and you want more. You live in a fantasy world where it is possible to have regulations which are free from regulatory capture. The very fact that we need regulations of any sort demonstrates that this is the case. The largest enemy of getting "strong effective regulations, free from bad regulations created by regulatory capture..." is human nature/

      However, even if it were possible to have such regulations regulations always favor larger, established businesses. A larger business can more easily absorb the cost of complying with the paperwork necessary to demonstrate that one is in compliance with the law, which is why, big business always comes around to supporting more regulation in their industry.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    117. Re:Great Economy? by tmosley · · Score: 1

      They are better off working because they need the income than not working while still needing the income.

      And yes, housewives were, in fact, the self reliance side of the equation in those families. They cooked the food (much cheaper than eating out), raised the children (cheaper than daycare), etc.

      Computerization and automation are great, but they haven't yet created as much productivity as the government has confiscated or destroyed through taxation, inflation, and regulation. These factors are the driving force pushing women into the workforce over the last 40+ years. That may change in the future, either by a dramatic reshuffling (and shucking down) of government, or by a radical increase in automation. I just hope it does so before we start seeing people starving to death in the streets of formerly first world nations (this is already happening in Greece, sadly).

    118. Re:Great Economy? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      And yes, housewives were, in fact, the self reliance side of the equation in those families.

      Very good. You've figured out that "in those families" is the crucial part of the equation.

      So why don't we talk about the number of "working families" instead of the total number of individuals working? You may be on the verge of understanding my argument.

      When you measure the success of an economy by the percentage of individuals working, you're looking at it strictly from a point of view that benefits the ownership class and not the working class. The real discussion should be about the over 40% of workers that are making less than $15/hr which is far too little to support a family.

      In those years, the '50's and '60s, a much larger percentage of workers in the lower third were earning enough to support a family even though there was much lower "total workforce participation". Today, it takes two people working in a family for the family to afford to live. This is where the economic problems lie, and that began during the Ronald Reagan administration.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    119. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      there are many countries: canada, the nordic countries that have much less corruption than we do. we can have the same

      oh no, we can't ever have perfection, but no one except an idiot would expect that, or judge from that perspective. the point is to do *better*, which we will, in spite of morons like yourself who seems happy with the status quo because "that's just human nature"

      "hey man, your neighbor killed your dog. don't fight it dude, that's just human nature"

      fucking idiot

      you fight crimes and you fight criminals in this world, douchebag, or they take over

      now which fucking side are you on?

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    120. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Your example countries have MUCH smaller populations AND I am not convinced that they truly are less corrupt. Perhaps it is just the value of corrupting the government is less.

      More importantly, you and I disagree on one basic point. You believe that regulations allow small companies to compete with large companies. I believe that it is regulations which allow large companies to suppress competition from small companies. In addition, you believe that the words "law" and "regulation" are interchangeable, which allows you to suggest that those who want limited government regulation are anarchists.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    121. Re:Great Economy? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

      they are truly less corrupt, and having smaller populations is an intellectually dishonest dodge. there's nothing different from these countries that we cannot also do

      More importantly, you and I disagree on one basic point. You believe that regulations allow small companies to compete with large companies.

      this is not a different of opinion. i have a factual understanding here. you have a quasireligious ignorant faith in a bullshit wishfulfilliment fantasy

      this is the problem:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      the only way to solve that is regulations

      fact

      In addition, you believe that the words "law" and "regulation" are interchangeable, which allows you to suggest that those who want limited government regulation are anarchists.

      not anarchist. retards. people on the same "intellectual" order as creationists in regards to evolution

      you can't just believe something which denies simple reality of a topic and expect to be taken seriously

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    122. Re:Great Economy? by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      and maybe in the process, fuck themselves. Gee, fuck is such a gentle word. Is there not a stronger one?

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    123. Re:Great Economy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      No, I have experience working with small businesses which were unable to compete because they could not afford to pay someone to fill out the paperwork necessary to comply with regulations. It costs money to comply with regulations...even when those regulations only insist that a company follow practices it would have followed any way because once there are regulations you have to DOCUMENT that you have followed them.

      As to anti competitive practices those that are not a result of government regulation or only possible in the presence of government regulation, will be fixed by a free market in due time.
      Of course there is another mistake you make, since you think that government regulation is by definition a good thing, you believe that those who wish to see government regulations minimized want to see all government regulations and laws eliminated.

      Somehow you seem to think that people are evil when they run private corporations and good when they work for government bureaucracies.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    124. Re:Great Economy? by tmosley · · Score: 1

      $15/hr is too little to support YOUR family. It could easily be enough to support a family with a greater degree of self reliance. In fact, my own situation is such that I don't even need 40 hours at minimum wage to support myself, thanks to older investment in capital resources like real estate.

      And the problem actually began in the Nixon administration, specifically with the abandonment of the gold standard/closing of the gold window. Look at the economic data--it all experiences a sudden shift in 1971 when that happened.

    125. Re:Great Economy? by vuffi_raa · · Score: 1

      So why don't we talk about the number of "working families" instead of the total number of individuals working?

      exactly, that is the issue with wage stagnation (like you are talking about)- I still think it is crazy that I had to take a huge dip in pay after the dot com crash in 2000 and only this year have i been able to make what I did then. We just had our first kid this year (me at 43)- all because of finances and still need to both work in order to keep afloat. In the 50's you would never see this happen - that time table would be back at least 15 years, the average family would be able to on one family member's middle class wage afford to buy a house and raise their 2.5 kids without struggling against it.

    126. Re:Great Economy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would tend to agree, except it was Bill Clinton who signed the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act into law.

    127. Re:Great Economy? by blue9steel · · Score: 1

      Then we have no common ground on which to come to an understanding.

      That's understandable, it's not an intuitive concept especially for people without training in accounting.

    128. Re:Great Economy? by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      We need to change it, but to "change" it to beat up someone you don't like is just poor logic.

      The raw data is there, in the U measurements, it is just how it is evaluated.

      Raw numbers of employment would be absolutely fair, so long as we all agree what "unemployed" means.

      Do you count children? Disabled? Maybe we count everyone? People that choose not to work?

      122 million are employed in the us, of a population of 320ish million.

      61% "unemployment" makes for a crappy headline.

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
  2. Tech, schmeck!! by EzInKy · · Score: 1

    For an economy to thrive, all its parts must thrive.h

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    1. Re:Tech, schmeck!! by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      #include <thrive.h>

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:Tech, schmeck!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      import h1b

    3. Re:Tech, schmeck!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      from india import h1b

    4. Re:Tech, schmeck!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DROP TABLE H1B

    5. Re:Tech, schmeck!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      forget scoping rules I like yours the best...

  3. Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    The more computer geeks end in the streets the better. They deserve it. When they helped destroying the lives of entire families because computers and robots were taking the place of people, they laughed "you can't stop progress, candle-makers". Now it's them getting the short end of the stick and we're glad. You ever see any of those stupid nerds asking for change in the street, knife him in the guts.

    1. Re:Good by Anon-Admin · · Score: 1, Insightful

      >>Now it's them getting the short end of the stick and we're glad.

      You are only glad tell you have to call for support on your new laptop. Wait on the phone for an hour to talk to someone you can barley understand in India. Then you bitch about the crappy support and outsourcing of jobs.

    2. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Never needed any tech support, shit kid. Computers are among the easiest things to learn, it takes very little effort to learn anything about them and zero hands-on practice, unlike real jobs. That's why they appeal so much to egotists with little intelligence and who don't really like to work.

    3. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Dunno if that would be worse. I mean, I can barley understand you.

    4. Re: Good by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      Never needed any tech support, shit kid. Computers are among the easiest things to learn, it takes very little effort to learn anything about them and zero hands-on practice, unlike real jobs. That's why they appeal so much to egotists with little intelligence and who don't really like to work.

      Your trolling needs improvement. This is too blatantly asinine to have an effect.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    5. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's true, you can't stop progress, regardless of who's job gets eliminated. It's also true that everyone acts in their own best interest...nobody chooses to wallow in poverty out of benevolence for his fellow man.

      Any technician who thought that his tech job guaranteed him a lifetime of stable employment should have known better. Job security is pure illusion.

    6. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It got you, didn't it?

    7. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The more computer geeks end in the streets the better. They deserve it. When they helped destroying the lives of entire families because computers and robots were taking the place of people, they laughed "you can't stop progress, candle-makers". Now it's them getting the short end of the stick and we're glad. You ever see any of those stupid nerds asking for change in the street, knife him in the guts.

      Stop using your computer. Immediately.

  4. Tech is being automated away. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, a lot of it is. So much stuff is plug and play these days, or is easily configured to the point that you don't really need to be an expert to do it that you need fewer and/or cheaper people - or you can have people in India do it remotely. Welcome to the 21st century, where you will reap what you have sown.

    1. Re:Tech is being automated away. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's a great example: http://on-demand.gputechconf.com/gtc/2015/webinar/gtc-express-digits-webinar.mp4

      "Deep learning"/CNN based object recognition is now as easy as a couple of mouse clicks... Amazon Mechanical Turk has the right idea.

      Un/Fortunately(depending on your perspective) unsupervised learning isn't as far along as supervised learning so this takes most of the labor from skillful hand carving feature vectors to tedious image cropping/normalization/resizing....

