Unemployment burns, and the DC Neros play the fiddle

The wrenching unemployment story does not seem to get any better at all.  It is a farcical tragedy that against this background, irresponsible politicians are playing the fiddle in ways that make Nero to be a heroic savior.

A couple of days ago I was reading this awfully depressing piece in the Atlantic, where Don Peck concludes:

We are in a very deep hole, and we’ve been in it for a relatively long time already. Concerns over deficits are understandable, but in these times, our bias should be toward doing too much rather than doing too little. That implies some small risk to the government’s ability to continue borrowing in the future; and it implies somewhat higher taxes in the future too. But that seems a trade worth making. We are living through a slow-motion social catastrophe, one that could stain our culture and weaken our nation for many, many years to come. We have a civic—and indeed a moral—responsibility to do everything in our power to stop it now, before it gets even worse.

I was done with reading that when a colleague emailed me a link to this animated graphic on monthly unemployment by county.

After that I had to go to teach and pretend to the students that when they graduate later this spring everything will be fantastic.  I seriously need to get back to my old bottom-line to students: "you are screwed" :(

And then I turn to the Economist today, where I read this as a coda:

What seems clear is that at no time in the living memory of working Americans has the economy gone through a recession like this—deep, and with a jobless recovery. It will influence society and culture for a generation. It may also produce a serious bout of reflection in America, concerning just how the economy lost its way over the past decade (and perhaps longer).

Being a teetotaler--yes, that is me--is of no help in these situations!