TO BE YOUNG AND UNEMPLOYED – AT 9:11 A.M. ET:  The national economic figures, grim as they are, hide the fact that young people are being hit especially hard.  Add to this the fact that they often have college debts.  It's inevitable that this will start affecting the way they see Barack Obama, and the way they vote:

One indication of the weakness of the job market is that research institutions are getting too many intern applications -- from college graduates who should be getting paid jobs.

Generally, intern applicants are studying for B.A. degrees in economics and looking for some practical research experience to accompany their coursework. They might be enrolled at local universities, or come to Washington on one of many Washington Semester programs, such as those run by American University or the University of California systems.

Now, applications are flowing in from young people who already have B.A.s in economics. In any other year, they would already have jobs. After all, they're not comparative literature majors. One reason people major in economics is because economics is supposed to be a marketable degree.

And...

The unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds is 16 percent, far higher than the overall unemployment rate of 9.5 percent. Two years ago, the rate for this age group was 10 percent. Men are having a tougher time than women. Their unemployment rate is 18 percent, compared with 13 percent for young women.

By some measures, it's never been this difficult to find a job. Almost half of the unemployed have been out of work for six months or longer, a record since the Labor Department began keeping track of these data in 1948.

And upcoming requirements on employers to offer health insurance or pay a penalty discourage employers from hiring low-skilled workers, because employers can't reduce these workers' salaries to compensate for the extra benefits.

Yeah, that Obamacare.  What a great idea.  Not.

Unless the economy turns around soon, the lack of job opportunities is going to have a major effect not only on the lifetime earnings of young people but on their appetite for risk.

Just as those who grew up during the Great Depression are more frugal, current and future graduates might be more risk averse. Once they have jobs, they might be more likely to avoid looking elsewhere, reducing the traditional dynamism and job mobility that made America a major economic power.

This risk aversion has been a feature of European economies, where high unemployment has meant a preference for government employment and a lack of job mobility in the economy.

Ah yes.  And the outrage is that some Obamans have no problem with that outcome.  More government employment.  Never take a risk.  Get benefits.  What a way to live.

Sometimes I wish we had a parliamentary system, where the president could be sent packing in the middle of a term.  It is quite possible, I think, that President Obama, after a GOP victory in November, and if the economy continues to tank, will be seen as nothing more than a caretaker until the end of his term.

Change we can believe in?

August 27, 2010