      Here's an example of the scale of this problem:
      I have a folder on my computer with ~50,000 images of objects I need to preprocess/label... This isn't high-paid labor.

    2. Re:Tech is being automated away. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We'll see you in a year or two after your India experiment is done.

  5. Perspective by necro81 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We in the tech industry may be taking it for granted that, by and large, we can hopscotch from job to job however it suits us. In the broader U.S. economy, with official unemployment still above 5%, underemployment around 11%, certain communities (such as poor, minority urban neighborhoods) well above that, and wages more or less flat or declining for the past decade, I would argue we should count our blessings. That also does not consider the situation in, say, most of the rest of the world, where the statistics paint a worse picture.

    In any event, the fluctuations in the unemployment rate and layoff figures month-to-month are pretty meaningless. You still like to have the granularity of month-to-month datapoints, but the broader trends are revealed only in longer timescales.

    1. Re:Perspective by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      When the global birth rate and graduation rate is higher than the number of jobs required and/or needed, wages -which represents labor- will continue to go done all while debt of a fiat currency continues to climb. Eventually, total economic collapse....as we know it. Life will continue to go on, but a new system/paradigm will replace it IMHO.

      As yourself this: what happens when robotics and AI can supply all the world what it needs with only 1% of humans employed? Do the remaining 99% unemployed get a portion of the products produced, or does the remaining 1% kill off the 99% now that they're "parasitic" to the planet??

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:Perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suspect the 1% would start to realize they could kill off PART of the 99%, but not ALL of them before they themselves are killed. Thus, rather than go down fighting, it's best to make some concessions to try and keep everyone happy (and alive).

    3. Re:Perspective by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      We in the tech industry may be taking it for granted that, by and large, we can hopscotch from job to job however it suits us.

      Yes, that's an artifact of the fact that the tech industry feels that it can fail to provide workers with a future. The only way to move ahead in this industry, in many cases, is to switch jobs. And employers are ruthless about using you up and throwing you away - after many days of pulling too many hours, and needing a refractory period and seeing performance suffer as a result, they can just shitcan you for poor performance and hire some other poor fucker they will overwork and never pay properly.

      but the broader trends are revealed only in longer timescales.

      BOHICA

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Perspective by danbuter · · Score: 2

      Actually, when it gets close to collapse, the people in power will just start a BIG war. It has worked numerous times in the past, and will work again in the future. (Not a nice way to look at history, but if history has proven anything, it's that the people in power care nothing for your average citizen).

    5. Re:Perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No but you see everyone needs to become a programmer! Look how many great jobs there are out there! Hell, we need H1Bs just to fill them all!

    6. Re:Perspective by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

      Actually, when it gets close to collapse, the people in power will just start a BIG war. It has worked numerous times in the past, and will work again in the future.

      That doesn't seem to be that good of a way of doing things. Suppose you had a global conflict, and maybe 200 million people die. That's less than 3% of the population, not really enough to make a huge dent. This doesn't include all of the people injured by a war, who now need medical help, etc, which costs even more. War is one of the worst things there is for the economy, unless you're an arms dealer.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    7. Re:Perspective by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      Yes, that's an artifact of the fact that the tech industry feels that it can fail to provide workers with a future.

      In no small part because we have politicians obsessed with the bottom line of corporations, as if a profitable corporation which is taking huge chunks out of the economy is somehow good for the rest of the economy. The reality is, it isn't.

      It's short sighted thinking that somehow equates corporate profits with national prosperity, when in fact it's transferring wages to the bottom line of corporations.

      This bullshit line that shareholder value drives the economy instead of the people who actually work in the economy is slowly killing us. It maximizes the return for rich people and ignores how that 'value' gets generated.

      'Shareholder value' has become the altar on which jobs are sacrificed. And except for the rich people who own the stocks, this doesn't help the country or the economy in the long run. Essentially it's a wealth transfer upwards at the expense of everybody else, and shareholder value is just people skimming off the top without actually contributing to any part of the economy -- except that of the banking industry and the wealthy.

      Globalization is a lie in which corporations suck up all the money and leave us with neither money nor jobs, and politicians lie to us and tell us this is the road to prosperity.

      BOHICA

      Now there's a phrase I've not heard in a while, but absolutely yes.

      As long as we keep believing these lies, again and again seems to be what we'll be getting.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    8. Re:Perspective by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      War isn't initiated to reduce warm bodies, it serves primarily as a distraction to keep those in power, remaining in power.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    9. Re:Perspective by Karlt1 · · Score: 1

      I can't speak for "tech workers" in general. But if you are a software developer with experience who is being overworked and underpaid, You're Doing It Wrong (TM)

    10. Re:Perspective by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      War is one of the worst things there is for the economy, unless you're an arms dealer.

      Or a bank. Someone has to provide the funds for war, and nations have foolishly delegated their monetary systems to private banks.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    11. Re:Perspective by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      When the global birth rate and graduation rate is higher than the number of jobs required and/or needed, wages -which represents labor- will continue to go down all while debt of a fiat currency continues to climb. Eventually, total economic collapse....as we know it. Life will continue to go on, but a new system/paradigm will replace it IMHO.

      This guy gets it.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    12. Re:Perspective by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      you must be young. I'll just leave it at that.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    13. Re: Perspective by Karlt1 · · Score: 1

      I'm 41 and started developing professionals at 22

    14. Re:Perspective by morgauxo · · Score: 1

      More people need more stuff and services. When jobs go down while population is rising somebody is doing somehting wrong.

    15. Re:Perspective by SillyHamster · · Score: 1

      When the global birth rate and graduation rate is higher than the number of jobs required and/or needed,

      What is the number of jobs needed?

      Does it change year to year, or does it remain constant?

    16. Re:Perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We in the tech industry may be taking it for granted that, by and large, we can hopscotch from job to job however it suits us.

      We in the tech industry, and in industry in general, were told 30 years ago that we would have to hop scotch from job to job from then on, because jobs for life were going away - and they have. Not just in tech, but in every walk of life. How long does an Amazon picker last these days? A barrista? A teacher? A doctor? A lawyer? A car mechanic? A journalist? A fitter? A builder? With a particular company?

      They told us we'd be on our own, and they were honest about that.

      It's exhausting and mentally stressful trying to keep ahead of the game. I've only been laid off once in 20 years. They other times I've seen it coming and jumped, but it really was hard work.

    17. Re:Perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      War increases the demand for labor (you suddenly need all the disposable infantry and manufactured weapons you can get).

    18. Re:Perspective by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Your economic analysis is seriously flawed. There is no arbitrary number of jobs required and/or needed. If more people are making money, they're going to have more demand, so more jobs will be created to provide more supply. Unfortunately, more of these are in the relatively badly paid service industries, but many of those jobs are very difficult to automate. We may well come to a situation in the reasonably near future when all the stuff we want is produced by 1% of the population, but more will have jobs.

      In Western democracies, there's things the 99% can do to the 1% if they get desperate enough to band together: elect legislators and executives who will pay attention to the 99% and help them out. The money and propaganda used to support the 1% politically will have its limits.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    19. Re:Perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When the global birth rate and graduation rate is higher than the number of jobs required and/or needed,

      What is the number of jobs needed?

      Does it change year to year, or does it remain constant?

      Assuming the birth rate is positive and the life spans increase, generally you need more from year to year.

      Of course this may be unsustainable in the long run as it is anticipated automation and productivity will be going up even faster...

      Dealing with a "post-work" world would be a major transition for most economies of the world as it is unclear how you motivate people to actually work when you don't have enough jobs for everyone (but presumably won't be letting anyone starve) w/o creating a have/have-not situation...

  6. Making bad news out of anything by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, seeing as an unemployment rate of 3% or less is considered "full employment", this story is just another bullshit blown-out-of-proportion negative hit piece. Everyone gathers around to say it's so horrible, the government ought to do something, etc. I would ordinarily write this kind of crap off due to Slashdot's ridiculously bad editors, but in this case it seems it is another 'jobs' story required by Dice.com to add value to this website by helping to gather data. The article represents nothing but meaningless noise on a graph.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:Making bad news out of anything by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Informative

      Well, seeing as an unemployment rate of 3% or less is considered "full employment", this story is just another bullshit blown-out-of-proportion negative hit piece.

      The published unemployment rates are a blatant lie, and I don't know how anyone is stupid enough to believe them any more. It's been well-established that they are a dirty lie. Why do we (by which I mean you) keep using them in arguments like they mean something?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Making bad news out of anything by gfxguy · · Score: 2

      Well, seeing as an unemployment rate of 3% or less is considered "full employment", this story is just another bullshit blown-out-of-proportion negative hit piece.

      The published unemployment rates are a blatant lie, and I don't know how anyone is stupid enough to believe them any more. It's been well-established that they are a dirty lie. Why do we (by which I mean you) keep using them in arguments like they mean something?

      Because he's responding to the arguments presented in TFA?

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    3. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3% Unemployed still means there are 97% employed. Not seeing the problem here. Some love to stir their sticks in the half-empty. Or in this case, the 3% empty.

