Unemployment and airplane crashes

[Are_grits_groceries]

A man in Florida sends what may be the ideal example of reader mail, combining as it does aerodynamic theory, politics, economics, and presidential rhetoric. Seriously, his critique of how the Obama team has explained the continuing collapse of the U.S. employment base is insightful.
<snip>
"One analogy I've thought of often, aligned with your interests, is an economic analogy of an aerodynamic stall. When commerical credit froze and consumers reduced spending, the prevailing economic "lift" was gone. Stall!

Conservative knee-jerk reactions for tax cuts were the equivalent of "pulling up" on the stick- intuitive but deadly.

Obama's expert advice was to gain speed by spending (diving), even at the cost of altitude (deficit/debt).

High unemployment was destined from the moment the stall occurred. Only when sufficient airspeed/angle of attack (spending) had been reached could the economy begin to pull up, and the unemployment would be analogous to the altitude lost even after the decision to finaly "pull up" had been made.

Passenger relief (consumer confidence) would follow long after the immediate recovery (i.e., GDP), and no one would be "satisfied" until the plane came in for a (economic) "soft landing."
<snip>
Obama and his economic team had to keep sounding optimistic, since so much of a recovery is affected by "animal spirits." But they also needed to acknowledge that for a long time ahead more people would be losing than gaining jobs. The dual message is not impossible, but it's tricky, and as the reader suggests the proper balance has not yet come across.
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/11/unemployment_and_airplane_cras.php

Makes sense to me. I hope Obama flies like Sullenberger.

[unhappycamper]

1. That $180 million per day we piss away in the occupations has to be affecting him. n/t