White House Council of Economic Advisors: $278,000/Job Created By Stimulus

Link here.

The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it chronicles the alleged success of the “stimulus” in adding or saving jobs. 

The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus” (which it describes as a “natural way to estimate the effects of” the legislation), the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.   

In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the “stimulus,” and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead. 

Furthermore, the council reports that, as of two quarters ago, the “stimulus” had added or saved just under 2.7 million jobs — or 288,000 more than it has now.  

In other words, over the past six months, the economy would have added or saved more jobs without the “stimulus” than it has with it. In comparison to how things would otherwise have been, the “stimulus” has been working in reverse over the past six months, causing the economy to shed jobs.

No comment. I cannot make this stuff up. 

For Investors Only -- Fourth of Michael Filloon's Four-Part Series Has Been Posted -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Michael Filloon has posted the fourth of his four-part series on the Bakken and how to take advantage of the recent pullback.

For Those Interested: Chevy Volt vs Nissan Leaf -- June Sales Posted

Link here.

Honda expects to see summer sales plummet. (I just bought a 2012 Honda Civic. 49 mpg on the highway. Averaged 47 mpg Williston, North Dakota, to Boston, Massachusetts.)

Maybe Not So Rare -- Huge, Readily Reachable Rare Earth Mineral Reserves Discovered in the Pacific Ocean -- Not a Bakken Story

Link here.

Vast deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial in making high-tech electronics products, have been found on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and can be readily extracted, Japanese scientists said on Monday.

A spokesman estimated rare earths contained in the deposits amounted to 80 to 100 billion metric tons, compared to global reserves currently confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey of just 110 million tonnes that have been found mainly in China, Russia and other former Soviet countries, and the United States.
 
A chronic shortage of rare earths, vital for making a range of high-technology electronics, magnets and batteries, has encouraged mining projects for them in recent years. China, which accounts for 97 percent of global rare earth supplies, has been tightening trade in the strategic metals, sparking an explosion in prices.

Maybe rare earth minerals not so rare after all. 

McDonald's, BMW, Texas, North Dakota, Minnesota -- Definitely Not a Bakken Story

There were two stories that appeared in the Los Angeles Times over the July 2-3, 2011, weekend.

One was an op-ed piece in the business section lamenting the fact that a BMW automobile parts distribution center in California is going to close down and the "mission" outsourced to an "unidentified third party."

Here's the story: link here.

I think the average McDonald's worker gets minimum wage or thereabouts, probably about $8.00/hour and health benefits significantly less than what union workers earning $25/hour would get.

What do you think is the more difficult job: working in a warehouse locating parts and shipping them to dealers, or working the front lines of a McDonald's fast food restaurant? In the former, you don't work with the public; you don't have to multi-task, you don't have to know a second language or deal in multiple languages. At McDonald's, dealing with some of the crazy customers (read the book by Dave Thomas) and trying to understand any number of non-English-speaking customers is a recurring experience. Multi-tasking is the name of the game, and smiling all day long is a given.

With regard to an automobile parts distribution center, my understanding is that most orders arrive by computer overnight; and by noon, most of the parts for the day are identified, picked and sent out. Most of the rest of the day is, well, whatever ... and since the distribution center is the "gem" of the industry, much of it is automated.

There is no question McDonald's is the tougher job. It looks like BMW is doing something about that.

The second story is another op-ed piece; this time about about the growth of jobs in Texas: link here.

For the last few weeks, I've been unable to get a startling statistic out of my head: Since the recession officially ended, Texas has created more than 4 of every 10 new jobs in America.

That's right, Texas: the reddest of red states, home to gun lovers and school textbooks that openly question whether the Founding Fathers intended for the separation of church and state. I am no ideologue. Still, whenever I get political, I tend to tilt reflexively to the left, making the jobs figure a bit disconcerting at first.

But there's no escaping it. The number is real. Which means that if you care about putting people back to work at a time when nearly 14 million in this country are unemployed, maybe Texas has something to teach us.

If the writer has trouble understanding what Texas is doing, he/she can take a look at the North Dakota - Minnesota experience along with the Texas experience: link here.

Maybe more later.