    4. Re:Making bad news out of anything by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I've been out of work since january of this year. I am over 50, I have well over 25 years in C (c++ came later), I do hardware, firmware, networking.

      and yet, I can't get a job to save my life, almost literally.

      go ahead, I'm waiting; blame it on me. I didn't so this or that right, I should move to some bumfuck area of the country instead of the bay area, etc etc. yeah yeah, its all my fault. you 20 and 30somethings will surely know that I'm 'no good at coding' and so its all my fault.

      but I know what the real issue is. corporations are sociopathic led by people who have that 'feature' themselves. people are to be kept around just long enough but not longer. and if you are older, forget about getting fulltime (benefits, healthcare) as you will be told 'sorry, we only have 'contract to hire' for folks like you; and btw, that's a typo its really contract-to-FIRE).

      I know I'm not the most brilliant guy in the room, when I'm at a software company, but I also know that I'm never the dumbest and I can pull my weight, do my work and solve problems as good as anyone else. I'm no genius but even with over 30 yrs in tech, with a whos-who list of companies on my resume, I'm unhirable (it seems).

      there is MOST DEFINITELY something really wrong about our current tech employment 'style'. the eat-and-use-them-up (then fire them) mentality is hitting people like me, first and the hardest but you'll come next, don't worry too much about that! when its your time and you hit a certain age and experience level, expect to find all that I just explained HAPPENING TO YOU.

      I didn't believe it when older guys said that to me, 10 or 20 yrs ago. but now, well, I'm living it.

      employers suck and they've sucked more now than they have in the last 50 or even 75 years. only the turn of the century has been worse for workers than it is now.

      but hey, that ceo got himself a 2nd or 3rd boat. woohoo! I'm glad to be penniless and nearly homeless just so some ultra rich white guy can get even richer.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    5. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      For normal employment, where they've been dropping long term unemployed from counting for decades now. That wouldn't apply to tech.

      I have a liberal buddy who was all about that "real" unemployment number under Bush. He doesn't harp on it under Obama anymore.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    6. Re:Making bad news out of anything by digsbo · · Score: 1

      What part of the country are you in? In the mid-Atlantic or northeast USA, I'd find it very unlikely you'd remain unemployed long if you were willing to take contract work or at least be flexible on salary.

    7. Re:Making bad news out of anything by digsbo · · Score: 1

      The published unemployment rates are a blatant lie

      Somewhat. They are if you use them to compare today's rate with that of 1975, because the methodology changed under Clinton (I think). They are at a minimum misleading today in an absolute sense, because the methodology change eliminated underemployment and discouraged job seekers. There is still some value in the short-term trending given the use of U3 unemployment.

    8. Re:Making bad news out of anything by lambsonic · · Score: 1

      Are you willing to consider moving to Louisville, KY? The only stupid shit we do is have 80k of bourbon in the office.

      --
      # make clean sig
    9. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You got old. That's what you did wrong.

    10. Re:Making bad news out of anything by LessThanObvious · · Score: 1

      Good luck in your search. I can certainly see how I may end up in similar spot. I never imagined I'd work in tech for decades and not have enough wealth to sustain myself without depending on an employer, but it happens. When I was twenty I'd look at older people in tech who still needed the work and think they were pathetic. Now having lost anything I built in the past and only having 10 or 15 years where I can still be taken seriously I see that being a real possibility. Anyone who's working in the earlier stages of their career, I hope you are putting away $10K per year for your future and making wealth building a real priority. Currently my idea of early retirement involves spending my 70th birthday with a bottle of whiskey and a revolver.

    11. Re:Making bad news out of anything by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      right smack dab in the middle of silicon valley. you would think that its not impossible to get employment here if you have any experience and can code. I have tons of experience and yes, I can code. I can do a lot more than coding, but I'm happy to continue coding.

      I'm not proud and I'll take nearly any job that I can physically or mentally do. I'll do a job several levels 'below' me. I don't care! if I'm helping and being productive and keeping myself indoors (ie, not homeless) I'm happy to do qa work or - fuck - even data entry. yeah, 30 or so years of software and hardware and I can't even get the most basic zoomer entry level job. of course: they see my 3 pages of resume and they won't offer me jobs 'below me'. I don't use that term; work is honorable and I'd be happy to go back to work in any way I can! but try to tell that to employers. 'you will get bored, you will leave, you wont be happy, etc. well, let me be the judge of that, ok? maybe I would be happy. and you'll get a guy who realizes what its like to be without work and who will do all he can to STAY employed, as long as the employer lets him.

      I don't know what the issue is; and I don't think its one single thing. but being american born and raised and over 40 really does limit your engineering growth in the bay area. if you are from an h1b country, hey, come on in! we'll find SOME job for you. but me? no. no job for you.

      sorry to vent. but people need to hear this. they should hear it so that they don't live under the false illusion that life is great and if you have a good education, good experience and good work ethic, you'll be able to stay employed. NO! its a fucking lie.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    12. Re:Making bad news out of anything by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      No, it means out of people working and people actively looking for work then 97% of them are working. It doesn't count the people that have gotten so frustrated with the job market that they've gone back to school or just given up completely. It also counts a person working part time as working (though I don't know if the hours are counted as a percentage of a full time worker or not). And it doesn't take into account underemployment where you get people doing jobs that they are overqualified for.

    13. Re:Making bad news out of anything by digsbo · · Score: 1

      I definitely believe you - make no mistake. I would strongly encourage you to consider moving to an area that's less "youth and ego" based. Most of the people at my company are over 50. The work can be boring on some teams, but the pay is pretty decent for the load and the geographic region.

      There is something to be said for slow and steady companies; they are much more likely to recruit older engineers who are less likely to leave for greener pastures in a short period of time. A position was recently filled in my old department, and the hiring manager was seriously considering going for an older engineer just to avoid having to fill the position again in two years. Seems counter-intuitive, but it is true.

    14. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My dad takes contracting work and he's over 60 over in the Northeast. His recruiter or whatever is very good and usually secures 9-12 months of work within 2 or 3 weeks between jobs staying on with some for more than one contract

    15. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes that's true, there is definitely rampant age discrimination in Tech industry. But that said, older you get, more versatile your skill set have to be to stay employed. Why not pickup some other languages besides C/C++? Certainly Java and Python is certainly as much in demand as C/C++, as well as other skill sets such as networking, database, system administration which would be useful to many employers.

    16. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm in my 40's and employed as a systems administrator. I've dedicated the last 16 years to a public school district. It's one area were they are all too happy to keep me on board as I age and gain a better understanding of their needs. I don't make much (thousands less than someone in the private sector), but that's the price (no pun intended) I pay to have a more stable job. I've watched my friends and colleagues make fat cash in the private sector, but their jobs last no more than 2 years at a time and they work long hours constantly being on-call. When I leave work, I'm done for the day. They are all starting to worry more about finding work and they have even started asking me about openings at the school. The public employment dream can't last forever, I'm a realist. But I'm going to ride the wave until it's time for me to put my college degree in technology to good use and greet people at Walmart.

    17. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

      I didn't believe it when older guys said that to me, 10 or 20 yrs ago. but now, well, I'm living it.

      Welcome to reality.

      My single biggest revelation was how middle age totally inhibits opportunity on the job market - all other factors being constant.

      Suddenly resume and experience work against you. Now that you have worked out all of the other kinks of life, due to your experience, you just don't get hired as quickly. You may get interviewed a lot, and maybe re-interviewed more, but not hired. Now you are only a baseline for HR with less experience, while new managers opt for employees that don't dress like their parents and do burning man.

      Its all downhill from here, Gramps or Granny. Might as well join AARP and show up for early bird dinners and senior discounts....

      Its going to be a really interesting decade as the reality of 1 billion jobs for 7.3 billion people sinks in to the American psyche.

      The fact is that unemployed and underemployed are not deadbeats and there will never be enough profitable enterprise to support us all. In fact, it was the growth economy that drove the prosperity and it is and always was completely unsustainable.

      Human beings are just going to have to come up with some sort of social currency because the money and profitability will never be enough to go around while still maintaining its value. That's why interest rates are in the twilight zone. Soon, macroeconomics will be eclipsed by some sort of pseudo-economics. Off the grid living is not a bad idea if its possible. Better get that solar panel...

      In the meantime, McDonald's does not have a job for you, but you will find something because you are ahead of the trend and its just beginning to happen. Its hard to take the big wide view while living a truly limited mortality. The only reality is your own for sure, and its hard to do anything about the big picture. But now a little wisdom and insight may be what is needed to proceed with reality as we revise plans on our futures.

      This may not be news, we've known it all along, but realization is a whole new experience for those in denial. We're all on this ship of fools and we all will find a way to cope with it. Let's try not to get desperate and try throwing anyone overboard in the process, including the old farts like us.

    18. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. Out of work for 6 months and you are a software developer. I haven't heard that in a while. Do you think it is age-based discrimination?

      What software have your written in the past 6 months while out of work?
      What programming languages/libraries did you learn? For example did you update your C/C++ skills to include Java/C#/Swift?
      Got any projects on GitHub you can show us?

      If your answer to two out of the three is "none" then it isn't age-based discrimination.

    19. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's always kind of weird how in tech circles it's expected that the worker to train themselves on their own time with their own money, contrary to most other industries. This of course includes expensive propriety tools that you're never going to see outside of a corporate environment. And even if you manage to to pick up some new skills, if you don't have "professional" experience using those tools for 3+ years it all counts for nothing anyway.

    20. Re:Making bad news out of anything by digsbo · · Score: 1

      On the flip side, I get paid more than most people I know with advanced degrees, despite being a college dropout myself. There's a totally different standard to self-education in our field that's neither better nor worse - just different. Embrace it, and we do okay. Reject it, and we do poorly.

