"two wheels" wrote in message
...

This has yet to be demonstrated. Obviously Neal isn't interested in
wagering on it.

And yet Bush is still popular enough to win reelection. Go figure.

This is true, but this number is pretty small. The VAST majority of the
uncounted have been dropped because they no longer can collect
unemployment insurance or they accept part-time work.

I've heard that the way the number of lost jobs are counted,
anybody who's laid off and then takes out a loan to start their own
business, is not counted as somebody who found another job. This is
even if they're better off, or at about the same level of income
that they had before. That covers a lot of people in this age of
consultants and services.

Retailer actually are suffering, but not necessarily the heavily discount
stores like Wal-Mart (which *is* good news). The problem is that
many of the mid-level retail stores are having problems. Sales are
way off, although there is some hope for the holiday sales season.

Car buying is way up, but that's not the whole economy of course.

Also, I think the retail stores tell us a lot. If people are
wondering where their next paycheck is coming from, or are worried
about losing their job, retailers are going to suffer first. I
don't see retailers suffering lately. Not this Christmas. Car
buying is way up too.

two wheels


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