More Skills Needed

According to Vice President Joe Biden, this coming election boils down to that three letter word; JOBS! As funny as the Vice President has been, I think almost everyone would agree that the VP is correct except for his ability to count.

As I've blogged before, the answer to solving the JOBS problem lies in creating a faster growth in the economy. Barring that, the existential solution for those seeking a job is to acquire a greater skill set. The data clearly shows that the more education one has, the greater the opportunity for employment. According to the EPI analysis of the monthly Current Population Survey, the unemployment rate for those without a high school diploma is 17.8%, those with some college, 8.6%, and those with a college degree, 5.2%. It's a sliding scale. Those having an advanced degree have an unemployment rate of 3.3%. The Atlantic is quoted as saying that "These days. it seems we're really in a grad school economy." A good part of this problem simply relates to the continued progress of technology which requires higher and more specialized skills.

However, there is another way for people to acquire skills and that is through experience. One might say, going back to school takes long enough, gaining experience requires, not only a job to begin with, but an even greater length of time. That's true, but the problem is that those "Boomers" who we have been waiting to retire are not doing so and they are the ones who have acquired the specialized skills. The data from FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) indicates that since the end of the recession, the total number of civilian jobs have grown by less that 3 million, all of which have been gained by those in the 55 year and older category. The "Boomers" are not making room for the younger generation. The "Millennials," those who are now in the, say, 8 to 30 year old bracket is a larger cohort than the "Boomers."

What point am I trying to make? I've listened to almost every speech at the Republican Convention. Virtually all the speeches are directed toward the younger generation in some sense. Yes, most of these Millennials are still ineligible to vote due to their youth, but they are enough of a swing vote to tilt toward the Republicans who seem to be making a "realistic" case appealing to the pragmatic "Millennials" instead of an "idealistic" case which is so characteristic of "Boomers." Lets see who the Democrats talk to in the coming week.  Four years ago, the youngsters mostly voted for the President. If the Republicans can reverse that vote, they could place Mr. Romney in the Presidency. And in this blogger's view that would be a very good thing.

Parents of the "Millennial" generation are noted for  being obsessed with the welfare of their children. Enough said.

GO FORTH and DO GOOD