    21. Re:Making bad news out of anything by Wolfrider · · Score: 1

      --I definitely sympathize, believe me. Have you considered starting your own business, and reaching out to hire or partner with others that are in the same/similar circumstances?

      --
      .
      == WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
  7. Meritocracy by monkeyxpress · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, the reason there is increasing unemployment while also a shortage is because to become a tech worker you just have to collect a degree. To become a useful tech worker, you have to actually have some skills.

    Lots of people want to become tech workers because of the promise of a quick fortune. A limited number will have actual skills (but without the passion) and might find a comfortable niche where they can charge out banker sort of rates for their services. A small number won't have any tech skills but will recognise this early and move into management before they are found out. A much larger number aren't even smart enough to figure out how little they know and get stuck complaining until they eventually attach themselves to a clueless corporation awash with money.

    In the alternate world of people who work in tech because they enjoy it and can actually get things done, there is a huge shortage.

    1. Re:Meritocracy by Shortguy881 · · Score: 2

      Totally agree. We've had an open developer position for some time that we can't seem to fill and we just canned a guy because of his incompetence. It seems that everyone who could type HTML was picked up and then companies started to realize just because you can type code, doesn't make you good at it.

      --
      Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
    2. Re:Meritocracy by gfxguy · · Score: 2

      In the last department I was in the development team had exactly ONE CS graduate... me. The lead developer is a former math teacher; the secondary a biologist... they gravitated to programming because they enjoyed it and are now pretty successful at it. I moved to a different department to do graphics work (which I enjoy a lot more), but I don't think any of the people in that division were CS graduates.

      Why? Because the vast majority of CS graduates are exactly what you guys are describing - they went into CS because it was the new engineering (what they were telling people in the 60s and 70s to get into); they didn't like it, they weren't particularly good at it, but they managed to pass their classes. Now I know more CS graduates who don't work in IT - one's a golf "pro" instructor at a golf club, one parks cars as a valet Las Vegas (both make more money than me, BTW).

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    3. Re:Meritocracy by pnutjam · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If companies were willing to invest in training the people who want to learn, instead of hiring the ones with the resume buzzwords, this would not be an issue.

      I've worked my way into a comfortable position, and I still feel my career is moving up, but it's been slow and I've only had one employer in the past decade who would pay anything for training. Two if you count my current employer, who has alot of internal training information, but I wouldn't work here if I wasn't already good at what they hired me for.

    4. Re:Meritocracy by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      No, the reason there is increasing unemployment while also a shortage is because to become a tech worker you just have to collect a degree. To become a useful tech worker, you have to actually have some skills.

      Lots of people want to become tech workers because of the promise of a quick fortune. A limited number will have actual skills (but without the passion) and might find a comfortable niche where they can charge out banker sort of rates for their services. A small number won't have any tech skills but will recognise this early and move into management before they are found out. A much larger number aren't even smart enough to figure out how little they know and get stuck complaining until they eventually attach themselves to a clueless corporation awash with money.

      In the alternate world of people who work in tech because they enjoy it and can actually get things done, there is a huge shortage.

      That really is an alternate world, though. The number of people who have a passion for tech is much smaller than the number of positions that need filling, as you say. I would consider myself one of those who have actual skills but without the passion. I'm pretty good at what I do and I think computer systems are pretty neat, but I'm not spending my free time reading about protocols or contributing to OSS.

      I think we probably need more people like me (naturally!). What I mean is, passion can't be taught. People like what they like, you either have a natural interest or you don't. But skills can be taught to an intelligent person who is interested. Part of the problem is that no one wants to train anymore. When I got started in IT in the late '90s, my employer trained me on their systems for a month before I did any real work. But now, 17 years into my career, I am back in the position of needing experience to get experience. I'm a systems admin, and if I don't already have experience with vCenter with a SAN back-end I can't get hired. I could learn that stuff in a couple of months on the job. I've read about it and understand the concepts but have not had the opportunity to get any hands-on work with it.

      People with a natural passion and ability are ideal. But there are not enough of them. There are more people who are smart and trainable who can do a good job with a bit of investment by the employer.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    5. Re:Meritocracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you've got an open developer position that you can't fill and the people that get hired are incompetent, you've probably got an HR department.

    6. Re:Meritocracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "We've had an open developer position for some time that we can't seem to fill" ... at the salary level you want to pay.

    7. Re:Meritocracy by LDAPMAN · · Score: 1

      You can set up FreeNas on a minimal box, ESXi is a free download. You can get a center trial in a couple of minutes. A few hours and some salvaged machines and you can confidently say that you you can do a lot with virtualization. Break it a few times and fix it and your way ahead of most people who have had formal training. You should certainly be able to get through an interview for an admin job. You might even be able to get a cert with a bit more effort. Why do you expect your employer to do this for you?

    8. Re:Meritocracy by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Ever get HR to pay attention to what you did while not being paid for it? You have to get to the interview first.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    9. Re:Meritocracy by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

      No, the reason there is increasing unemployment while also a shortage is because to become a tech worker you just have to collect a degree. To become a useful tech worker, you have to actually have some skills.

      In the alternate world of people who work in tech because they enjoy it and can actually get things done, there is a huge shortage.

      A meritocracy is a great ideal, but we are nowhere close to a meritocracy. The system tries to be a meritocracy, but the fact remains that there are an abundance of talented intelligent and committed people desperately trying to find a place to devote themselves. Not just the college grads, or the qualified, but even the uneducated and unqualified people of value that will work and get done a great deal more than you might expect. The fact is that business does not give a shit about anything but dollars and cents, and so this is what it gets: incompetence, malaise, disloyalty. You can't expect some person with all of the qualifications to hang around and wait until some corporate urgency comes along to demand you one minute, and just spit you out when they're done. There is no effort to develop and retain talent because there is no corporate entity that plans beyond quarterly returns in a fickle market. In the mid nineties we had TWICE as many companies on the stock exchanges. There is less diversity. This creates a less diverse labor market because those going to college are merely responding to the perceived trends of demand on the job market. So now we have a generation of mediocre medical and technical labor that is not qualified at the highest levels, and won't ever last long enough in the trade to accomplish that in the long run. You are an idealist if you really think that all that you have to do is just become an expert in some cutting edge technology in order to get hired. Its bullshit. If there was a clear road map, then people would follow it. If not from Orange County, then from Mumbai or Riga. The fact is that in a market economy the is no shortage of anything if you are willing to pay the right price. Perhaps if the idiots running the show figured that out there would be no vacancy. But I suspect that they are well aware of it in the boardroom, and you have been lulled into a sense of indispensability in your ideal meritocratic world. Just wait and see. Your days are numbered because the situation you describe is one that occurs in firms that do not value their human resources as much as you think. They know they are a dime a dozen because they can get them cheaper than the market rate. That's what a job vacancy really represents in any productive enterprise. Market economics won't last forever, but it rules the today. Maybe when its over, a true meritocracy and fairness will prosper in this wide world. In the meantime I suppose its better to have our heads in the clouds instead of up our....

  8. Sounds normal by jbmartin6 · · Score: 1

    This sounds like normal shifting of the economic tides. Things change, and some people benefit and others have to find another path.

    --
    This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
  9. OMG! by TheCreeep · · Score: 4, Funny

    So the news here is that absolute Web Developer unemployment went from 2.1% to 3.1% and tech layoff rose by ~5%. That is a fluctuation of 1 month! Oh noes! What will we do!? That is ONE MONTH you statistically challenged clod.

    And a summer month at that, when I assume new grads are coming into the market.

    Do you guys seriously have the gall to call that journalism?

    1. Re:OMG! by TheCreeep · · Score: 1

      Especially since the article explicitly shoes in it's little infographic that IT unemployment went down from 2.3 in Q1 to 2.1 in Q2.

    2. Re:OMG! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My god my grammar was awful there. Sorry about that, I was rage commenting.

    3. Re:OMG! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "ONE MONTH", or a statistically valid sample size of "THIRTY DAYS"?

      Since the denominator doesn't seem to matter:
      "THIRTY DAYS", or "SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY HOURS"?

      I don't want to write that in seconds but I bet the confidence interval is impressive!

  10. Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's easy to blame the last two presidents, but they're powerless compared to those who are really responsible for the current awful state of the global economy: Baby Boomers.

    The Baby Boomers in the United States inherited one of the most successful, stable, equitable economies to have ever existed. Jobs were plentiful, innovation was rapid, inflation was minimal, and the economic machine ran very smoothly.

    The earliest Baby Boomers started getting real influence within academia and government starting in the late 1960s, and within business starting in the early 1970s. The 1960s were a decade of wonder, even to the point of getting humans to the moon, not thanks to the effort of the Baby Boomers, but thanks to the effort of the generations who came before them. Almost as soon as the Baby Boomers started getting seriously involved in governance of the nation, of its academia, and of its businesses, things started going to hell.

    Baby Boomers in general are best described as a "rotten" generation. They are very self-centered, with massive egos, and a complete lack of sensibility. They are sure they are right, even then they're obviously and hopelessly wrong, and will remain oblivious (or wilfully ignorant) to the point of disaster.

