A shrinking pie

Conservatives used to talk of expanding the economic pie as a way to ensure that the lower classes got what they needed, rather than redistributing some money down the income ladder. It was an approach that, though it might have sounded good on paper, just never worked.

The failure, unfortunately, is made worse by reports like this:

New Jersey’s unemployment rate climbed to its highest level in 15 years last month, triggering worries that the drain on the state’s unemployment insurance fund will prompt payroll tax increases.

The 7.1 percent unemployment rate was a full point increase over the rate in November, and just barely under the national average of 7.2 percent, Gov. Jon Corzine and State Labor Commissioner David Socolow announced today.

Basically, the pie is shrinking and the people on the bottom are finding that a smaller portion of nothing is still nothing.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet