J: The US economy posted a new milestone for employment opportunities at the end of 2019. On February 12, the BLS told us that on December 31, 2018, employers of all types all over the country had a record 7,335,000 job openings on a seasonally adjusted basis. That not only exceeded the old record of 7,293,000 job openings in August, but also was a phenomenal 1,666,000 more job openings (29.4 percent) than were reported just one year earlier. As the chart shows, this marks the ninth consecutive month in which the total number of job openings exceeded the total number of people who were unemployed and looking for a job (6,294,000 people). Until April 2018, such a situation had never occurred
L: How's that for a compelling title? Of course, it makes perfect sense if you read last week's blog. Thanks to the author of Doughnut Economics, Kate Raworth, who provided me with this drawing, here's the beating heart of her book: The entire premise of the book is that today's "science" of economics is set up to encourage a winner-take-all approach with some vague hope of a trickle-down effect that raises the living standards of all. Raworth says that there is evidence that that is flat wrong, but even if it's right over some long time period, we don't really have that much time environmentally-speaking. The central premise of Doughnut Economics is that the world's economies can only b
L: Here is the hazard of living with an economist. I actually bought a book for myself called Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist, by Kate Raworth. And then I actually read it! Sometimes I even surprise myself. I'm going to write the next few blogs about this book because I found it amazing. It is quite revolutionary as it describes a very different way to view the world of economic thinking. I loved it. I think Jim will hate it. Because it IS revolutionary, it is strongly dismissed by many. I am certainly not saying that Raworth's thinking is completely right, but it does feel logical to me. So, I remind you as you read Raworth's ideas of the quote fr