    The 1970s were the first disaster caused by the Baby Boomers. Their Middle Eastern policies shot up the price of oil, harming the economy. They also managed to wreck the finances of cities like New York and Detroit. I know that some will say, "But Nixon wasn't a Baby Boomer!", yet in many ways he was very much one of them in attitude and mindset; he was just born somewhat earlier. That is why he was elected by the Baby Boomers, who made up the majority of the electorate at the time. His age aside, he was one of them, for all intents and purposes.

    This progressed into the 1980s. The stereotype of the greedy, manipulative yuppie was nothing more than a description of the Baby Boomers who, due to their numbers, had taken control of much of business and government at that point. Economically, the 1980s were shameful, with major stock market crashes, recession, and finally at the end of the decade the imposition of "free" trade.

    The 1990s saw the beginning of the unravelling of the economy due to the mismanagement of it by the Baby Boomers. Some may see most of the 1990s as having been economically good years, but the reality is that they were much worse than they could have been. The rise of the PC and the Internet during this decade could have improved the economy drastically, had their economic effects not been neutered by Baby Boomers.

    The 2000s saw the complete unravelling of the economy due to the terrible management of the Baby Boomers. The price of a basic academic education spiralled out of control, thanks to the Baby Boomers who poorly managed such institutions, as well as the student loan industry. The economy was in tatters, with jobs being sent out of the country rapidly, yet without any sort of replacement jobs being created. Despite their earlier resistance to the Vietnam War when they were at risk of being sent to fight, Baby Boomers were very eager to start multiple foreign warzones now that they were in command and sending others off to die. We're all very well aware of how poorly the Baby Boomers ran the missions in Afghanistan and Iraq; they were complete disasters, and we're still dealing with the fallout even today.

    Now half-way through the 2010s, we still see the Baby Boomers doing damage to our institutions, businesses, and economy as a whole. One thing to consider now is that their offspring, born in the 1980s, are now themselves getting into positions of power. Bred to have very much the same "rotten" attitude and mindset of their parents, we'll only see the disasters caused by the Baby Boomers prolonged by the Millennials that the Baby Boomers spawned.

    Half a century ago, it would have been unimaginable for an entire generation to have been given so much, yet to have turned around and systematically squandered and destroyed it. But that's exactly what we saw the Baby Boomers do!

    1. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by amalcolm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you 'saw' them do this, you must be one of them! Honestly, what a pile of steaming drivel.

      --
      Time for bed, said Zebedee - boing
    2. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you 'saw' them do this, you must be one of them!

      That's a very stupid argument, which only a very stupid person would make. By the time the Boomers were in a position to ruin the world, the next generation was old enough to recognize they were doing it.

      Honestly, what a pile of steaming drivel.

      You are however right about that, because every generation is responsible in its own way. For doing the wrong thing, for not doing anything, whatever. It's a team effort, throughout history.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There were generations before them, you know. I belong to what has been called the Silent Generation, which preceded the Baby Boomers. We're among the ones who put Armstrong on the moon, who developed the computer and networking technology you're using today, and who helped build up what the Baby Boomers ended up destroying.

      This may surprise you, but some of us are very capable users of technology, even in our old age, having pioneered so much of it. I'm 86 years old, if you must know. We've witnessed first hand how the Baby Boomers ruined the many gifts that we, and the generations before us, gave them. In the span of one generation they have undone the work and contributions of centuries of previous generations.

    4. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      The 1970s were the first disaster caused by the Baby Boomers.

      The oldest Baby Boomer was 24 in 1970 and the youngest was six years old. I assure you, that neither the 24 year old nor the 6 year old was in charge of a goddamned thing.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by operagost · · Score: 2

      I like how you made Nixon an honorary baby boomer. He's kind of the universal villain when Hitler is too much, right?

      The main fault of the Baby Boomers was not recognizing that the post-war economy they were born into was finite, and that they were going to have to deal with setbacks and recover from them gracefully. Instead, many bought into the endless prosperity gospel of the Keynesians and used government to manipulate the system. Hey, it worked for FDR, right? Wrong-- that was the wartime economy. FDR's policies were mostly a failure until war broke out in Europe.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    6. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by khallow · · Score: 1

      Bred to have very much the same "rotten" attitude and mindset of their parents, we'll only see the disasters caused by the Baby Boomers prolonged by the Millennials that the Baby Boomers spawned.

      Or maybe this is more evidence, as if we needed it, that there's no real difference between "generations" and the generation blame game is a silly waste of time?

      And seriously what is the point of whining, pathetically, about someone just because of when they were born? Are all the bad people born between 1946 and 1964?

    7. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by khallow · · Score: 1

      We've witnessed first hand how the Baby Boomers ruined the many gifts that we, and the generations before us, gave them. In the span of one generation they have undone the work and contributions of centuries of previous generations.

      And the obvious rebuttal is that you raised the Boomers up on TV. You fucked up. [*] [*] "You" being a stereotype of someone from your generation who probably doesn't exist any more than the Boomers described in this thread do. This post also has been shown to promote heat death of the universe and as a result should be consumed sparingly and with a degree of caution.

    8. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The kids (and grandkids) of the baby boomers aren't much better, man. Always blaming their parents, not taking responsibility to change things and make them better.

      Blaming people is easier, I guess.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    9. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      This may surprise you, but some of us are very capable users of technology, even in our old age, having pioneered so much of it. I'm 86 years old, if you must know.

      That's why I never got the old joke of "old people can't use technology." Dennis Ritchie would have been 75 this year. Linus Torvalds is 45, Theo de Raadt is 47.

      Not only can old people use technology they created it. I'm in my 30s now and get this from 'kids' all the time. "Man he's old he must not know how to use anything." It's my hacking peers from my generation that took stuff that used to be expensive and in industry to a hobby. I would have killed for an Arduino type board for $10 when I was 10.

      The best is when they discover stuff that someone your age or my age (or somewhere in between) wrote and realize it may be better. There's a big resurgence in IRC usage. Rather than putting all their eggs in one website's chat feature that just eats CPU (IRC) there is already a distributed network of chat networks designed for a nuclear blast.

    10. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Baby Boomers are the ones responsible for electing mister Voodoo Economics. Look how that decimated our country.

    11. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 1970s were the first disaster caused by the Baby Boomers.

      The oldest Baby Boomer was 24 in 1970 and the youngest was six years old. I assure you, that neither the 24 year old nor the 6 year old was in charge of a goddamned thing.

      On the other hand, this would allow one to blame the millenials (or at least GenX) for the 2008 meltdown. I think I like this logic.

    12. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This was rated "insightful?" It's terrible reasoning, full of unsupported assertions. Replace "Baby Boomers" with "Jews," and it reads like something Hitler could have written.

    13. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      They had those kind of boards in the 1970s -- they were called "Heathkit", and similar, and cost several thousand dollars...and keep in mind this was the period of time where Dr. Evil's "One...MILLION dollars!" was born and a big deal. Our new '72 Plymouth Fury station wagon with AC and AM/FM radio was $2900.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    14. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Judgement really shouldn't be passed on millennials yet. They have limited political or economic influence for their age. The doctom bubble, housing bubble, high cost of education, and recession hit them pretty hard. Another decade will be required before enough baby boomers retire and the economy becoming stable enough to even measure what influence they will have.

    15. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I would have killed for an Arduino type board for $10 when I was 10.

      A Chinese Arduino Nano is less than $4, and has 5V logic to boot. The future is here2!!21!@1@!@2

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    16. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      I may be accused of bias, being a Boomer, but this is nonsense.

      The economy PP referred to was a strictly postwar economy. It was based on the US being the only industrial country to not be trashed by WWII. Jobs were plenty because we had the industrial plant to make things and other people didn't, so we sold a whole lot of stuff abroad. Near the end of that period, Japan was starting to make a lot of cheap junk, but that wasn't seen as much of a threat.

      Let's get the chronology straight: Boomers were born in 1946 to 1964. This means that the very oldest could vote in 1967 (the reduction in voting age to 18 happened in 1971) They could be elected to the House in 1971, the Senate in 1976, and the Presidency in 1981, due to the Constitutionally imposed minimum ages.

      Therefore, very few Boomers could have voted for Nixon in 1968. That election was decided by previous generations. I was born in 1954, not halfway through the generation, and I was just able to vote against Nixon in 1972. Nixon isn't the fault of the Boomers.

      The Vietnam War was at its peak from roughly 1964 to 1971 (the draft ended just before I was eligible). The youngest Boomers to be drafted were born in 1953. In 1964, the oldest boomers were 18 (and IIRC the draft generally went for older people at that time), and the big antiwar protests started about 1968, meaning that nobody born after 1950 was of draft age by then. Again, it would appear that the Boomers were too young to play that big a part in the Vietnam War.

      The idea of Boomers deciding any policy in the 1970s is a bit odd, since as we've seen most were ineligible to be in Congress for much of that. Any policy problems in the 70s were due to earlier generations. The first big oil shock came in 1973, with that particular Arab-Israeli war, and as we've seen nobody born after 1948 could possibly be in the House, and no Boomers could have been in the Senate.

      It's reasonable to attribute things from the 80s on to Boomers, since all could vote in 1982, and the older ones were getting into significant government positions. However, I don't think Reagan counts as a Boomer.

      The PP's attack on the 90s is obviously unfounded. Rather than providing any evidence that the first Boomer President had any problems with the economy, we have the flat statement that the economy should have done much better.

