The Recession Hasn’t Hurt Everyone Equally

There’s very little commentary that I think needs to be added to this chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

H/T: Ben Hart

FILED UNDER: Economics and Business, US Politics,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Jeff says:

    thank god we are spending that 26 billion to save those poor teachers from losing their jobs … otherwise that local number of 1/2 of 1% might spike up to 3/4 of 1% …  THINK OF THE CHILDREN …

  2. Herb says:

    Um…..so if you want a recession-proof job, go work for the government?

    (And actually, if that’s true, the private sector is doing something wrong….)

  3. carpeicthus says:

    Yeah, the implications of this graph are pretty pro-redistributionist, unless you think the red line is the one that we should all be on.

  4. Except, of course, we can’t all go work for the government because government workers depend for their subsistence on a private sector that actually generates economic growth and tax revenue.

    If nothing else, this chart proves that government workers are a privileged class who are shielded from the reality of the economy.

  5. reid says:

    James’s earlier post not withstanding, I thought it was conventional wisdom that government jobs don’t pay all that well in salary and don’t offer the possibility of “hitting the jackpot” (e.g. stocks, IPO), but they do give you job stability.  (Especially if you’re a teacher, policeman, in the military, etc.)  Well, here’s the latter benefit at work.  I’m not going to hold it against them.

  6. Herb says:

    “If nothing else, this chart proves that government workers are a privileged class who are shielded from the reality of the economy.”

    Not necessarily. It could show that the demand for government services remains fairly constant during a recession, and may indeed increase while demand for services from the private sector will go down.

    If the argument is “government workers are a privileged class who are shielded from the reality of the economy” you’re gonna need a better chart, preferably one that demonstrates that.

  7. Jerry in Detroit says:

    Appears to me to be a classic “Atlas Shrugged” situation where government has looted the private economy to the point that private industry has become moribund. Worse yet, our “betters” really don’t care so long as they get their share of the spoils.

  8. Rebecca Burlingame says:

    The really scary part about the graph is the fact that taxable money going to government cannot help but continue its decline, irregardless of tax hikes. Looks like the person who insists money can still be “made of of air indefinitely” has got lots of folks fooled.