is about to be put through the wringer. All their belief in the Keynesian theory of the "natural rate of unemployment" and government intervention is a load of hooey.
The Great Recession as reported by Bloomberg will leave the US at a higher rate of full employment.

This restructuring -- in what former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker calls “the Great Recession” -- is causing some economists to reconsider what might be the “natural” rate of unemployment: a level that neither accelerates nor decelerates inflation. This state of equilibrium is often described as “full” employment.

Fallout from the recession implies a “markedly higher” natural rate of unemployment, says Edmund Phelps, a professor at Columbia University in New York and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in economics. “It was 5.5 percent; maybe it will be 6.5 percent, maybe 7 percent.”

Each time we have gone through these things there become more and more of our fellow citizens that are left behind. There is a great swath in the midwest were towns once had thriving industries are now reduced to boarded empty shells. The jobs have never returned.
If government policy cannot reduce the unemployment rate what the hell are they doing following a disproved theory. They have not smoothed out the recession one bit.

It has always been about class warfare.

Think of the credit card industry as legalized loan sharking; a federal offense before the usuary laws disappeared. Small loans and lines of credit dried up as the banksters focused efforts to promote use of one of the worst kind of credit... revolving on compound interest and fee charges. Fees account for trillions in profits. Don't continue to let the banking industry rule global economies.
Get off the credit cards and get an equity line of credit or SBA loan (now guaranteed 90%).

There isn't a doubt in anyone's mind back here in MI that GM will be pushed into bankruptcy by Obama. When they come out, they will be forced to build ONLY tiny little fuel efficient cars that nobody wants. If you look at the price of vehicles, you find zillions of cheap, high mileage little cars made by everyone. What can't be found are cheap, fuel efficient SUVs. Honda is trying to get there, and thanks to Obama, probably will beat Toyota and the Detroit 3. Ford has great products, but they are expensive. Something Detroit has been trying to tell Bush II and now Bush III . If Obama had relieved the Detroit autos of all of their healthcare costs, they wouldn't need his wrong headed bailout.

Krugan has an article on falling wages in the United States and how it actually can cause the entire economy to stay in recession.

Of course he never mentions offshore outsourcing, insourcing ....those are like dirty words sacrilege of some secret religion.

But the article is a fairly well done, in layman's terms (no mathematics) on what happens to an economy with across the board falling wages.

and was off topic a bit. But you will owe money to foreign countries. That is why people buy insurance to cover them in foreign lands. The EU does have some reciprocation agreements (not sure if all countries participate). In France you pay first and then get reimbursed, so maybe your home country reimburses. Not sure if there is subrogation between the different countries and plans.

"Regardless on whether you are insured in France or in your home country, you are generally required to pay medical expenses as they occur, e.g. when visiting a doctor, buying prescribed medicines and for medical tests. Then you can ask to be reimbursed by your health insurer.
A general doctor may charge from €20-25 for a consultation, a specialist €25-30. Fees will be higher at night or the weekend - a home visit will also cost more.
Types of payment vary: doctors usually prefer payment by check and some organisations might not accept cash. Only in some cases - such as some hospitalisations or if you are covered by specific heath coverage - you may be exempt from advance payment.

If you are subscribed to the French social security, you need to send a completed form (feuille de soins) to your CPAM (Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie). Reimbursement takes usually 2-3 weeks and you can check on-line on www.ameli.fr (you should receive access information in the documentation provided by CPAM). If you have a Carte Vital and the doctor (or a healthcare organization) is linked to the social security system, it is possible you may only pay the non-reimbursable part instead of having to claim it back afterwards. "

There is just so much going on with the "change" factor that I can rant, get off topic and it is just that I try to cover everything. The government is taking such a large position of ownership in banks, car manufacturing and their next phase will be the insurance business. I have not even begun to touch on the effects that a take over of one more industry will do to the economy of the States. Every little stink'in thing is going to Washington.

To a "T" it is the path that the old USSR followed. Everything was so centralized and the States suffered for it.

In a few months it will become obvious that no million jobs will be created by Obama's speeches. Hopefully unemployed Americans will start to organize and show the evils of free trade and the World Trade Organization. The WTO has treated Americans like cattle that can be disposed of for cheaper labor.

I wish for major items that affect Americans there should be a national vote: for example: (a) Illegal alien amnesty (b) Guest Worker Visas (c) Free Trade. These affect us all and should not be left for Congress, Senate and the President to decide.

which from what I see, especially with people like Summers around isn't going to happen anytime soon, people will still be treated like disposable commodities.

I really think U.S. workers need to organize and that is not necessarily joining the AFL-CIO, but more creation of guilds, of startups, very similar to how you have black business funds and Korean business funds, i.e. these ethnicity based funds....to jump start their own businesses. I'm just looking at what works for there is no doubt U.S. citizen workers, especially those over the age of 35 have been thrown to the dogs. It is a complete waste of ability and talent but folks could put something together if they organized as well as got the funding.

and that's because one network, literally, I mean literally is coming up with a reality show of small businesses having to pick one person to be laid off.

I put it on EP,somewhere in the labor forum.

In other words, the onion did a spoof but because it's so true to reality....it's not funny...it would be way funny if it wasn't so in reality.

but so good. I sent it to my buddy on Facebook who lost his job at at International Harvester when they shut the plant down.