      Normally, I wouldn't bother refuting an AC to this extent, but some idiot moderators have it as (+4, Insightful) at the moment.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    17. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      I grew up rural and poor. Even a PIC development kit was too much for a birthday present. An all in one Arduino would have been a godsend.

      I can't wait to see what this generation comes up with having access to all of that.

    18. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      That's why I never got the old joke of "old people can't use technology."

      I'm pretty sure it came from all the times young people had to set the clocks on their fucking VCRs for them because they couldn't figure out where they hid the manual from themselves, let alone figure out how to do it without help.

      Not every old person has a fossilized brain, but it's the way to bet

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    19. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

      Half a century ago, it would have been unimaginable for an entire generation to have been given so much, yet to have turned around and systematically squandered and destroyed it. But that's exactly what we saw the Baby Boomers do!

      Pot, kettle black.

      Yes, its true that life as it is can be blamed on the living.

      Silly mortal.

    20. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

      If you had been born a little later we would have been much better off, but you'd lack some experience.

      If it were as easy to fix as it was to point the blame the world might be perfect.

      Nevertheless, I do respect anyone who can survive 86 years, in spite of their baby booming offspring.

      Perhaps less is more after all.

    21. Re:Baby Boomers have been the disaster. by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

      That's why I never got the old joke of "old people can't use technology." Dennis Ritchie would have been 75 this year. Linus Torvalds is 45, Theo de Raadt is 47.

      What do ya mean 45 is old?

      Sonny...

  11. 2 years full control of house and senate made wors by raymorris · · Score: 0

    In his first two years, when the dems had full control,of the houee and senate, he made the economy significantly WORSE. When unemployment is high is not the time to focus on adding historical new burdens to hiring, such as Obamacare. You may remember his campaign commercials on radio when he planned to "go after companies". That's not how you stimulate business.

    You can't blame that on republicans obstructing his agenda when his party had full control of the house, senate, and white house.

    Things started to get closer to normal only AFTER the republicans started checking his war on business.

  12. The economy is not good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jobs that have been created do not even come close to replacing the better paying jobs lost. Part time is a way of life now for many. The U6 statistics is the only reasonable federal picture of the economy. Since the unemployment rate most used by liberal media does not account for people who have lost benefits, given up their job search or fell off grid. If things were really that good, we would not still be talking about how they are not. Last months was the highest layoff count in 4 years.

  13. Bullshit on it being "good". by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    With the rampant fraud and claims of "shortages", it's not going to be good.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  14. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You can't blame that on republicans obstructing his agenda when his party had full control of the house, senate, and white house.

    You can blame it on Republicans obstructing the Democrat agenda when they were pushing Single-Payer Health care. This was actually the Republican health reform plan, which makes it hilarious how hard they fought against it. We couldn't have proper national health care because of the Republicans — the Democrats already tried that and the Republicans successfully stopped it. No big surprise; the insurance companies were never going to go for that, and it's corporations which truly run this country. One dollar, one vote.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  15. Re:Heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hipsters care about one thing: appearance. They don't care at all about usability. In fact, to them usability is a liability! Usability is, to them, just something that gets in the way of them pushing their ever-changing idea of "pretty".

    Here's what I can't figure out. In the last 10 years, UX became a "thing." Its own discipline with its own dogma, jargon and crowd of faithful followers.

    With so much emphasis on UX, why is it that so many designers still can't produce a usable interface worth fuck-all?

    (captcha: canker)

  16. Non-FT/non-direct-hire work cannot be required. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    Then make it strictly optional for someone to work for a third party, or for anything less than a full-time working arrangement, as a condition of accepting work.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  17. If you believe the BLS numbers... by bigCstyle · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have a bridge with an ocean view to sell you. http://www.shadowstats.com/alt...

  18. Many "web developers" deserve to be laid off by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

    I'm afraid that a great deal of "web development" has become automated over time and done by other personnel. It's often cheaper and far, far faster for most sites to reduce their toolkits to a few well supported technologies and stop hosting their own storage, their own DNS, their own mail servers, and yes, their own "web server" farmss. I've helped various partners and clients reduce their developer head count by a great deal by discarding the in-house, only one developer in their own team knows it, proprietary technologies in favor of less flexible but far more stable and scalable technologies.

    Jest yesterday, I spent the day going over available technologies pulled off of Google web searches by an eager web developer for some critical web services. I did show their manager the infamous "MongoDB is Webscale" video, to illustrate for their supervisor why adding "secret sauce" of exciting, new, in-house technologies can be destructive.

  19. But....but....need H1B's by NotDrWho · · Score: 2

    "We just can't find American tech workers anymore," repeated Mark Zuckerberg to Congress. "And here are some big campaign donations to prove my point."

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:But....but....need H1B's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "We just can't find American tech workers anymore," repeated Mark Zuckerberg to Congress. "And here are some big campaign donations to prove my point."

      Web devs and systems administrators (see the quote from TFS below) are tech workers? Most real tech workers would classify them as poorly trained monkeys. Facebook, Google, Apple, etc. aren't bitching about a shortage of those, if you get my drift.

      The unemployment rate for Web developers climbed from 2.1 percent to 3.1 percent. Computer support specialists, network and systems administrators, computer & information systems managers, and database administrators also saw their respective unemployment rates rising slightly

    2. Re:But....but....need H1B's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They took er jerbs!!

    3. Re:But....but....need H1B's by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

      "We just can't find American tech workers anymore," repeated Mark Zuckerberg to Congress. "And here are some big campaign donations to prove my point."

      Amen, brother.

  20. Conclusion: We need more H1B visas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ....say the usual suspects. C'mon, why should US Citizens be able to eat? /sarc

  21. Statistical noise and full employment by sjbe · · Score: 4, Informative

    The unemployment rate for tech pros currently stands at 2.1 percent, down from 2.3 percent in the first quarter. However, that dip isn't uniform for all sectors: The unemployment rate for Web developers climbed from 2.1 percent to 3.1 percent.

    A 1% or less change pretty much amounts to statistical noise. It is meaningless. That is almost certainly well within the amount of normal variation we should expect over short time periods. Furthermore those unemployment figures are roughly half that of the 5-6% unemployment rate currently enjoyed by the overall economy. Basically a 2-3% unemployment rate is as close as you ever get to full employment. It doesn't get better than that.

  22. The president doesn't conrol the economy by sjbe · · Score: 1

    In his first two years, when the dems had full control,of the houee and senate, he made the economy significantly WORSE.

    Neither the president nor congress controls the economy. The economy went in the tank due to events that occurred during the Bush administration. Lehman Brothers and the rest of it occurred prior to Obama taking office. But as much as I might dislike either of those presidents neither of them were responsible for the economy tanking and their tools to help fix it are limited. Arguments that this president or that one "made the economy worse" are by and large stupid and ill informed.

    The logical fallacy you are falling prey to is post hoc ergo propter hoc. Just because things happen in a temporal order doesn't mean they are causal. Economic cycles rarely have much to do with who is in office at a given time.

    1. Re:The president doesn't conrol the economy by RabidReindeer · · Score: 1

      Neither the president nor congress controls the economy.

      That's not entirely true. Congress spent about 20 years whittling away the regulations that had been put in place to forestall another Great Depression. Although the "less government is better" mantra belongs to the Republicans, both Republicans and Democrats were complicit in this erosion.

      The President cannot pass laws, but as a single focal point, he can act as a "cheerleader" for the nation and Congress is likely to consider his veto powers when drafting legislation, shaping it accordingly. GW Bush was constantly trumpeting the "Ownership Economy", which encouraged a lot of people into buying homes that they shouldn't have and a lot of lenders to approve loans that they shouldn't have, backed by financial instruments that would not have been permitted to construct under the old post-1928 regulations. And the anti-anti-Monopoly attitude of Congress helped form the "Too Big to Fail" institutions that made the entire economy more vulnerable.

      Nobody gets all the blame. There's enough to go around and then some. But the President, Congress, and even the Judiciary all contributed in meaningful ways.

    2. Re:The president doesn't conrol the economy by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      No, not always directly, but one of the biggest factors in the US economy is consumer spending, and consumer confidence predicts spending... and the President's actions directly impacts consumer confidence. Carter malaise speech/Reagan "New Day" speech being a prime example of the effect. Nothing changed, but public perception that things were going to get better helped make them get better.

      Besides, when you add in that the President can declare war, and the Congress can control taxes and regulations, the government IS significantly responsible for the economy, but not entirely.

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    3. Re:The president doesn't conrol the economy by tmosley · · Score: 1

      "Neither the president nor congress controls the economy. "

      But that's wrong. The economy faltered because CONGRESS passed and CLINTON signed into law an act which forced banks to lend to sub-prime people "in hopes of increasing the rate of homeownership", a policy that was just plain idiotic from the outset.

      But hey, don't let the facts get you off of your high horse.

  23. He didn't take them out of the labor force by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Poor health did. All he did was pick up the slack assclowns like Scott Walker left with their right wing blather so we didn't have 2 mil new homeless.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:He didn't take them out of the labor force by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

      Poor health did. All he did was pick up the slack assclowns like Scott Walker left with their right wing blather so we didn't have 2 mil new homeless.

      Amen.

      There is a difference between causing problems and ignoring them. There are those who do something and those who do nothing but blame. its a whole lot simpler to blame victims than it is to help them. Anyone can do that, even a majority - but it just won't help the situation one bit.

  24. Economic policies have economic consequences by raymorris · · Score: 1

    Lots of things happen, for lots of reasons.

    And economic policies have economic consequences. When you make it more expensive to hire people, fewer people get hired.

    > Just because things happen in a temporal order doesn't mean they are causal.

    Repeated experiments are good for seeing if two events are coincidence or if they are causal. Keep doing A and see if B keeps happening as a result. This chart was made before Obama was elected, but it does show 40 years of trying dem policies and trying republican policies:
    http://bettercgi.com/tmp/clint...

    You'll notice that economic growth has ALWAYS gotten worse under the EVERY democrat administration's budgets, and ALWAYS gotten better during every republican administration. When it happens every single time, that's not coincidence.

    The chart was made just before Bush started spending like Ted Kennedy at a strip club, with the results you'd expect.

  25. Well there is an assualt on life sustaining jobs, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most of the back to work efforts are concentrated on Home Depot jobs, that is the best that these fidiots in Washington would ever take credit for...

    I see more of an "Indian summer" than ever before in NY/NJ, they have really got a lot of end runs around the stipulation that visa jobs need some special level of skill to supplant a american worker..

  26. Your political biases are showing by sjbe · · Score: 0

    This chart was made before Obama was elected, but it does show 40 years of trying dem policies and trying republican policies:

    Your chart is nonsense because it doesn't indicate the unit of measure. It could be growth in bunny rabbits for all we know. Furthermore there are plenty of actually reputable sources of data that say you are wrong. See below.

    You'll notice that economic growth has ALWAYS gotten worse under the EVERY democrat administration's budgets

    The actual facts show you have that backwards. GDP growth has been higher when a democrat is in the white house. That said, you have missed the point. Arguing about which president was responsible for improving the economy is idiotic. The president has very limited control of the direction of the economy. Blaming or applauding the president for the state of the economy is basically and admission you have no idea how economics actually works.

  27. Remember we're a service economy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the underlying industries that rely on tech are doing poorly, so will we all. The tech industry does not live in a bubble, no matter what Silicon Valley thinks.

  28. gdp is measured in dollars, growth in percent by raymorris · · Score: 2

    The size of the economy is measured in constant dollars, growth is measured in percent. That's how it's always done, so labeling it is a bit unnecessary and redundant.

    You'll notice that economic growth has ALWAYS gotten worse under the EVERY democrat administration's budgets

    > The actual facts [cnn.com] show you have that backwards

    Did you LOOK at that page before linking to it? Your CNN link says that median income improved under Reagan, Bush, etc. So if you choose to trust that CNN is giveaway you correct numbers, you now know that traditional republican policies increase incomes.

    Your second link is garbage. The numbers overall are WAY too high especially their democrat numbers; it looks like they treated inflation as growth rather than using constant dollars. Really they showed that inflation is higher under democrat policies, and presented that as if it were a good thing. Secondly, a president's first budget takes effect a year after they are inaugurated . (The effects start to be visible about a year later). The second link assigns the results during 2009, for example, to Obama - while Bush's budget was still in effect. That's misleading. The year Bush took office, we were operating under Clinton's budget, Clinton's policies. The state of the economy isn't much effected by the guy who just got elected, it's much more effected by the federal budget policies we're operating under.

    1. Re:gdp is measured in dollars, growth in percent by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      You'll notice that economic growth has ALWAYS gotten worse under the EVERY democrat administration's budgets

      Duh. In ALL cases it was caused by Republicans screwing the pooch and Democrats trying to pick up the pieces. So your words in reverse: "In every case Republicans got control of the budget, they screwed it over"

  29. Labor participation rate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good economy? Hardly. Labor participation rate is at a 38 year low. The politicians can mask some of the figures, but not all of them. The economy is just getting bad enough where even one sought after positions are starting to feel the impact. Hopefully we'll get some competent leadership soon!

  30. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by blue9steel · · Score: 1

    When unemployment is high is not the time to focus on adding historical new burdens to hiring, such as Obamacare.

    I have to agree I was disappointed with his choice of focus.

  31. Post labor society, please. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It seems that "leisure society" is a dirty word, so let's call it a "post-labor society". What needs to be done? Who needs to actually work? It seems most "work" these days is just performance art to convince other people we're important.

    We have the technology and resources to support this concept, but we refuse to do it.

    There's nothing wrong with our technology, but our brains are still wired like apes in the Plains.

    Also, while we're at it, here's some proof for the ageism in the tech industry:

    http://www.richtek.com/About%20Richtek/Careers

  32. My experience. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This unfolded yesterday / today with a hiring manager at a company I applied to.

    Hiring Manager: You meet all of our conditions, but your resume has an 8 month gap on it. Can you explain this? Also do you know anyone at (the company) who would vouch for your work?
    Me: I took 8 months off after putting in 6 weeks notice at my previous job. Call my references, which include my former direct manager. After working 65-80 hours per week for 4 years, I decided to leave the position. Also, contact (three employees at company) who I interacted with and worked alongside for (two major projects).
    Hiring Manager: What's your availability?
    Me: I will be available until the end of next week, after which I will be formally accepting an offer with (other company).
    Hiring Manager: We're deciding to withdraw your resume based on the statement that you aren't available.
    Me: Thanks for your time, and good luck with your candidate search.
    Hiring Manager: Wait, we can accomodate you. Can you start on Monday?

    It's an employee's market in tech right now if you have any sort of experience and have developed a reputation for being able to perform the job well.

    I'm not expecting special treatment, I just want a fair deal. You hire me, I do above average work without complaint. I'm not interested in their games. When that deal starts slanting in the employer's favor, I put in notice and leave. Employers can get fucked.

    1. Re:My experience. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure it did. You have a good future writing for c-list actors and daytime TV..

    2. Re:My experience. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks!

      Maybe I'll check that out as an option. It probably pays well.

  33. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    You can blame it on Republicans obstructing the Democrat agenda when they were pushing Single-Payer Health care.

    Democrats couldn't get single-payer because Democrats didn't favor single payer. Enough Democrats opposed it that they couldn't get it through. What Republicans wanted really never came into play.....it didn't need to because Democrats completely controlled congress, and they took advantage of it.

    Again, it was Democrat opposition to single-payer that prevented it from becoming a reality.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  34. Unemployed Web Developers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Weird because we are actively hiring!
    Course Hero Inc.
    https://www.coursehero.com/jobs/

  35. Where's theodp? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is all the fault of FWD.us, Code.org, K-12 CS core standards, Mark Zuckerburg and Melinda Gates!

  36. Troll!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Troll!!!

    Why should techies not go and set up another startup to make new products?

    Thats what they always do in the face of adversity!

  37. Stock market is not a measurement of economic heal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The stock market does not represent the health of the economy. It is up because of all that money the Fed printed. The money folks had no orher place to put it. They would borrow really cheap and buy stocks. In other words, it's just asset inflation - there are no fundamentals to back it. Corp profits have flat for a couple of years now.

    In the old days, lower oil prices would mean a higher stock market. Now, lower oil prices actulaay hurt the market.

    The stock market and the economy's health have been decoupled. Also, much of the multinatioals' profits are made overseas.

  38. There's a definite split in the IT workforce by ErichTheRed · · Score: 1

    What I'm finding is this:
    - Really good people with lots of experience are having an easy time finding work. (I get recruitment emails at least 2 or 3 times a week and haven't updated any of my resume/linkedin stuff in 3 years, nor have expressed any interest in a new job right now.)
    - Lower-skill people or those with less experience are really having difficulty, especially new grads.

    I attribute this to a couple of things. First, the nature of the work is changing somewhat, and companies are increasingly looking to hire people who possess a lot of experience and multiple skills. Second and more ominous, the low level jobs are increasingly being offshored, outsourced or eliminated. As an experienced guy, I don't like this because it doesn't allow for succession planning. New grads and new entrants into the field need those jobs at the low end to learn and grow into the experienced peoples' roles. I was a help desk person and a desktop support guy for quite a while before I got my first system admin job, for example. Let's say everyone migrates all their data to the cloud. This means that all the data center jobs move to the cloud companies, who mainly roll their own hardware and have endless fields of servers that are just swapped out when they fail. Those data center jobs then become break/fix maintenance jobs, making it difficult to make the natural progression that data center operations guys normally go through -- system admin, architect, etc. once they learn the ropes and the end-to-end of everything.

    It's definitely going to be a big change coming up. Wages are going to be driven down even further, and you're going to see a binomial distribution that's more pronounced than it is now. I think the layoffs the article is referring to are definitely hitting the lower end of the IT job spectrum harder than the higher end. The company I work for is notoriously stingy with headcount and even they are hiring experienced people right now.

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  40. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    So how many Republicans were for single-payer?

  41. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    That's irrelevant, Republican votes didn't matter, but probably none.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  42. Participation rate by kenh · · Score: 1

    The participation rate, the percentage of Americans working is at a 38 year low.

    An economy with fewer Americans working is not 'great'.

    --
    Ken
  43. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    Not just "none", but they actually invoked the cloture. So Democrats had to muster 60 votes instead of just 50, and that required compromising with DINOs. Had Republicans simply acceded to the vote of majority, we would have had a nice single-payer system.

    And actually, I don't even remember a single Republican-led constructive initiative recently.

  44. Except it is bullshit. Many have left or given up. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Except it is bullshit. Many have left or given up. Especially in the 50 and over set.

    Tons of people have left the tech field, or completely given up on employment. My last tech job paid less than minimum wage (based on all the hours required) when expenses were included and pay rate was cut by 35% I was better off quitting.

    In a few years I will live off SS. Enjoy working 80 hour weeks and supporting people like me. I would have been glad to work for a reasonable wage, but no jobs for me while H1-B continues to soar.

  45. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    Note also that the Democrats didn't have a full 60 Senators for long. Senator Franken was not seated for several months, for example, as his exceedingly close margin of victory was very carefully scrutinized, with legal proceedings on both sides.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  46. We've got an opening in R&D by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

    If you don't mind moving to the Twin Cities (we have negative unemployment in theory for software engineers, there are more spots than we can find talent - it's a pretty good gig for us out here), we've got a couple of spots open in our R&D department. Don't worry about what languages you know, we're looking for full stack developers and assume you can learn or adapt - our core is Java, but we use a handful of languages and only care that you're really good with one and can fumble through the others. My boss, the head of R&D, is a legit alpha geek and has clout in the company like you wouldn't believe. We're isolated from the rest of the company and its politics for the most part.

    Ping me if you want more info. Full disclosure, if someone I recommend gets hired and stays on for a year, I get a bounty of ~$1k.

    --

    If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  47. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by tmosley · · Score: 0

    "It's the Republicans fault the Democrats couldn't get their act together."

    Oh, ok. So why should we vote for your party of disorganized idiots again?

  48. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    And actually, I don't even remember a single Republican-led constructive initiative recently.

    That's because you're a partisan Democrat, you disagree with the Republican agenda, and anything they try to do to reach their goals, you will not consider constructive. (understandably, because it opposes your own goals).

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  49. You have yourself to blame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are over 50 and you have been in the tech field for over 25 years, and yet, you are still 'working' as a programmer?

    Something is very wrong with you, dude, something which is very very wrong

    Take a deep, good look at yourself, dude. It is not that others do not want to employ you, it's your own attitude that makes you unemployable

    It's not your age (yes, agism does exist in the tech field, I know), it's how you perceive the world which makes it so repulsive to all potential employers that you remain unemployed since, as you put it, the start of the year

    Take some time, dude, and read what you have written:

    there is MOST DEFINITELY something really wrong about our current tech employment 'style'

    See how you blame others while taking none of the responsibilities on your own self?

    Don't even try to wave your victim card, dude, you get none from me, also a veteran in the tech field - with longer years (over 3 decades) - and if you really want to know, I haven't been actively working as a programmer for over a decade

    The 'life cycle' of the tech career is far different from say, a mechanic or a brick layer. In the tech world, you do not stay in the same level year after year, unless you want to be pushed aside - In the tech scene we move up the food chain, we expand our horizon, we absorb new knowledge, we try out new things, we acquire new skills, and make ourselves more capable today than yesterday

    If you do not do that, don't blame anybody else, dude. You have your own lazy, useless and clueless self to blame

    Nowadays I own businesses in and off the tech scene, and in the meantime I also invest in other businesses, businesses started by someone else, businesses with potential

    Stop blaming others, dude. You are the one with the problem, not the industry

    Captha: denying

  50. Hiring loser ain't gonna make you look good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That dude is a fucking loser. With over 25 years of experience under his belt and he's still behaving like a crybaby

    What do you think a loser like that can contribute to your R&D effort?

    Unless that fucker wakes the fuck up and realize that the world doesn't owe him shit he will still waving his victim card whenever he finds the chance

    Captha: proffer

  51. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    So let's see. What is the Republican plan for universal healthcare?

    ...crickets...

    Hm. How about environment regulation?

    ...crickets dying from mercury in coal ash...

    Education and student debts? Aging infrastructure?

    ...crickets...

    That desperately needed tunnel under the Hudson River?

    ...crickets are stuck in a traffic jam on the bridge...

    Middle east?

    ...crickets bombing Iran...

    Yes, the Republican party is not constructive. It simply can't offer ANYTHING but the same old: "Cut taxes and reduce regulation (especially on Wall Street)".

    Come to think about it... I actually remember one constructive law that was passed by this Congress! It was to allow big banks to use FDIC-insured funds for speculation. It was _literally_ written by Chase lobbyists and had universal Republican approval.

  52. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Oh look, you listed all the things that are important to you, and started wishing the Republicans would do something about it.

    Do you understand what it means to be partisan?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  53. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    Ok, so what important things Republicans stand for these days?

    And do you approve of big banks using Federally-insured funds for gambling? Cause that's what Republicans are standing for right now. ALL of them: https://www.govtrack.us/congre...

  54. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    And do you approve of big banks using Federally-insured funds for gambling? Cause that's what Republicans are standing for right now. ALL of them: https://www.govtrack.us/congre...

    There is close to nothing about Dodd Frank I approve, and generally the handling of the financial crisis was abysmal by both Bush and Obama. But what do you expect when you have bankers as advisers?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  55. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    Oh, a typical "there's nothing I approve, so everything's OK". In this case Republicans explicitly passed a law that goes against the Republican ideology of free market and small government, this law guarantees that the banks WILL BE BAILED OUT by FDIC in case of a failed gamble. But for you it's OK, since it's an "amendment" to an act that you don't like.

    That's just one example. Republicans are not a political party - they don't have an economic strategy or anything remotely practical. They are by now a tool of wealthy corporations.

    And now about "both parties do this" (which is the last defense of a scoundrel). There's a really important point here - there are Democrats in the Congress who are not beholden to Big Money. But there are NO Republicans in the Congress that even remotely care about people.

  56. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    It's not a matter of getting their act together, which has always been challenging for Democrats, it's a matter of capability. It's hard to muster 60 Democrats to vote for something in the Senate when there's only 59 Senators who are Democrats or independents caucusing with the Democrats.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  57. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    But there are NO Republicans in the Congress that even remotely care about people.

    See? Now you're being blindly partisan again. Democrats say that Republicans don't care about people because Republicans don't like welfare. Republicans say that Democrats don't care about people because Democrats try to trap people in an inter-generational dependency scheme (Democrats just want to rule over you, etc).

    Here's an example of a Republican view on how to tackle poverty, for example.

    btw, I read this summary of the bill you linked to, and I can't find anything about the FDIC bailing out banks. Are you sure you linked to the right bill?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  58. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    See? Now you're being blindly partisan again. Democrats say that Republicans don't care about people because Republicans don't like welfare.

    Nope. I don't like Republicans because they don't care about people, as your very own link suggests. ALL they want is more misery and more tax cuts.

    BTW, I'm still waiting for examples of enacted constructive policies from Republicans that actually produced the intended results. Can you name a few?

    As for the act, the crucial clause is this:

    Amends the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to exempt, from the rules of prudential regulators for swap dealers and major swap participants with respect to initial and variation margin requirements for swaps not cleared by a registered derivatives clearing organization, those swaps in which one of the counterparties....

  59. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Republicans because they don't care about people, as your very own link suggests. ALL they want is more misery and more tax cuts.

    LOL ok, if you believe that, I can say nothing more to you. You're too blind.

    As for the act, the crucial clause is this:

    That clause doesn't apply to banks, financial entities, or brokers. It has nothing to do with the FDIC. I don't understand what you don't like about it.

    I'm still waiting for examples of enacted constructive policies from Republicans that actually produced the intended results. Can you name a few?

    Recently there hasn't been much, because Obama can veto nearly anything. I am a little worried what might happen if they get a Republican president. However, here are some things:

    * They attempted to eliminate the ACA tax on medical devices, as one example.
    * Reducing spending with the sequester was one where they actually achieved their goal (although Obama achieved some of his goals, too, but there's nothing wrong with that).
    * They voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but failed because of Democrat opposition.

    You may not agree with the goals of these initiatives, but that's ok, as long as you realize that most of politics is not about "right" or "wrong," it's about "what we want" vs "what they want." Politics is about balancing what different people want.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  60. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    Eliminating ACA tax on medical devices MIGHT be a good idea, if they can provide a balanced tax increase or a cut on something else. Had they done so?

    Sequester was the worst possible way to get cuts. And it was also in its very nature NOT constructive - it was meant to be a cudgel to force parties to make an agreement.

    Defunding Planned Parenthood is also not constructive. And is extremely prejudiced and stupid (but what can you expect from Republicans?...).

    So what other constructive laws have they proposed? I'm asking for constructive proposals, that do not simply say "let's grow economy by 5000% by 2020 by eliminating ACA!" but actually provide a deficit-neutral way to do it.

  61. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    No, there is nothing Republicans do that you will like, because you are partisan. By definition, you dislike everything they do. They could create world peace, and you would still manage to find a way to dislike it.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  62. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    Exactly which party do you think I'm standing for? I don't like a lot of stuff Democrats do and I like some of stuff many third parties are for. Hell, I even agree with Libertarians on some points.

    Besides, "it's partisanship!" is about as stupid an argument as anything. EVERYTHING is patisanship, because there's likely to be a political party out there that stands for it.


    I'm evaluating actual Republican performance and position. Both of them are beyond contempt. There is no single Republican in the Congress that I respect, all of them can be transformed into gutter slime and the country will be better for it.

  63. Re:2 years full control of house and senate made w by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    There is no single Republican in the Congress that I respect,

    Yes, I know.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."